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Citing mental health concerns, Texas to allow chaplains as uncertified school counselors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 763 into law on Sunday, which will permit school districts to use school safety funding to hire chaplains or allow them to volunteer in public schools.Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-GalvestonSen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, authored the bill, pitching it as a way to help public schools meet the need for "additional qualified individuals to counsel their students.""The bill will allow the important role chaplains serve for pastoral care and representing God’s presence within our public schools," wrote Middleton on Twitter in April about his bill.The law does not require chaplains to have any certification, unlike school counselors, who are required to hold a certification from the State Board for Educator Certification. In order to counsel children in Texas public schools, a prospective counselor must:Complete a state-approved Educator Preparation Program for school counseling;Hold a master's degree from an accredited institution; a...

Austin firefighters dealing with vehicles with no AC as temperatures soar

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The extreme heat to start the summer presents extra hurdles for Austin firefighters with some dealing with no AC on their vehicles.It's a problem the city said they are working to get things up and running, but firefighters tell us some broken AC's have taken a long time to get fixed."It is very difficult," said Austin Firefighter Association president, Bob Nicks. "It is a demanding job."Nicks said there are quite a few AFD vehicles without AC and it's been that way for a while."These folks are making emergency calls, they are running apparatus many times without AC," said Nicks.Nicks said he has received phone calls and text messages about the ongoing AC issues."Engine 1, engine 35, engine 48, quint 50 no AC, engine 11 rear of the cab no AC, engine 49 no AC since last year," said Nicks as he read over a message someone sent to him.A spokesperson for the City's Fleet Mobility Services department tells us they have 21 total AFD units with AC issues. Heat exhaustion ...

Rene Ramirez, 'The Galloping Gaucho' for the Longhorns in the late 1950s, dies at 85

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Rene Ramirez, a Texas Athletics Hall of Honor member and halfback for the Longhorns football team in the late 1950s, died Tuesday, his family announced. He was 85 years old.Family members said Ramirez passed "surrounded by friends and family" at his home in McAllen after battling a long illness.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/newsletters"He was surrounded by people he loved, and until the day he died, everything was Hook ‘em Horns, Hook ‘em Horns," his daughter Teresa Castillo said. "When he would have a good day, we’d sing him and play UT band songs, and he would just light up."Ramirez, nicknamed "Tha Galloping Gaucho," was one of Darrell Royal's first recruits when he took over the Longhorns in 1957 and one of the first Mexican-Americans to play football at Texas. As a halfback in Royal's wishbone offense, Ramirez was a first-team all-Southwest Conference perfor...

St. Paul City Council OKs $465,000 settlement with woman bit by dog at animal control facility

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

Sara Romdenne walked into the St. Paul Animal Control shelter to pick up a pit bull with the intention of bringing it to a foster home and saving it from euthanasia. Instead, according to Romdenne’s attorney, the dog bit off her nose, requiring eight facial reconstructive surgeries in the past three years, with more to come.The dog was euthanized anyway, and Romdenne – executive director and founder of the UnbreakaBULL Pit Bull Rescue – threatened to file suit against the city. Under state statute, a person or entity who possesses a dog is strictly liable for any injuries caused by the dog.On Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council avoided legal action by approving a $465,000 settlement with Romdenne and her attorneys. There was no public discussion at the council meeting, despite the pay-out totaling one of the larger civil settlements in recent years. The decision followed a closed-door council meeting on April 26 dedicated to her pending lawsuit.Her attorney, Gus Nicklow with the la...

Nancy Jacobson: Democrats and Republicans met to subvert a third-party option. So much for caring about what voters want

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

Last week it was reported that a group of leading Democratic strategists and former officials — including President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff — met recently with anti-Trump Republicans to hatch a plan to “subvert” a third-option for the 2024 presidential race from the group No Labels, which I lead.To be clear, this was not a meeting about how to beat No Labels on the merits (which we would welcome). Rather, it was a meeting about how to find and exploit legal technicalities, silence supporters interested in our approach and raise money for a campaign against us.This collusion between leading members of the two parties is, in truth, not all that surprising. It proves what many of us have been saying for years: that instead of working together to solve actual problems, these leaders and operatives are aligned only when it comes to protecting their duopoly in a bitterly polarized country.But Americans want to see more choices. A record number of vo...

What to know if you’re headed to see Taylor Swift this weekend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

The biggest pop music tour of the century lands in Minneapolis on Friday when Taylor Swift headlines two sold-out nights at U.S. Bank Stadium.The tour, which kicked off March 17 in Arizona, has broken numerous records and sold more than 2.4 million tickets the day they went on sale in November. More than 100 shows are scheduled on five continents and will keep Swift on the road through next summer.Ross Raihala“There’s nothing in history to compare,” wrote Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone. “This is her best tour ever, by an absurd margin.”If you’re headed to one of the shows, or are still looking for tickets, here’s what you need to know.TicketsTickets sold so quickly, Ticketmaster’s website crashed. Public outcry has led to multiple congressional inquires, including calls to break up the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly. As of Wednesday, scalper sites had seats starting at $1,000, and that’s for the 300 level in a building notorious for its poor so...

Kamp’s Food Market in St. Paul’s North End is sold to new owner

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

Paul Kamp, whose father’s father’s father’s father opened Kamp’s Food Market in 1887, put the property on the market more than two years ago and announced that he would soon retire.Leaving the family business has taken longer than expected, but the grocery and butcher shop synonymous with the corner of Western and Cook avenues in St. Paul’s North End will continue without him.Paul Kamp, a fifth-generation grocery store owner and butcher, has run Kamp’s Market at Western Avenue and Cook Street in St. Paul for 39 years. His dad, Jerry Kamp, is seen circa 1935-1937 with an unnamed meat cutter. “That’s a lot of unrefrigerated holiday turkey. You know how sick you’d be now?!” says Paul. His great-great grandpa Staubitz opened a grocery in 1887. (Courtesy of Paul Kamp)A new owner plans to run the store under a new name — Lay’s Food Market — while living with his young family in the adjoining home where Kamp grew up and raised his...

Jonathan Bernstein: Senators are undermining their own power

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

The slow decline of the United States Congress continues.The latest example is a practice that has helped individual senators wield disproportionate influence: the “hold.” Once a justifiable way for senators to bring attention to a problem or issue germane to their state, senators are increasingly using the hold as a publicity stunt on matters of national policy.Three senators currently have holds on various executive-branch nominations. Republican Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, upset about what he sees as the military’s support for abortion, is blocking many military promotions; Republican J.D. Vance of Ohio, in a tantrum over former president Donald Trump’s federal indictment, is blocking Justice Department nominations; and Democrat Bernie Sanders of Vermont is blocking all nominees for health-related positions until the administration has a plan for lowering prescription drug prices.A “hold” is simply a request from a senator that the chamber not...

Make Music Day makes its Capital Region debut

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

CAPTIAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The first day of summer is music to many ears and make music day is a worldwide festival every summer solstice, this year is the return from the pandemic with over 4,000 live, free music-making events across the United States. Troy holding events to celebrate Make Music Day At Washington Park in Albany there were many happy people enjoying the free music and weather as the world celebrates the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. From free music concerts, to face painting, to making your own instruments, the fun is here in the Capital Region.Make Music Day is completely different from any other traditional music festival.  Make music day activities are free and open to all. And the annual worldwide event brings people of all ages and skill levels together to make music.“This is a way of healing, learning and connecting with the community,” said Beverly Hickman, Troy Community Outreach Connector.Over in Troy the festivities started at the Te...

Clifton Park volunteer firefighters prepare to go to court over property tax credits

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:35 GMT

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Clifton Park’s volunteer firefighters have a bone to pick with the town assessor after he denied more than a dozen applications for property tax credits. "I'm disappointed. We put so many hours into serving this community," says Vischer Ferry’s Vice Chairman of the Fire Commission, Marty Schantz. "I don't think Walt is doing this to be mean or because he's against the fire departments. I'm sure he thinks he's right, but I'm disappointed."Town Assessor Walter Smead says he believes he’s on the right side of the law. "If they wrote the legislation that says all you have to be is a volunteer fireman then we’ll give you a 10% exemption, I would be fine with that, but they didn’t," he says, referring to the state law that passed December 2022.Clifton Park was one of the first to adopt the state’s option offering its volunteer firefighters credit on their property taxes as both a thank you and a recruitment incentive. Smead says the applications he deni...