03/01/2010

Texas death row inmate set to die for murder of Brazilian couple in Plano
Michael Sigala killed Kleber and Lilian Santos in August 2000 while he was on probation and was allowed to leave a Dallas-area substance abuse treatment center for the day to look for a job.

Supreme Court troubled by jury selection in ex-Enron CEO Skilling's trial 11:30 PM CT
Skilling was convicted in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors. His lawyers are hoping for a new trial.

Students record stories of Mexican braceros who aided U.S. farming
EL PASO – Alejandra Diaz has been collecting stories, little nuggets of history, since 2006.

Drug war clashes between Gulf cartel, Zetas may escalate, could affect North Texas
Longstanding tensions between the Zetas paramilitary group and their old employers, the Gulf drug cartel, have exploded into a full-blown war, worrying U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials that a likely protracted battle will further threaten this stretch of the Texas-Mexico border.

GOP Sen. Bob Deuell rejects 'liberal' label hurled by primary rival Sharon Russell
AUSTIN – Sen. Bob Deuell, chairman of the chamber's Republican Caucus and one of the more conservative members of the Senate, never expected to be attacked as liberal in his re-election bid this year.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee touts Obama's support
HOUSTON – Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, facing a tough challenge in the Democratic primary, touted a major endorsement Saturday from President Barack Obama.

Perry courts support of abortion opponents
Gov. Rick Perry courted anti-abortion voters Sunday night at a huge church benefit dinner that featured former President George W. Bush. Perry's rival Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison attended but did not speak.

Texas, Southwest briefs
Car driven into crowd, injuring 2; man jailed

Texas elections issue watch: Voter ID
Where the major candidates for governor stand on whether the state should require voters to show photo identification to cast a ballot:

Hutchison says she can unite Republicans
PLANO – With only two days left to change the course of the Republican primary for governor, Kay Bailey Hutchison argued Sunday that the party's other candidates would fare better with her at the top of the ticket than with Rick Perry leading the way.

02/28/2010

A bumper crop of bluebonnets is on the way for Texans
Wildflower experts say the upcoming bloom should be exceptional throughout much of the state, thanks to heavy rains the past several months. Expect oceans of blue flowers to fill patches of Texas prairie and border country roads.

Texas requiring course for aspiring drivers 18 to 24
The state-mandated six-hour course, which costs $35 to $100 based on a check of several driving schools, will cover topics such as rules of the road, highway signs, drunken driving and insurance. Students must pass a written test at the end of the course, in addition to DPS' standard driving-skills exam, before they can receive a license.

Texas Stars goalie sticking with NHL dream despite long odds

BENJAMIN SKLAR/Special to DMN

Brent Krahn has been on nine teams since 2000, when he was a first-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames.
Link: Team profile of Krahn
More hockey news
Blog: Dallas Stars

02/27/2010

Why is D.C. an issue in governor's race?
Rick Perry's and Kay Bailey Hutchison's reactions to the anti-Washington feeling that exploded in the Republican Party define the battle that culminates in Tuesday's primary.
Compare the candidates
50 things to know about the candidates
Issues Watch: See where the candidates stand
Polling locations
Blog: Politics

02/28/2010

Bill White calls for accuracy in census in Dallas
Democratic candidate for governor Bill White urged a complete census count of Texans on Saturday, using the pitch to take a poke at Gov. Rick Perry.

What caused Washington to be a campaign issue in Texas governor's race?
AUSTIN – Rep. Brandon Creighton had an idea, but he needed help.

DISD educator challenges incumbent in ed board's Dallas-Collin-Rockwall district
Longtime State Board of Education member Geraldine Miller of Dallas faces opposition in the Republican primary from a veteran educator in the Dallas school district.

George W. Bush joins Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison at church benefit but stays neutral
Gov. Rick Perry courted anti-abortion voters Sunday night at a huge church benefit dinner that featured former President George W. Bush. Perry’s rival, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, attended but did not speak.

Hutchison predicts runoff; Perry talks about 'sensible approach' to gun laws
Kay Bailey Hutchison predicted a runoff in the Republican race for governor, telling voters Saturday that "we're going to start all over" and win.

Texas Stars goalie sticking with dream despite long odds
CEDAR PARK, Texas – Game night, and the goalie paused in his doorway – 6 feet 4 inches, 212 pounds and a faithless left knee backlit against the amber glow of a townhouse leased for seven months to last the hockey season.

Republicans vying for Texas governor finish with the familiar in TV ads
AUSTIN – TV viewers will see familiar images, not a fresh infusion of new ads with varying messages, in the final three days of campaigning for the Republican primary for governor.

02/27/2010

Perry brags about grassroots fundraising, but most money on record day came from a wealthy few
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry bragged this week about making fundraising history in a Texas governor's race by bringing in $1.3 million in one day from grassroots support.

02/26/2010

U.S. announces Texas roundup of 300 immigrants with criminal records
The largest share of the arrests were in North Texas. About half the convictions were for violent crimes or drug offenses, officials said.

02/27/2010

Hutchison says she's staying in Senate for now to fight health care overhaul
AUSTIN – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Friday that she is prepared to stay in the Senate for as long as eight more months if Congress is still debating health care reform.

02/26/2010

Dozens of longhorns found starving, dead in Van Zandt County
The SPCA of Texas was called to seize the malnourished animals, which are being moved to the Perry Animal Care Center in McKinney, pending a custody hearing Tuesday.

Cows make lousy house guests, Arkansas woman learns
A woman in Murfreesboro recalls the day she came home to find three bovines inside.

Ex-Spurs star Alvin Robertson accused of sex trafficking
Authorities allege that the 47-year-old was part of a ring that kidnapped a 14-year-old girl from San Antonio, forced her to have sex with clients and to dance in a Corpus Christi strip club last year.

Teacher with Texas roots called hero for tackling Colorado school shooter
SAN ANTONIO – David Benke gave his mother in San Antonio a quick call Tuesday afternoon.

Democrat Farouk Shami confident as he casts ballot
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Democrat Farouk Shami voted early Thursday and said he was "100 percent confident" he'd win his party's nomination for governor. The 67-year-old hair-care business founder voted at a community center in the north Houston suburb where he lives.

DNA finding leads to new trial for man convicted in stabbing death
PARIS, Texas – A Texas man who spent the past eight years in prison will receive a new trial after a DNA test showed that blood on the suspected murder weapon didn't belong to the stabbing victim, a judge ruled Thursday.

Texas & Southwest briefs

Trail Mix

N.M. spaceport prepares for blastoffs
UPHAM, N.M. – Take Highway 51 east out of Truth or Consequences, a small city that years ago assumed the name of a game show on a dare. Drive through miles and miles of desert, then turn right at an old train depot whose bustle has long since pulled out. Keep going.

02/25/2010

Campaigning in the Valley, Democrat Bill White blasts Rick Perry's record
Bill White dashed through seven cities in the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, trying to lock down votes for Tuesday's Democratic primary but already looking ahead to a fall contest against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.

Obama picks Beaumont judge to be U.S. attorney for Collin, Denton, East Texas
The selection of John B. Stevens Jr. gives hope that a political impasse over judicial nominees in Texas may have been broken.

Tasty fare increase planned for Dallas Love Field

TOM FOX/DMN

After years of limited dining and retail options at Dallas Love Field, city officials released ambitious plans this week for an expanded menu as part of the airport's $519 million overhaul.
Blog: Airlines

Officials rule arson caused fire at Austin suicide pilot's house
Authorities previously have said they believed Richard Stack started the blaze, drove to a nearby airport and then piloted the suicide flight into the complex that houses Internal Revenue Service offices.

Roll of dice decides deadlocked Sealy city council race
Texas election law calls for lots to be cast if a runoff election is tied. Dice were used in Sealy, with the winner rolling the highest number.

ATF investigates after guns missing from Texas evidence room found in shop
CLEVELAND, Texas – Federal investigators are trying to determine whether 500 weapons missing from the evidence room of a southeast Texas police station are part of a firearms trafficking ring.

Kinky Friedman bringing animal welfare concerns into agriculture commissioner's race
Friedman wants to use his Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch in Medina as a prototype for state-run facilities across Texas.

Agriculture commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert would make people think Texas when they eat beef
It's not so much a question of what's for dinner as where it came from.

02/24/2010

Perry, Hutchison spar before crowd in Houston

Houston Chronicle

Republican gubernatorial candidates Kay Bailey Hutchison (left), Rick Perry and Debra Medina traded barbs Wednesday night at a Republican Party event in Houston.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison shared a stage with Gov. Rick Perry and made the case that Republicans should think twice before putting him on the ticket again.
Minuteman Project founder endorses Perry
Voter Guide: Compare candidates
Blog: Politics

02/25/2010

Texas & Southwest briefs

Keith Olbermann turns down invitation to Saturday's Dallas Tea Party anniversary rally
At least one invited guest will not be coming to Saturday's Dallas Tea Party anniversary rally.

Hutchison, Perry spend more than $14 million in advertising
AUSTIN – Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rick Perry poured more than $14 million into television and radio advertising in the last month as they escalated spending in their GOP primary showdown.

Ex-officer pleads guilty in inquiry into Katrina deaths
NEW ORLEANS – A former police lieutenant pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to obstruct justice after federal officials say he helped cover for officers who killed two people on a bridge in the chaos following Hurricane Katrina.

02/24/2010

State District Judge Mark Stoltz faces accusation ahead of primary
State District Judge Mark Stoltz, facing a re-election fight in Tuesday's Democratic primary, was accused of not telling "the whole truth" by another judge while testifying about whether or not he knew the victim of a man on trial for a string of purse snatchings in Stoltz's court.

Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist endorses Rick Perry for Texas governor

COURTNEY PERRY/DMN

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (left) accepts the endorsement of Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist Wednesday at the Crescent Hotel in Dallas.

"I had to come 1,200 miles to find a governor who believes in a simple principle called the rule of law," Gilchrist said Wednesday at the Crescent Hotel in Dallas.
Blog: Trail Blazers
Early voting sites for March 2 primary
Issues Watch: Where the Texas gubernatorial candidates stand
Voter Guide: Compare candidates, build your ballot

Politics blog: Disgraced legislator Terri Hodge urges residents not to vote for her
State Rep. Terri Hodge issued a statement today asking District 100 residents not to vote for her on March 2.

New punishment hearing ordered for Texas death row inmate Charles Dean Hood
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in its ruling, declined to address the issue of a romance between the trial judge and the prosecutor.

IRS worker's widow sues Austin suicide pilot's widow
Attorney Daniel Ross says the lawsuit against Sheryl Stack seeks to determine if Richard stack, who deliberately flew his plane into a building housing IRS offices, left behind insurance policies or other assets.

02/23/2010

Atheist books, guns found at home of suspect in East Texas church fires
TYLER – One of two East Texas church arson suspects kept books on demon possession and atheism as well as assault rifles and guns, and may have left graffiti offering inside information about one of the attacks in a local store bathroom, according to court records.

02/24/2010

Texas orders treatment, not just release, of mentally ill young offenders
Mentally ill juvenile offenders released because they can't be treated in custody will now receive court-ordered psychiatric treatment under an emergency measure adopted by the Texas Youth Commission.

Texas politics briefs
AUSTIN – Hit with accusations of spreading "cronyism" throughout state government, Gov. Rick Perry is hitting back, arguing that the law firm where Kay Bailey Hutchison used to work with her husband, Ray, was found by a federal civil jury to have defrauded investors in a 1990s-era private prison deal.

Issues Watch: The Border
Where the major candidates for governor stand on placing Texas Guard troops on the border with Mexico:

Atheist books, guns found at home of arson suspect
TYLER – One of two East Texas church arson suspects kept books on demon possession and atheism as well as assault rifles and guns, and may have left graffiti offering inside information about one of the attacks in a local store bathroom, according to court records.

Louisiana woman pleads guilty to selling two children for a cockatoo, $175
NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana woman has pleaded guilty to selling two children for a cockatoo and $175.

02/23/2010

Hutchison says she is the true conservative in Texas governor race
Four more years of the incumbent, she says, will mean more taxes and more out-of-control spending.

Texans turning out in big numbers for primaries
AUSTIN – Texans are turning out in big numbers in this year's primaries, buoyed by a high-profile race for governor with candidates crisscrossing the state and spending millions on TV.

Texas panel aims to use education to prevent new Holocausts
Peter Berkowitz hopes he can help students across Texas learn lasting lessons from the Holocaust and more modern genocides – to choose right over wrong and good over evil.

Texas congressman wants drone patrols along Rio Grande
WASHINGTON – A Texas congressman is pushing for the federal government to use an unmanned aerial vehicle – or drone – to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border to combat narcotics trafficking and potential threats of terrorism along the Rio Grande.

Arizona Great Dane is tallest dog ever, according to Guinness
TUCSON, Ariz. – Guinness World Records said Monday that Giant George is the tallest dog ever.

Chaining school doors a 'fairly common' fire hazard, state officials say
Dallas' Samuell High School violated fire codes and created a potential firetrap for students when it chained a school exit door last week, fire officials say. But Samuell's action wasn't unusual.

Supreme Court ruling means no Lake Fastrill reservoir for Dallas
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday drained the last bit of life from the city of Dallas and Texas Water Development Board plan to build a massive reservoir called Lake Fastrill along the Neches.

Extremists laud pilot's attack on Austin IRS building
Flames were still shooting from the building when the suicide pilot who crashed his plane into the IRS office in Austin was being hailed in some corners as a hero who struck a courageous blow against the tyranny of the U.S. tax code.

Most Popular Stories