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Cooler air today and tomorrow from this morning's cold front

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Severe thunderstorms roamed the Hill Country Friday night. Hail was an issue for a few areas. Valley Spring, northwest of Llano, reported hen egg-sized (2" in diameter). There were two reports of walnut-sized hail (1.50" in diameter) at Cherokee (San Saba County. Friday night/Saturday morning rain totals found the higher numbers in the Hill Country. There were many areas that measured more than an inch, topped 2.48" at a gauge 6 miles east-northeast of Willow City (Gillespie County). More beneficial rain for the Hill Country Central Texas Rain Totals Most areas east of I-35 did not measure as much. Based on this morning's radar it looks like the additional rain this morning will range to between .05" and .10". INVESTIGATION: LCRA didn't plan for climate change until KXAN investigation Saturday afternoon will be mainly dry with most highs below normal. North winds near 10+ mph will keep today's temperatures on the cooler side. Today's normal high is 88°Highs to...

Austin serial killer: Servant girl murderer terrorized city in 1800s

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- While current Austin is known for its music scene and its cultural life, there is also some dark history. In the 1880s, a killing spree ensued in Austin, according to an excerpt from the novel "The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer," which was published in a 2016 Texas Monthly article.A total of seven women were murdered and the boyfriend of one of the victims was attacked with knives, axes, bricks or iron rods, the article said.The murders happened over the course of one year, beginning in December 1884.The Austin Police Department at the time was "baffled" by the murders taking place and tried using different tactics to find evidence at each crime scene, according to a documentary about the murders on PBS.But who were the victims, why were they murdered and why did these murders go unsolved? Numerous theories have circulated, according to the documentary.Who were the victims?Mollie SmithOn New Year's Eve night in 188...

Twins’ Rocco Baldelli: We’re sticking with Jax

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Hundreds of feet from the action, in the bullpen in left field, Jhoan Duran was preparing himself in the seventh inning. It would seem he was preparing to face superstar Shohei Ohtani.But he didn’t.Twins manager Rocco Baldelli opted to let Griffin Jax face Ohtani, after he already had given up a single and a triple, wiping away the Twins’ one-run advantage. Jax’s 3-2 pitch to the star came close to clipping the corner but was called ball four. Jax was left in to face the next hitter, too, and surrendered the go-ahead run on a Hunter Renfroe single in the Twins’ 5-4 loss on Friday night at Angel Stadium.“Jax needs to, in his role, needs to go out there and pitch and find his way through innings,” Baldelli said. “ … He’s a key member of our ‘pen, and we’re going to lean on him still at times, even though he’s not throwing the ball as well as he can. … I know it was not an easy decision, but we’re going to let him pitch in this situation.”So, what situation was ...

A $12 million ancient Mexican artifact has been seized in Colorado. Now the “Earth Monster” is headed back home.

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

The Mexican delegation stood on the tarmac Friday afternoon near Denver International Airport, waiting under hazy skies for a forklift to deliver a wooden box, the contents of which archaeologists have been searching for nearly two decades.Inside that box — 95 inches tall, 46 inches wide, emblazoned with the Mexican flag — sat a 2,000-pound, elaborately carved stone from the ancient Olmec civilization, a precursor to the Mayans who thrived more than 2,500 years ago near the Gulf of Mexico.The prized relic, known as Monument 9 or the Earth Monster, was carefully crafted between 800 and 400 B.C. out of volcanic rock, archaeologists believe. Its wide mouth represents the door to the underworld.“This is one of the pieces we have been looking for for the longest time,” said Jorge Islas, Mexico’s consul general in New York.Authorities believe the stone artifact was stolen in the late 1950s or early 1960s from the central Mexican state of Morelos. It was last ...

ChatFished: How to lose friends and alienate people with AI

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

Five hours is enough time to watch a New York Mets game. It is enough time to listen to the Spice Girls’ “Spice” album (40 minutes), Paul Simon’s “Paul Simon” album (42 minutes) and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (his longest). It is enough time to roast a chicken, text your friends that you’ve roasted a chicken and prepare for an impromptu dinner party.Or you could spend it checking your email. Five hours is about how long many workers spend on email each day. And 90 minutes on the messaging platform Slack.It’s a weird thing, workplace chatter such as email and Slack: It’s sometimes the most delightful and human part of the workday. It can also be mind-numbing to manage your inbox — to the extent you might wonder: Couldn’t a robot do this?In late April, I decided to see what it would be like to let artificial intelligence into my life. I resolved to do an experiment. For one week, I would write all my work communication — emails, Slack messages, pitches, follow-ups with...

Pixel 7A review: We’re running out of reasons to splurge on a “pro” phone

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

Not long ago, there were plenty of compelling reasons to spend upward of $900 on a smartphone. Nowadays, you’ll have to come up with an excuse to pay that much.I ran out of reasons to splurge and stopped buying fancier phones with the “Pro” moniker over the past two years. That’s not just because I’m frugal. Cheaper phones have increasingly become indistinguishable from high-end ones, and the few features that set them apart rarely justify the extra cost.Google’s new budget phone that arrives in stores this week, the Pixel 7A, is the latest testament to the maturation of the smartphone market, and it presents an opportunity to save money. The entry-level handset, priced at $500, is in many ways on par with its premium counterpart, the Pixel 7 Pro, which cost $900. And based on my testing for a week, I would recommend the budget model for most Android users.Bear with me as I break from the tradition of reviewing a phone’s features. Putting the Pixel 7A’s value into perspective requir...

Community advocates immediately criticize Colorado’s newly adopted environmental justice rules

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

The people responsible for cleaning up Colorado’s air applauded themselves this week for creating historic new policies intended to protect residents most vulnerable to pollution, but the people those rules are supposed to benefit say they’re disappointed.Recommendations from people who represent the Latino, Black, Indigenous and immigrant communities situated near major sources of pollution were ignored by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission and the state’s Air Pollution Control Division, Patricia Garcia-Nelson of Green Latinos Colorado said Friday.“I would like the agency to show us where they implemented community feedback because so far we don’t see it,” Garcia-Nelson said. “We have been explicitly clear. I will go as far as to say the agency is lying when they say they are considering our input.”The Air Quality Control Commission spent the better part of three days this week listening to proposals as it crafted the new environme...

Warriors offseason: The misconceptions around Jordan Poole

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Before the NBA season began, Steve Kerr called Jordan Poole part of the Warriors’ “foundational six” alongside Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.In the latter part of this Warriors dynasty, that responsibility carries weight. Amid Poole’s disappointing and messy season, that designation was forgotten.The Warriors signed Poole to a four-year, $128 million contract because they saw him as someone who could help usher in a few more title runs in the Curry era and possibly carry the torch after the Big Three retire or move on. But the fanbase’s faith waned rapidly as Poole’s clumsy turnovers, poor 3-point shooting and outward disdain for being benched coincided with Golden State’s mediocre sixth-seed finish and early playoff exit.Under duress, Poole didn’t mimic the composure his future Hall of Fame teammates had when times got tough a decade ago.Because of his disappointing y...

Borenstein: Blue-state California lawmakers also undermining democracy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

Californians will face longer ballots next year as state lawmakers keep undermining democratic principles by putting their thumbs on the election scale.The ballot explanations for costly state and local measures, which should be informative but neutral, continue to be turned into opportunities for political propaganda.California’s attorneys general have often slanted the wording on statewide ballot measures. And for local spending measures, officials have abandoned plain language, often refusing even to identify taxes as taxes.The ballot politicization is about to get worse. Starting next year, candidates for office can campaign on the ballot by affixing their names to support or opposition of state or local measures. And a pending bill would provide even more space for electoral puffery.As liberal Californians express understandable outrage about red-state assaults on voting rights, they should also worry about more subtle, but similarly insidious, moves here to skew election outco...

Preakness day arrives with horse racing in spotlight, Triple Crown still a possibility

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:19:59 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Preakness day has arrived with horse racing in the spotlight and Kentucky Derby winner Mage having a shot at being the first Triple Crown champion in five years.It’s not the spotlight the sport would like, though, after seven horses died at Churchill Downs in the leadup to the Derby. Two parallel investigations are ongoing into those deaths and a recent eighth death at the Louisville track to determine the causes.But with new national medication and doping rules set to go into effect next week, the industry is at something of a crossroads. The federally mandated Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which already regulated racetrack safety and other measures, starting Monday will oversee drug testing requirements for horses that should standardize the sport nationwide.Before that, Mage has a chance in the Preakness to provide some on-track excitement. If he finishes first in the field of seven horses, the smallest in the race since 1986, he can go to Belmont o...