🌱 Men Accept Plea Deal In Round Rock Man's Murder + RRISD DNA ID Kits

Hi all. It's me, Elaine Thompson, your host of the Round Rock Daily. Come along to find out everything you need to know about what's going on in town, including updates on...

• 3 men involved in murder of Round Rock man accept plea deals
• DNA ID kits sent to central Texas schools to help in an event of an emergency
• McNeil High School completes another phase of adding on to the school

But first, today's weather:

Plenty of sunshine. High: 88 Low: 64.

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Here are the top stories today in Round Rock:

1. Three men involved in the murder of Round Rock father, Christopher Branham, accept plea deals in exchange for cooperating in testifying against other persons involved in the crime. The man responsible for firing fatal rounds was sentenced to 35 years in prison for first-degree murder. Several of Branham's family members expressed their frustrations toward the defendants and the District Attorney's department as they were expecting harsher sentencing. (FOX 7 Austin)
2. Many central Texas schools have received DNA ID kits to be distributed to grades kindergarten to 8th grade, with Round Rock ISD having begun giving them to students. These at-home DNA ID kits are meant to be useful in the case of an emergency. These are fingerprint DNA kits that are being distributed to students to take home for their parents use. At this point in time, parents are being told that these kits are not to be returned, and that there should not be a privacy issue as parents can decide what to do with these kits as they see fit. “The original intent was to aid law enforcement in recovering children that were missing. Many times parents don’t have enough information to actually help law enforcement,”says State Senator Donna Campbell. (KTSM 9 News)
3. McNeil High School completes another phase of adding on to their facility. The exciting new add-ons include: career and technical education workshop, health science wing, and brand new Black Box Theater. This was all made possible by Bond 2018, which was approved by voters in the past. To hear from teachers and students and their experience being able to use and learn in these new add-ons, watch this video. (Twitter)

Today in Round Rock:

• Break The Bird 2022 at Traditions at Vizcaya (9 a.m.)
• Red Bull Pit Stop Challenge Tour at East Palm Valley Walmart (2 p.m.)
• WILDERNESS Documentary (*Small fee*) at Stony Point High School Auditorium (6:30 p.m.)
• Trunk or Treat Halloween at Realty Texas parking lot (6 p.m.)
• Ladies Coffee Night (*$20 fee*) at Raindrop Foundation (6 p.m.)
• Oasis Kids Family Movie Night at Oasis Church (6:30 p.m.)
• DJ GABE at American Legion George Johns Post 447 (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• If you remember one of our recent news stories on a student getting thrown at a wall at a local Round Rock educational facility, you will want to check out this video. The mother of the student speaks out at a school board meeting. There is not a written transcript for this video however, you can check out the recording here.
• There are three central Texas counties (Williamson, Bastrop, and Hays) that have local entities committing $4.94M to fund breast cancer screening and a diagnosis initiative. This is great news as Susan Dawson, chair of the AARO Health Committee says that, “While insured cancer patients here have a longer life expectancy than the state average, uninsured cancer patients have just over half the Texas life expectancy,” (Community Impact Newspaper)
• We are doing big things here in Round Rock. Restaurants Urban Eat.Drink and Round Rock Donuts have made it to the "Five Places to Grab a Bite in Austin During the 2022 Rogue Invitational" list! If you haven't been to either place yet, now is the time to do it before all the buzz crowd of this event comes through. (Morning Chalk Up)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Friday off right. I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow morning with your next update!

— Elaine Thompson

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Round Rock Daily? Contact me at RoundRock@Patch.com