Texas Front Page News

Texas search team to help after Okla. twister

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:54:00 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Members of an elite search and rescue team from Texas have been dispatched to Oklahoma to help with recovery following a deadly tornado.

Gov. Rick Perry on Monday night announced activation of Texas Task Force 1 (one). The emergency response came after a massive twister Monday afternoon in the Moore, Okla., area left several dozen people dead.

The Texas rescue group includes about 70 first responders who specialize in victim extraction and medical treatment. The team also includes search and rescue dogs, hazardous material specialists and structural engineers.

Members of Texas Task Force 1 last month deployed to the town of West after a fertilizer plant explosion that's claimed 15 lives.

Texas arrest of suspect in Nashville homicide

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:53:00 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Police in Nashville say Texas state troopers and deputy U.S. marshals have arrested a homicide suspect in Lyford, Texas.

Eric Lozano, who is 31 years old and from Lyford, was arrested Monday night in the killing of Mitchel T. Moreno in a Nashville motel room. Moreno was 52 and was from the Denmark community in Madison County, Tenn.

Police said Lozano is a long haul truck driver.

A maintenance worker at the Cumberland Inn found Moreno dead on May 9. He died of an apparent beating.

If Lozano waives extraction, he will be returned to Nashville to face a criminal homicide charge.

Help could be available for uninsured West losses

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:49:00 GMT

WEST, Texas (AP) - Disaster help may be available for losses not covered by insurance in a Central Texas town recovering from a fertilizer plant explosion.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday urged survivors of the April 17 blast in West to check with FEMA after getting an insurance settlement.

The explosion claimed 15 lives and left about 200 people hurt. Dozens of buildings were damaged or destroyed in West, about 70 miles south of Fort Worth.

FEMA cannot duplicate insurance coverage but agency officials say additional help may be available. Grants could help pay for temporary housing, home repairs, disaster-related medical and dental expenses and personal property and transportation costs.

An applicant must provide a copy of the insurance settlement letter or denial to seek additional government help.

Trial begins in international custody case

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:48:00 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A trial begins Tuesday that could determine which country will decide the fate of 13-year-old twin boys at the center of an international custody battle that extends from Eastern Europe to Middle Tennessee.

The boys are American citizens who were born in Texas but have spent the majority of their lives in Hungary. Their father is an American citizen with family in the Cottontown community of Sumner County. Their mother, a Romanian national, has invoked an international treaty claiming the children are being wrongfully retained in Tennessee by their father.

The boys came to Tennessee last year to visit their paternal grandparents in Sumner County for the summer. The father, who was supposed to bring them back to Europe, stayed in the U.S. and filed for divorce.

Texas House mulls new district for failing schools

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:48:00 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Texas House is considering a proposal that would create special districts operated by turnaround experts to improve struggling schools.

The bill by Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West cleared the Senate May 1.

The House will likely vote on it on Tuesday - but has proposed enough changes to send its version to conference committee to be reconciled with what the Senate passed.

The measure would allow the state education commissioner to transfer a school into a new statewide "achievement district" for rigorous overhaul after two consecutive years of low student test scores.

Also up for House consideration is a proposal modifying how teachers are evaluated statewide. As originally filed, the bill tied evaluations to student test scores, drawing criticism.

But the latest version of the bill drops that provision.

Rare $10 bill marked for city of West to be sold

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:47:00 GMT

DALLAS (AP) - A rare $10 bill from 1929 marked with the name of the Texas town of West is set to be auctioned off to benefit the families of victims of the deadly fertilizer plant explosion there.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions will offer up the bill Tuesday. The April 17 explosion killed 14 people.

Heritage says that, beginning in 1865, banks could place bonds and other securities on deposit with the U.S. Treasury. Those banks receive notes bearing their names for circulation in their areas. Such banks were known as national banks, and West had three between 1900 and 1934.

The proceeds will go to a fund created by the West Volunteer Fire Department to benefit the families of those killed.

Texas radioactive waste bill killed for error

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:46:00 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A bill that would have dramatically changed the rules for a radioactive waste dump died in the Legislature because of a parliamentary error.

Fort Worth Democrat Lon Burnam called the point of order Monday night, derailing it.

The measure would have allowed a West Texas nuclear waste facility to import materials with greater radioactivity from other states, while encouraging Texas companies to export lower-level materials. The facility in Anderson County was originally intended to only accept materials from Texas and Vermont.

Waste Control Specialists manages the facility and says it needs the changes to make the site profitable. The company's owner Harold Simmons is one of the state's largest political donors to Republican politicians. It was not clear if the bill could be attached to other legislation.

Ban on shark "finning" stifled in Senate

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:45:00 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A proposal to crack down on the slaughter of sharks for their fins has stalled in the last stages of the Texas Legislature.

After encountering opposition on the floor of the Texas Senate Monday, Democratic Sen. Juan Hinojosa of McAllen withdrew his proposal. It had already cleared the House.

Asian restaurants in many parts of the world, including big cities in Texas, legally serve shark fin soup as a delicacy. The fins can command $700 a pound.

The bill sought to make a state crime of participating in the practice known as finning. Poachers slice off the fins and dump the carcasses in the water to avoid fishing limits.

Republican Sen. Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay said the bill would unfairly target only smugglers who work within the state.

New water taxi service planned in Corpus Christi

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:48:00 GMT

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - Supporters say a new water taxi service across the Corpus Christi Ship Channel is meant to bolster tourism in the city's Sports Entertainment Arts District.

The Harbor Water Taxi will operate on weekends starting June 1 through the summer. The water taxi will run from the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center to the Texas State Aquarium from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Regional Transportation Authority will review the popularity and feasibility of the service. Businesses have donated $30,000 to help fund the operation.

Fares are $3 roundtrip, with discounts for passengers including seniors and students. Children age 5 and younger ride for free. The private Harbor Ferry operator will run the water taxi using a backup boat.

2 women burned in Fort Worth store attack

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:47:00 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Two women playing video games at a North Texas convenience store and a worker have been burned after a suspect set one of those customers on fire.

The Fort Worth Fire Department says the incident happened early Monday. Another woman suspected of throwing the flammable liquid remains at large.

Authorities are trying to determine what prompted the assault.

Fire department spokesman Timothy Hardeman says the suspect entered the store and doused one woman with a flammable liquid. Investigators are trying to determine how the liquid was then ignited.

Hardeman says the woman set on fire was transported to a Dallas hospital with burns that appear to be life-threatening. The second woman has lesser injuries and was taken to another hospital. An employee suffered minor burns as he helped the victims.