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Are your COVID-19 tests out of date?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicting a COVID-19 wave at the end of summer and the start of school in Texas, at-home tests will be many people's first point of detecting infection.The last government-provided tests arrived at homes in June. How long do they last? Wastewater data shows increase in COVID, Austin Public Health says Madison Taff, a pharmacy resident at Tarrytown Pharmacy, said that the date printed on a test's packaging may not be accurate."A lot of companies are extending the expiration date on the older test," Taff said. "They typically last anywhere from a year, to a year and a half."The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a webpage that catalogs at-home tests. Users can search for the maker of a test, then click the link "Extended Expiration Date" for a PDF with new dates.A Flowflex at-home COVID-19 test, with a pouch labeled as expired on February 2023. Its lot number (top right corner of the box) is COV 2020006,...

Raw water supplier issues drought warning, these Central Texas cities are affected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — The Brazos River Authority advised customers of a Stage 2 drought warning for communities that get water from Lake Stillhouse Hollow and Lake Georgetown. Water restrictions evident for Williamson County as lake levels decrease, says water supplier Friday, the BRA said the conservation measures are due to declining water availability from the two lakes. These Stage 2 restrictions will require customers to reduce all water use by 10%.The BRA said the cities of Harker Heights, Lampasas, Georgetown, and Round Rock are affected.As well as Central Texas, Bell County Water Control & Improvement District No.1, Kempner, Jarrell-Schwertner, High Gabriel and Salado Water Supply Corporations.The Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District and several agricultural irrigators are also impacted by the restrictions.BRA Water Resource Planner Peyton Lisenby said a lot more water would need to be lost to plunge the area into Stage 3 restrictions."There's plenty of water i...

Task force efficiently helps manage assets after recent fires in Williamson County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN Live's top headlines for Aug. 4, 2023WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Williamson County Fire Chief’s Association said the Williamson County Wildfire Task Force Regional Procedure, established in March, was a way to streamline requests for additional resources at wildfires.“Mutual cooperation has always been a priority for Williamson County first responders, but never so much as during the summer wildfire season from August through October,” Williamson County said. RELATED: Fire near Georgetown burns estimated 60 acres According to a release, the procedure breaks the county into four quadrants, with the dividing lines being Interstate 35 and State Highway 29.“When a wildfire occurs in one quadrant that requires additional resources for the response, a task force from a different quadrant is activated to respond,” the county said.According to the release, a Task Force consisted of three Type-6 engines from paid fire departments, one Typ...

Sec. Buttigieg cuts ribbon on Houston port expansion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

HOUSTON (Nexstar) -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joined local leaders Friday to commemorate the addition of Wharf 6 to Port Houston."By making sure Port Houston is ready for the increased demand that we already know is coming, we're able to support the economic growth that matters not just to this region and the Gulf Coast, but really to the competitiveness of the entire United States economy," Sec. Buttigieg told Nexstar Friday.The Houston Ship Channel is one of the busiest waterways in the world and home to Port Houston, the busiest port by tonnage in the country. It is completing a new area for container deliveries, including a 1,000 foot long landing area outfitted with three massive cranes.The addition is thanks, in part, to a $22 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. It's a slice of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. The total cost of the Wharf 6 project is about $92 million."This is exactly the kind of proje...

Charges: Men were playing with guns before fatal shooting on St. Paul’s North End

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

The brother of 21-year-old Jonathan Andrew Wade, who died of a gunshot to his head Wednesday in St. Paul, told police that Wade and another man had been playing with guns and the shooting was an accident, according to a criminal complaint against the shooter.Ramsey County prosecutors on Friday charged Damound Jahema Franks, 22, of Maple Grove, with second-degree manslaughter, unlawful possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property in connection with the shooting at a house on the city’s North End.An autopsy showed that Wade, of St. Cloud, also had a through-and-through bullet wound to his right hand, “indicating that the fired shot went through his hand before entering his head,” the criminal complaint states.Franks was reportedly grazed in the head by a bullet and paramedics took him to Regions Hospital with a non-life threatening injury.His girlfriend, Andrea Marie Thomas, 20, of St. Paul, was charged Friday with two counts of felony aiding an offender for taking a bag with...

Minnesota man on the loose after escape from Dakota County deputies in Georgia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

A Minnesota man with a lengthy criminal record is on the loose after he escaped deputies who were bringing him from a Georgia jail back to Minnesota on a felony warrant.On Thursday, two Dakota County deputies traveled to Bulloch County, Ga., to take custody of Joseph Harrison Baynes, 35, on a warrant for felony harassment, according to the Dakota County sheriff’s office.Joseph Harrison Baynes (Courtesy of the Bulloch County, Ga., Sheriff’s Office)The deputies took Baynes into their custody at 11:45 a.m. On the way to the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, Baynes escaped, according to a press release by Dakota County sheriff Joe Leko.Local, state and federal authorities searched for Baynes in a “heavily wooded area on airport property” for several hours but did not find him. According to the press release, the deputies were not harmed and Baynes did not have a weapon.Baynes has a lengthy criminal history, according to Minnesota court records.He has fi...

Citing rent control, West Seventh Street tenant sues Housing Hub for 48 percent rent increase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

Amy Farah and her adult daughter Breanna Knott have rented a ground-floor apartment in a duplex off St. Paul’s West Seventh Street since 2016, and they were taken aback when new owners last year raised their rent by almost 50 percent, far above the 3 percent limit set by the city’s new rent control policy.Farah, in a lawsuit filed this month against her landlord, said she has continued to pay the elevated rent on the Daly Street residence in order to stay current.Repeated attempts to convince her new property manager, Housing Hub, to lower the leasing costs — including letters from the city — have have gone nowhere, even as basic maintenance concerns are neglected and marked as “completed” despite workers allegedly never showing up, according to the lawsuit.Her lawsuit, dated Aug. 1 and running more than 100 pages with photos and legal exhibits, was filed against both St. Paul-based Housing Hub and property owner Lawrence Kasella, Jr. in Ramsey Co...

Severe storms, flood risks likely Friday evening in St. Louis metro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Get ready for another round of severe storms. The latest system rolling through the St. Louis region could hit hard late Friday evening and pose flood risks for some. The next round of thunderstorms is coming in from the west. St. Louis City and many nearby counties could see the biggest impacts from 9-11 p.m. Friday. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here The National Weather Service says the upcoming storm system could generate speeds up to 70 mph, but the chance for tornado is low. Heavy rainfall and hail are also threats. A flood watch is in effect for Lincoln, Montgomery and Pike counties through early Saturday morning. The watch means conditions are favorable for flooding. If it's upgraded to a flood warning, move immediately to higher ground and have some essential items on hand. Rain and thunderstorm threats will likely continue overnight, though should dissipate early Saturday morning. Download the FOX 2 weather and news apps to stay up-to-date o...

Health officials warn of possible measles exposures in St. Louis, St. Charles counties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - Missouri health officials are warning of possible measles exposures in St. Louis and St. Charles counties after learning of an internationally-imported confirmed case of measles. Health departments for the state of Missouri, St. Louis County and St. Charles County are waiting for test results to determine more about the strain of measles. The agencies sent an advisory Friday evening to notify people of symptoms and potential exposures. Prosecutor dropping child abuse charge despite daycare video The patient who reportedly contracted measles visited these three places, per the health departments: GYM: Fitness Edge (10571 Old Olive Street Rd, Creve Coeur, MO 63141)July 21: Possible exposure risk from 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m.July 24: Possible exposure risk from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.July 25: Possible exposure risk from 6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.URGENT CARE: Total Access Urgent Care (2138 1st Capitol Dr., St Charles, MO 63301)July 25: Possible exposure risk from 5-9 p.m.HOSPITA...

St. Louis-area parks prepare for weekend flood risks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - At Castlewood State Park, the Meramec River isn’t impacting too much just yet. However, those levels are expected to crest just shy of the minor flood stage later this weekend. Jordan Oppolo, the assistant superintendent at Castlewood, said the park sees flooding every year, so they know what to expect. She said minor flooding will impact the peninsula and the River Scene Trail, plus a lower lot and bathrooms. If you’re going to be visiting any parks impacted by flooding this weekend remember not to go into the floodwaters. Not only is it dangerous, but there are also bacteria risks in that situation.  Prosecutor dropping child abuse charge despite daycare video The higher the water gets with subsequent rains, the more impacts we’ll see not only at Castlewood State Park but at other places along the Meramec and in other flood plains. Just down the road in Valley Park, the Meramec Greenway and Simpson Park Trails could soon be impacted by the rising water. M...