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Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Bastrop County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Hail up to the size of ping pong balls has been reported from Fredericksburg to Georgetown and Liberty Hill from a complex of storms moving through the area.Storms are developing southward into the Austin area, and are capable of producing damaging hail and wind gusts. Over 3 inches of rain has fallen in Walnut Creek in North Austin, with observed rain rates over 1.5" in just 15 minutes. LIVE BLOG: Potential severe weather causes Central Texas cancellations A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for all of central Texas until 10 p.m. Remember, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for the development of storms. If a Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued then severe weather is happening or imminent and you need to act.Severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m.A broken line of storms is chugging slowly southeastward through the KXAN viewing area. Dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning and welcome rainfall are accompanying the severe weather threa...

Coon Rapids man gets 32 years in prison for beating, slashing neighbor to death last year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

A Coon Rapids man has been given a 32½-year prison term for killing his neighbor, who was found dead in his mobile home with head trauma and a slashed throat.An Anoka County jury on Feb. 22 found John Joseph Hare guilty of killing 62-year-old David Charles Nelson on or around Feb. 21, 2022. Jurors convicted Hare, 43, of second-degree intentional murder and second-degree unintentional murder-while committing a felony.John Joseph Hare, 43, DOB: 01/18/1980, of Coon Rapids, was sentenced to more than 32 years in prison on April 19, 2023 for killing 62-year-old David Charles Nelson on Feb. 21, 2022 in Coon Rapids. (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)Judge Todd Schoffelman handed down a 391-month sentence Wednesday.According to the criminal complaint, Coon Rapids police were called to Nelson’s home in the 10100 block of Wintergreen Street Northwest around 10:30 a.m. on a report that family members found him inside unconscious with signs of trauma. He was pronounced dead, ...

Police standoff in Mankato ends peacefully after nearly two days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

MANKATO, Minn. — A police standoff that started Tuesday involving a man accused of abducting his son last month ended peacefully Thursday.The city of Mankato posted on social media just after noon Thursday that the incident at Hilltop Lane Apartments “has been safely resolved and there was a peaceful resolution. Both father and son are safe, and there are no injuries.”The standoff started late Tuesday afternoon when police attempted to apprehend 29-year-old Walter Brown, according to a release from the city. Brown reportedly fled on foot, firing a gun at a pursuing officer, who wasn’t injured, before holing up in a nearby apartment in the Hilltop Lane area.Police issued a shelter in place order in the area, which was lifted Wednesday as negotiations with Brown continued. SWAT teams and other law enforcement personnel were seen gradually leaving the area late Thursday morning.Brown and the son, 2-year-old Koran Kory Brown, were taken to the hospital in Mankato...

Citing pay and working conditions, Forest Lake school bus drivers give notice of intent to strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

School bus drivers in Forest Lake could strike as early as May 2 if an agreement with Forest Lake Area School District isn’t reached by then.Citing low wages and long work days, the union that represents the district’s 76 school bus drivers and special education bus aides notified district officials on Friday that they had filed an intent to strike with the state Bureau of Mediation Services. That action triggers an automatic 10-day cooling-off period, which is required under state law.The potential strike would impact students who attend Forest Lake Area Schools, Lakes International Language Academy, North Lakes Academy and St. Peter Catholic School.A Teamsters Local 320 official said Thursday that the school district can’t hire enough bus drivers to fill open slots because pay is 12 percent “under market.” Drivers in the district start at $18.60 an hour; drivers in the Cambridge School District make $25.50 an hour, said Amy Perusse, negotiator and business agent for the union. One...

The relationship of Low’s Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker fuels the new doc ‘Cue the Strings’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Duluth trio Low has always been a remarkable and unusual band, so it makes perfect sense that the new documentary “Cue the Strings: A Film About Low” is also both remarkable and unusual.The film is screening Friday and Saturday at Minneapolis’ Main Cinema as part of the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.As expected, “Cue the Strings” is not a traditional documentary. Instead, it’s a series of Low’s music videos pieced together with concert and backstage footage and other outtakes to create a sort of cinematic tone poem that traces the band’s nearly three-decade career.Local director Phil Harder — who will join Low’s Alan Sparhawk for post-screening Q&A sessions — was able to create the film thanks to a relationship he’s had with the band since the very start.“Cue the Strings” opens with footage from Low’s first music video, for “Words,” which they shot on a frozen Lake Superior with Harder and a 16mm camera. Ha...

Greenfield man pleads guilty to criminal sex act charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

GREENFIELD, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Greenfield man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Super Bowl party in February has pleaded guilty. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Charles Semzock, 37, is accused of assaulting a woman in a storage room at a home in Greenfield. Other people at the home forced their way into the storage room to help her.Semzock pleaded guilty to a felony Attempted Criminal Sexual Act charge. He will be sentenced in June.

Hail damage reported in Lincoln County  

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

TROY, Mo. - Residents living in Troy, Missouri, reported downpours of hail Thursday afternoon.“The neighbors across the street were in their garage watching it, and I couldn’t even see out my front window,” said Taylor Jones, a Troy resident.The Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency was monitoring conditions and reports the damage does not appear to be severe. Top Story: Severe storms possible Thursday afternoon and evening “We had a lot of leaves stuck to vehicles, and homes have had some reports of minor damage to sidings and shingles,” said Adam Stanek, Lincoln County EMA director.He encouraged residents to sign up for the county’s emergency alert system to help be weather prepared.

Thefts prompt 17 states, including Colorado, to urge recall of Kia, Hyundai cars

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Attorneys general in Colorado and 16 states on Thursday urged the federal government to recall millions of Kia and Hyundai cars because they are too easy to steal, a response to a sharp increase in thefts fueled by a viral social media challenge.Some Kia and Hyundai cars sold in the United States over the last decade do not have engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars that prevents the engine from starting unless the key is present.Videos circulating on the social media service TikTok have shown how people can start Kia and Hyundai models by using only a screwdriver and a USB cable. In Los Angeles, thefts of Hyundai and Kia cars increased by about 85% in 2022, now accounting for 20% of all car thefts in the city, according to the California attorney general’s office.These social media-inspired thefts have often ended in tragedy, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blaming the stolen car trend for 14 reported crashes and eig...

Pasadena man gets 10 years in federal prison for fraudulent EDD card use, meth, weapons possession 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

A man from Pasadena was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Thursday for using dozens of fraudulently obtained Employment Development Department (EDD) cards to fraudulently withdraw nearly $1 million in cash and for possessing methamphetamine and ammunition. Robert Sloan Mateer, 32, was also ordered to pay $937,173 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to one count of use of unauthorized access devices, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition in November 2022. Mateer, whose criminal history includes a felony conviction for taking a vehicle without consent, was pulled over for a traffic violation in Pasadena with 36-year-old Los Angeles native and co-conspirator Sarah Taylor Brown on Oct. 1, 2020.   Arrests made in $10M Arizona-to-California recycling fraud case Authorities searched Mateer’s Maserati SUV and found approximately 85 grams of methamphetamine, two cell phones with deb...

Major San Bernardino Mountain road under emergency repair due to winter storm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

A major mountain road near Lake Arrowhead is undergoing emergency repairs due to severe damages caused by winter storms. Caltrans crews have been working to repair Route 189 between North Bay Road and State Route 173 since April 4. Crews observed large cracks in the pavement along with the retaining wall below being bulged and are working on a layering system repair, according to Emily Leinen with Caltrans District 8. “It is going to be a layering system repair so that means we’re going to be putting down material and then a rock blanket, and then concrete, and we just keep building those layers up,” Leinen said. Caltrans crews are also working to repair guardrail and potholes caused by the storm, which officials say will take time because the ground is still saturated. Local residents are concerned with the damages and potholes and are hoping to see repairs soon. “I’ve seen a couple of crews but we were talking on our way here that we could really...