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'Tragic': Foster families out of money, scrambling as state investigates Pflugerville agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN)-- Catherine Kuntz didn't think she'd ever become a foster parent, let alone of two girls in this condition: "They had not had a bath in over a week. They were going to school with animal feces and urine on their clothes. Their clothes were stained. Just a horrible situation," Kuntz said. The girls were family, and Kuntz and her husband agreed to take them in and become a licensed foster care home through Lonestar Social Services. The agency was contracted with the state to help connect children and families for foster care and adoption."We went through a lot of training so that we would understand the how the trauma affected these two children," Kuntz said. Per its contract with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Lonestar was supposed to pay or reimburse foster families for childcare costs. "We were getting it every month, and then we were getting it later in the month. And then we were getting it two months after the fact," Kuntz said...

Community members protest against Burdett Birth Center closure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — In Troy, close to 100 advocates and community members gathered to protest against the closure of the Burdett Birth Center at Samaritan Hospital. Especially since closing the center will mean Rensselaer County will lose its only maternity unit.Chelly Hegan from Planned Parenthood said that the closure should not happen, especially since there has been more attention on maternal health due to increased maternal mortality rates.“It is shameful that access to high-quality maternal care is being cut off here in Rensselaer County,” Hegan said. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! That’s because organizers say most patients rely on public transportation in the city or live in a rural area where driving times to the nearest hospital are already challenging.Organizers also said a CDTA bus trip from Troy to Albany is 50 minutes. If a patient needs to be transported from Samaritan Hospital to another hospital in Alban...

Water main break causes 10-foot-wide sinkhole in Dogtown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A water main break caused a residential street in Dogtown to partially collapse, resulting in a sinkhole and headaches for homeowners now dealing with the cleanup.Crews started repairs to the sinkhole on Nashville Avenue Tuesday."Last night, I was taking the dogs on a walk, and I saw the hole, which was crazy, super glad that we're all still standing here,” said Morgan Maberry, a Dogtown resident.A large crack in the asphalt surfaced on Saturday, later giving way to a sinkhole that almost took longtime resident Ryan Kelly's car with it."I ran out here, and it didn't look too bad; I went back to get my keys, and everything had just collapsed," Kelly said. "It was already 10 feet wide, and we stood out here and watched it just keep crumbling in."The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) said they altered to a water main break on Saturday. Missouri family finds relative 10 hours after hearing she died A video showed sewage water spilling onto the street. The city eventually s...

Drought conditions could present firework complications

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. - We're still a couple of weeks away from the Fourth of July, but Tuesday is the official start of fireworks season in Missouri."And here you have a wide variety from anywhere from like $30 all the way up to $200 or $300 per box," said Joshua Galati, fireworks stand operator.From little fireworks costing a few dollars to the big ones costing a few hundred, Galati has been selling fireworks for about 10 years. He opened his Firework City tent off Highway 94 in Weldon Spring on Tuesday afternoon. Galati said he expects this season's sales to be a little down simply because the Fourth of July falls on a Tuesday, but that's not the only reason."What plays a factor is the weather," he said. "I mean, that's probably the biggest important factor in anything." Missouri family finds relative 10 hours after hearing she died Our drier season means more fire danger. Abnormally dry conditions in the St. Louis area; moderate drought conditions in surrounding counties, an...

Board of Aldermen in St. Louis County city votes to use public funds to repair private swim club  

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - During Tuesday night’s Warson Woods Board of Aldermen meeting, the board voted in favor of authorizing the city to use slightly more than $150,000 to resurface the pool at the Warson Woods Swim Club.Some Warson Woods taxpayers have raised concerns about the plan. The city owns the pool property, but the swim club is private and requires memberships.Supporters of using public money argue it’s in the city’s best interest to have a viable pool that provides a recreational benefit. The city owns the land and leases it to the swim club. Most of the citizens speaking during Tuesday’s meeting voiced support for using public money.Some citizens said the pool enhances property values for all residents. Several residents said the pool is a big reason they enjoy living in Warson Woods. Missouri family finds relative 10 hours after hearing she died Some taxpayers argued the swim club should pay for all the repairs. Opponents of using public funding do not believe the c...

Cleaning is underway for the mosaic at Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Mosaic pieces are getting a cleaning for the first time in nearly a century on Tuesday."This place. It's all stone. You have to hand clean almost every little spot. There is a lot of work to it," said William Connors, a machine operator for John Tiedemann Incorporated.Connors and his crew are out of New Jersey and specialize in restoring churches."You can see the clean side, and you can see the kind of dirty side. They're going to realize that, oh, that wasn't grey marble; that's really white marble," said Monsignor Henry Breier with the Archdiocese of St. Louis.He said the challenge with the project is the height."That baldachino it sits at about 60 feet tall. The challenge had been finding a piece of equipment that wouldn't damage the floors," Breier said. How many Missouri bridges need to be repaired or replaced? Depends who you ask There are several types of stones. The first step in cleaning the marble is vacuuming, then scrubbing with soap and polishing."It's som...

Judge Strikes Down Arkansas Law Banning Gender Transition Care for Minors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Arkansas on Tuesday struck down the state’s law forbidding medical treatments for children and teenagers seeking gender transitions, blocking what had been the first in a wave of such measures championed by conservative lawmakers across the country.The case had been closely watched as an important test of whether bans or severe restrictions on transition care for minors, which have since been enacted by 19 other states, could withstand legal challenges being brought by activists and civil liberties groups. It is the first ruling to broadly block such a ban for an entire state, though judges have intervened to temporarily delay similar laws from going into effect.In his 80-page ruling, Judge James M. Moody Jr. of U.S. District Court in Little Rock said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated constitutional rights of doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its cla...

Bobcats get cozy in Claremont backyard, residents concerned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

Residents in a Claremont neighborhood are concerned after a family of bobcats moved into a resident’s backyard. The wild cats haven’t caused any trouble yet, but residents are worried they could become a threat.Video footage from Patrick Cullen’s Claremont home shows a sighting of a mother bobcat and her two kittens near some furniture patio and then later returning to the backyard. "It was a strange-looking cat initially and then I saw it,” Cullen said. “I started looking a little more intently at it and I was like, 'Oh, that’s a bobcat.' Then I saw the two little ones wander in.” Residents in a Claremont neighborhood are concerned after a family of bobcats moved into a resident’s backyard.(Source: Patrick Cullen)The wild cats, which are generally small in size and often prey on rodents, can still become aggressive on rare occasions when they feel threatened. Mackenzie Rich, conflict specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, says people who find themselve...

Man fatally shot in L.A., police searching for suspects

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

Los Angeles police are searching for suspects who fatally shot a man in Boyle Heights on June 13. Around 4:27 a.m., police responded to reports of shots fired near the 3400 block of Emery Street. When they arrived on scene, they found 25-year-old Noah Martinez suffering from a gunshot wound, according to an LAPD news release.Emergency crews provided medical treatment, but Martinez succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene.  During the investigation, detectives recovered expended casings.There were no witnesses and it is unknown what led up to the shooting. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Arroyo or Detective Abundis of the Operations Central Bureau Homicide at 213-996-4104.

'They are doing it wrong': Ron DeSantis visits SF, slams city in campaign ad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:17 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tweeted out a campaign advertisement on Tuesday about what he saw in San Francisco, a city he described as "once-great." In a minute-long video titled, "We Need to Restore Sanity Across This County," posted at 4:34 p.m., the 2024 presidential candidate delivered a message while standing in front of a graffitied San Francisco wall and a pile of trash. Biden in SF: Street closures, what you need to know DeSantis claimed to see people defecating on the street and using drugs such as heroin and crack. He said the city "really collapsed because of leftist policies," which led to people moving from San Francisco to Florida. "The city is not vibrant anymore," he said. "It's really collapsed because of leftist policies, and these policies have caused people to flee this area. They don't prosecute criminals like they do in most parts of the country. The wreckage has really been sad to see." "It just shows you these policies matter. Lea...