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Passenger growth at Austin's airport is hitting forecasts five years ahead of schedule

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — "Explosive growth" at Austin's airport has led officials to reevaluate terminal designs and plans for additional capacity as the airport hits passenger forecasts years ahead of schedule."We have been reevaluating the design parameters... to accommodate the rapid growth, the almost explosive growth, that happened in 2022," Somer Shindler, the airport's chief development officer, said in a Wednesday meeting of the Airport Advisory Commission."The forecast that we had planned to see in 2028, we're actually hitting it this year, right now," Shindler said. "So that means, and you can all feel it when you fly through the airport, that all the processing units have already hit their capacity." With 21 million passengers, Austin airport had a blockbuster year in 2022 The airport saw record passenger totals last year, with more than 21 million passengers flying out of AUS. All 10 of the top 10 busiest months in airport history were recorded in 2022.Shindler said AUS officia...

Artificial Intelligence tools becoming 'unavoidable', lawmakers say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar)-- The Artificial Intelligence revolution is upon us. Emerging technologies, like chatbots, have become almost unavoidable in recent months.But is Washington ready for this new wave of technological advancement?South Carolina republican Nancy Mace opened Wednesday's committee hearing on the advances AI."While the potential applications of generative models are vast and impressive, there are also serious concerns about the ethical implications of their use," Mace said.Shortly after, Mace told lawmakers just moments later she did not write her speech."Every single word up until this sentence was generated entirely by ChatGPT," she said.Mace, along with Virginia democrat Gerry Connolly, said the popular chatbot, ChatGPT, is just one example of how AI tools are becoming unavoidable."We need to be looking at, sort of like a race to the moon, because if the Chinese dominate those areas, the future is theirs," Connolly said.Dr. Eric Schmidt is with the nonprofit Special...

Big men who can shoot continue to give the Timberwolves fits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

Rudy Gobert did as good a job as anyone has this season at keeping Joel Embiid out of the paint on Tuesday at Target Center. Minnesota limited Embiid’s free-throw attempts and layups.But it could not limit his production.Embiid adjusted, content to take and bury mid-range and 3-point shots. He went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 39 points.“Sometimes in this league, guys are going to get hot. We’ve just got to be able to adjust, maybe. That’s a tough situation,” Wolves forward Kyle Anderson said. “He played really well. You’ve got to tip your cap sometimes.”Embiid’s 3-point looks came almost entirely off pick and rolls in which the ball handler would penetrate off the screen right at Gobert, then make the easy dish back to Embiid for a wide-open shot.That’s the easiest play for opponents to make against Minnesota’s drop pick-and-roll coverage, which the Wolves specialize in when Gobert is on the floor. Gobert sinks toward the lane to protect the rim while the on-ball d...

Class A boys hockey state quarterfinal: Corey Bohmert’s hat trick leads Mahtomedi into Class A semifinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

Corey Bohmert had been “snake bit” over the past month, according to Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl.“He’s had great opportunities,” Poeschl said.But the puck wouldn’t find the back of the net. Bohmert just told his coaches he saving his goals for when they counted most.They counted quite a bit on Thursday in St. Paul.Bohmert scored a hat trick in Mahtomedi’s come-from-behind 6-3 victory over unseeded Alexandria in the Class A state quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center. The Zephyrs will meet second-seeded Hermantown in the Class A semis at 11 a.m. Friday back at the X.“I couldn’t be more pleased that he was rewarded,” Poeschl said. “Because he wasn’t just rewarded for the hard work today, it was a reward for the hard work that he’s put in all season.”The offensive outburst was needed on a day when the Zephyrs weren’t at their sharpest over the first 17 minutes of play. Poeschl lost track of how many turnovers the third-seeded Zephyrs committed in that opening frame. Those giveaway...

State boys hockey: Hermantown strikes early, throttles Luverne

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

Seventy-one seconds was all it took for Hermantown to seize control of its state quarterfinal matchup against Luverne on Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center.Senior Aaron Evjen scored at the 6:28 mark to put the Hawks in front, with River Freeman and Evan Gunderson each adding goals at the 7:09 and 7:39 marks of the first period to put Hermantown in command on its way to a 6-0 victory.Ironically, the Hawks struggled in the first few minutes to get shots, and a slashing penalty on Nolan Barker gave Luverne a chance to go up. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it also put Hermantown’s penalty kill unit on the ice.“Our penalty kill has given us momentum throughout the year,” Hermantown coach Pat Andrews said. “We don’t want to take penalties, but we also don’t play afraid to take penalties because we’re good from the goal line out, and these guys work their butts off on the PK. It’s been good all year and it was good again today. It got us into the game a little bit. Sometimes you just ne...

Meet the couple whose ‘promposal’ at the Minnesota boys hockey state tournament went viral

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

Not long after Luverne secured its third ever trip to the boys hockey state tournament, senior Brady Bork started racking his brain for ideas. He’s been watching the state tournament since he was as kid, so naturally, he understands the importance of the player introductions.Most players use the moment as a chance to say hi to Mom and Dad, while others use it as a chance to audition for a All-Hockey Hair Team.As for Bork, well, he had something else up his sleeve. He taped up his hockey stick and wrote three words on blade. Then he waited for his moment.“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now,” Bork said. “I figured I might as well do it.”As soon he heard his his name, Bork skated to the blue line at Xcel Energy Center and revealed his message to his girlfriend: “Hey Sarah, Prom?” @bauerhockey The best promposal of all time? #hockey #minnesota #prom #thetourney #highschoolhockey ♬ original sound – Senpai.Rei Who exactly w...

House probes ‘stunning failure’ of US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan received a somber and serious review on Wednesday as the House Foreign Affairs Committee opened its public probe of the 2021 military evacuation from the country.Lawmakers heard powerful stories from those on the ground during the chaotic two-week evacuation, those based in the U.S. who did everything in their power to help Afghan allies seeking to flee, and those still working to get those left behind safely out of the country. “It was often referred to like Schindler's List. If you're on the list, you made it out alive. If you weren't, you didn’t,” said Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas), nodding to the tens of thousands of allies and families still left in Afghanistan.“What happened in Afghanistan was a systemic breakdown of the federal government at every level, and a stunning, stunning failure of leadership by the Biden administration.”The committee’s first look at the withdrawal was told almost entirely from the veteran perspective – a mov...

Suspected Schnucks shooter appeared to be targeting suburbs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

ST. PETERS, Mo. - The alleged Schnucks parking lot shooter was already a wanted man with a reported violent criminal history.According to court records, 24-year-old Tyrone Miller went out of his way to look for victims. His last known address was an extended-stay motel in O’Fallon, Illinois. It’s right off Interstate 64, which would’ve put Miller about a 45-minute drive from where he found his alleged victims across the Mississippi River.Police are now investigating Miller’s connection to a robbery near a Shrewsbury Dierbergs, a theft near a Walmart in the Chesterfield Valley, and the shooting that happened in the parking lot of a St. Peters grocery store, for which the suspect has been charged. Top story: St. Peters police identify alleged Schnucks parking lot shooter Miller was charged with first-degree felony assault, armed criminal action, and attempted robbery for what happened last Friday around 8 p.m. in the parking lot. Police said Miller shot a shopper in the face after f...

Jury: UPS must pay Missouri family hit by truck $75 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A jury found UPS Inc. must pay a Missouri family $75 million, after a company driver with a known history of drug abuse collided with a pregnant woman's car, causing her baby to be born with permanent brain damage.In May 2018, Steven Ray Miller was driving a UPS truck and ran a red light, hitting a car driven by Jodi Pannell, who was 13 weeks pregnant, according to trial testimony.Pannell sought emergency medical treatment and began physical therapy. Her son was born in October 2018 with hypotonia, which is low muscle tone, and was later found to have a permanent brain condition called schizencephaly, The Kansas City Star reported. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News SIGN UP NOW A Clay County jury on Monday found that UPS should pay the...

Local job fair aims to get more women in construction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:43 GMT

ST. LOUIS - At the Teamsters Local 682 union hall off Elizabeth Avenue, women in the construction industry were trying to showcase the opportunities that awaited others.“You can be a painter, a floor layer, an ironworker, a sheet metal worker, and an electrician,” said Beth Barton, co-founder of Missouri Women in Trades & Carpenter Local 1596. “All those trades have subtrades. You could be a bricklayer or a roofer. There’s just so many things you can do.”Barton had been a registered nurse when she made the change to become a carpenter 20 years ago. Top story: St. Peters police identify alleged Schnucks parking lot shooter “That is why it’s super important for events like this to happen so that we can bring as many people into this industry as we can,” said Stacey Lampe, project manager for Kozeny Wagner Construction and member of the National Association of Women in Construction. “Because we’ve seen a major shortage, and I think for the longest time it was considered the old b...