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Local delivery driver accused of slashing dogs' faces

A local delivery driver is accused of slashing dogs' faces.

Photo by Quita Culpepper KVUE

KVUE — For Laura Crowell, her dogs are part of her family. What she says happened to two of them Friday night has left her shaken and angry.

"We were at our local neighborhood lake park, having fun on the boat when our neighbor called, frantic and said, 'The UPS driver just cut your dog,'" Crowell said.

She and her husband rushed home to find a package on their doorstep surrounded by puddles of blood. "It looked like someone had been murdered on our front porch," Crowell said. They found more blood on the driveway and inside the house. After being hurt, the dogs went in through the doggie door.

Their dog Samsom was slashed numerous times. "Sam has over 50 stitches and some staples in his mouth. It went so deep it went into his cheek into his gums," Crowell said.

Their great dane Seamus has cuts as well. "Right under his eye [he has] a gash, and a big gash down on his cheek. My dogs are big and they bark. Yes, they bark, but they're not aggressive," Crowell said. "We get deliveries all the time and in six years never had this happen."

Crowell says their yard is surrounded by an invisible fence, and the dogs can only go halfway down the driveway. She says their delivery drivers know to leave packages at the end and not on the front porch.

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Read the full story on KVUE.com.

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Texas races to the bottom in new list of best states for cyclists

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Austin, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Austin, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling-friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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