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Travis County commissioners to revisit Central Health's budget Tuesday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The back and forth over what Central Health should be charging you and what services should be provided with that money continues this week. The board overseeing Travis County's health district took another pass at its budget Monday after Travis County commissioners questioned their first proposal, but several Central Health Board of Managers members expressed frustration about why they had to return to the table. "When the commissioner's court says you have the money to do this, it's an extremely myopic view of our whole equity plan," said Dr. Manuel Martin, a member of the board.The budget right now includes movement toward Central Health's seven-year plan, which includes major investments in staff, facilities and other projects aimed to provide more equitable health care to the people in Travis County struggling the most. Central Health staff said it's been increasing its reserves to build out that health care system with the goal of meeting the dema...

'Production is going to be significantly lower': Texas pecan farmer worries about heat, drought, prices

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

SEGUIN, Texas (KXAN) — At his farm 38 Pecans in Seguin, Mark Walls nervously inspects the 2,700 trees on his 500 acres of land. A vast majority are pecans, and dozens didn't make it.After a summer of brutal heat and drought, he's already found 59 mature trees that'll need to be removed and another 38 trees younger than five years old that have died. The sign above the farm at '38 Pecans' in Seguin. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey) While he's able to at least partially irrigate his trees, it doesn't make up for the lack of rain and long stretches of triple-digit temperatures. Walls talked with KXAN about the steps he's taking to keep his trees alive and how the weather could impact pecan prices as the harvest season gets underway. Pecan trees at the '38 Pecans' farm in Seguin. Pecan trees at the '38 Pecans' farm in Seguin. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)Pecan at the '38 Pecans' farm in Seguin. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)Pecan trees at the '38 Pecans' farm in Seguin. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)Tom Miller:...

Proud to Serve: Eric Hartman of Collinsville receives $500 and our Proud to Serve award

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Eric Hartman was born and raised in Collinsville, Illinois, a community where he gives back dozens of hours as a volunteer member of the Collinsville club of Shriner’s. Eric has over 15 years of service in the Illinois Air National Guard at Scott Air Force Base. He has been deployed overseas multiple times throughout his military career. He loves to give back and help kids, along with the sixty or so members of the Collinsville Shriner’s. Eric is also a huge CITY SC soccer fan and enjoys fundraising and participating in Collinsville events. His wife nominated Eric, and she tells us:"Eric has been a member of the ILANG for 16 years, working full time for them the last ten. He has deployed three times in the last four years and five times in his military career. In addition to working and his deployments, he is a member of the Ainad Shriners, where he volunteers countless hours every year to raise money for the St. Louis Shriners Hospital ...

Denver weather: Another day of above-normal heat expected

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

Just as the arrival of fall brought some excitement, temperatures in Denver have risen well above normal with no end in sight.Highs in the 80s are expected through next week. Tuesday’s high is 84 degrees, with clear skies and not much wind.There may be a few clouds over the mountains that drift east in the evening, but there will still be plenty of sunshine today with light winds. #cowx pic.twitter.com/tjZDhZS0Af— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) September 26, 2023Tuesday’s low is a chill 53 degrees with winds between 6 mph and 10 mph. Gusts could be up to 15 mph.The rest of the week’s forecasts look nearly identical, but highs will climb even higher. Thursday has the warmest expected high of 87 degrees.The next rain chance is Sunday, when there will be only a slight chance of storms.Related ArticlesWeather | Xcel Energy’s winter forecast: Heating bills up in October, but 35% lower than last year Weather | Colorado logs coldest temps...

Uber strikes deal to partner with SoCal taxi operators

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

A multi-year partnership between Uber and Los Angeles Yellow Cab was announced early Tuesday morning. Under the deal, Uber will combine its operations with Los Angeles Yellow Cab's five partner taxi fleets in Southern California, including, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.Taxi drivers will gain access to Uber trip referrals, which should provide drivers with better earnings opportunities, a news release stated. “We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Uber because it’s a clear win-win for drivers and riders,” said William Rouse, CEO of the taxi operations.The deal provides drivers with more earnings opportunities and riders with faster pickups, officials said. “Uber’s ride referrals are going to help fill in our slower times and keep the drivers busy making money. Drivers are going to benefit from this partnership for a long time to come,” Yellow Cab of Los Angeles board member and long-time owner-operator Aydin Kavak said.The six Southern California taxi compan...

L.A. model fears for her safety after deaths of 2 other models

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

As authorities investigate the mysterious deaths of two models in downtown Los Angeles, a third model living in the area is frightened and worried about her own safety. Brittany Mason, 26, a successful model working in the fashion and beauty industries, lives at Skye at Bunker Hill luxury apartments on Figueroa street, the same complex where model and real estate agent Maleesa Mooney was brutally killed. She wants to move as soon as possible, but says the landlord is refusing to cooperate. Mason says she doesn’t feel safe after the murder of Mooney in her apartment on September 12. She says she’s seen people sleeping in the stairwells and other activity in the complex that makes her uncomfortable.26-year-old L.A. model Brittany Mason fears for her safety after mysterious deaths of two L.A. models"Initially, the unit across from me, people were subleasing it so I was seeing different people coming in and out every day and the other thing was, at one point, people were havin...

Hunter Biden sues Giuliani for allegedly 'hacking' and disseminating his data

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

Hunter Biden is suing Rudy Giuliani for “total annihilation” of his digital privacy and data, filing a civil suit over the former mayor's involvement in disseminating information he purported to be from Biden’s laptop.“Defendants are among those who have been primarily responsible for what has been described as the ‘total annihilation’ of Plaintiff’s digital privacy,” Biden’s attorneys wrote in the suit.“For the past many months and even years, Defendants have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy toward looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff’s devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff’s alleged ‘laptop’ computer,” they wrote, noting the data actually came from an external hard drive.The suit, filed in California, alleged that Giulilani violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as ...

High school football rankings Week 6, 2023: Bay Area News Group Top 25

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

There wasn’t much movement in the upper half of this week’s Bay Area News Group football rankings, but there were a few notable leaps in the bottom half.California and Campolindo made the biggest jumps.Both moved up six spots after impressive victories in Week 5. Campolindo rolled on the road over Monte Vista 38-14. California, coming off a three-point loss at Pittsburg in Week 4, routed previously undefeated Milpitas 48-6.California is now 12th, Campo 16th.St. Francis moved from 13th to 10th after winning its West Catholic Athletic League opener over Archbishop Mitty 42-20. The Mountain View school visits No. 1 Serra on Saturday.Liberty, which gave up 42 points in the first quarter and lost at San Ramon Valley 66-12 on Friday, fell 10 spots to No. 21.If you have not already, please subscribe here for digital access all season. Your contributions keep us going.On to the rankings …Bay Area News Group Top 25(Mercury News & East Bay Times)No. 1 SERRA (4-0)Previous ranki...

Stanford scandals stain Silicon Valley’s favorite university

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

By Janet Lorin, Biz Carson and Sarah McBride | BloombergAs a new crop of undergraduates starts classes at Stanford University this week — having beaten out tens of thousands of other applicants — they’ll encounter reminders at every turn of the school’s wealth, prestige and deep ties to Silicon Valley.Buildings emblazoned with the names of tech luminaries such as Hewlett and Gates. A new climate school funded by a $1.1 billion donation last year from venture capitalist John Doerr. Twenty living Nobel laureates connected to the university, including four since 2020.But behind the scenes, there are some less-impressive occurrences. A search is underway for a new president after the resignation of neuroscientist Marc Tessier-Lavigne following questions over his research. The Stanford name has been dragged into the scandal surrounding FTX, founded by the son of two law professors, leading the school to pledge to return millions of dollars from the bankrupt crypto exchange.And in the Sil...

Your winter holiday travels may finally cost less this year

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:50:11 GMT

By Daryl Austin | BloombergIf last year’s holiday vacation sticker shock was too much for you, you might find winter travel in 2023 more appealing—though an unusual Christmas break schedule could upend your plans.“Room rates have rebounded a bit from the 2022 holiday season—when they rose 50% from pre-pandemic levels—but they are still up considerably from 2019 in many places,” explains Patrick Scholes, managing director for lodging and leisure equity research at Truist Securities, an investment firm based in Atlanta.Also affecting holiday travel this year is the fact that Christmas and New Years Day will both fall on a Monday, something that happens roughly every seven years. “When this happens, it pushes the holiday into a very short window because it’s not clear when the second week of Christmas vacation should be,” says Paul Tumpowsky, chief executive officer of Skylark, a travel agency based in New York. As a result, booking consolidates into the obvious week, sending prices hi...