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From The Newsroom: SXSW Trial Begins; The Diabetes And Depression Link

Ashley Park/KUT
The scene from Austin shortly after a driver plowed through a barricade into a crowd of people attending SXSW 2014 in downtown Austin.

The top local stories this morning from the KERA Newsroom.  Rashad Owens is set to go on trial today in Austin in the deadly 2014 SXSW crash. He’s accused of killing four people, including a Fort Worth teen, when he accelerated through a festival crowd last year.

Authorities say Owens was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

The state is not seeking the death penalty. He faces a mandatory life sentence of life in prison with no parole if convicted.

Other stories this morning:

  • The third round of open enrollment is underway for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Since 2013, one million Texans have signed up, yet the state still has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country.
  • According to the American Diabetes Association, studies show people with the disease have a greater risk of depression than those without. We talk about why in this edition of Vital Signs.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:20 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. 

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.