(AP) — President Joe Biden is set to announce that the United States is doubling its purchase of Pfizer's COVID-19 shots to share with the world to 1 billion doses as he embraces the goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year. The stepped-up U.S. commitment is to be the cornerstone of the global vaccination summit Biden is convening virtually Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where he plans to push well-off nations to do more to get the coronavirus under control.

https://www.kxan.com/news/coronavirus/biden-doubles-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-purchase-to-1-billion-will-share-with-world/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Music superstar Billie Eilish made waves during her Saturday night set at the Austin City Limits Festival by taking aim at Texas' new restrictive abortion laws — revealing she'd almost pulled out of the iconic music event because of its passage. In between performances, the 'Bad Guy' singer and Grammy-winner shot the middle finger and could be heard saying, 'When they made that s— a law, I almost didn't want to do the show. Because I wanted to punish this f—— place for allowing that to happen here.

https://www.kxan.com/acl/billie-eilish-slams-texas-abortion-law-on-austin-city-limits-stage-my-body-my-f-choice/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Flooding is preventing people from swimming in Barton Springs Pool for the time being. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department announced Thursday afternoon the pool, located at 2131 William Barton Drive, is temporarily closed because of those conditions. The city did not provide a timeline of when the pool will reopen, and instead stated it's 'closely monitoring these flood conditions,' according to a news release. The city shared swimmers can still check out a number of other pools around Austin.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/city-temporarily-closes-barton-springs-pool-due-to-flooding/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Wedding season is back, and the bells won't stop ringing. The surge in nuptials now comes after a dismal season for the industry, as weddings are chief among the countless events canceled over the past year. But with COVID-19 cases falling nationwide and millions vaccinated — it appears vows are now on many people's minds. Wedding planner Krystal Wingfield is struggling to keep up. 'It has been a shock to the system honestly. It's been very, very busy,' said Wingfield. 'I am moving into my busiest season starting now, May, but completely booked for the rest of the year.

https://www.kxan.com/news/business/getting-married-in-2021-youre-not-alone-get-ready-for-wedding-bonanza/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The American bumble bee is an integral part of our ecosystem, providing essential pollination of native plants and farmed crops alike. Unfortunately, recent data shows that the bee population is dwindling in a big way, and scientists fear the worst if action to protect the species is not implemented soon. Population loss by the numbers A recent petition written by the Center for Biological Diversity and Bombus Pollinators Association of Law Students argues the American bumble bee be placed under the Endangered Species Act before the population is lost entirely.

https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/american-bumble-bee-could-face-extinction/

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by: Chrissy Mazzone Posted: Aug 20, 2021 / 02:22 AM CDT / Updated: Aug 20, 2021 / 02:22 AM CDT Police, paramedics and firefighters searched water for driver AUSTIN (KXAN) – Friday morning crews will work to remove a car from Lady Bird Lake after it ended up in the water. Austin firefighters say they believe someone had driven onto the trail and crashed into the water behind the Hyatt Regency Austin on Barton Springs Road. The area where the car drove in is in between South 1st Street and South Congress Avenue.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/car-drives-into-lady-bird-lake-search-for-driver-continues/

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by: KXAN Staff Posted: May 3, 2021 / 08:22 PM CDT / Updated: May 3, 2021 / 08:22 PM CDT TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — An inmate at the Travis County Correctional Complex died after being found unresponsive in his cell by corrections officers on April 30, the Travis County Sheriff's Office says. Medical staff and Austin-Travis County EMS attempted CPR, but Nicholas Vanwyhe, 39, of Austin was pronounced dead. He had been in custody since April 15, 2021 on stalking charges, according to TCSO. TCSO's Internal Affairs Unit, Criminal Investigations Division, the Texas Rangers and the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office are conducting an investigation into Vanwyhe's death, TCSO says.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/investigation-underway-after-death-of-travis-county-inmate/

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by: KXAN Staff Posted: Oct 8, 2021 / 12:22 PM CDT / Updated: Oct 8, 2021 / 12:22 PM CDT Suspected counterfeit shirts were en route to Bastrop, TX. (Courtesy: Customs and Border Protection) BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) — Counterfeit shirts en route to Bastrop were intercepted by Customs and Border Protection, and they had quite a message to share. The shirts were intercepted by the CBP New Orleans field office at a port in Memphis. According to a spokesperson, the 25 counterfeit Lacoste shirts were heading to Bastrop from Michoacan, Mexico.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/bastrop-county/counterfeit-shirts-en-route-to-bastrop-had-explicit-message-to-share-cbp-says/

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(KXAN) — The Olympic Games are underway with athletes coming from across the world to compete in Tokyo, Japan and surrounding areas. The global celebration of sport featuring 33 sports and 46 disciplines actually started Friday, July 23. The Tokyo Games will be different than any other Olympics held in the modern era — staged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games were originally planned for last summer but were postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. An outbreak of coronavirus cases in Japan caused officials to declare a state of emergency in the city.

https://www.kxan.com/sports-general/japan-2020/olympics-schedule-how-and-where-to-watch-texans-in-saturdays-events/

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by: Nick Bannin Posted: Aug 3, 2021 / 09:22 AM CDT / Updated: Aug 3, 2021 / 09:22 AM CDT VOLENTE (KXAN) — Have you ever been out on the lake and dropped something valuable in the water? If your first thought is that it's lost forever, you should think again.  Robert Weiss and his team of two originally started Lake Travis Scuba as a charter boat scuba company.'We first started finding goodies and valuable items and things like that and actually came up with the idea of a business for search and recovery,' Weiss said.

https://www.kxan.com/weather-traffic-qas/deep-dive-recovering-the-sunken-treasures-of-lake-travis/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The number of job postings mentioning vaccination increased four-fold from May to August 2021, according to a new report from the Austin Chamber of Commerce. The chamber said there are about 440 job postings right now that indicate vaccination requirements or mention the vaccine, and most are related to retail and child and elder care positions. The new data was released last week in the chamber's job postings report for August 2021. Data was collected before President Joe Biden announced sweeping vaccine mandates affecting as many as 100 million Americans.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/more-austin-area-job-postings-mentioning-vaccine-requirements-report-says/

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by: Jacqulyn Powell Posted: Oct 6, 2021 / 02:38 PM CDT / Updated: Oct 6, 2021 / 02:38 PM CDT Two people were shot on Sixth Street Jan. 1, 2020 (Courtesy Kandace Ortega) AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin's update on its plan to increase safety in the downtown Entertainment District includes planning to create a dedicated EMS presence with a staging area for paramedics on 6th Street. It's a plan Austin EMS Association President Selena Xie championed, however, she says Austin-Travis County EMS may not have the resources to create that staging area any time soon.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/city-of-austin-wants-ems-staging-area-on-6th-st-but-association-president-says-theyre-too-short-staffed/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A switch back to more seasonable late summer weather as we head into the weekend. Today's afternoon highs will climb into the mid-90s under a mostly to partly sunny sky. An isolated shower or two isn't out of the question as southeast winds bring in just enough moisture to interact with the heating of the day. The vast majority of us will stay dry though – no need to rearrange Friday plans over a 10% chance of rain. OZONE ACTION DAY: An Air Quality Alert is in effect today as elevated levels of ozone may be irritating for sensitive groups.

https://www.kxan.com/weather/forecast/todays-forecast/

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by: Nick Bannin Posted: Jun 5, 2021 / 06:23 PM CDT / Updated: Jun 5, 2021 / 06:23 PM CDT AUSTIN (KXAN) — We know it's been wet, but the amount of rain we've started June with is one for the record books. Austin at Camp Mabry is dealing with its fourth-wettest start to June on record when looking at rainfall totals from June 1-4. Rainfall totals through June 4 were 2.57″ at Camp Mabry. In an average June, Camp Mabry receives 3.68″ of rain, and it's usually the third-wettest month of the year. Here's how the rankings look for Camp Mabry.

https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/list-top-5-wettest-starts-to-june-on-record-in-austin/

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by: Chrissy Mazzone Posted: Jun 8, 2021 / 05:23 AM CDT / Updated: Jun 8, 2021 / 05:23 AM CDT Final home on Rainey Street set to be demolished AUSTIN (KXAN) — Surrounded by bars and businesses, the last home standing on Austin's Rainey Street will soon be demolished. The Austin Historic Landmark Commission Meeting approved the owner's request to bring down the building in a meeting on May 24. The people who own the properly argued the home was in violation of several codes because of structural and roof problems.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/final-home-on-rainey-street-cleared-for-demolition/

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by: Billy Gates Posted: May 13, 2021 / 10:22 AM CDT / Updated: May 13, 2021 / 10:23 AM CDT AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three area Ascension Texas hospitals are paying $20.9 million in fines for paying multiple physician groups above fair market value for services. Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas, Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin and Ascension Seton Williamson self-reported the conduct to the Office of the Inspector General, a release from the office said. The fines are due to the hospitals allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law 'including provisions applicable to physician self-referrals and kickbacks,' the release said.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/3-ascension-texas-hospitals-to-pay-20-9-million-in-fines-for-alleged-kickbacks/

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by: KXAN Staff Posted: Oct 1, 2021 / 09:21 PM CDT / Updated: Oct 1, 2021 / 09:21 PM CDT AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Firefighters Association, the union for firefighters in the city, announced Friday it will not support Proposition A. That's the item on the November ballot that calls for two police officers for every 1,000 Austin residents. The city's chief financial officer estimates it would cost between $270-600 million over five years. 'The AFA membership, discussion and vote to oppose Proposition A was never about disrespecting police.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-firefighters-association-opposes-ballot-item-for-police-staffing/

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by: Chelsea Moreno Posted: Oct 3, 2021 / 05:23 PM CDT / Updated: Oct 3, 2021 / 05:23 PM CDT LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — It could be a week or longer, Leander Police say, before the road where a water leak happened could be open again. Leander Police said just before 1 p.m. Sunday that city crews were aware of the water leak at the intersection of N West Dr. and W South St. and were on their way to make repairs. *** NOTICE ***Due to a major water leak N West Dr. and W South St intersection will be closed.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/williamson-county/road-closure-due-to-major-water-leak-in-leander-could-last-all-week-or-longer/

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