A mysterious disappearance of an Alzheimer's patient during a layover at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport seven years ago became a homicide case Monday after an examination of skeletal remains found miles from the airfield.The Tarrant County medical examiner used DNA tests to identify the remains as 70-year-old Marjorie Dabney and ruled that her death was caused by a blow to the head, police said. more >>
Tyra White scored 13 points to help No. 11 Texas A&M beat Pittsburgh 56-50 on Sunday in the State Farm Women's Tip-Off Classic. Sydney Colson added 12 points and Danielle Gant had nine points and 13 rebounds for the Aggies (2-0). more >>
Federal immigration officials let thousands of inmates in the nation's third-most populous county walk out of jail despite the suspects admitting they were in the U.S. illegally, a newspaper investigation found. More than 3,500 inmates told Harris County jailers they were in the country illegally over an eight-month period starting in June 2007, but records show Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed paperwork to detain only about a quarter of them. more >>
Erika Arriaran and Earnesia Williams each scored 10 points, and the No. 13 Texas Longhorns defeated Dayton 66-40 in the first round of the World Vision Classic on Saturday. Arriaran came out strong off the bench, hitting four of her first five shots. Yvonne Anderson added eight points in her first game as a Longhorn. more >>
Colt McCoy burned the Big 12's worst pass defense for 255 yards and two record-breaking touchdowns and No. 4 Texas stayed in the thick of the national championship hunt with a 35-7 victory Saturday over Kansas. The win gave Texas (10-1, 6-1 Big 12) double-digit wins for the eighth year in a row. More importantly to the Longhorns' long-range hopes, the 28-point margin was similar to blowouts Kansas suffered earlier at the hands of Big 12 South rivals Texas Tech and Oklahoma. more >>
CUERO - Isabel Patton is passionate about keeping up the tradition started by her grandmother, Carrie Liendo Ruiz, of providing meals on Thanksgiving. This year will mark the 14th year since Ruiz began the program in 1994 to help those in the Cuero area who can't afford a holiday meal or would be alone on Thanksgiving. Her goal was that they would have a place to go to enjoy the traditional turkey, dressing and cranberry feast. more >>
A.J. Abrams scored 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and No. 7 Texas opened the season with a 68-38 win over Stetson on Friday night. The Longhorns' career leader in 3-pointers with 289, Abrams made four in the first half. The wispy 5-foot-11 guard had considered going to the NBA after last season, but opted to return to the Longhorns for his senior season. It was his 18th game with at least five 3-pointers. more >>
Truong Van Cao and two other fishermen share a cramped, muddy tent amid the wreckage of homes, including his own, destroyed when Hurricane Ike stormed across this tiny Southeast Texas town. Seventy miles to the northeast, Bridge City retirees Ferrel and Jerry Ashby waited a month to get a mobile home from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the storm flooded their house. more >>
Law enforcement officials in Texas say they've cracked down on one of the nation's largest dogfighting operations. They filed charges against 55 people and seized more than 100 dogs. The Texas Department of Public Safety said Harris County fights would be staged weekly or twice a month at one of eight secluded sites. The fights were attended by crowds of up to 100 spectators who bet on the outcomes. more >>
A death row inmate who allegedly threatened a legislator from a smuggled cell phone last month now has sent a letter threatening the same lawmaker, authorities said. Prison investigators said Thursday that they received a letter this week from Richard Lee Tabler, 29, containing threats against state Sen. John Whitmire. more >>
EL CAMPO - With the appearance of computer-age sign technology, El Campo's city sign ordinance is in need of some updating. The ordinance does not address restrictions for two types of modern signs businesses are using to attract customers, a city official said Thursday. more >>
Texas executed a former New York City hair stylist with a long criminal record Thursday for the robbery, rape and murder of an Army medic at her apartment near Fort Hood. "From Allah he came and from Allah he shall return," Denard Manns said from the death chamber gurney. more >>
Under pressure from the victim's family, the district attorney prosecuting the death of a black man who was run over and dragged about 70 feet has recused himself because he once represented one of the murder suspects. Lamar County and District Attorney Gary Young has been replaced by a special prosecutor, former Dallas County assistant district attorney Toby Shook, county officials said Thursday. more >>
An inmate who threatened to kill President Bush in letters written while he was being held in solitary confinement was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. "I just want to say I'm sorry for what I did," Gordon L. Chadwick, 27, said during his sentencing Wednesday. "I want to be a man and step up." more >>
A man who went on a murderous rampage against the family of his ex-girlfriend was executed Wednesday after he apologized and asked his family to pray for him. George Whitaker III, who killed a 16-year-old girl and seriously wounded her mother and 5-year-old sister in 1994, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. CST, eight minutes after lethal drugs began flowing into his body. more >>
A grand jury on Wednesday indicted another three members of a polygamist sect that was the focus of a massive raid in west Texas during the spring. The state attorney general's office said four people were named in eight new indictments, but one of them - sect leader Warren Jeffs - had been previously charged. more >>
A seemingly late legislative win for Republicans may have secured the GOP majority in the Texas state House, if only by a razor-thin 2-seat margin. With a crowded field of candidates and no clear alternative to Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, the narrow 76-74 majority appears to give momentum back to Craddick in the volatile speaker's race - and all but guarantees the next speaker will not be a Democrat. more >>
Hurricane Ike left thousands homeless, millions without power and destroyed houses and businesses along the Texas Gulf Coast. But it also gave state and local governments a chance to learn from their mistakes during a natural disaster. A slate of elected officials, public utility executives, educators and community advocates testified to a Texas House committee Monday about lessons learned during the hurricane and its aftermath at the first of four public hearings examining the response to the Sept. 13 storm. more >>
WHARTON - The Wharton County Commissioners Court Monday accepted bids to demolish and rebuild two bridges condemned earlier this year, a county official said. more >>
