The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
A decades-long effort to restore the population of Aplomado falcons in Texas has reached a milestone.
Brian Mutch is a senior field biologist with the nonprofit Peregrine Fund. His organization has been working with Texas Parks and Wildlife and other groups since the early 1990s to conserve these agile, dark gray birds.
“Last week we banded the 500th young Aplomado falcon, which was raised since the first one we banded in 1995,so that’s a big deal,” Mutch says.
These groups released 997 Aplomado falcons at 27 sites along the Texas Gulf Coast between 1993 and 2013. Mutch says the population appears to be self-sustaining now, but still requires monitoring and habitat management. Plus, the birds living on San Jose, Matagorda and Mustang Islands took a hit during Hurricane Harvey.
“And I believe we lost 10 pairs of the 18 that were known on these three islands. So, the good thing is we still have pairs remaining on each of those three islands, and the productivity has been pretty good, but it definitely was a setback,” Mutch says.
Mutch points out that before these conservation efforts began, the last time a pair of Aplomado falcons was documented raising young in Texas was the late 1940s.
A former Spurs point guard, and the last of the Big Three still in the NBA, is hanging up his sneakers. Texas Public Radio’s Steve Short has more:
Tony Parker is retiring. After 18 seasons in the NBA, 17 with the San Antonio Spurs, he made the announcement on ESPN’s “The Undefeated.” The 37-year-old’s last season was with the Charlotte Hornets.
During his career, Parker won four championships with the Spurs.
ESPN’s Marc Spears asked Parker if he would eventually come back to the NBA as a general manager or president.
“The ultimate is to be, one day, an owner in the NBA. I’m just gonna wait for the right opportunity.”
For now he plans to stay in San Antonio. He’ll also spend time in his native France, where he’s the owner and president of a professional men’s and women’s basketball club. He’s also opening an academy there.
Homeowners and businesses are recovering from severe weather that swept through Texas Sunday. There were hurricane-force winds, reports of widespread hail and a tornado in Copperas Cove that damaged nearly 200 homes.
Mark Hanna is with the Insurance Council of Texas. He says if your property experienced damage due to the weather, you need to document it.
“You should pull out your camera and take some stills or video of the damage that you received. That could be to your home, that could be to your car, that could be to any of the property, anything you have outside that may have been damaged or destroyed,” Hanna says.
Hanna says once you’ve documented the damage, you will want to contact your insurance company or agent as quickly as possible.
