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Texas lawmakers consider bills to end driver license holds based on unpaid fines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texans who spent years unable to renew their driver's licenses over unpaid, and for some – unaffordable, traffic tickets pleaded with lawmakers Tuesday to repeal a state program dating back to 1996.The program called Failure to Pay and Appear allows judges to order a hold on a Texas driver renewing their license if they fail to appear in court or pay a misdemeanor traffic ticket.OmniBase Service of Texas is the only company contracted to operate the system for the Department of Public Safety Driver License Division and the hundreds of participating counties. Drivers are required to pay a fee to OmniBase in addition to the traffic ticket to renew their license.   ‘How can you wait 6 months?’ Texans report long waits to get a driver license Fernando Martinez, a construction worker, told lawmakers a traffic ticket he received when he was 19 years old – which he said he was unable to afford at the time, led to a 17-year-long cycle of fines and fees to get his lice...

'That's not fair housing': Latest issues related to housing discrimination claims in Austin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Knowing your rights is critical, to make sure you're not being discriminated against in the housing market.The City of Austin's Civil Rights Division is bringing some fair housing issues to light."An increased and the number of folks [saying] 'Hey, I've been in this home renting as a renter for 15 years,' and all of a sudden, because of the housing market, people are charging, increased prices that are beyond their salaries," Interim Director with the City of Austin's Civil Rights Department, Dr. Tamela Saldana said. "That's not fair housing."Zenobia Joseph, an Army Veteran and Austin renter said she's facing eviction because her complex wants her to switch units. Joseph said she's lived in her current unit for 20 years. "It was just well, you can just move someplace else on the property," Joseph said. "You're then telling me my rent will go up $150 if I move!"According to Joseph, her fair housing case is going to court. She hoped to find direction and resources Wed...

Where do the 5 Texas Longhorns fall in ESPN's full mock NFL Draft?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Predicting any kind of draft is essentially an act of futility. It might be obvious where the top players could be selected, but anything after that, it's mostly conjecture and nobody knows until it happens. ESPN's Matt Miller decided he'd give it a shot, anyway.Miller, one of the network's NFL draft analysts, put together not just a mock draft for the first round, but all seven rounds. And like most folks who consider themselves experts in guessing what front offices will do, he sees Bijan Robinson going off the board in the first round.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersHe sees the Los Angeles Chargers taking the Longhorn great at No. 21. He quoted an NFL general manager saying Robinson could go as high as No. 10 to the Philadelphia Eagles. In a recent interview on the ESPN program NFL Live, Robinson said he'd like to play with Eagles quarterback Jalen H...

'It can and has destroyed families': Travis County fentanyl deaths more than double between 2021, 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Fentanyl-involved accidental overdoses more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, as Travis County leaders detail an ongoing public health crisis.The 2022 annual report from the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed there were 417 accidental overdose fatalities countywide in 2022, with 245 of those linked to fentanyl. By comparison, 308 total people died from fatal accidental overdoses in 2021, with 118 of those involving fentanyl."The problem has grown significantly worse," Travis County Judge Andy Brown said during a press conference Wednesday morning. As Travis County nears its fiscal year 2023-24 budget approval, Brown said he will be asking county commissioners for $750,000 next fiscal year to support an overdose fund. He said the necessity to build a more robust response network and expand its critical infrastructure and support for community partners is critical.At the state level, Brown called on politicians to approve a number of init...

Texas Doula Association formed to advocate for growing profession

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- In order to better advocate and regulate professional birth companions, or doulas, in Texas, several doula groups in the state formed the Texas Doula Association (TDA), announcing it in a press release on April 19.“We couldn’t be more excited to start this new chapter in doula advocacy in Texas. We believe that doulas can and will create happier, healthier pregnancy, birth, and parenting experiences for Texans," said TDA President Qiana Arnold in the release.The organization's scope covers "all types of doulas" from "full-spectrum" doulas, who focus on the reproductive process, and end-of-life doulas, who focus on death.According to the group's website, it is focused on establishing a high standard of care, reducing barriers to entering the profession and better integration with Medicaid. The organization is already working with Texas lawmakers on bills to advance these goals.TDA Secretary Quanisha McGruder said that the organization came together quickly earlier th...

Texas sprinter Julien Alfred on a quest to become the fast woman alive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Julien Alfred has been tremendously successful this year, winning the 200 meters and the 60 meters at the NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, setting collegiate records for both. According to Alfred, it's been an arduous process to get to that level and it's not just in the physical sense. "Seeing myself and picturing myself as one of the best, has helped me a lot," Alfred said. It's helped her become an 11-time All-American and this year's USTFCCA Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Year. "I'm a winner and I like to win and that's what drives me to be the best," Alfred said. In fact, she was so good at the indoor championships that she even beat her own collegiate record six times in the 60 meter dash her time of 6.94 was the second best time in that event ever, ran by college or professional athlete. Despite achieving such marks, she refuses to settle. "I think having the mindset that there's somebody coming and trying to stay on top I thin...

After slow start, Twins’ Jose Miranda breaks through at plate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

The hopeful signs were there for Jose Miranda.After spending the first part of the season hitting the ball into the ground repeatedly, he finally had started feeling more like himself at the plate. And Wednesday, the third baseman slugged his first two home runs of the season, driving in three Twins six runs in a 12-6 loss to the New York Yankees.“This is the type of day we were looking to see from him,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The types of at-bats he’s had over the last week were signaling positive things for Jose, and he was making some better decisions. He was, again, using the whole field. He was doing the things we wanted to see that eventually lead to bigger swings.”Miranda was hitless during the first two games of the series, but had been 7 for 19 (.368) in the five games before that, as he started to get the results he sought at the plate.“The past few games felt OK, but the five or six games before that, something was starting to click a little bit,” Miranda said. “Hi...

Scheibel, Bolon, Carlson, Ploger: For Hamline University, a phoenix moment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

It has been a tumultuous year for Hamline University. The crisis about academic freedom and diversity centered us in a debate that was reported across the globe.Now a working group of students, faculty and staff are beginning an assessment process to discover what is needed to bring the campus together. The crisis has made us examine how to be a vibrant and relevant institution of higher education in today’s world.Hamline University is poised for a phoenix moment. In mythology, the phoenix is a firebird that arises reborn from its own ashes.It’s an important moment for Minnesota’s oldest university as it has the opportunity to rise up.Hamline may not be unique from other private liberal-arts institutions in its needs for contemporary branding, a rich curriculum, met-budgets, and strong enrollment. However, what Hamline has faced in early 2023 has provided it an opportunity to “take the lead” in reimagining itself. And that makes it unique.As is typical of colleges and universi...

Other voices: Stop sniping and work on stopping fentanyl gangs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

A round of indictments against a major Mexican fentanyl trafficking ring last week presents an opportunity to hobble the multinational drug enterprise killing people on both sides of the border — but only if leaders in the United States and Mexico can stop sniping at each other and overcome a rift between them.U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, announcing the indictments against Sinaloa cartel leaders and other alleged drug traffickers Friday, called it “the largest, most violent and prolific fentanyl traffic operation in the world.” But it didn’t take long for Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to question the investigation that led to the charges against Los Chapitos, four sons of the infamous drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, known as El Chapo and believed to have handed leadership of the Sinaloa cartel to his sons. López Obrador on Monday accused the U.S. government of spying and violating Mexico’s national sovereignty.Such discord is, unfort...

Woman dealing with nesting neighbor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:17:53 GMT

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) - As spring has sprung and nature comes back to life, a turf war is developing in Schoharie Village and NEWS10 is on the frontlines.Here in the village of Schoharie where most neighbors get along, one woman is battling it out with the community’s newest residents. No names added to DWI Victims Memorial, this year Meredith Foster has a new neighbor 10 feet from her back porch that she says threatens her safety.“They started moving in in 2019. They started scoping out my property,” said Foster.These neighbors don’t just live next door, they live in a tree. Meredith has named him Daryl and says she has been dive-bombed several times by him and his family, while working in her backyard or relaxing on the patio.“They are very aggressive. And if you make a movement, they don’t like, they can go for you,” said Foster.She says she has reached out to several agencies for help with her fickle feathered friends, including the Department of Environmental Conservation....