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Shoal Creek Conservancy holding event to remove trash out of creek bed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Shoal Creek Conservancy, along with Austin's Watershed and Resource Recovery departments, is hosting an inaugural event to clean up the trash and litter that is affecting one of Austin's creek beds. The Shoal Creek Shopping Cart Corral will happen this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at five different locations along the creek bed. This comes almost a year after the city released a report on the amount of trash that fills Austin creek beds. The type of trash littering our creeks Ivey Kaiser is the executive director of the Shoal Creek Conservancy. She regularly walks along the urban trail adjacent to the creek to see which spots need the most cleaning. "Lots of takeout containers. Lots and lots of drink containers," Kaiser explained of the trash she sees in the creek. The 2022 Watershed department report found that pretty much anything can be found inside the creek, including electric scooters, but the most common item found is single-use plastics like water bot...

Meteor showers over Texas; how these light shows dazzle every year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Making a wish on a shooting star is easy if you know when to look up. Each year, thousands of meteors rain down on Earth. The majority of these are small, the size of a grain of sand, and they can create dazzling light shows in our night sky.In this First Warning Weather University lesson, chief meteorologist David Yeomans takes a closer look at meteor showers and how they happen.In this lesson you will learn:What is a meteor?Where do they come from?When are the biggest meteor showers each year?What else can you learn in First Warning Weather University:How does a 400-year old tool predict the weather?Why do some clouds look a little stranger than others?Lake Travis sometimes stinks more than usual and this is why.

Schenectady PD hosting civilian police academy in the Fall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Schenectady Police Department will be hosting a civilian police academy in tandem with other local law enforcement agencies this fall. Those interested in taking part may fill out a survey given by the police department online. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The survey gauges civilians' interest in possible topics covered, how long the course should be, how many sessions would be held weekly, etc. Those who aren't interested in joining are still encouraged to fill out the survey. In 2022, the Albany Police Department held a citizens' police academy in the Spring of 2022. Per the citizens' police academy webpage on Albany's website, their academy offered "a unique opportunity to increase understanding between citizens who live in or work in the City and Albany Police through education." Weekly classes were offered to cover several topics, help dispel misconceptions, and build trust between cit...

On the rebound? QB Russell Wilson and three other Broncos bounce-back candidates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

Denver’s veteran players reported to training camp Tuesday and the first of 12 open practices is Friday.The roster will be sliced and diced and analyzed in all sorts of ways between now and the cutdown from 90 players to 53 on Aug. 29.Today, a look at five Broncos bounce-back candidates.QB Russell WilsonThis list has to start with Wilson, who turned in the worst season of his career in 2022. Coach Sean Payton has said all along that nobody involved with that team got away without some dirt on their hands. He ratcheted up that rhetoric in an interview with USA TODAY this week, saying Wilson still has “gas in the tank.” Added Payton: “There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know (Nathaniel) Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it.” That would certainly be a welcome development for the Broncos. R...

Nearly 200 million people in the U.S. are under heat or flood advisories

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

Nearly 200 million people in the United States, or 60% of the U.S. population, are under a heat advisory or flood warning or watch as high temperatures spread and new areas are told to expect severe storms.The National Weather Service said a “dangerous” heat wave began to scorch the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Thursday and will continue into the weekend. Severe thunderstorms and flash floods are possible for parts of the Northeast and South, New England and South Florida. Meanwhile, the string of record-breaking temperatures will persist for the Southwest and Midwest.“It's (hitting) all the big cities,” said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. “That's why the population (affected) is so high.” Former Trump administration lawyer on Mar-a-Lago investigation: ‘The evidence is so overwhelming’ Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, will lead to more and prolonged bouts of extreme ...

Review: ‘Beanie Bubble’ channels the crazed ’90s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

By Jake Coyle | Associated PressWho knew so many movie ideas could be found while rummaging through your attic?This year we’ve had movies on Tetris ( “Tetris” ), Nike ( “Air” ), Blackberry ( “Blackberry” ) and Cheetos ( “Flamin’ Hot” ). The latest is “The Beanie Bubble,” a comic drama about the Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s.We once debated the ethics of product placement in movies — now the product IS the movie. It may not say entirely wonderful things about our capitalistic society that we’re pumping out big-screen movies and streaming-service content that exalts the stories behind snacks, sneaks and stuffies.“The Beanie Bubble,” which lands on Apple TV+ Friday, may be part of a ’20s trend but its interest is unpacking a late-20th century phenomenon and the some of the women exploited along the way. Zach Galifianakis plays Ty Warner, the chief executive of Ty Inc., the maker of the stuf...

Northern California man to face trial in 1995 Santa Clara County slaying

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — Family members of a Watsonville woman left beneath a highway overpass with fatal injuries to her head more than 28 years ago burst into tears Thursday in a court hallway.Just moments earlier, Santa Cruz County Superior Court visiting Judge Gary Paden ruled that defendant John Laroche would be held to answer on a charge of murder in Gloria Hassemer’s 1995 homicide, with a special enhancement for a so-called second strike serious criminal offense.Among family gathered for this week’s hearings were Hassemer’s two children, who were just teenagers when their mother was killed.“I didn’t think it would be this hard, after so many years,” said Hassemer’s son, Richard Hassemer. “I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re just happy with all the work that the Sheriff’s department has done.”Richard Hassemer and his sister, Niya Hassemer, said they felt their mother’s case had been “pushed in a corner” over the years, though they remained hopeful as the use of DNA a...

Wendy’s debuts a Frosty version of cold brew coffee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

Wendy’s is tapping into the popularity of its Frosty dairy desserts for a new caffeinated beverage.It’s called Frosty Cream Cold Brew, and it’s brew made from slow-steeped coffee beans and Frosty creamer, according to the chain.The beverage is offered in three choices of syrup: vanilla, chocolate and caramel. The latter is a new flavor.The original Frosty, which is thicker than a milkshake, was one of the burger chain’s five original menu items, according to a blog from John Li, vice president of culinary innovation. It includes a video of a caramel cold brew being mixed.Prices vary by location, but a spot check of Wendy’s website showed a range of about $2.99-$3.79.App users can get a small cold brew for 99 cents through Aug. 6, according to a news release.Information: wendys.comRelated ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | 10 hostess hacks to make your food look better than it is Restaurants, Food and Drink | Oakland Zoo unveils a chocolate bar full of ...

How Disneyland influenced Tiki culture and continues to shape the kitsch movement today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

Disneyland is considered hallowed ground for fans of Tiki culture who make annual pilgrimages in Hawaiian shirts, straw hats and puka shell necklaces to sip mai tais at Trader Sam’s and visit the crowning glory of the kitsch movement — Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.Disneyland’s Tiki history stretches from the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction, Tahitian Terrace restaurant and Don the Beachcomber food stand to the Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar cocktail lounge, Tropical Hideaway grab-and-go dining area and Tikiland Day annual event.Brothers sip Uh Oa!, after the cocktail was lit up, at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar, Disneyland Hotel, in Anaheim. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG) Tiki culture was born in the 1930s as U.S. travel opened to Polynesian, Caribbean, Hawaiian and South Pacific islands. Cultural appropriation spawned themed bars and Hollywood movies that tapped into Americans’ escapist fascination with the romantic and adventurous tropical settin...

Skelton: Sacramento lawmakers are brewing a massive borrowing binge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:22 GMT

Left to their individual desires, California legislators would go on a massive borrowing binge.They’d sell bonds to fund ambitious projects such as housing and treating homeless people who are mentally ill, controlling floods and updating classrooms — all worthy projects.But should they be paid for with borrowed money that, with interest, roughly doubles the projects’ cost? Or should they be financed with cash out of the state banking account, the general fund?Here’s an example of the opposition bond backers will face when their proposals are debated in the Capitol next month and eventually hit the ballot:“Why is a bond — any bond — necessary?” asks Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., named after the anti-tax crusader who sponsored the landmark Proposition 13 in 1978 that substantially cut property taxes.“Despite a drop-off in state tax collections, California continues to produce massive amounts of tax revenue from the highest-in-the-nation income tax rate, ...