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Fat Bear Week 2023: Here are the heavyweight contenders

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

(WTAJ) — The brown bears at Katmai National Park in Alaska have spent the last few months packing on the pounds, all in preparation for the annual Fat Bear Competition.Well, they've actually just been preparing for hibernation. But either way, it's almost time to vote for your favorite heavyweight.Each year the bears fill up on fish, berries, nuts and more to gain weight and get ready for the cold winter. And boy can those bears can get pretty tubby. In celebration of their chub, the National Park Service has started a Fat Bear Week competition. The bears go head-to-head and fans get to vote on who they think has bulked up the most. National parks will be free to visit on these days in 2023 The 2023 competition kicks off on Oct. 4 and goes through Oct. 10. This is a single-elimination tournament. For each match-up, you'll vote for the bear you believe best exemplifies fatness. The bear with the most votes advances to the next round. At the end of the competition, one bear will be...

Hotels, short-term rentals face high demand during ACL through end of the year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Limits sees an influx of visitors to the city, putting high demand on the city's hotels and short-term rentals.Garrett Borden, marketing manager at The Driskill, said that October is the hotel's busiest month due to ACL and Formula 1 racing in Austin."The Driskill has seen every single ACL that Austin has had to offer and we are no stranger to gearing up for this," Borden said. "Another thing that we expect are those last-minute bookings. Austin is famous (with) last-minute bookings." Austin restaurants eager for ACL festival crowds after slow summer For The Driskill, bookings during ACL 2023 look to be on par with 2022 numbers, if not exceeding them. "October is the busiest month for the hotel for the hotel industry in Austin," Borden said. "This will be the second year where things are feeling normal for the hotel and the hotel industry in Austin." How to get to, from the 2023 Austin City Limits Music Festival This demand is also felt in the local s...

Round Rock ISD voters push back against election to raise teacher pay

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — A group of voters in Williamson County are pushing back against Prop A in Round Rock ISD which would change the district's tax rate and raise teacher pay.According to the RRISD's website, Prop A is a Voter-Approved Tax Ratification Election (VATRE). The district said the tax rate change would not raise voter's property taxes, but allow more pennies generated by property tax to remain in the district instead of being recaptured by the state. Local school districts put teacher raises in the hands of voters RRISD said if approved, the change would allow the district to retain $19 million while giving teachers a 6% pay increase.Recently, Moms for Liberty of Williamson County expressed their opposition to the VATRE.Christie Slape, chair of the group, said the district should have redistributed funds used for administrator salaries instead of asking for this VATRE."If that means that our very bloated administration needs to reduce their pay, or they need to cu...

Austin faced challenges sheltering homeless during 2023 ice storm, report finds

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It was a concern brought up by the president of the Austin EMS Association well before a historic ice storm hit our city earlier this year, and now, some of those challenges have been laid out in a winter storm after-action report.Selena Xie asked the City of Austin in January -- nearly two weeks before the storm reached Austin -- to commit to opening its emergency shelters for people living on the streets. She said it would allow EMS and other providers doing outreach to tell people where to go, KXAN previously reported. But the City of Austin's policy didn't require it to do that."EMS and other resources that work with people experiencing homelessness could not really get out the information because we didn't really have any information to get out," Xie said. "It just seemed so silly that we knew we were going to open them. We could have gotten information out sooner to people and thereby saved lives." PREVIOUS: Austin EMS Association expresses concerns about c...

Sobering Center celebrates 5 years in Austin

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Over the last five years, the Austin Travis County Sobering Center has helped about 9,000 people.The 24-hour, seven-day-a-week center helps people with drug or alcohol addictions, as well as people who might get a little too rowdy downtown."This is my passion and I am so grateful for the sobering center," Sobering Center worker Patricia Williams Griffin said.Williams Griffin said it's a special place to work, especially since she knows what her clients are going through."I have been right where you (clients) are at," Williams Griffin said. "Homeless, no hope, no home, no place to go, out there on the streets struggling with drugs and alcohol."She's happy to talk to people who show up and let them know there is hope, but people suffering from addiction aren't the only clients."There are really a variety of reasons why people end up here and a variety of outcomes when they leave," Ashlyn Branscum, who also works at the Sobering Center, said.The center prides itself on ...

Carlos Correa leads Twins to first playoff series win since 2002

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

Carlos Correa is no stranger to postseason success.Minnesota Twins pitcher Jhoan Duran, middle, celebrates with teammates after the Twins defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of an AL wild-card baseball playoff series Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)Consider this: The last time the Twins were in the playoffs, it was Correa who hit a seventh-inning home run to break open a tie game and eventually send the Twins home for the offseason.In the three years since, the Twins signed Correa to the largest contract in franchise history, hoping he would do just that for them. Correa, they’ve said repeatedly, is a big-time player who shines on the big stage.And Wednesday, he did just that, driving in the Twins’ first run of the game and making a pivotal defensive play, helping send the Twins to a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays that propelled them to an American League Division Series matchup against his former team, the Houston Astros.A day after winni...

Susan Atkinson: Denial of climate change may be a party deal-breaker for young conservatives

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

Benji Backer, a 25-year-old conservative from Wisconsin, was not pleased with a recent Republican presidential primary debate. The candidates either denied, ignored or downplayed the Fox moderator’s question on climate change.Backer is not alone in his views. Founder of the American Conservation Coalition, Backer said of his peers: “Young people will never vote for a candidate that does not believe in climate change. We’re not going away; we are normalizing this as part of the Republican conversation. Republicans deserve to lose if they are climate deniers and don’t have a plan.”Climate change is often seen as an intergenerational issue, with the younger generation expected to bear the brunt of the impacts. The GOP’s failure to articulate an adequate climate policy is alarming 18- to 38-year-old voters. The cost of inaction will have far-reaching consequences. Some young conservatives are concerned that their party’s reluctance to address cl...

Why Missouri's governor hopes for large snowfalls in northern states this winter

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Comparing Missouri's continuous drought to the Dust Bowl era, federal and state officials said they are concerned about the state's rainfall totals.It's been the topic of the summer: drought. Experts said at Tuesday's Drought Assessment Committee meeting that conditions are expected to persist into the winter months. Besides the impact on the agriculture industry, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he's hoping for large snowfalls in the northern states this winter to help with navigation on the rivers."You have to be hoping for things in the upper basin of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers that we're going to get some snow that comes down from the northern states to help us, because the other problem we're looking at is the rivers, just being able to get up and down it, and if those happen to shut down, that's another huge impact to the economy," Parson said.The drought continues to take a toll on one of Missouri's largest industries. The lack of rainfall lea...

Bill could help St. Louis seniors on fixed incomes stay in their homes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Seniors living in St. Louis City could soon see a freeze on their property taxes. Supporters of the bill say it will help seniors on a fixed income stay in their homes.Mayor Tishaura Jones joined Alderwomen Anne Schweitzer (Ward 1) and Laura Keys (Ward 11) at a roundtable, alongside City Assessor Michael Dauphin, the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAAA), and local senior citizens, to discuss legislation to freeze property taxes for seniors in the city.“While the City of St. Louis invests in long-left-behind neighborhoods, we can take advantage of new opportunities to help seniors stay in their homes and get some relief from rising property values,” Mayor Jones said. “As we work to finalize legislative proposals, I am thankful to our senior citizens for their insight this morning and to city leaders for their work to support our seniors.”The tax freeze is permissible under legislation passed earlier this year at the state capitol. St. Charles County recently enacted leg...

Status quo for the Avalanche, Devon Toews on contract talks, but neither side seems too worried

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

Devon Toews has received votes for the Norris Trophy each of the past three seasons, finishing an average of 11th in the balloting — 11th in 2021, eighth in 2022 and 14th in 2023.That’s about as clear-cut as an argument gets — Toews is one of the best defensemen in the sport. He’s also one season away from potentially being an unrestricted free agent, and players at his level are rarely seen on the open market.Toews said at media day before training camp began that his intention is spend the rest of his career in Denver. He also said he’d rather that negotiations not drag into the regular season.Well, the regular season is one week away. Are there any updates on the situation?“Nothing, still the same status,” Toews said.Is he disappointed in a lack of progress?“No. It’s just the business,” he said. “It will move as it moves.”Toews didn’t want to divulge any details beyond that. He says he is not worried about it. His coach ...