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Pflugerville Fire Department organize stuffed animal drive for Connecticut victims and survivors

KVUE -- To help people in Texas be a part of the healing process, and to show Connecticut strangers are thinking of them, a Central Texas man is taking donations of stuffed animals.

Kenneth Lockerman will be staying overnight Saturday and Sunday at a tent he set up on Pecan Street across from the Pflugerville Fire Department. He says he wants to send families a tangible item, something "warm and fuzzy."

He said, "It's a small way for them to see that no matter how dark your day is, how horrible life is, somebody out there really thinks about you."

Lockerman described himself as "just a guy stirring things up trying to bring people together."

Members of the Pflugerville Fire Department made the first donation, and soon after people started lining up to leave their condolences.

Lockerman set up markers and notecards so people can leave a personalized message on each stuffed toy.

Lockerman says "it's a way for the people to be part of the healing process."

He says his goal is to deliver these stuffed animals to Connecticut next week.PFLUGERVILLE, TX -- To help people in Texas be a part of the healing process, and to show Connecticut strangers are thinking of them, a Central Texas man is taking donations of stuffed animals.

He said, "It's a small way for them to see that no matter how dark your day is, how horrible life is, somebody out there really thinks about you."

Lockerman described himself as "just a guy stirring things up trying to bring people together."

Members of the Pflugerville Fire Department made the first donation, and soon after people started lining up to leave their condolences.

Lockerman set up markers and notecards so people can leave a personalized message on each stuffed toy.

Lockerman says "it's a way for the people to be part of the healing process."

He says his goal is to deliver these stuffed animals to Connecticut next week.

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View the full story on KVUE.com.

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Meteor News

How to see the Draconid meteor shower in Austin this week

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Meteor shower

A meteor shower will be visible from most of North America, including Austin, during the week of October 6-10.

The Draconid meteor shower – also called the Giacobinids – was predicted to produce the most meteor activity on the night of October 7 and through the early hours of October 8, but there is still time to catch the tail end.

There will still be sightings on subsequent nights, stargazing experts say.

According to EarthSky, a cool website devoted to all things starry, the Draconids will be visible right after it gets dark, rather than the more common early morning hours most meteor showers are visible.

The best time will be just after sunset, until around midnight. Viewers won't have to stay up until the crack of dawn.

Helping to make the meteor even more visible is a waxing moon, barely a crack, which will cast less light and keep the sky darker overall.

EarthSky says that the meteors are radiating from two stars known as the Dragon’s Eyes, called Eltanin and Rastaban, found in the constellation Draco. Which is located in between the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.

However, the meteor shower will be visible across the sky.

The shower is dubbed a "sleeper" in that it produces only a handful of meteors — 10 per hour. But they move slower, so the duration of each streak of light sometimes lasts longer — one to two seconds, rather than a rapid flash.

Meteor showers consist of debris left behind by comets and asteroids, which throw off bits of rock and ice as they orbit the sun. The Draconids are the result of Earth passing through this trail from the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. The comet completes an orbit of the sun about every seven years, and according to CNN, the last time it got this close to Earth was in September, 2018.

The best way to see it is to find a place that's far from artificial light, then lie on your back and look up at the sky with a wide view. No special equipment is needed.

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