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Mike Batayeh, 'Breaking Bad' actor, dead at 52

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

(WGHP) — Actor Mike Batayeh, best known for his role in the hit TV series "Breaking Bad," has died at the age of 52, according to TMZ.Batayeh, a Detroit native, played Dennis Markowski, the manager at Gustavo Fring's Lavandería Brillante industrial laundromat. He appeared in three episodes in 2011 and 2012.Batayeh's family told TMZ that the actor died of a heart attack in his sleep at his home in Michigan. According to his obituary, he died on June 1. He had no known heart issues. "He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many," his family said in a statement."A devastating loss of a huge life — Mike Batayah, you were everybody’s friend," friend Rola Nashef, a Detroit-based writer and director, posted on Facebook. "And I mean everybody. There isn’t a person that I introduced you to or a waitress that took our order whom you didn’t make laugh, think, inspire and root for. You wanted to see us all win. I still can’t believe...

Eanes Education Foundation raises $2.65 million, grants money to ISD for 2023-24 year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Eanes Education Foundation Board of Directors announced Thursday they raised more than $2.65 million and will grant it to the Eanes Independent School District for the upcoming school year. According to the announcement, the money will fund more than 50 teaching positions for the 2023-24 school year. The EEF also approved an "EFF Board-Donated Gift" of $242,000 distributed as a year-end gift to all educators in the district. The foundation was created in 1991 to "help to bridge the gap between an adequate education as defined by the state of Texas, and the standard of educational excellence for which EISD is known."EEF said it helps fund positions on each of the ten district campuses including specialists, librarians, counselors, school nurses, AP teachers, gifted/talented teachers and more educators whose positions the state doesn't fund or require. “We are thrilled with the results we have received with this year’s community involvement and gene...

Tips to protect your skin during the summer months

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- With temperatures heating up and sunnier days ahead, many visitors and locals of Austin will turn to our lakes and the many swimming spots here in Central Texas to beat the heat and stay cool.Meteorologist Sean Kelly spoke with Doctor Emily Wood, who is a dermatologist at Westlake Dermatology in Austin, Texas about best skin protection practices in the months ahead. You can read the interview below to learn more.Sean Kelly, KXAN News: There's a lot of people who are going to be out and about they're going to be out in the lakes, we've got visitors, friends, family coming in town, what are some best tips to prepare for some long days ahead and some of the sunny days ahead when it comes to skincare? Dr. Emily Wood, Westlake Dermatology: If you can, I would say avoid the peak sun hours of the day, which are typically between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. Of course, we're in Texas, so we all live near lakes, and there are pools widely available. So, sometimes that's not possible...

‘Burn It Down’ author Maureen Ryan has a suggestion for the Hollywood power structure. It’s right there in the title.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

Michael Phillips | Chicago Tribune (TNS)Maureen Ryan can’t deny it, as she writes in her first book: “Burn It Down: Power, Complicity and a Call for Change in Hollywood.” For much of her life, the former Chicago Tribune and Variety critic and reporter couldn’t get enough of the grisly, salacious show-business lore spawned by the tyrants, the predators, the power structure, the bias, the damage, the wreckage. The all of it.She “consumed these narratives like candy,” she writes in her book. “Horrible behavior — hundreds of pages of it — in ‘Live from New York,’ the oral history of ‘Saturday Night Live’? Of course I devoured the whole thing. When I was coming up, not only as a consumer of popular culture but as someone who wrote about the industry, these narratives — dishy stories of industry people behaving badly — were, in and of themselves, a popular subgenre of entertainment.”Change, and some real consequences when it came to a conspicuous handful, came in 2017 with MeToo and the f...

State responds to 'totally unprecedented' wildfire air quality threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, New York officials responded to the air quality threat posed by Canadian wildfires. Air quality in New York City at one point was among the worst air in the world. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Commissioner for the State Department of Environmental Conservation Basil Seggos explained the threat posed to residents was unique. "We are a big and broad agency we usually fight fires here in New York we fight fires elsewhere it's very unusual that we're talking about advising New Yorkers about problems from fires in other states or countries," said Seggos.Also this week, Jeff Wice—an adjunct professor and senior fellow at New York Law School—gave details on the lawsuit regarding congressional district maps. The suit will determine if the district maps used in last year's elections will be redrawn or remain for the decade. Appellate Division to hear redistricting argume...

Northway ramps to close in Moreau this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

MOREAU, N.Y. (NEWS10) - An off-ramp connected to the Adirondack Northway is set to close through the weekend. The closure is another step in the bridge replacement process on Route 9 off Exit 17, in the town of Moreau. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The New York State Department of Transportation announced a closure starting at 7 p.m. Friday, June 9, and lasting until 6 a.m. Monday, June 12. The closure affects the southbound off-ramp and on-ramp coming off the Northway via Exit 17. Southbound Northway motorists are advised to instead continue to Exit 16, where they can reconnect with Route 9 and head north as far as needed. Route 9 motorists headed south will be detoured to Exit 18, in the city of Glens Falls. Glens Falls street closing for kids’ luge event The area of the Adirondack Northway around Exit 17 has been a work zone for some time, as work continues to replace the Route 9 bridge after nearly a year. The state...

Pride Center on celebrations and concerns: "It feels like people are trying to suppress who we are”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — "The elephant in the room is that LGBTQ people become a political football as we get closer to any sort of election cycle," Nathanial Gray, Executive Director of the Pride Center of the Capital Region, said. "We do live in a time where children are born in the United States with more rights as an LGBTQ+ person than when I was born almost 40 years ago. And we live in a time when it’s almost more scary than it’s ever been to be an openly LGBTQ+ person."The Pride Center of the Capital Region provides support services for LGBTQ people in a ten-county region and produces the Capital PRIDE parade and festival in Albany, NY.

Special counsel to seek speedy trial in Trump documents case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

(NewsNation) — A judge has unsealed the indictment against former President Donald Trump, revealing the charges he is facing in connection with classified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home."Our laws that protect national defense information are critical for the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced," Smith said.Trump is charged with 31 counts of the willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly one count of concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of scheming to conceal, and one count of making false statements and representations. Gag order in Bryan Kohberger case to remain in place for now In a press conference, Special Counsel Jack Smith urged the public to read the indictment in full to understand the scope and gravity of the charges.Smith referred to the U....

Major St. Louis water main break has officials calling for rate hike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS --A major water main break at Lansdowne and Chippewa is causing some people in St. Louis to have low or no water pressure. Collector of Revenue Gregory FX Daly says that crews are working to isolate the break in the 20-inch main.Elected officials are proposing a water rate increase to pay for infrastructure improvements in the city. The increase would result in the largest hikes in city water bills in nearly three decades. St. Louis County town tows cars from driveways with expired tags The proposal came at a budget hearing Monday by Public Utilities Director Curk Skouby. The proposal would mean two 20% increases in the next fiscal year. One in July, and the other in January 2024.Skouby said the increases are necessary to help the water division deal with rising costs and aging infrastructure. Altogether, the increases would mean a $10 monthly jump in the average customer’s bill.A representative from the St. Louis Mayor's office states, "With more than 60 water main brea...

Denver mayor-elect Mike Johnston launches transition team

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

Three days after winning the Denver mayor’s race, Mike Johnston and his backers are making moves to take the reins of the city from the departing Michael Hancock on July 17. Step 1 for the mayor-elect: Announcing the people who will helm his transition team and plan his inauguration. They include some well-known Denver faces in Mayor Federico Peña, state Sen. Julie Gonzales and State Rep. Leslie Herod.“What we know is we want to make sure that this is a city that hears everybody, that represents everybody and that includes everybody and that will be the focus of this transition,” Johnston said Friday morning while standing in Cesar Chavez Park a few blocks from his campaign headquarters in the city’s Berkeley neighborhood.Five people will co-chair Johnston’s transition committee. They include Peña and Gonzales, both of whom endorsed Johnston in his runoff race against former Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Kelly Brough.Greg Moore, the former editor...