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'Did we really just do this?': Illinois women's basketball makes 1st NCAA Tournament in 20 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

CHAMPAIGN - It's a moment that she's been working to make happen for 12 months, but the journey for the program she leads was much longer than that. Yet first year head coach Shauna Green was just as amazed as those who've been a part of or followed Illinois women's basketball for years when the school's name popped on the big screen on Selection Sunday at the State Farm Center."This was the goal, this was the vision, this is what I believed could happen, and to do it in year one, it's still kinda, almost like Jada (Peebles) said, it's surreal," said Green. "Did we really just do this?"Indeed, the Illini did.In one of the more surprising turnarounds of the 2022-2023 women's basketball season, Illinois went 22-8 and 11-7 in the Big Ten to clinch an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They're an 11th seed and will face Mississippi State in a play-in game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. This ends a 20-year program drought for the tournament, with the team las...

Fashion Designer Of The Year, Nipiy Iskwew, Among Notables At 2023 Juno Awards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

Arrest warrant issued for another suspect in Austin street takeovers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Police were able to obtain an arrest warrant for a man they said is a suspect in the street takeovers across Austin on Feb. 18, according to an affidavit.The man was identified as Keshun Jamal Semere, 21.According to previous court records, the takeovers happened at prominent intersections across the city beginning around 6 p.m. on Feb. 18 and ending around 1 a.m. on Feb. 19. During each takeover event, multiple crashes occurred, pedestrians were hit by vehicles, property — including police vehicles — was damaged, people were injured and several vehicles tried to get away from law enforcement, the affidavits said.The street takeovers on Feb. 18 resulted in more than 400 emergency 911 phone calls for the night, according to the affidavits.Several others were arrested in connection with the street takeovers, and police are continuing their investigation with the latest suspect being Semere, who was not arrested at the time this article was published. Arrest warrants ...

Affidavit: Texas driver's licenses were sent to Oklahoma addresses in organized fraud scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for March 14, 2023.AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The unnamed organized crime group the state said is involved in a widespread fraud scheme sent more than 1,000 duplicates of Texas driver's licenses to three different addresses in Oklahoma, according to court documents. BACKGROUND: Chinese crime group obtains thousands of Texans’ driver’s licenses According to an affidavit filed Monday morning, a total of 1,273 legitimate copies of Texas driver's licenses were mailed to three residences in Oklahoma, all within a walking distance of one another. An agent with the Texas Department of Public Safety criminal investigations unit wrote in the affidavit "it is unreasonable for hundreds of driver's licenses to be sent to each single-story residence as it could not possibly hold that number of occupants." The Travis County District Court signed off on the arrest warrant against Tony Cao Li on a felony charge for fraudulent use or pos...

Longhorns' Rodney Terry isn't the typical interim head coach heading into March Madness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Having the interim tag in a coaching title, for the most part, implies inexperience and a certain lack of awareness, but for a guy like Rodney Terry, that couldn't be further from the truth.Terry, who was named the Sporting News' national coach of the year for keeping the Longhorns together and focused through the suspension and eventual firing of head coach Chris Beard, is no stranger to March Madness. As an assistant at UT under Rick Barnes from 2002-11, the Longhorns went to the tournament every season. As the head coach at Fresno State in 2015-16, he guided the Bulldogs to a Mountain West Conference championship and their first appearance in the tournament in 15 years.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters"I've been on both sides of it," Terry said. "I've been at a mid-major and I've been at a Power 5. The team that shows up for that 40 minutes, and doesn...

Cruise to roll out autonomous robotaxis in Austin this spring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In September, General Motors' Cruise announced it would begin rolling out "robotaxi" technology in Austin. Now, Cruise officials said Austinites can expect to see the driverless vehicles out on city roads later this spring.Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt made the announcement Tuesday during the 2023 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals. Vogt said the robotaxis — named Origin — will begin testing on Austin roads in the coming weeks before being open to customers in a "matter of months."Back in September, General Motors' Cruise announced it would begin rolling out "robotaxi" technology in Austin. Now, Cruise officials said Austinites can expect to see the driverless vehicles out on city roads later this spring. (Courtesy: Cruise)Back in September, General Motors' Cruise announced it would begin rolling out "robotaxi" technology in Austin. Now, Cruise officials said Austinites can expect to see the driverless vehicles out on city roads later this spring. (Courtesy: Cruise...

Longhorns arrive in Des Moines for 1st round of March Madness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (KXAN)-- The road to the Final Four in Houston began Tuesday for the Longhorns as they departed Austin on Tuesday morning for Des Moines, Iowa. Texas will take on Colgate at 6:25 p.m. CST Thursday in its Midwest Regional first-round game. While the Longhorns make the trip to Iowa yearly for their Big 12 matchup with Iowa State in Ames, they have never played a game in the Wells Fargo Arena. 2023 March Madness first-round schedule, how to watch, what channels games are on The second-seeded Longhorns will go through their workout Wednesday from 2-2:40 p.m., and that is free and open to the public. Colgate will practice from 3:30-4:10 p.m. The Longhorns snapped a streak of four consecutive losses in their NCAA tournament opener last season with an 81-73 win over Virginia Tech before falling to Purdue in the second round. Texas has not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2008, which is also the last time they were a two-seed in the tournament. Hey, it could happen: Pot...

Jessica Paxton will fill Mary Lucia’s position as afternoon host at 89.3 The Current

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

Nearly a year after Mary Lucia’s fiery exit from 89.3 The Current, the Minnesota Public Radio indie-rock station has announced her replacement. Jessica Paxton will take over the afternoon shift starting April 10. The shift will also be extended an hour and run from 2 to 7 p.m. weekdays.“This is my dream job. I love music and being able to share what I love with listeners,” Paxton said in a news release. “I’ve been a supporter and member of The Current since its inception, and I’m so excited for this opportunity with this incredible team that shares my same passion for bringing great music to this community.”Mary Lucia announced April 19, 2022, she was leaving 89.3 The Current. (Courtesy of Mary Lucia)In April 2022, Lucia abruptly announced she was leaving the station, which she helped found, via a Facebook post that read: “I’ve been concerned with equity and fair treatment of all of my sisters at the station.” Two days later, she filled her final shift with jabs at stati...

Aging boom drives tech innovation for and by seniors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

Richard Wade fixes his home computer by looking at his phone, clicking on Google or YouTube, and watching instructional videos from people he describes as “more fluent in the language of digitalia” than himself.For other tech questions, Wade calls company hotlines. He gets useful answers, he says, “a lot more often than you’d think.”“I really want to praise those phone people,” Wade said. “It used to be they’d talk to me in tech. And I couldn’t get it because I just don’t speak tech. But, lately, they really walk me through it; they’re patient.“I actually think the tech industry might be listening to people like me.”It better.Wade, a retired psychotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, is 72. And according to a new study from AARP, his love of devices that involve some kind of computer code isn’t unusual for someone his age. In recent years – and particularly since the start of the pandemic – older Americans have been the tech industry’s fastest-growing customer block, gobbling up ...

Twin Cities drivers deal with brutal potholes on roadways as winter leaves its mark

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:11 GMT

Record snowfalls, perilous sidewalks, narrowed streets and one-sided parking bans have marked this year’s winter for the Twin Cities.Now sizable craters on roadways — as in potholes large enough to bend a wheel or puncture a tire — are the next addition to the complaint list.“The phones are lighting up like crazy,” said Michael Lopez, a manager at Tires Plus on Snelling Avenue.Heavy snows, rising temperatures, daytime melt, overnight freeze and rain — it all adds up to a series of freeze-thaw cycles that have jackhammered tired streets across the metro. In some cases, roads have been left nearly unnavigable. On Shepard Road in St. Paul, posted advisories warn drivers of a “rough road” and call for reducing driving speeds from 50 mph to 35 mph.“This year the freeze-thaw cycles were really detrimental for the roads,” said Manik Barman, an associate professor in the department of civil engineering at the University of Minnesot...