West Nile-Related Deaths Confirmed in Texas, California
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Two West Nile-related deaths were confirmed Tuesday 2,000 miles apart — the 11th confirmed this year in Dallas County, Texas, and the first in Fresno County, Calif.Nationwide, there have been at least 26 deaths attr…
Texas Teacher Gets 5 Years in Prison in Group Sex Scandal
ABC News(NEW YORK) – A Texas high school teacher and mother of three was sentenced Friday to five years behind bars after a jury found her guilty of having sex with five male students, four of whom she had group sex with while being videotaped.Brittni…
Texas Teacher Accused of Having Group Sex with Students on Video
ABC News(DALLAS) — A former Texas high school English teacher and mother of three is on trial, accused of having sex with five male students.The evidence against Brittni Colleps, 28, includes cellphone video that allegedly shows group sex between her …
West Nile Virus Outbreak: Planes Spraying in Dallas County After 8 Deaths
Stockbyte/Thinkstock(DALLAS) — Facing the worst outbreak of West Nile virus in the nation this year, Dallas County is conducting aerial sprays Saturday to try to contain the mosquitoes that carry the disease. Eight people have died after contracting t…
Houston Massage Therapist Indicted for Alleged Sexual Assault
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office(HOUSTON) — After two Texas women accused him of sexual assault, Cody Wayne Lewis, a massage therapist at a popular spa chain, has been indicted.The company, Massage Envy, now says that the spa he worked for did not f…
Runaway Texas Boy Was Locked in Box: Police
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(GALVESTON, Texas) — A 9-year-old Texas runaway discovered by police is now in foster care, and his parents are under investigation after he said they made him live in a 6-foot by 8-foot box in their home. The boy, whose name is …
Runaway Texas Boy Was Locked in Box: Police
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(GALVESTON, Texas) — A 9-year-old Texas runaway discovered by police is now in foster care, and his parents are under investigation after he said they made him live in a 6-foot by 8-foot box in their home. The boy, whose name is …
Ted Cruz Wins in Texas GOP Senate Runoff
Bill Clark/Roll Call(AUSTIN, Texas) — Tea Party star Ted Cruz won the Texas Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, defeating “establishment” candidate and longtime Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.In the past several weeks, victory for Cruz, the …
Pakistani Woman Burned in Acid Attack Becomes US Citizen
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) — Julie Aftab’s joy masks the scars that cover the right side of her face.When she was 16, she was attacked in Pakistan by a man who was offended by the silver cross she wore around her neck. He threw acid on her …
Texas Voters Head to Polls in Senate Primary Runoff
Bill Clark/Roll Call(AUSTIN, Texas) — After a long, expensive and fiercely-fought battle, the Texas GOP Senate primary will come to a close on Tuesday as voters cast ballots in the runoff between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Solicitor General Te…
Texas Senate Primary Hits Final Stretch
Bill Clark/Roll Call(AUSTIN, Texas) — It’s been 19 months and tens of millions of dollars in the making, but the Texas Senate primary between former State Solicitor General Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is finally nearing its end.Next Tuesday, …
Sarah Palin to Campaign with Ted Cruz in Texas
Mark Wilson/Getty Images(HOUSTON) — Sarah Palin is getting back on the campaign trail. She’ll hit the road this Friday for an evening rally for Ted Cruz, Texas candidate for the U.S. Senate, at the Woodlands, north of Houston, his campaign and a…
Texas Cold Case: Arrest in 1980 Murder After DNA Match Made
Williamson County Sheriff’s Office(AUSTIN, Texas) — Nearly thirty-two years after Mildred McKinney was sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled in her home, authorities in Texas have made an arrest in the elderly woman’s murder.Authorities announced T…
Convicted Sex Offender Confesses to 1970s Murders
Portland Police Bureau(BROWNSVILLE, Texas) — Oregon police are investigating the claims by a convicted sex “predator” that he committed three to four homicides in Portland between 1970 and 1993.Jeffrey Paul Cutlip called police in Brownsville, Texas, …
Texas Highway Accident Kills 14
Texas Department of Public Safety(GOLIAD, Texas) — A highway accident just north of Corpus Christi, Texas, left 14 people dead and 9 injured when a pickup truck carrying 23 people ran off the highway and struck two trees.A white 2000 Ford pickup was h…
Top Six States Facing Major Financial Stress
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — A new report by the State Budget Crisis Task Force paints a chilling picture of what’s ahead for U.S. states, even long after the 2008 recession officially ended.The pessimistic analysis identifies major threats to…
President Obama Wants to Be ‘Pioneer of Insourcing’
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages(AUSTIN, Texas) — President Obama said Tuesday evening he wants to be a “pioneer of insourcing,” in contrast to his opponent, Mitt Romney, who Obama and his campaign are attempting to characterize as a “pio…
Obama Says Texas Will Be a Battleground State ‘Soon’
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(SAN ANTONIO) — Greeting a crowd of donors in Texas on Tuesday, President Obama revved up Democrats in the traditionally red state telling them he sees shades of purple that might ultimately turn blue down the line.“The…
Rick Perry Demands that Obama Apologize
Richard Ellis/Getty Images(AUSTIN, Texas) — The Republican governor of Texas today welcomed President Obama to the Lone Star State by asking him to distance himself from comments made by Attorney General Eric Holder comparing the state’s 2011 vo…
Bank of America, Countrywide Whistleblower Kept 3-Year Secret
David McNew/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Would you be able to keep a secret for four years that was so big it would make the five large U.S. banks pay up about $25 billion in a legal settlement? Kyle Lagow of Plano, Texas, had to keep a secret even from h…