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Man convicted on aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault charges

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Court records showed a 49-year-old man was convicted Tuesday in Travis County on charges of aggravated kidnapping involving bodily injury of a child younger than 17, as well as 2 counts of sexual assault of a child.According to records, Ronald Martin pleaded guilty to the three charges March 23, and he was sentenced by a judge Tuesday to serve 15 years in state prison.Records showed the charges stemmed from a December 2021 incident.Previous coverage:APD: Missing Kentucky teen found in AustinSex offender caught assaulting child in south Austin, police sayAPD: Man faces additional kidnapping charge in child sex assault caseAccording to past KXAN reports, APD officers said Martin was caught during a sexual act with a child outside a south Austin building Dec. 27, 2021. Investigators said he met the 14-year-old victim on social media and traveled to another state to pick up the victim and return to Austin.

Soaking rain spreads in overnight through Thursday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The rain that fell this morning was just an "appetizer" for the persistent soaking that arrives for the next two days.The "big winners" from this morning's rainIsolated showers and storms slowly increase in coverage this evening, but widespread rain doesn't arrive until Thursday morning. Overnight lows drop down to 50 on a cool night by recent standards.Tonight's forecastThursday morning's rain starts to spread northwest from our eastern counties to the I-35 corridor. As the rain overspreads the area the Hill Country will be the last to see the widespread soaking rain, but just about everyone will have rain by late morning or early Thursday afternoon. Rain will be heavy at times with the low risk for an isolated strong or severe storm with hail up to 1" in diameter. Thursday severe weather risk (SPC)Flash flooding is a slightly higher concern, but not all that high given our drought and need for rain. Still, the Weather Prediction Center has the Austin Metro and our...

How an injury turned Wild winger Brandon Duhaime into a Lego Master

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

Brandon Duhaime was walking around a local Target store shortly after Thanksgiving when something caught his eye.As he neared the checkout lane, he spotted a set of Legos and figured he might as well throw it in his cart.Why not? He had nothing better to do with his time.“It was like 1,000 pieces or something like that,” Duhaime said. “I finished it pretty quick, and I ended up getting obsessed with it.”No kidding. The 25-year-old Duhaime has since garnered the reputation as the resident Lego Master inside the Wild locker room. Naturally, his teammates have had some fun with it.“They call me a nerd,” Duhaime said. “It’s fine.”The newfound obsession was born out of necessity more than anything else.There’s something comforting about the routine that comes with being a hockey player. On a typical game day, for example, almost everything is the same. You wake up, go to morning skate, sit in on the team meeting, head home, rela...

‘3 Old Guys’ await clutch parts on home stretch of snowmobile trip from Minnesota to Alaska

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

The “3 Old Guys” – Rob Hallstrom, Rex Hibbert and Paul Dick – are approaching the end of their epic snowmobile ride from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to Fairbanks, Alaska, but the final stretch of their trip is temporarily on hold as they wait for clutch parts to be flown into the remote community of Old Crow, in Canada’s Yukon Territory.According to an evening update posted April 4 on the “3 Old Guys Ride to Alaska” Facebook page, the trio of snowmobile adventurers had made it to Old Crow, which is only accessible by air.“Upon arriving in Old Crow, they stopped at the Co-op where they understood there were a couple of rooms; they were told that no rooms were available tonight when a woman walked in and said curiously, ‘are you the 3 Old Guys?’…. ‘we have a cabin waiting for you'” Hallstrom’s daughter, Kasie Plekkenpol, reported on the “3 Old Guys” Facebook page. “What a wonderful journey to be welcomed with such hospitality! T...

Budget negotiations continue on indexing minimum wage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--- Governor Kathy Hochul wants to peg minimum wage to inflation. This proposal is something AFL-CIO, a federation of unions, supports."We know that overtime the cost-of-living increases so purchasing power decreases, and as a result from year to year minimum wage earners, find it much more difficult to support themselves and their families," said Mario Cilento, President of the Union Movement in New York Cilento said this would be beneficial to all New Yorkers, not just those who make minimum wage."When we have a stimulated economy like this and we have the lowest wage earners contributing to our economy, it allows us to have more tax dollars to pay for health care, education, transportation, sanitation, so really all 20 million New Yorkers can benefit by raising the minimum wage and index it."However, not everyone is totally on board."We have a problem with that because consumer price index goes up as inflation rises, and if you pegged an increase in minimum w...

As swatting continues, law makers push for stronger penalties

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- As schools across New York continue to receive a series of hoax threats, our Capitol Correspondent, Amal Tlaige took a closer look at legislation that would make school swatting a class E felony.  "We will find you. This is a serious form of terrorism; we have to send a message and that’s what this bill is all about," said Senator Jim Tedisco, who is co-sponsoring a bill that would change the legal ramifications of school swatting. As of right now, swatting about an active shooter at a school is considered falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, a class A misdemeanor. Senator Tedisco along with other lawmakers want to change that to falsely reporting an incident in the second degree, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.  "The fact of the matter is that it’s having an emotional, psychological impact, its spreading fear, anxiety, tremendous stress, impacting the staff and the administration, our families and this cannot stand," said Ted...

Adirondack Thunder captain named 'player of the month'

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The captain of the Adirondack Thunder has been named the player of the month by the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Captain Shane Harper was named the Warrior Hockey/ECHL Player of the Month for the month of March.Harper, 34, was chosen after scoring eight goals and adding 18 assists across 15 games throughout the month of March. He picked up at least one point in 12 of those games, and more than one in seven games. He was previously named ECHL Player of the Week for the week of March 19, after taking seven points across three games. Harper, a Valencia, California native, previously played 335 games with the Western Hockey League's Everett team. He has also played with Utica, Springfield, Chicago, Albany and Portland.

'Venison for Veterans' kicks off in Fulton County

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Over 4,000 pounds of meat lined the Checkers Out Speedway on Wednesday, for the 15th-annual "Venison for Veterans" event. The meat was packaged up and sent to over 140 families in need. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "They might not want to ask for it, but we know where they live and who they are, and we take care of them," said Assemblyman Robert Smullen. Smullen is a Marine Corps veteran, who served in Afghanistan. This is his second year at the event. "It's a great mission," continued Smullen. "It's from people's hearts, and it's what we do. It's us taking care of our own here in Fulton and Montgomery Counties." Broadalbin’s Glampful will have you camping in luxury Matt Georgia's dad, Tom, has helped organize the event for 13 years. Matt told NEWS10 he's looking forward to carrying on that tradition. "I'm from the area, and love community involvement," he said. "I'm a sportsman myself, and...

Opinion: The white privilege behind Jill Biden’s runner-up White House invite to Iowa

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

Editor’s note: After Louisiana State University beat the University of Iowa for the women’s college basketball championship on April 2, 2023 – winning by 17 points – first lady Jill Biden floated the idea of inviting both the winning and losing teams to the White House to celebrate because Iowa “played such a good game.” The idea drew a sharp rebuke from LSU star forward Angel Reese, who dismissed the idea as a “joke.” Jill Biden then backed off the idea.As I argue in my book “From Exploitation Back to Empowerment,” race and racism are embedded in all aspects of U.S. institutions and social life. The fact that the majority of players on the national championship LSU Tigers were Black women – and unapologetically outspoken and confident Black women at that – compared to the majority white runners-up Iowa Hawkeyes, cannot be ignored.Sports, as I have found in my research, often thrusts Black athletes into situations where they must confront societal inequalities such as racism, ...

New California bill proposes 'relocatable' housing units for unhoused

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:20 GMT

A new bill proposed in the California legislature wants to explore a new solution to housing the state's unsheltered individuals: relocatable housing units.The bill was proposed by California Sen. Josh Becker (D-San Mateo), and would lay down the groundwork for moveable "opportunity housing units" to be placed on vacant, unused land.Senate Bill 634 was authored in concert with Becker's team, nonprofit housing developer DignityMoves, and two other organizations aiming to reduce homelessness in California.The problem with housing California's homeless, according to the bill's authors, is the cost and time required to buy land and build permanent structures. In a press release issued by DignityMoves, the nonprofit argues that cities and counties are working hard to meet the challenges set by the state to meet housing requirements, but traditional obstacles slow down the process. Meanwhile public entities have "thousands of parcels of excess land not currently being used," the orga...