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'Drag Race' royalty asks lawmakers to treat LGBTQ Texans with compassion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thundering applause and cheers erupted Thursday afternoon when one of the winners of "RuPaul's Drag Race" asked a packed ballroom inside the Austin Convention Center to "make some noise for drag." After such a boisterous start to their South by Southwest panel, three alumni from the popular reality competition show — Jaida Essence Hall, Symone and Gottmik — delved into a more serious discussion about the political pushback to drag happening now in Texas and several other Republican-led states. Texas lawmakers introduced several bills this session that target drag performances in the state, including proposals to classify them as a sexually-oriented business akin to a "sex shop" and bar children from attending shows. These efforts mirror legislation that already passed this year in states like Arkansas and Tennessee. Symone, who grew up in Arkansas and won the 13th season of "Drag Race," answered a question about how these legislative proposals are affecting her menta...

Can the Texas Longhorns win March Madness? Hear from national media 'experts,' Gov. Abbott, President Biden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — What does the national media think of the Texas Longhorns' chances of winning the NCAA men's basketball national championship? Folks who work at ESPN seem to like them.In the Worldwide Leader's stable of college basketball writers, broadcasters and other contributors, 23 of the 42 people who made their Final Four picks public included Texas, and eight have the Longhorns celebrating under the confetti April 3 in Houston. 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/newslettersThe beloved analyst Dick Vitale is a notable ESPN personality that thinks Texas can get to the Final Four, but he thinks Alabama will win it all. Kris Budden, a sideline reporter who has done a few Texas games this season, is in on the Longhorns winning the national title, as is play-by-play broadcaster Chuckie Kempf and analyst Chris Spatola, among others.Marty Smith mixed in Texas A&M in the Final Fo...

Incoming weather: SXSW and Rodeo Austin prepare

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — People in Austin for South by Southwest are in for a real Texas surprise overnight Thursday into Friday as a front moves through the metro bringing behind it a dramatic drop in temperatures. Though visitors were out in T-shirts and shorts on Thursday, flip-flops will need to go back in the suitcase. Tornado Watch in effect for parts of the Hill Country "The latest that we've heard is that the front will be moving through around 10 to 2 a.m., so we'll be looking at that as sort of our area of concentration, but we're also going to be looking at the drop in the weather, the wind gusts," Tami Richter, a native Austinite and the vice president of event operations with SXSW, said. South by has already moved some of its Thursday events, including its concert scheduled at Lady Bird Lake which will move to the Austin Convention Center. They also say they're keeping an eye out for any events that need to shuffle on Friday due to the cold and wind that comes behind the fron...

LGBTQ+ advocates rally against Texas bills affecting trans people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The LGBTQ+ community and allies rallied outside of the Texas Capitol Thursday morning to speak out against proposed legislation they say would be harmful to transgender Texans.Three bills the group mentioned in particular — SB 14, SB 250 and SB 1029 — were scheduled for a hearing Thursday in the Senate State Affair Committee. SB 1029 aims to restrict access to gender affirming care, allow malpractice lawsuits for care SB 14, authored by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, would prohibit physicians from giving "procedures and treatments for gender transitioning, gender reassignment" for children under the age of 18. The bill claims that such treatment includes puberty inhibiting drugs, hormone therapy and surgical interventions. "SB 14 is all about child protection," said Campbell during the committee hearing. "Our children need counseling and love, not blades and drugs."One parent, who has a transgender daughter, worries her child will not be able to continue ...

US Marshals arrest Round Rock pawn shop robbery suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The U.S. Marshal Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested a suspect wanted in connection to an aggravated robbery at a pawn shop in Round Rock, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.Jerry Rendon, 38, of Austin, was arrested Thursday morning. A release said Rendon's official charge was aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. On March 13, the Round Rock Police Department responded to the First Cash Pawn, located at 906 N. Interstate Highway 35. There were reports of a man, later identified as Rendon, wearing a mask, holding a handgun and stealing several gold necklaces before he fled the area in a silver Chevrolet pickup truck, according to an affidavit.RRPD was able to identify Rendon as the suspect, and it requested the assistance of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force to assist in capturing him, the release said.Officials found Rendon in the 400 block of East William Cannon Drive in Austin, and he was arrested, the release said.Rendon was taken to the Williamson Coun...

Downtown is getting a new Night Club: It’s an artist-run contemporary gallery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

A contemporary art gallery called Night Club is set to open downtown this weekend as part of a St. Paul Downtown Alliance program to connect new businesses with short-term, rent-free leases.The program, Grow Downtown, launched last year and has so far filled around 18,000 square feet of retail space.Night Club may be new to St. Paul, but the downtown gallery is actually the third iteration of the project founded by artists Emma Beatrez and Lee Noble.The first iteration was, in a sense, a literal night club — an evening extracurricular gathering of students at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, including Beatrez and Noble, all interested in workshopping their interdisciplinary, experimental art.The second came after Beatrez and Noble graduated from MCAD in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and moved into a house in Minneapolis’ Bryant neighborhood. Covid-19 cases were spiking, and indoor galleries had been shut down. So Beatrez and Noble took advantage of their house’s l...

Zeynep Tufekci: Why the science is clear that masks help

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

The debate over masks’ effectiveness in fighting the spread of the coronavirus intensified recently when a respected scientific nonprofit said its review of studies assessing measures to impede the spread of viral illnesses found it was “uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.”Now the organization, Cochrane, says the way it summarized the review was unclear and imprecise, and that the way some people interpreted it was wrong.“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane Review shows that ‘masks don’t work’, which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Karla Soares-Weiser, the editor-in-chief of The Cochrane Library, said in a statement.“The review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses,” Soares-Weiser said, adding, “given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask-wearin...

Wisconsin Republicans float bill to designate a state rifle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — Republican lawmakers began circulating a bill Thursday that would designate a lever-action rifle produced in northwestern Wisconsin as the state’s official rifle.The bill from state Reps. Dave Armstrong, Treig Pronschinske and James Edming and Sen. Romaine Quinn would designate the Henry All-Weather .45-70 as Wisconsin’s official state rifle.The bill is symbolic only. The state rifle designation would not force anyone to purchase or use the weapon. But it would give the rifle and its manufacturer, Rice Lake-based Henry Repeating Arms, plenty of publicity and help the bill’s authors score points with gun supporters.Armstrong is from Rice Lake; Quinn is from Cameron, about seven miles south of Rice Lake. Edming’s district includes Ladysmith, home to a Henry Repeating Arms factory.The company’s Big Boy All-Weather Rifle won the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” contest in 2019. Wisconsin Manufact...

Women’s basketball: Gophers Rose Micheaux will enter NCAA transfer portal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

Alanna Rose Micheaux, who made an incredible leap between her freshman and sophomore seasons under coach Lindsay Whalen and her staff, announced Thursday evening that she is entering the NCAA transfer portal.Whalen stepped down after five years coaching her alma mater on March 2. Micheaux made the announcement on her Instagram account. She is the first player to announce her intention to leave.“The University of Minnesota will always have a special place in my heart,” Micheaux wrote. She thanked her coaches and Minnesota fans before finishing, “With that being said, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal, to further my academic and athletic career.”A 6-foot-1 post from Detroit, Micheaux was honorable all-Big Ten as a sophomore this season after averaging 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds and shooting a team-high 51.9 percent from the floor.A four-star high school recruit, Micheaux averaged 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 30 games as a freshman.Related ArticlesCollege Sports |...

Walz signs bill aimed at curbing catalytic converter thefts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

It will soon be illegal in Minnesota to possess a used catalytic converter that is not attached to a vehicle unless it has the vehicle’s identification number written on it.That’s the thrust of a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz that aims to curb the dramatic rise in catalytic converter thefts. Thieves can strip the pollution control devices from vehicles in minutes, leaving owners with an average bill of $2,600 to replace it.Catalytic converters are a sought after because they contain rare earth metals that are more valuable than gold. The legislation also creates new rules for scrap yards where the devices are often sold.“Catalytic converter theft has hit thousands Minnesotans, costing them thousands of dollars — and substantial time — to replace,” Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, said in a statement. “Enactment of this new law will help reverse the explosion in thefts.”Theft of the devices has skyrocketed over the last few ...