CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Good morning, Coastal Bend neighbors, and happy Tuesday! Here are your 6 Things to Know Before You Go.
CREWS RACING TO REPAIR MARY RHODES PIPELINE LEAK
Corpus Christi Water crews are working around the clock to repair a leak on the Mary Rhodes Pipeline.
The leak is on a 64-inch-diameter pipe near Highway 77 and State Route 238. Repairs are complicated by an active gas line running through the same trench as the damaged pipe. The pipeline has been taken offline to allow crews to make the repair.
Despite the shutdown, Corpus Christi Water officials say the outage will not trigger a water emergency or cause a drop in water pressure. While the pipeline is offline, 100% of the city's water supply is coming from the western reservoirs and the Nueces groundwater program through the Nueces River.
The 101-mile pipeline carries water from Lake Texana to the O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant and normally delivers about 70 to 72 million gallons of water per day. Since opening in 1998, the pipeline has experienced at least 33 leaks or failures.
ONE DEAD, TWO CRITICALLY INJURED IN ROCKPORT CRASH
One person has died and two others were critically injured following a crash on Business 35 North near the Rockport airport.
Crews from Rockport and Fulton were called to the scene around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Two people were listed in critical condition, and one of them later died at a local hospital.
Several agencies responded, including Allegiance EMS, HALO Flight, the Fulton Police Department, the Aransas County Sheriff's Office, the Rockport Police Department, Texas DPS and TxDOT. Fulton Police continue to investigate the crash.
PART OF BUSINESS 35 REMAINS CLOSED FOR RAILROAD CROSSING WORK
Drivers traveling between Rockport and Aransas Pass should plan for a road closure on Business 35.
Crews are improving two railroad crossings between West Pryor Avenue and Highway 188. The road is expected to reopen Thursday around 5 p.m., weather permitting.
FAA ROLLS OUT AI SYSTEM TO REDUCE FLIGHT DELAYS
The Federal Aviation Administration is rolling out a new artificial intelligence platform called SMART, which stands for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories.
The system gathers airline schedules, weather forecasts, airport capacities, airspace data and operational constraints to predict airport traffic flows and potential conflicts. SMART will begin as a 90-day pilot program in the Washington, D.C. region, covering Reagan National, Dulles, and Baltimore/Washington International airports, with plans for broader deployment.
All recommendations generated by the system will be reviewed by FAA staff, and local air-traffic-control leaders can accept or reject its scheduling suggestions. The FAA stressed that the technology cannot replace air traffic controllers or take control of an aircraft.
STUDY: AMERICANS DRINKING LESS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE COVID-19
For the first time since the pandemic, alcohol use among U.S. adults has declined, according to a new study.
The study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that any alcohol use, including heavy drinking, among adults in the U.S. declined from 2022 to 2024. However, the rates are still higher than they were in 2018.
Gen Z adults, ages 18 to 29, saw the largest decline in any alcohol use with an over 5% drop, and heavy drinking among millennials, ages 30 to 49, dropped by 17% between 2022 and 2024. Drinking rates remain high among adults ages 50 to 64, raising concerns among doctors about liver disease, cancer and heart disease.
TODAY IS NATIONAL ICE CREAM CONE DAY
September 22 is National Ice Cream Cone Day.
The earliest mention of ice cream cones shows up in French cookbooks around 1825. Originally called "little waffles," the cones were waffles rolled into the shape of a cone. In the United States, ice cream cones first became popular in the late 1800s, with the ice cream cone making its debut at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904.
And those are the 6 Things You Need to Know Before You Go.
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