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What is the least-visited state park in Texas? Here’s the top 10 countdown for 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — From mountains and canyons to forests and swamps, the vast scale of Texas provides so many natural wonders.Across the Lone Star State, there are 86 state parks, natural areas and historic sites currently operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. What is the most-visited state park in Texas? Here’s the top 10 countdown for 2023 The first parks were opened to the public in the 1930s and the newest, Old Tunnel State Park, opened in 2012. TPWD also has plans to develop five sites into future state parks.Fairfield Lake State Park, meanwhile, closed to the public on June 4, after the property was sold to a private developer. From state park to private development: The twisting timeline of Fairfield Lake TPWD splits the state into seven 'natural regions,' each of which is home to several state parks. The Prairies & Lakes region is home to 22 parks, more than any other region. The South Texas Plains region is home to the fewest, with seven parks....

The feel of winter for a few days

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The cold front arrived during the pre-dawn hours leaving gusty north winds. Gusts of 20 to 30 mph will affect the area until the middle of the afternoon. Wind speeds will lower as we get closer to sunset at 5:30.Gusty winds this morning subside later this afternoon.Temperatures likely won't get out of the 50s today nor tomorrow with most highs averaging the middle 50s. The cold will be felt more in the mornings. Lows tomorrow and Tuesday mornings will be in the 30s areawide. Freezing temperatures are likely for some in the Hill Country.30s for some the next three morningsLight rain continued overnight, ending around 6:15 a.m. Most rain totals ranged from a trace to .10" since yesterday. Several reporting stations picked up more than that, topped by .27" at a gauge 10 miles west-southwest of Lampasas ... and .22" east of Cherokee and north of Tow.Dry weather will be part of the forecast until Wednesday evening. The upper flow will return from the southwest while surf...

Early morning fire breakout at St. Louis retirement home

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Firefighters are currently battling a fire at the Laclede Groves retirement home in Webster Groves, St. Louis. The incident began around 5 a.m. this morning.Emergency crews from the Webster Groves, Crestwood, Melville, Kirkwood, Fenton, and Lemay fire departments are actively engaged in combating the fire. The exact cause of the fire remains unclear at this time, and there are no immediate reports of injuries, except for one firefighter indicating that one person was taken to the hospital.This is an evolving story, and further updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.

Slick roads north of St. Louis, blustery conditions throughout the day

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Precipitation is ongoing across the region, falling mainly as liquid due to temperatures above freezing. The exception is our far northern counties, where some snowflakes could be mixed in. Roads in northern Kansas (north of our viewing area) have become covered or partially covered, resulting in slick travel conditions this morning. The bulk of the precipitation will come to an end from west to east this morning, with some lingering sprinkles into the early afternoon. Expect a cloudy and blustery day, with highs struggling to reach 40 degrees. With wind gusting to about 25 mph, wind chills will be in the upper 20s and low 30s for much of the day. Clearing should occur gradually from west to east this evening and through tonight.Monday will be dry, cool, and a bit breezy, with highs in the low 40s. However, sunshine will make it a better day than today. We'll experience a warming trend through Thursday, with temperatures back into the 50s by midweek. Rain chances return...

65-year-old shot, pronounced dead, investigation ongoing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- A 65-year-old man is dead after being shot in the head. The incident occurred November 25 in the afternoon on Claxton Ave. in the Mark Twain neighborhood off Lillian Ave. Homicide detectives are currently investigating, and neither the victim nor the suspect have been named. If you possess any information and wish to remain anonymous, please call Crime Stoppers at 314.725.8477. 

She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 22. This Coloradan wants young women to know their risk.

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

Devon Brown knew not to ignore it when she found a lump in her breast that just didn’t seem quite right.“It felt very round and hard, so that was pretty abnormal,” she said.A biopsy confirmed she was right to worry: the lump was cancerous. And so Brown, a 22-year-old Loveland resident, joined the unenviable, growing group of young people fighting cancers that generally had been considered diseases of later life.Nationwide, the rate of cancers before age 50 increased about 4.4% in women from 2010 to 2019, but decreased about 4.9% in men. Breast cancer accounted for the largest share of early diagnoses, though rates increased faster for cancers of the digestive system. Most of the increase came from people in their 30s, with rates holding steady for other groups.It’s not just an American phenomenon, either: cancer diagnoses worldwide in people between 14 and 49 increased 79% between 1990 and 2019, according to a study in the British Medical Journal of Oncology....

Colorado nonprofit provides pediatric health care regardless of family’s ability to pay

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

When Reid DeSpiegelaere, chief development officer at Every Child Pediatrics, talks about his work’s mission, he points to the name of the nonprofit organization, Every Child Pediatrics.“We see every child,” DeSpiegelaere said. “We’ve never turned a child away.”That holds true regardless of a family’s ability to pay for medical services, from routine check-ups, vaccines and nutritional guidance to behavioral and mental health care. Every Child Pediatrics primarily sees kids who are uninsured or on Medicaid, offering a sliding scale for the cost of care comparable to each family’s income. (Kids with insurance are also welcome at its clinics.)The Denver Post Season To Share is the annual holiday fundraising campaign for The Denver Post and The Denver Post Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Grants are awarded to local nonprofit agencies that provide life-changing programs to help low-income children, families and individuals move out of poverty toward stabilizati...

Coloradans with neurodegenerative diseases turn to pingpong for rehabilitation. Scientists are paying attention.

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

Mark Lauterbach was leaving a brewery in Fort Collins earlier this year when he found himself being pelted by hail. Instinctively, he took off running toward his car.When he made it, he burst into tears.“I felt like Forrest Gump,” Lauterbach said. “I ran, and I just cried. It’s been incredible.”The 58-year-old, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eight years ago, thought his running days were long over. But playing pingpong, he said, had brought back the gift of running.Lauterbach credits table tennis for a vast improvement in his overall mobility. The Colorado-based NeuroPong program he participates in is now being researched by scientists investigating the link between neurodegenerative conditions and the game often associated with parents’ basements.After his diagnosis, Lauterbach dealt with neuropathy along the right side of his body that rendered the movement of his arm, hand, leg and foot difficult. He developed balance problems and could no l...

Colorado’s $600M order to Army: Clear explosives, clean toxic water at Pueblo chemical weapons depot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

AVONDALE – The nation’s outlawed chemical weapons stashed in 780,000 steel shells here at the Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot – 2,613 tons of molasses-like goop designed to inflict blisters, blindness, and burns from World War II through the Cold War — have been destroyed, international arms treaty overseers certified.But this military base on 36 square miles of what once was short-grass prairie along the Arkansas River still is bleeding TNT (trinitrotoluene), which causes liver and nerve problems, and TCE (trichloroethylene), which causes kidney cancer, in underground plumes of contaminated water. Thousands of old bombs, grenades, and other munitions are scattered under the wind-whipped topsoil and weeds.Colorado officials estimate cleaning the site to meet an industrial-use standard will cost more than $600 million, a cost the U.S. Department of Defense, which owns the site, is legally obligated to cover — though Colorado wants the land back. But if Congress fails t...

November’s full beaver moon will shine bright this weekend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:31:00 GMT

By Taylor Nicioli | CNNNovember’s full moon, known as the beaver moon, will shine bright in the night sky starting Sunday, offering a dazzling sight to behold.The moon will be at its most full in the early hours of Monday, when it will reach the crest of its full phase at 4:16 a.m. ET, according to EarthSky.“The upcoming full Moon (the Beaver Moon) will look like the familiar full Moon, however the specific features are always a little different from one Moon to the next,” said Dr. Noah Petro, chief of NASA’s planetary geology, geophysics and geochemistry lab, in an email.Due to libration — the slight movement of the moon that changes the angle at which sky-gazers see the one side that faces Earth — full moons vary from month to month, he said.Local weather conditions allowing, people who are north or south of the equator will be able to see the beaver moon, with the celestial orb appearing to be full to the human eye for about one day before and after its full phase, Petro said.For...