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Hays County Food Bank sees higher demand for holiday food boxes this year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- There's a growing need for food assistance in Hays County right now. As a result, the Hays County Food Bank increased the number of holiday food boxes it's giving out this year by 300. Even with that increase, it had to close registration early because it was at maximum capacity. 'Smell like Thanksgiving'For 17 years, the food bank has hosted its Holiday Meal Box Program. "Marshmallows and your sweet potatoes, stuffing," Hays County Food Bank Executive Director Lisa Young said. "Make it smell like Thanksgiving in your house."This year, it's increasing the number of boxes from 1,500 to 1,800.Young said they've noticed a higher demand recently. "Many, many people need this. These are not the poorest of the poor," Young said. "It's families from just all across the board."Young said both rising grocery costs and SNAP benefits decreasing because pandemic emergency benefits ended, are turning more people to the food bank."We are now doing almost double what w...

Austin City Council likely to take up activist calls for 'transgender sanctuary city' designation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An effort is in the works at Austin City Hall to potentially act on calls from local activists to adopt protections for the transgender community, which they contend will remain a target by state leaders. Artemis Lesgaux and Jennifer Hughes are among those circulating an open letter to Austin City Council members and even confronting some of them about designating Austin as a "transgender sanctuary city." As part of their effort, they're offering local leaders a number of policy recommendations. Those include forbidding the city from assisting with an investigation into a transgender person's medical decisions or those who provide such care. OutLaw: A Catalyst project looking into a half-century criminalizing LGBTQ+ Texans Other proposals address communicating official support for drag performers in the city and even setting up a legal fund to assist Austinites who might face consequences for violating state laws, like Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 14. Each of th...

Missing Bernese mountain dog found by hikers in Colorado mountains after nearly two months

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

A 14-month-old Bernese mountain dog that was missing for seven weeks was found by hikers near a trail in western Jefferson County this week and reunited with her owner.Hikers, open space marshals and an animal control officer used a tarp to carry Nova Riley, a 14-month-old Bernese mountain dog whose leg was broken, down to a trailhead north of Conifer. (Courtesy Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office)Two hikers spotted Nova Riley near a trail in Meyer Ranch Park on Sunday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The park is approximately three miles north of Conifer along U.S. 285.Nova Riley, a service dog in training to help her owner safely move around, was able to slip out of her harness and run away when she became spooked in a Safeway parking lot, her owner Robynne Simons-Sealy said.Simons-Sealy, who is disabled, said community members and neighbors tirelessly helped her search for Nova Riley. The dog was spotted several times, but was too scared to come near peopl...

The game that ended Steph Curry’s college career was right here

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

MORAGA — For Patty Mills, then a sophomore on the Saint Mary’s basketball team, confirmation that the Gaels’ 2009 second-round NIT matchup against Stephen Curry and Davidson would not be just another game came from his girlfriend and future wife, Alyssa Levesque.“My wife played on the women’s team and they had to clear out their locker room for Davidson to come in,” Mills said this week. “I remember her telling me a lot of the girls had left their photos and numbers in their lockers for Steph.“You could tell there was just this different vibe on campus that night.”The Gaels ended Curry’s college career, winning 80-68 behind a 23-point, 10-assist, one-turnover performance by Mills but significantly aided by a frenzied capacity crowd of 3,500 — and then some — that had now-retired Davidson coach Bob McKillop scratching his head.“Is this the atmosphere that they have for every game?” he asked afterward. “It just blows my mind that they have this kind of crowd. This is...

Wish Book: Martha’s Kitchen plans big expansion to fill the need for more meals

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

Trish Garcia is on the move. She checks on the volunteers packing dinners at the soup kitchen, moves a pallet of donations across the auditorium, notes the length of the drive-thru meal lane — 200 cars are expected — then heads over to greet clients standing outside in the grocery line.“The littles are here!” she exclaims, referring to the three young daughters in the Ramirez family, Elizabeth, Brianna and Yaretzi. They come to Martha’s Kitchen in San Jose most Tuesdays with their mother, Maria, to pick up boxes of food to help supplement what their parents can afford to buy on their salaries as a janitor and a taqueria cook.Elizabeth, the eldest at 11, translates for her mother. “It helps us a lot. They give us good food … chicken, eggs, rice, fruit like apples, veggies. A lot of food.”Elizabeth Ramirez, 11, of San Jose, who is thankful for the help that her family has received from MarthaÕs Kitchen, waits in line with her mother, Mar...

For Thanksgiving this year, let’s be grateful for the optimists

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

As I was reflecting on 2023, I couldn’t believe how fast this year has flown by. That’s OK, though, since after the last few years, we’d probably all like a brighter future to arrive as fast as it can.With that in mind, here’s my annual Thanksgiving list of people and things I’m grateful for, which has more than a hearty helping of people who are optimistic about the days ahead:• San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson, whose mantra since she arrived on campus in January has been that SJSU and San Jose are the “epicenter of the future.” And when it comes to optimistic Spartans, how about football coach Brent Brennan? He and his players rallied from a dismal start this season to move into bowl contention and head into this weekend’s game with UNLV with the wind at their backs.• Sisters Valerie Lewis and Monica Holmes, who after 44 years have let go of Hicklebee’s bookstore in Willow Glen but are confident that new owner L...

Struggling Warriors starters should take inspiration from bench players

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

PHOENIX — The Warriors’ core needs a little bit of whatever the bench unit had cooking in Wednesday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.Golden State’s starters looked downright stuck trying to climb out of a 23-point deficit fueled by a heated Chris Paul ejection at rival Scott Foster’s direction and a second-quarter turnover-fueled collapse. Those motion offense gears that usually hum jammed up in the half-court against the Phoenix Suns — as it has against most opponents without Draymond Green pushing the pace. Klay Thompson had a season-high 23 points, but there just wasn’t enough juice for the Warriors to control the pace.Then mid-way through the third quarter, when it appeared coach Steve Kerr was waving the white flag on this Thanksgiving holiday mess, magic started to happen. The mop up crew pulled the Warriors to within six points with plenty of time to go for a win in the fourth quarter.In striking distance, all eyes were on the bench t...

The top seven most expensive home sales in Palo Alto, reported the week of Nov. 13

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

A house that sold for $4.3 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Palo Alto in the past week.In total, eight residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $1.9 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $1,371.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Nov. 13 even if the property may have been sold earlier.7. $707K, condominium in the first block of Newell RoadThe property in the first block of Newell Road in East Palo Alto has new owners. The price was $706,500. The condominium was built in 1973 and has a living area of 1,060 square feet. The price per square foot is $667. The condominium features two bedrooms and two bathrooms.Newell Road6. $995K, single-family house in the 2300 block of Pulgas Ave.The 1,370 square-foot single-family house in the 2300 block of Pulgas Ave., East Palo Alto, has been sold. The transfer...

Antioch man arrested for hit and run that killed pedestrian on Hwy 4

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

(KRON) -- Police arrested an Antioch man on Wednesday in connection to a fatal hit and run earlier this month that killed a pedestrian on Highway 4 near Discovery Bay, according to California Highway Patrol Contra Costa.Javier Dominguez Ramirez, 32, was allegedly driving on westbound Highway 4 on Nov. 11 when he struck a pedestrian and did not stop, fleeing the scene, police said. The pedestrian suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead by medical personnel at the scene. Parents of San Jose toddler who died of fentanyl toxicity charged with murder Ramirez was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility for felony hit and run and is being held on a $50,000 bail, CHP said.

Some of the longest emergency room wait times in Maryland can stretch almost a whole day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:45 GMT

With increased risks of food poisoning, burns from cooking, car accident injuries and the rise of wintertime ailments like the flu, the holiday season can result in more trips to emergency rooms.But in Maryland, higher rates of emergency room visits may exacerbate an existing issue: it can take hours or close to a day between arriving at the emergency room and actually receiving care. State and local officials are trying to determine why emergency room wait times are so long in Maryland.Wait times in the state are longer than the national average, according the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, which oversees and regulates hospital rates in the state.According to September data, the shortest median wait time, from arrival to inpatient admission, was about 3.3 hours, or just over 200 minutes, at Atlantic General in Berlin on the Eastern Shore. In 2020, the median emergency room wait time in the United States was 286 minutes, or 4.7 hours, according to U.S. News.Septemb...