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Liberty Hill is playing its best ball when it matters most, meets Port Neches-Groves in 5A DII semifinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Liberty Hill finished a game above .500 during the regular season, but they're undefeated when it counts the most in the postseason.The Panthers (10-4) take on 2022 5A Division II runner-up Port Neches-Groves (13-1) in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium in Cypress, and two dominant rushing offenses are set to clash for a spot in the state title game.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/newslettersThe teams have combined to rumble for more than 9,000 yards this season, and while Port Neches-Groves mixes in a pass quite a bit more than Liberty Hill does, expect two teams who know how to run go at each other with brute force.Liberty Hill head coach Kent Walker said the Panthers' path to the postseason was one of overcoming adversity time and time again."We've overcome a lot this year and I've never doubted them once," he said. "This team's toughn...

Concert review: Doja Cat stuns in her arena debut at Target Center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

Doja Cat set Minneapolis’ Target Center on fire Thursday night during a tour stop on her first headlining arena tour.The 28-year-old rapper/vocalist born Amala Dlamini delivered an impressive, highly theatrical and expertly paced show that had the sold-out crowd screaming, swooning and singing along. And it was very much a show, with tight choreography and almost as much fire and pyro as a Kiss concert.A high school dropout who taught herself to sing, rap and use GarageBand, Doja spent the mid-’10s establishing herself as an extremely online star. After her 2018 major-label debut “Amala” largely flopped, Doja went ahead and recorded a novelty song “Mooo!” and released it via a homemade video that soon went viral.The success of “Mooo!” — which very pointedly did not make Thursday’s set list — all but forced her label, and soon after audience, to take her seriously. She was set to embark on a major tour in 2020 that was ultimately scrapped due to the pand...

Ballwin police chief terminated in closed-door meeting, reason undisclosed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

BALLWIN, Mo. - Douglass Schaeffler is no longer the Ballwin Police Chief. He has been terminated from the role, nearly two months after the city's board of aldermen voted to put him on leave. FOX 2 learned Thursday that Schaeffler was fired in a closed-door meeting without explanation, and residents want to know why. Schaeffler was hired to lead the department back in 2019. He had been collecting checks for nearly two months while on leave. Highway with ‘Loneliest Road in America’ also runs through St. Louis region Some Ballwin residents feel the city owes taxpayers an explanation for the decision. "The citizens of Ballwin have the right to ask the question and get a solid answer that they're comfortable with," said Sonya Straight, who recently moved back from Atlanta. She says while she'd like to know why the chief was fired, she also understands the city might not want certain details to come out."All I can say is there's probably more to the story than we all know, so you migh...

St. Louis city report shows improvement in emergency call response times

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

ST. LOUIS - The City of St. Louis shared a report Thursday indicating there has been an improvement in response times for answering emergency calls. The public safety department said they are looking to fill more than a dozen dispatcher positions as quickly as possible.That comes months after the FOX Files revealed a St. Louis City police memo showing only one dispatcher working to answer three radio channels, the city claims it is making major waves to protect you. Alderman proposes open-carry trigger law in St. Louis "We are improving. We're getting where we need to be," said Charles Coyle, Director of Public Safety. He said the national standard for answering 911 calls is within ten seconds of the first ring. That wasn't the case during the severe weather this summer. A 33-year-old woman died after a tree fell on her car and bystanders said they couldn't get a dispatcher on the phone.  Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. ...

Menorah lighting at Kiener Plaza carries new meaning for St. Louis Jewish community

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

ST. LOUIS - The Jewish community in St. Louis honored the start of Hannukah on Thursday by lighting the menorah at Kiener Plaza. As the war between Israel and Hamas persists, this year's celebration of Hannukah holds more meaning for some. "It’s a peaceful celebration in America where we have a right to celebrate our religious freedoms and that’s unique to the world, and it's wonderful," said Mark Cantor, a Staenberg Menorah Sponsor. "The hate is the darkness. There is something about light that invariably, always defeats the darkness," said Rabbi Yosef Landa. "Celebrating a festival of light is the best message. Goodness and light and truth will prevail. ” Alderman proposes open-carry trigger law in St. Louis Despite the hostile attacks taking place in Israel, Jewish Americans are still celebrating through Hanukkah traditions.“We started it this evening," said Robin Rickerman. "I had a get-together with some girlfriends at my house, and we lit menorahs each singularly. We had don...

Kiszla: Let’s make a deal, Avs. There’s a big hole at 2C in team’s pursuit of the Stanley Cup.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

Would the Avs rather slam their fingers in the window than hoist the Stanley Cup?It would really hurt to waste a hockey club blessed with the generational talent of Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.Here we are, far enough into the NHL season for anybody in this dusty old cowtown not unhealthily obsessed with the mediocre Broncos to see the Avs have as good a shot as any team in the league to win a championship this season.Except for one troublesome thing, and it’s the same old irksome thing: Colorado still hasn’t found a solid way to replace center Nazem Kadri from the fire trucks that rode through Denver during that glorious victory parade in 2022.There’s a nagging hole in this team’s championship dream at 2C.Can the Avs solve this problem without making a trade? Nothing in a 4-2 loss to Winnipeg gave me much reason for optimism.When the Avs took the ice on Thursday night, their second-line center was … Ross Colton?Don’t get me wrong. Colton i...

Mistakes, sputtering power play cost Avalanche against Jets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

Nathan MacKinnon is producing like one of the best players in the league, but it hasn’t been enough to prevent the Colorado Avalanche from hitting another lull before the holiday break.Winnipeg took advantage of a couple of key mistakes and Connor Hellebuyck helped the Jets hang on Thursday night at Ball Arena for a 4-2 win, as the Avs lost for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2) for the first time this season.Mistakes just before and after the first intermission, combined with a suddenly sputtering power play, were the biggest culprits against the Jets. This stretch doesn’t look as bad as the funk earlier in the year when Colorado lost five of seven with a couple of embarrassing blowouts, but it’s also not near the Avs’ peak performances, either.Colorado had four chances on the power play in this game, including a 5-on-3 in the third period, but was unable to convert. The Avs did have a stretch of nine straight contests with a power-play goal, but this is ...

Drugs may be a factor in man’s death in Denver police custody, commander says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

A man who died in Denver police custody may have experienced a drug overdose shortly after he was arrested for violating a restraining order, according to body camera footage released Thursday.Denver Police Department officials discussed details of the Nov. 26 incident during a news conference at police headquarters Thursday.Officers responded to Fusion Studios at 3737 Quebec St. at 9:20 a.m. on reports from a pretrial services employee that Jesse Stowers, 43, was in the area and had tampered with his ankle monitor.Stowers had a court order barring him from the apartment complex and officers found his ankle monitor in an alleyway outside, Cmdr. Matt Clark said at the news conference Thursday.Body camera footage shows police forced open a bathroom door where it appeared Stowers was flushing drugs down the toilet or sink, according to body camera footage and Clark.Officers arrested Stowers and walked him outside, repeatedly asking him if he had used drugs. Stowers was also examined by...

Denver clears homeless camp near downtown post office

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

City crews moved more than 100 people out of a homeless encampment near the post office at 20th and Curtis streets downtown Thursday and into an east Denver hotel that has been converted into a shelter, officials confirmed.It was the fourth and, so far, the largest action at an encampment yet as part of Mayor Mike Johnston’s House 1,000 homelessness initiative. With another mass relocation is planned in the coming days at an encampment near East 48th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, administration officials say the city is on track to shelter more than 500 people by the middle of next week as part of the effort that has been Johnston’s primary focus since he was sworn in in July.“After we bring people indoors from these two encampments, we will be more than halfway to the mayor’s stated goal,” Johnston spokesman Jose Salas said.The online dashboard tracking the administration’s progress showed that 317 people had been moved off the streets and into ...

LIVE: Police pursue suspected stolen vehicle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:18 GMT

Police are pursuing a carjacking suspect out of Fontana on Thursday night.The suspect is believed to be driving a stolen pickup truck, according to California Highway Patrol. They may be armed and it's unclear how many people are inside the vehicle. At least six patrol units are chasing the suspect on the westbound 10 freeway as they passed through downtown L.A. The driver later merged onto the northbound 101 toward the San Fernando Valley and then to the northbound 405 Freeway.A spike strip was deployed on the freeway at one point, but the driver spotted it and was able to quickly dodge it. A second spike strip may have been deployed under a bridge but was also unsuccessful.Registration for the vehicle's owner is traced back to the West Covina area.Sky5 is overhead. This developing story will be updated. The pursuit can be viewed in the video player above.