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Austin ISD school board postpones vote on Texas Education Agency's state intervention plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – On Thursday, Austin Independent School District board members decided not to vote on the Texas Education Agency’s plan for how the state will intervene in the district's special education services.Board President Arati Singh said the board will instead vote next Tuesday, Sept. 26. The board has to make a decision before the end of the month. Since March, the Texas Education Agency has said it intends to appoint a conservator to tell the district how to operate matters related to special education.The recommendation was announced alongside the release of a TEA investigative report finding the district had violated more than 40 special education requirements since 2020.The proposed plan would be a less severe type of state intervention than TEA’s original recommendation. Austin ISD decreases special education evaluation backlog, still more than 400 overdue Over the last several weeks, parents have asked the board not to approve the TEA plan, expressing concern about...

Overdoses continue in Hays CISD, but new program could help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Hays Consolidated School District has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.Already this year the district has had two students who overdosed."We had two kids that overdosed and thankfully we were able to revive them with Narcan," said Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright.Last year, the district had four students die after taking pills that were laced with fentanyl."Never heard about it in my life before these past two years," said Collin Richardson, a student at Lehman High School.Richardson said now he hears about it more and more, and he even knows people who have lost friends to fentanyl."I feel scared, very scared about it," Richardson said.Timothy Boyd goes to Johnson High School. He said he lost a close friend to the drug."It hurts to say it, but he is not the only life that has been lost from it," Boyd said.Lance Moffett is the athletic director for Hays CISD. He helped put together a program called "Coaches vs Overdoses."The program helps educ...

School resource officers could be returning to schools after AG’s legal opinion, meeting with governor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

School resource officers removed by some Minnesota law enforcement agencies could be returning to schools soon, legislative leaders and the largest public safety association in the state said Thursday.Minnesota House and Senate Democratic leaders said Thursday they’re committed to holding public hearings about school resource officers in the first two weeks of next year’s legislative session, which begins in February.But Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said Thursday that “hearings don’t change the law. … We need clear, legislative solutions that are passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor.”A change in state law this year says school resource officers can’t restrain students face-down or put a student in a hold that restricts their ability to breathe or communicate distress, except when necessary “to restrain a student to prevent bodily harm or death to the student or to another.”MPPOA sent a letter to its...

MN officials approve solar energy project expansion to power more than 150K homes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

Minnesota officials on Thursday approved plans for the expansion of a solar energy project that a utility says will be one of the largest in the country with the capability of powering more than 150,000 homes.The state Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy’s expansion of the Sherco Solar project, adding a 250-megawatt array to a 460-megawatt array now under construction. The utility says all phases of the project will be finished by 2025.The expansion will cost about $406 million, bringing Xcel’s total investment in the project to more than $1 billion, the utility said. The total 710-megawatt project will be enough to power more than 150,000 homes annually.The solar generation will be near an existing coal-fired plant in Becker, Minnesota, northwest of Minneapolis. When completed, the new power will replace electricity generated by a coal-fired plant that is set to be closed later this year.Xcel plans to close its three coal-fired plants in Becker by 2030.The commission a...

Inmate who escaped Mercy South Hospital back in custody

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - The search has ended for a convicted child sex offender who walked away from Mercy South Hospital early Thursday morning.Tommy Wayne Boyd was taken back into custody just before 8 p.m. Thursday in the Dierbergs parking lot on Old Route 66 (Watson Road) in Shrewsbury.Boyd, 45, was serving a 30-year sentence at the Potosi Correctional Center for statutory sodomy. He’d been taken to Mercy South for an undisclosed treatment. Boyd walked out of the main entrance at the hospital shortly before 4 a.m. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News SIGN UP NOW Authorities said Boyd was in the custody of two state corrections officers when he escaped. There was no physical confrontation when Boyd escaped, and no one was hurt.According to Misso...

Kiszla: Vance Joseph finds himself in familiar spot in Broncos Country: On the hot seat.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

With nobody in Broncos Country in a hurry to forgive the coaching sins of Vance Joseph, what part of making him the defensive coordinator did Sean Payton think was a good idea?I wanted to know what on earth motivated Joseph to tackle the difficult task of winning back the trust of Denver fans that were glad to see him go in 2018, when he was fired after losing 21 of 32 games as head coach.“For me, it was a chance to come back and do it right,” Joseph told me, without blinking an eye. “I had no issues coming back and reliving my head coaching time here. I’m OK with that.”I know for a fact a major reason why Vic Fangio told Payton to look elsewhere when the Broncos went shopping for a defensive coordinator was Uncle Vic didn’t want knuckleheads like me reminding him what a failure he was as the head coach in Denver from 2019-21.Why did Joseph take a job Uncle Vic wouldn’t touch?“For Vic, it was just too close (in time) for him to come back. And if it had been that close for me, I thin...

Suspect identified in Denver bar shooting that injured five

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

Denver police identified a woman suspected of shooting five people after being denied entry into a bar in the 1900 block of Market Street on Saturday night as Keanna Rosenburgh.An arrest warrant was issued for Rosenburgh for eight counts of first-degree attempted murder, the Denver Police Department announced on social media Thursday night. Police are seeking information about her whereabouts.UPDATE: 1/2 #Denver, do you have any information that can help us locate Keanna the suspect in this shooting? If so, please contact @CrimeStoppersCO at 720-913-STOP(7867)Please note, Keanna is wanted for 8 counts of Attempt Murder due to… pic.twitter.com/Pyh4kAfGyg— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) September 22, 2023Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Aurora police arrest suspect in fatal station at gas station Crime and Public Safety | Man arrested in Five Points shooting that killed two, injured others Crime and Public Safety | Denver ...

CU Buffs vs. Oregon Ducks football: How to watch, storylines and staff predictions for Pac-12 opener

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

No. 19 Colorado (3-0) at No. 10 Oregon (3-0)When/where: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MT/Autzen StadiumTV/Radio: KMGH-7 (ABC)/850 AMBetMGM Line: Oregon -21, 71.5 over/underWeather: Partly sunny with chance of rain; high near 70.Five storylinesBuffs, Sans Hunter: CU will be without star wideout/cornerback Travis Hunter for multiple weeks after he was injured in the first half of the Rocky Mountain Showdown. CSU safety Henry Blackburn leveled Hunter on a hit that drew an unsportsmanlike conduct call and later landed Hunter in the hospital with a lacerated liver. While the CU offense has enough skill talent to make up for his absence, the Buffs’ defense loses a lockdown defender on the outside and coach Deion Sanders said it will be “corner by committee” in Hunter’s place. But five-star freshman Cormani McClain will not be on that committee, Sanders said.Double-Digit ‘Dogs: The Buffs already pulled one mega-upset this year, upending the Vegas sportsbooks with their ...

Mentally ill patient who killed Southern California mother could be released

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

A mentally ill patient who killed a woman after a traffic collision in Orange County could be released after a judge considered the case on Thursday.In 1994, Leonard Patton, then 29, took a flight from Minnesota to Southern California. When he landed, he rented a car. While driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach, he got into a minor traffic accident with Jessica Uniack, 47, at around 9:45 a.m.When the two stopped to exchange information, Patton attacked and bludgeoned Uniack to death, police said.Patton then left his rented car at the scene and drove the victim’s car to Irvine Medical Center, where he abandoned the vehicle with Uniack inside, the Los Angeles Times reported.Uniack’s battered body was found under a pile of blankets and clothes in the passenger seat. She was on her way to deliver homemade cookies to a friend when the collision with Patton occurred.He was arrested later that night after being spotted by a driver walking along Newport Coast Drive.Leonard Patton, ...

Pittsburg man ID’d as recent Oakland homicide victim

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:52 GMT

OAKLAND — Police have identified a Pittsburg man who was shot and killed in an early morning Aug. 20 homicide.Michael K. Jones, 38, was killed a little before 3 a.m. on the 500 block of 17th Street in downtown Oakland. A second person who was with Jones escaped injury, police said.Police said Jones and his friend had been visiting night clubs in the area and were standing outside conversing with women when at least one person shot him from a passing vehicle. He was pronounced dead on the street.No arrests have been announced. Investigators have not released the suspected motive.Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821, 510-238-7950 or 510-238-3326. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 510-777-8572.Staff writer Harry Harris contributed to this report