Texas

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Judge: Tax Hike Needed to Fight UN in US Revolution

Texan warns of 'civil war' if Obama is reelected

(Newser) - The freedom-loving people of Lubbock County, Texas, could be crushed under the heel of the United Nations if they don't approve a 1.7-cent rise in the tax rate, warns a local official. Judge Tom Head told a local radio station that the extra funds are needed to prepare...

Texas Teacher Accused of Group Sex With Students

Evidence includes video of her alleged encounter with teens

(Newser) - A startling case out of Texas: Former high school teacher Brittni Colleps, 28, could face up to 20 years behind bars after being accused of having group sex with four of her students, and a separate encounter with a fifth. Prosecutors in the case showed jurors cell phone footage of...

Dallas Declares West Nile Virus Emergency

381 cases in Texas, with 16 reported deaths statewide

(Newser) - After suffering 10 deaths from the West Nile virus so far this year, Dallas County has declared a state of emergency, setting the stage for aerial anti-mosquito spraying. The disease is surging in the state, which has seen at least 381 cases this year, compared to just 27 last year;...

Texas Shares Last Words of Executed

Most farewells mention love, life, family, God, 'sorry'

(Newser) - You know you have just minutes to live. What do you say? If you're about to be executed in Texas, you most often mention love, family, life, or God—and that you're "sorry." Those are the words that most frequently pop up in the farewells of...

Texas Executes Inmate Despite Low-IQ Claims

Supreme Court rejected his appeal hours earlier

(Newser) - A Texas man convicted of killing a police informant was executed this evening after the Supreme Court rejected arguments that he was too mentally impaired to qualify for the death penalty. Marvin Wilson, 54, was pronounced dead 14 minutes after his lethal injection began at the state prison in Huntsville....

Texas to Execute Man Deemed Mentally Retarded

Tomorrow's penalty would run counter to Supreme Court ruling

(Newser) - A Texas prisoner diagnosed as mentally retarded is set for the death penalty tomorrow—despite a 2002 US Supreme Court ruling barring mentally retarded people from execution. The court decision left states some leeway in carrying out executions, and Texas controversially continues to use its own definition of mental retardation,...

Tea Party Scores Huge Win in Texas

Ted Cruz beats Lt. Gov. Dewhurst for GOP Senate nomination

(Newser) - The Tea Party has triumphed in a Texas election seen as a major test for the movement. Former state solicitor general Ted Cruz has defeated establishment favorite Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to become the state's Republican US Senate nominee. Cruz, the 41-year-old son of a Cuban immigrant, is almost...

Tweens Hit With Felony Over Fake Facebook Page

Girls impersonated classmate, made threats, cops say

(Newser) - Two middle-school girls in Texas have been arrested after police say they created a Facebook page in a classmate's name—and used it to fire off threats to other students. The girls, ages 12 and 13, face third-degree felony charges for online impersonation, NBC News reports. The messages caused...

Palin Grabs a Bite at Chick-fil-A

Makes a point of stopping by after Texas campaign event

(Newser) - Stumping for Senate candidate Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin worked up a Texas-sized hunger and sauntered right into the gay-marriage brouhaha ignited by Chick-fil-A : The former Alaska governor tweeted a photo of herself and husband Todd at a restaurant, declaring, "Stopped by Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands to support a great...

Sex Probe Balloons to 38 Victims at Air Force Base

Instructors may have preyed on recruits at basic training

(Newser) - A sex assault and harassment probe at a Texas Air Force base has been expanded to 15 instructors, and the number of possible victims is now up to 38. "There may be others as we continue the investigation" at the Lackland base in San Antonio, said an Air Force...

Pickup Crashes in Texas, Killing 13 of 23 Riders

Truck was jammed with riders in cab and bed

(Newser) - Tragedy in Texas, where at least 13 people are dead and 10 injured after a pickup truck carrying 23 passengers—crammed into both the cab and the bed—ran into two large trees. "This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been...

Inmate Is First Executed in Texas With Single Drug

State changes lethal injection formula used since 1982

(Newser) - America's most prolific death penalty state has executed its first inmate using one drug instead of three. Yokamon Hearn, 33, was killed with a single dose of pentobarbital, which had been part of a three-drug mixture used for executions before shortages of the other drugs arose. Ohio, Arizona, Idaho,...

Rick Perry: No ObamaCare for Texas

He says it could financially wreck even Texas

(Newser) - Add Texas to the growing list of states opting out of key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Gov. Rick Perry sent a letter to Kathleen Sebelius today saying that he would not expand Medicaid or offer a state insurance exchange, Politico reports. "I stand proudly...

Out of Abandoned Texas Walmart, a Vast New Library

McAllen Public Library a whopping 125K square feet

(Newser) - When McAllen, Texas, found itself with an abandoned Walmart on its hands, it didn't just bring in another store: It used the building to create a new library. And that library just so happens to be the largest single-story library in the country—and the winner of the International...

Strip Club 'Tax' to Fund Rape Investigations in Houston

Clubs subject to new $5-per-customer fee

(Newser) - Want to help Houston foot the bill for its rape investigations? Visit a strip club. The city doesn't have the funds to quickly analyze evidence collected in rape kits, so the City Council passed an ordinance yesterday imposing a $5-per-visitor "pole tax" on strip joints and other clubs...

Texan Gets 40 Years for 'Stand Your Ground' Slaying

He filmed himself confronting neighbor over party noise

(Newser) - A Texas man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for what prosecutors described as an attempt to use the state's "stand your ground" law to get away with murder. Raul Rodriguez shot dead his neighbor, a 36-year-old teacher, after going next door to complain about noise...

Dad of Murdered Lesbian Teen Calls for Justice

My 'guardian angel' was happy, says Mario Olgin

(Newser) - The dad of the teenage lesbian shot dead in a Texas park called for justice yesterday. He immediately had a "bad feeling" when his 19-year-old daughter, Mollie, failed to show up for work, said Mario Olgin. “It was not like Mollie," he told KIII-TV . "If she...

Lawsuits Demand Texas Air-Condition Prisons

Inmates died from heat-related conditions

(Newser) - Imagine being trapped in a small room without air-conditioning in 100-degree heat for days at a time. That's the reality most Texas prisoners face, and now two lawsuits are taking the state to task for it. One was filed yesterday by the wife of one of the four inmates...

Teenage Lesbians Found Shot in Texas

Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, was dead on the scene

(Newser) - Two teenage lesbians were found shot in the head in a south Texas park on Saturday, and police have no apparent motive or suspect, MSNBC reports. Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, was dead on the scene, and Mary Christine Chapa, 18, is in a hospital in serious condition. Police in Portland,...

Texas Cattle Die-Off Linked to Grass

USDA checking for mutations in grass that produced cyanide gas

(Newser) - A sudden die-off of almost an entire herd of Texas cattle has been linked to a hybrid of Bermuda grass, reports CBS . Fifteen of the 18 animals on an 80-acre Elgin ranch began bellowing, went into convulsions, and quickly died three weeks ago when they were let loose on the...

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