Kelsey Sheridan

A new state law passed by the 2011 Legislature requires any college student under 30 who attends classes on a Texas campus must be vaccinated against meningitis. Previously only students who lived on campus needed one.

Video courtesy of MTV

It's every baseball player's dream: To be picked from the crowd at an open tryout at your hometown ball park to play for your favorite Major League team.

Scouts for the defending American League Champion Texas Rangers did just that Wednesday morning, holding  open tryouts for all positions at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock. Not surprisingly, many came out for a chance to show their talents to professional baseball scouts. The Horton family came from Crawford, Texas for the opportunity.

Conservation work is underway on three of the dresses worn by Vivien Leigh in the movie, "Gone with the Wind." The work at UT's Harry Ransom Center comes after the institution raised $30,000 for the restoration.

A University of Texas study funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services says expanding sexual health education in public schools could help reduce teen births in Texas, a state with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country.  Texas dropped a health education requirement for high school students in 2009, making it one of the only states in the country not to require it.

Traditionally, it was thought that the best way to prevent teen pregnancy was to encourage kids to wait until they finish school and get a job before having kids. The report found that teens and parents of all ethnic groups tend to agree. Yet teenage girls are still getting pregnant and having babies.

Small businesses that offer wireless connections to their customers could be on the hook for illegal downloads that happen on their networks, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). 

Record labels, movie studios and other industry groups recently struck a deal where participating internet service providers (ISPs) will issue warnings to customers whose accounts are allegedly used to steal content. The NFIB says small business owners could be charged, fined or worse.

People in charge of recommending bond-funded improvements to Travis County infrastructure like roads and parks have slashed their original recommendation from 120 projects to 36. But they still couldn't bring the price tag down to the $150 million county commissioners had requested.

The county's 2011 Citizens Bond Advisory Committee submitted its finalized list of recommendations today. The total cost would be $205 million.

When a shrimper goes out on the Gulf of Mexico for a day's work they are supposed to bring a laminated "Mayday" card in case of emergency. The card has instructions on how to call in an emergency from the sea by radio. It also includes a conversation guide printed in English and Vietnamese.

The Travis County Republicans announced they would provide buses to next month's prayer and fasting meeting at Houston's Reliant Stadium, The Response,  on a first come, first served basis today.

The mission of KUT News is to bring you news about the issues important to people living in Austin. But we also know that news just can't always compete with everyone's favorite bespectacled wizard. The last Harry Potter film opens at midnight tonight. KUT News brings you a roundup of reviews for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

Planners for the proposed Formula One race track in Southeast Travis County are a step closer to starting construction on some of the buildings at the track.

Officials met with several Travis County agencies last night, including the Transportation and Natural Resources and Sheriff's Departments and Fire Marshal’s Office, to discuss transportation and safety planning. County authorities are issuing building permits for more structures at the track today.

Netflix customers received an email yesterday explaining a new pricing system. Starting Sept. 1 customers will have to opt to receive unlimited DVDs by mail for $7.99 or unlimited streaming for the same price. If you want both you’ll now have to pay $15.98, which is a 60% increase from the current cost.

The announcement has many customers reeling all through the blogosphere. But it's music to the ears of local video stores, like I Luv Video.

The Texas Education Agency announced another 178 employees will be laid off this week. This is in addition to the 91 employees that were laid off in February of this year.

In addition to the 269 terminated employees, 58 employees retired or resigned and 16 were transferred.

The layoffs mean TEA will see a 32% reduction in staff due to a $48 million--or 36%--budget cut from the state.

A new Schiltterbahn water park will open in two years in Cedar Park. It’s slated to be smaller than the New Braunfels location. Officials say plans for the park take into consideration frequent drought conditions in Central Texas, much like the region is experiencing now.

Many tennis fans were disappointed to learn that star player Rafael Nadal would not be coming to Austin this weekend for a Davis Cup quarterfinal match between Spain and the USA. Nadal announced he would not play in the tournament in late June because he wanted to recover after Wimbledon.

Before the announcement, the match had sold out.

In addition to individuals who wanted to see Nadal’s performance, some of the seats were purchased by ticket resellers such as Ticket City who were estimating the price they could sell the tickets at based on Nadal’s participation.