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367 acres of 'vital' land donated for conservancy in Hill Country

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A Central Texas nonprofit announced Thursday it received a 367-acre land donation in Hill Country to be saved and protected from development. Scott Shannon of Scott Shannon Ranch donated a conservation easement, roughly the size of Zilker Park, along U.S. Highway 290 between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, which will be permanently protected, the Hill Country Conservancy said. "This is an important milestone for the Hill Country region, where unincorporated growth is rapidly encroaching upon open spaces and sensitive natural areas," Carolyn Stephens, Marketing & Outreach Manager for HCC, said.   Scott Shannon Ranch contains 1.4 miles of Towhead Creek, which drains into Flat Creek nearly a mile above its confluence with the Pedernales River. The City of Austin gets approximately 23% of its water from the Pedernales River, so the area is in vital need of conservation, according to the HCC.  The Conservancy also said the Scott Shannon Ranch contains ...

White Bear Lake: Ice is still thick, but ice-out contest is underway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

It’s been a long winter.But there is one sure sign of spring: The White Bear Lake and Bald Eagle Lake Ice-Out Contest for 2023 is open for entries.Rules are simple: one entry per person. Entries must include date of prediction for one or both lakes. Entries must be submitted by midnight April 7.This year’s prize pool includes more than $3,000 in gifts and gift certificates from 35 different White Bear Lake businesses; the prizes will be divided among those who guess either correct date, said Alan Haskins, the organizer of the contest.The earliest ice-out date officially recorded for White Bear Lake was April 2, 1928; the latest is May 4 in both 2018 and 1950. For Bald Eagle Lake, the earliest ice-out date recorded was March 16, 2016; the latest was May 2, 2018.Haskins, the owner of Nimble Impressions, a marketing agency in White Bear Lake, recommends guessing a date toward the end of April this year.“The ice is still really thick,” he said. “It’s the equivalent of mid-January right ...

How do the Cardinals decide on their bobblehead giveaways?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Tens of thousands of St. Louis Cardinals fans will take home a one-of-a-kind mystery bobblehead Saturday, either of Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina from their unexpected pitching appearances last season.The Pujols-Molina mystery collectible is the first of eight bobblehead giveaways at Busch Stadium this year. Bobbleheads are among the top promotions each year for baseball fans in St. Louis and beyond. Some fans will wait several hours at the gate to score the special item. Others hope to build upon their collections of tens, hundreds, or maybe even thousands. Or maybe there are a select few who just want one of their favorite present or past player. Top Stories: Courts connect four St. Louis infant exposure deaths to one woman How do the bobbleheads get decided each season? It's part of a long-term process that begins throughout the preceding baseball campaign. "We've studied the bobbleheads all year long," said Megan Eberhart, director of promotions for the St. Louis...

Saunders: Rockies’ 17 hits and 17 strikeouts — “That’s baseball”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

SAN DIEGO — “That’s baseball.”Manager manager Bud Black said it Thursday night after the Rockies hammered the Padres, 7-2, in the season-opener.Referring to Elehuris Montero’s inconsequential doink single to right field to lead off the ninth inning, Black said, “In the box score, another hit is going to show up, but hey, that’s baseball.”Black will likely utter “that’s baseball” another 161 times this season. I’ve had friends and family — casual baseball fans — ask me what the heck Black is talking about.I’ve tried to explain that baseball is a quirky, lucky, maddening, heartbreaking, ironic, unpredictable, and endlessly fascinating game. Weird things happen all of the time. A daily parade of numbers verifies that.“That’s baseball.”Pitchers love the phrase. If they give up a couple of cheap singles that lead to a bad inning, they’ll shrug their shoulders and say, “Man, nothing...

On Democracy, the People Have the Best Say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

Over the years, the United States has claimed to be a "beacon of democracy". But even at best as a "lamp", it has become increasingly dim and could barely shed light on itself. Taking its electoral system as an example, more than US$16.7 billion was spent by both parties in the 2022 midterm elections, dwarfing the 2021 GDPs of more than 70 countries. The top 21 families making political donations contributed at least a million each, totalling US$783 million. Over 90% of those elected as lawmakers won by splurging funds. The so-called American democracy is merely a “game of the rich” founded on capital. Americans’ pride in their democracy has dropped sharply, from 90% in 2002 to 54% in 2022, according to a joint Washington Post-University of Maryland survey.Despite mounting problems at home, the United States continued to behave with a sense of superiority, usurp the role of a “lecturer of democracy”, and organized another edition of the so-called “Summit for Democracy”. The purpose ...

Late-night visit to Van Nuys home results in shooting that leaves 1 dead, 1 wounded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

Two men were shot, one of them fatally, by a late-night visitor to a Van Nuys home early Saturday morning, according to officials. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a man approached at home in the 15100 block of Gilmore Street at about 1:40 a.m. and knocked on the door of a home containing two Armenian men.When one man inside the house opened the door, the visitor spoke to that man and another inside the home in Armenian, then opened fire, striking both men, police said. One victim, believed to be about 50 years old, was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.The other victim, 44, was taken to a local hospital in stable condition.The shooter, who is also Armenian, remains at large, police said. His identity and age remain unknown, though he was last seen wearing a dark sweatshirt and black baseball cap.Investigators said they are unsure of the relationship between the shooter and victims, but the attack was not gang-related."Both victims, they're rela...

Video: Dodgers fan gets demolished by security guard during on-field proposal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

A Los Angeles Dodgers fan’s romantic marriage proposal on Opening Day came at a painful price.Cell phone cameras were rolling as a man wearing a Mookie Betts jersey ran onto the field during a break in the game, dropped down to a knee, and held up a ring box for his girlfriend who was seated in the outfield seats.Many in the crowd cheered, but those cheers quickly turned to gasps when, seconds later, a security guard blindsided the proposing fan, brutally tackling him to the ground. A man who rushed the field at Dodger Stadium to propose to his girlfriend was tackled by a security guard. March 30, 2023. (@THEDieselMendez / SPORTS REPORT+ /TMX)Other guards arrived and handcuffed him as he lay face-down.The man, who appeared to be shaken up, was then escorted off the field and play resumed.“She said YES 🙌🏻🙌🏻la amo,” Ricardo Juarez later posted on Instagram. His fiancee, Ramona Saavedra, shared a photo of the ring and the newly-engaged couple.Ramona Saavedra and Ricardo Juarez show off...

Series of 3.2 magnitude earthquakes rattle Oakland Hills, East Bay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

A series of three earthquakes — each registering an identical magnitude of 3.2 — struck Saturday morning in the Oakland Hills, beneath the Oakland Zoo, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The temblors began at 9:24 a.m. Saturday, with the first one occurring at a depth of about 4.3 miles underneath the zoo, nestled in the Oakland Hills just outside of San Leandro and just west of Lake Chabot Regional Park, the agency reported.A second quake happened at 9:43 a.m. at almost the exact same spot. A third followed just 15 seconds later, though it was shallower by about a half-mile, the agency said.There were no immediate reports of damage.Check back for updates to this developing story.

Kurtenbach: Gary Payton II was the one who got away. Thank goodness the Warriors brought him back

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

The Warriors were wrong this past summer.They knew how they could keep Gary Payton II on the team’s roster. They decided not to do it.Had the Warriors traded center James Wiseman after the team’s title parade, Golden State would have freed enough money to reasonably re-sign Payton to a market-level deal, despite the team’s luxury-tax issues.Important members of the Dubs’ brass were desperate to make the move. It didn’t happen.Pride stood in the way. Enough important people with the Warriors did not want to concede defeat on the failing Wiseman experiment. They fell prey to the sunk-cost fallacy.So instead of keeping the 30-year-old Payton, an undrafted journeyman who became a critical member of the team’s title rotation last season, the Warriors stuck with the former No. 2 overall pick. Payton, in turn, signed his first big NBA deal, a three-year, $26.1 million contract with the Blazers.Thank goodness the Warriors admitted their mistake in Februar...

Preliminary magnitude 3.2 earthquakes hit San Leandro

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:11:15 GMT

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KRON) -- The residents of San Leandro got a bit of a wake up call on Saturday morning when several preliminary magnitude 3.2 earthquakes struck the area, according to the United States Geological Survey. (Map courtesy of USGS)The first quake hit around 9:24 a.m., and the epicenter was not far from the Oakland Zoo, in the middle of Knowland Park, according to USGS maps. Two more quakes hit, almost back to back, at 9:43 a.m., USGS data shows.