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Feb. 28 -- Glitches continue to delay child support payments: AUSTIN -- At least $1 million in child support payments have not been distributed in Texas because of glitches in the state attorney general's new computer system, child support officials say.

Feb. 28 -- New state office building off to rough start: AUSTIN (AP) -- The floor slopes so severely in the year-old building housing the Texas attorney general's child support division that an employee sitting in her wheeled chair can roll towards her desk without pushing.

Feb. 28 -- Report: church leaders persuaded parents to drop sex abuse complaints: COPPELL, Texas (AP) -- A prosecutor says a 4-year-old girl wouldn't have been sexually molested if church leaders hadn't "rushed under the rug' similar allegations in the early 1980s against a former deacon and school trustee.

Feb. 28 -- GTECH selling Lone Star Card contract: AUSTIN (AP) -- The company that helped Texas ditch its paper welfare system is getting rid of its five-year contract with the state.

Feb. 28 -- Records show legislator gave conflicting financial statements: EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A state legislator filed apparently contradictory financial statements and failed to report his real estate holdings as required by state law, the El Paso Times reported Friday.

Feb. 28 -- Nanny who kidnapped baby sentenced to 12 years in prison: BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- An undocumented Mexican nanny convicted of kidnapping a 10-month-old baby has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Feb. 28 -- Oprah adds role of free-speech activist to her long resume: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey has undertaken a variety of roles in her multi-faceted career: reporter, talk show host, actress, movie producer and philanthropist.

Feb. 28 -- Houston woman files lawsuit against university over racial slurs: HOUSTON (AP) -- A fired University of Houston employee claims she was dismissed for complaining about racial slurs used by co-workers in the school's affirmative action office.

Feb. 28 -- 72 cases now reported to state; 12 deaths: AUSTIN (AP) -- State health officials Friday said the number of reported cases of a potentially deadly strain of bacterial streptococcus now stands at 72. Twelve Texans have died.

Feb. 28 -- Veggies, not drugs, greet narcotics officers: LONE STAR, Texas (AP) -- East Texas narcotics officers didn't have as much to "stalk " as they thought -- they found 41,000 pounds of frozen broccoli when they pulled over an 18-wheeler for a drug inspection.

Feb. 28 -- San Antonio family claims $47 million Lotto prize: AUSTIN (AP) -- If Billy and Joanette Cowsert run out of things to do after claiming the second-largest Lotto Texas jackpot won by a single ticketholder, they may want to consider standup comedy.

Feb. 27 -- Port Aransas targeting older, family oriented vacationers: PORT ARANSAS, Texas (AP) -- Leaders of this beach community say they're pleased with the prospects of having older, more sedate and family-oriented vacationers instead of the high school and college crowd during spring break.

Feb. 27 -- Federal agents arrest mother convicted in '93 murder-for-hire plot: BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A woman convicted of masterminding the murder of her daughter's former boyfriend has been arrested again.

Feb. 27 -- Feds won't press civil rights charges in shooting of Texas teen: WASHINGTON (AP) -- A U.S. Marine who fatally shot a West Texas teen-ager during a drug patrol along the border won't face federal civil rights violation charges, the Justice Department informed a Texas congressman this week.

Feb. 27 -- San Antonio man seeking deal in Bellush slaying: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A Texas man accused of murder conspiracy in the slaying of a mother of quadruplets will go to Florida voluntarily to begin negotiating a deal with prosecutors, his attorney says.

Feb. 27 -- Oprah Winfrey found not liable in beef disparagement case: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- A jury today rejected a lawsuit by Texas cattlemen who say an Oprah Winfrey show about the dangers of mad cow disease caused the market to plummet and cost them millions of dollars.

Feb. 27 -- Govs. 'Neff,' Bush mark state park anniversary: AUSTIN (AP) -- With actors dressed as 1920s-era state legislators, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Thursday marked the 75th anniversary of the state park system, which has grown to 123 sites encompassing 671,484 acres.

Feb. 27 -- Scholars aim to revive childhood home, appreciation of Texas writer: KYLE, Texas (AP) -- The childhood home of short-story master Katherine Anne Porter is being restored as a museum and writing center under a deal between Southwest Texas State University and Kyle residents.

Feb. 27 -- Feds say they've cracked a Middle Eastern smuggling ring: EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- Four foreign nationals, including an Iraqi Olympian and a Mexican immigration official, were indicted Thursday in a scheme to smuggle hundreds of undocumented Middle Eastern immigrants into the United States.

Feb. 26 -- Continental, pilots union reach tentative agreement on new contract: HOUSTON (AP) -- Continental Airlines and its pilots' union said Wednesday they reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year labor contract that addresses job-security concerns raised by the carrier's alliance with Northwest Airlines.

Feb. 26 -- Lloyd Bentsen's exhaustion diagnosed as slight stroke: HOUSTON (AP) -- Former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen Jr., who was hospitalized Sunday for exhaustion, actually suffered a mild stroke, he told reporters Wednesday in a hospital room interview.

Feb. 26 -- Erykah Badu's hometown friends not surprised by four nominations: DALLAS (AP) -- When Erykah Badu's grandmother dropped her off for her first flight to New York, the young, soulful singer promised she'd make it big.

Feb. 26 -- Consumers Union asks Morales to reconsider secrecy ruling: AUSTIN (AP) -- Attorney General Dan Morales was asked Wednesday to take another look at a legal opinion that a consumer group says keeps secret Texans' complaints against health maintenance organizations.

Feb. 26 -- Teen-ager charged with masterminding grandmother's kidnapping: CLEVELAND, Texas (AP) -- A 15-year-old has been charged with masterminding a murder-for-hire scheme to kidnap and kill his grandmother.

Feb. 26 -- Oklahoma man arrested after planning sex with 13-year-old girl: CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) -- A chemical engineer who traveled from Oklahoma to Corpus Christi allegedly planning a sexual rendezvous with a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet has been arrested by federal authorities.

Feb. 26 -- Jury deliberates in Oprah Winfrey's beef disparagement trial: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- The multimillion-dollar question of whether Oprah Winfrey intentionally disparaged a group of Texas cattlemen with her talk show about mad cow disease on Wednesday went to the jury.

Feb. 26 -- Parents say strep warning not soon enough: ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) -- Parents of students at Robertson Elementary say school officials waited too long to tell them a fourth-grader has been diagnosed with a potentially deadly bacterial infection that has claimed nine lives in Texas since Dec. 1.

Feb. 26 -- Hispanic group files suit to restore early voting sites in Bexar County: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A Hispanic rights group has filed a lawsuit seeking more early voting sites in minority neighborhoods in Bexar County for the March 10 primary election.

Feb. 26 -- Number of blacks seeking admission at UT Law drop by half: AUSTIN (AP) -- The number of black applicants to the University of Texas Law School next fall dropped by half from last year. But UT officials say the number could be offset by applicants who did not identify their race.

Feb. 26 -- Man convicted in kidnap-slaying of key government witness in drug trial: McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- A South Texas man has been convicted of kidnapping a key government witness who was slain before he could testify in a federal drug trial.

Feb. 26 -- Cellmate: Diane Zamora attempted suicide because of anger at parents: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Grief over her parents nationwide media blitz led Diane Zamora to a suicide attempt less than 24 hours after her capital murder conviction, a cellmate of the former midshipman said.

Feb. 25 -- Ad campaign aimed at separating teen-agers, tobacco: AUSTIN (AP) -- The message to teen-agers: Using tobacco can be costly.

Feb. 25 -- Bush avoids limelight at Governors' Association meeting: WASHINGTON (AP) -- George W. Bush has been a man on a mission during his annual trek to Washington for the National Governors Association's winter meeting.

Feb. 25 -- Lawsuit accuses church organization of not reporting sexual abuse: HOUSTON (AP) -- A Houston teen-ager has filed a lawsuit accusing the national Jehovah's Witness organization of failing to tell authorities that her brother was sexually abusing her.

Feb. 25 -- Jury about to get Oprah case: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- After 23 days of testimony about what cattle prices, mad cow disease and Oprah Winfrey have to do with one another, attorneys in the talk show queen's beef disparagement trial rested Tuesday.

Feb. 25 -- State park system marks 75th anniversary: AUSTIN (AP) -- Actors will recreate the 1923 Texas Legislature this week as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department kicks off its 75th anniversary celebration of the state park system.

Feb. 25 -- LeAnn Rimes last celeb in GSD&M's 'Don't Mess With Texas' campaign: AUSTIN (AP) -- Garland native LeAnn Rimes is the latest -- and possibly last -- Texan to appear in the "Don't Mess with Texas" anti-litter campaign.

Feb. 25 -- TDH: More Texans infected than first thought: AUSTIN (AP) -- Health officials now believe 41 Texans have been infected with a deadly strain of bacterial streptococcus, almost twice as many as reported late last year.

Feb. 25 -- Transcript: Chief asked detective to keep quiet on tampering: TYLER, Texas (AP) -- Mineola's police chief urged a detective to keep quiet about allegations that the detective tampered with evidence in a 1996 marijuana possession case, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Feb. 25 -- Woman acquitted of sexually assaulting two teen-age students: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A middle school teacher has been found innocent of charges that she sexually assaulted two 13-year-old male students.

Feb. 25 -- Baptist group boots Austin church with gay deacon: DALLAS (AP) -- The Baptist General Convention of Texas on Tuesday expelled an Austin church that actively supports practicing homosexuals and has a gay deacon.

Feb. 24 -- Spokeswoman: Beef industry group knew what they were up against on Oprah: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - A beef industry trade association knew a strident anti-meat crusader would be opposing their representative on Oprah Winfrey's show but decided to face off with him anyway, a spokeswoman testified Monday.

Feb. 24 -- Report says young Hispanics' health risks alarming: AUSTIN (AP) - Hispanic youth in Texas use cocaine more often, have a higher accidental death rate and are more likely to get tuberculosis than other children, according to a new report.

Feb. 24 -- Study: Justices took millions from those with cases before high court: AUSTIN (AP) - Forty percent of the $9.1 million in campaign cash raised by justices on the Texas Supreme Court came from parties and lawyers with cases before that bench, according to a study released Monday.

Feb. 24 -- Lloyd Bentsen hospitalized for exhaustion: HOUSTON (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen Jr. has been hospitalized for exhaustion after several days of heavy traveling, a spokeswoman said.

Feb. 24 -- Protein injection grows new blood vessels in heart: DALLAS (AP) - Scientists have made human hearts grow tiny new blood vessels by injecting proteins, raising hopes that the procedure may one day be used to treat people with clogged heart arteries.

Feb. 24 -- Lottery director criticized for ending GTECH replacement search: AUSTIN (AP) - The state's lottery director stopped too soon in searching for a company to take over work done by Rhode Island-based GTECH Corp., a lottery commissioner said Monday.

Feb. 24 -- Convicted killer moved to Gatesville: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Convicted killer Diane Zamora has been transferred to state prison. Law officers took the former Naval Academy midshipman on Monday from Tarrant County jail to the women's prison unit at Gatesville, west of Waco.

Feb. 24 -- Cafe treats customers to down-home dining: BARNHART, Texas - Don't come to this tiny cafe expecting gourmet food. "I'm not a fancy cook," Carolynn Frazier said, warming up her stove. "I cook beans and 'taters and gravy. Just everyday home cooking."

Feb. 23 -- State's power to sue nursing homes over deficiencies hinges on court appeal: AUSTIN (AP) - The state's power to take nursing homes to court over accusations of negligence hinges on appeal of a lawsuit stemming from the death of a 93-year-old woman in West Texas, state and industry officials say.

Feb. 23 -- One killed, five wounded in two Galveston shootings: GALVESTON (AP) - Police arrested a 19-year-old man early Sunday for fatally shooting a Mardi Gras reveler and injuring four others shortly after a parade that included 100,000 spectators.

Feb. 23 -- Historian reveals Texas footnote on Iwo Jima flag raising: On that long ago morning, a Texas housewife named Belle Block glanced at a newspaper photograph of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on a remote Pacific island. "Junior, lookit there," she told her son Ed Block Jr., pointing to a faceless figure of a man planting the pole in the ground. "That's your brother Harlon."

Feb. 23 -- Texas art scene bursts with Rauschenberg retrospective: HOUSTON - "Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective" compresses five decades of ceaseless artistic investigation into 300 choice objects. It also reveals that, at 71, this seminal artist from Texas still is the enfant terrible he was when he began to rattle art's cages half a century ago.

Feb. 23 -- Polish priest campaigns to correct spelling of town's name: KOSCIUSKO, Texas - Ever since being assigned to St. Ann's Catholic Church here several years ago, Father Edward Wanat has bristled every time he passed a road sign bearing his town's name.

Feb. 23 -- Drake Routier will never remember his brothers, his father can never forget: PLANO, Texas - Drake Routier lies on his belly, squealing with all the delight his 2-year-old vocal cords can muster. Darin, his dad, stands over him, bouncing lightly on the trampoline and sending Drake sailing several inches off the springy surface with each landing.

Feb. 23 -- Education leaders debate the need for national education testing: AUSTIN (AP) - Education leaders debated the need for national testing in public schools Saturday, including how minority children could be effected.

Feb. 22 -- Former President Bush's former administrators donate to governor: DALLAS (AP) -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush is getting a lot of help from people who once served his father in the White House, according to a Dallas Morning News computer analysis.

Feb. 22 -- Bid war over ballpark's chilled water sparks heat between energy giants: HOUSTON (AP) -- Ordinarily, a squabble over a $12 million contract would hardly raise eyebrows in Houston, where such a sum for many companies here, is, well, chump-change.

Feb. 22 -- Forest Service tries to cut through red tape to sell down trees: HOUSTON (AP) -- Federal forestry officials are trying to clear the way for thousands of acres of downed East Texas trees to be sold for timber.

Feb. 22 -- Harris County commissioners give themselves 24 percent pay hike: HOUSTON (AP) -- Harris County commissioners felt it was time for a pay raise. So they gave themselves a 24 percent raise at a time when local inflation is a mere 2 percent.

Feb. 22 -- U.S. News & World Report correct UT law school ranking: AUSTIN (AP) -- After stunning UT School of Law officials with a ranking below the top 25, U.S. News & World Report corrected itself -- moving the law school from 30 to 29.

Feb. 22 -- Education leaders debate the need for national education testing: AUSTIN (AP) -- Education leaders debated the need for national testing in public schools Saturday, including how minority children could be effected.

Feb. 21 -- Artwork returned to Menil Collection following seizure: HOUSTON (AP) -- Fifteen works of art by Robert Rauschenberg have been returned to a traveling exhibit, a week after they were seized by authorities over a $5.5 million debt to an art dealer.

Feb. 21 -- Report: Part of Texas tobacco deal could fall through: DALLAS (AP) -- If the national tobacco settlement is completed before the Texas settlement is finalized, the state of Texas could lose out on $985 million this year, The Dallas Morning News reported today.

Feb. 21 -- Judge blocks attorney general opinion against eight-liner machines: AUSTIN (AP) -- A Dallas County judge on Friday ordered Comptroller John Sharp not to enforce an attorney general's opinion that eight-liner amusement machines are illegal gambling devices.

Feb. 21 -- Eighty-nine have submitted charter-school applications: AUSTIN (AP) -- Although hundreds have inquired about the possibility of opening independent charter schools in Texas, only 89 have submitted applications to the State Board of Education.

Feb. 21 -- Storms blamed for $90 million in damages to East Texas national forests: HOUSTON (AP) -- Damage estimates already are at $90 million to East Texas national forests from vicious storms that raked the area almost two weeks ago.

Feb. 21 -- Jury convicts cadet of aggravated assault in MMA attack: BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A 17-year-old military school student faced up to 20 years in prison Friday after he was convicted of aggravated assault in the throat-slashing of a classmate he disliked.

Feb. 21 -- Residents of Natalia return home: NATALIA, Texas (AP) -- A gigantic fire at a carpet padding factory was finally out Friday and hundreds of weary residents were allowed to return to their homes.

Feb. 21 -- Economist: Cattlemen can't tie market plunge to Oprah Winfrey: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Elementary supply and demand forces, not "The Oprah Winfrey Show," caused the cattle market to sink to 10-year lows in 1996, a economic expert testified Friday.

Feb. 21 -- Health department says no outbreak of deadly strep disease: AUSTIN (AP) -- State health officials say there is no epidemic, but a bacterial infection has claimed the lives of 10 people in Texas since Dec. 1, and there have been at least two times the normal number of confirmed cases of the illness in the last six weeks.

Feb. 21 -- Teacher accused of assaulting students he met on Internet: EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A high school teacher has been arrested and accused of sexually assaulting two 16-year-old boys in his apartment after meeting them through the Internet, police said Friday.

Feb. 21 -- UT law drops from top 25 ranking: AUSTIN (AP) -- The University of Texas School of Law no longer ranks among the nation's top 25, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Feb. 20 -- Boeing to locate maintenance center at Kelly AFB: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The Boeing Co. will locate a major aerospace maintenance center at a closing Air Force base in San Antonio, breathing new life into efforts to turn Kelly Air Force Base into a private sector-industrial park.

Feb. 20 -- Austin woman convicted of conspiracy to commit capital murder: GREENVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A 40-year-old Austin woman accused of a life insurance ruse that led to the death of her best friend has been convicted of conspiracy to commit capital murder.

Feb. 20 -- Some residents evacuated after plant explosion: NATALIA, Texas (AP) -- Hundreds of residents were evacuated Thursday after a manufacturing plant explosion in this South Texas town released a black cloud visible for miles.

Feb. 20 -- Lottery sticks with GTECH; ends search for new contractor: AUSTIN (AP) -- The Texas Lottery has ended its search for a replacement for sometimes-controversial contractor GTECH Corp.

Feb. 20 -- First lady helps stir up support, funds for Mauro campaign: DALLAS (AP) -- First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton promised a boisterous Texas crowd Thursday that old friend and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Garry Mauro would win against long odds.

Feb. 20 -- Oprah producer doesn't bend under cattlemen's pressure: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Attorneys for cattlemen suing Oprah Winfrey tried mightily Thursday but couldn't get her executive producer to admit there was anything wrong with the show plaintiffs say sank cattle prices.

Feb. 20 -- Right stuff revisited -- John Glenn fine after spin in centrifuge: BROOKS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AP) -- Astronaut-in-training John Glenn was strapped into a centrifuge today and spun around at a force three times gravity. And despite his status as the oldest astronaut ever, everything went fine.

Feb. 20 -- Health department says no outbreak of deadly strep disease: AUSTIN (AP) -- State health officials say there is no epidemic, but a bacterial infection has claimed the lives of 10 people in Texas since Dec. 1, and there have been at least two times the number of confirmed cases of the illness in the last six weeks.

Feb. 20 -- Teacher pleads guilty to sexual assault of a child charge: RICHMOND, Texas (AP) -- A judge said a case in which an elementary school teacher admitted a sexual affair with a teen-ager bears "eerie parallels" to a woman's affair in Washington state with a student.

Feb. 20 -- Lower Colorado River Authority buys water rights: AUSTIN (AP) -- The Lower Colorado River Authority says it has ensured enough water for drinking and industrial use in Central Texas through the next century by making the largest known purchase of water rights in the Lone Star State.

Feb. 19 -- Ex-FW officer surrenders in bounty hunting case: DALLAS (AP) -- A former Fort Worth police officer and an Arlington private investigator accused of assault, kidnapping and impersonating police officers have turned themselves in, authorities said.

Feb. 19 -- Cadet testifies his roommate planned attack at MMA: BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A suspended military school student testified Wednesday that his roommate enlisted his help in attacking another student to "get even."

Feb. 19 -- Zamora placed under suicide watch after self-mutilation: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Former midshipman Diane Zamora, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a romantic rival, was placed under a 24-hour suicide watch Wednesday after wounding herself with a razor blade.

Feb. 19 -- DPS warns eight-liner players, operators: criminal charges possible: AUSTIN (AP) -- The Texas Department of Public Safety is warning owners and players of so-called eight-liner machines they could face criminal charges if found using or operating the gambling devices.

Feb. 19 -- Magness to retire after being sanctioned for sexual harassment: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- The city's public events director, accused of having a "legs and lipstick" standard for female employees, is stepping down after sexual harassment allegations.

Feb. 19 -- Federal agents seize motel where drug traffickers sold cocaine: HOUSTON (AP) -- Federal agents have rolled up the red carpet at a Houston motel whose operators failed to stop drug traffickers from selling cocaine on the premises, authorities said.

Feb. 19 -- Oprah producer says nothing was false about 'mad cow' show: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey's staff had no reason to doubt the truth of her talk show about "dangerous foods" and didn't set out to harm Texas cattlemen, the program's executive producer testified Wednesday.

Feb. 19 -- Teen gets 99-year sentence in Oklahoma cheerleader's death: MONTAGUE, Texas (AP) -- A 19-year-old man's conspiracy in the murder of an Oklahoma cheerleader cost him more than his capital murder conviction for the same crime.

Feb. 19 -- Air Force, Army units in Texas join Persian Gulf buildup: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Huge C-5 cargo planes flown by a reservist unit at Kelly Air Force Base are joining U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf region as tensions heighten with Iraq.

Feb. 19 -- Railroad Commission's Union Pacific proposal rejected: HOUSTON (AP) -- The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has rejected a "bare bones proposal" by the Texas Railroad Commission to bring more rail competition to Houston.

Feb. 18 -- Zamora found guilty of capital murder: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Former Naval Academy midshipman Diane Zamora, once an ambitious honor student with dreams of becoming an astronaut, instead will spend 40 years behind bars for killing a romantic rival. No winners in cadet murder case, judge says

Feb. 18 -- Harris County seeks charter school for juvenile offenders: HOUSTON (AP) -- Harris County officials want to set up a charter school this fall for juvenile offenders.

Feb. 18 -- Houston mayor signs anti-discrimination order: HOUSTON (AP) -- Mayor Lee Brown is banning discrimination in city government on the basis of sexual orientation in an executive order issued 13 years after a similar ordinance was repealed by voters.

Feb. 18 -- Judge denies injunction in Texas-Microsoft lawsuit: AUSTIN (AP) -- A state district judge on Tuesday upheld a provision in Microsoft Corp.'s contracts with computer makers that the state claims is interfering with an investigation of the company's activities in Texas.

Feb. 18 -- Judge throws out 'veggie libel' but rules lawsuit will continue: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- A federal judge in Oprah Winfrey's beef defamation trial on Tuesday tossed out part of the case filed under Texas' "veggie libel" law but allowed cattlemen to continue the trial as a simple disparagement suit.

Feb. 18 -- UT faculty give part of pay raise to staff: AUSTIN (AP) -- University of Texas faculty members are giving part of their anticipated pay raises to nonteaching staff.

Feb. 18 -- Appeals court changes course of Panhandle riverbed fight: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- An appeals court ruling means a jury might someday determine whether the Canadian River is officially a trickling stream or a vast swath of northern Panhandle wilderness.

Feb. 17 -- Lubbock police seize gambling machines: LUBBOCK (AP) - Following Texas Attorney General Dan Morales' opinion that eight-liner gambling machines are illegal, police here have taken 26 of the machines from a Lubbock business.

Feb. 17 -- Zamora jury begins deliberations: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Jurors began deciding Monday whether former midshipman Diane Zamora killed a romantic rival after hearing prosecutors denounce her as a sociopath and a cunning con artist.

Feb. 17 -- Plaintiffs prepare to go on the defensive: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - The Texas cattlemen suing Oprah Winfrey have spent the last four weeks attacking her in every way imaginable. Beginning Tuesday, they'll find themselves on the defensive.

Feb. 17 -- Wrongly institutionalized for 33 years, an Arlington woman finds daylight - and the footlights: ARLINGTON, Texas - Velma Elliott's story begins in a courtroom, when she is 10 years old and listening to her mother tell a judge her daughter needs to be committed to a state institution.

Feb. 17 -- Rice signs deal to start science and engineering university in Germany: HOUSTON (AP) - Rice University has signed an agreement with German officials to create a science and engineering university in that country's city-state of Bremen.

Feb. 17 -- High note for specialist is restoring, repairing musicians' instruments: DALLAS - A Stradivarius cello is a source of wonder to Dennis McCaigue. He is particularly perplexed by the varnish. In his one-room workshop in Oak Lawn, McCaigue, 40, restores and repairs musical instruments worth the price of real estate.

Feb. 16 -- Gramm, Hutchison want commitment to removing Iraqi strongman: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Texas' two U.S. senators urge a greater commitment toward toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power, saying such a step is the only way to meet Iraq's biochemical weapons threat.

Feb. 16 -- Jury deliberations expected to begin Monday in cadet trial: FORT WORTH - After two weeks of testimony, jurors this week must decide between sharply different portrayals of former midshipman and accused killer Diane Zamora.

Feb. 16 -- Community leader's secret life finally catches up with him: GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - At a tiny AM radio station on this island along the Gulf Coast, humanitarian awards cover the wall of general manager Tim Kingsbury's office. But this wall of honor was built upon a wall of lies that has come crashing down upon the man known here as Tim Kingsbury.

Feb. 15 -- Suspended cadets to testify against each other in attempted murder case: HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Two suspended Marine Military Academy students will be tried separately in the alleged throat-slashing of a fellow cadet, a state district judge has ruled.

Feb. 15 -- Judge Barr removed from bench: HOUSTON (AP) -- State District Judge Jim Barr has been officially removed from the bench over allegations that he made inappropriate sexual comments to female prosecutors and ordered a deputy arrested.

Feb. 15 -- Judge refuses to stop anti-drug smuggling construction along the border: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The U.S. Army and the Border Patrol can continue their anti-drug-smuggling construction project along the Rio Grande, a federal judge has ruled.

Feb. 15 -- Texas GOP leader pitches San Antonio as convention site: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Making the rounds in Washington this week, the new chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party took the opportunity to tout San Antonio as a possible host for the GOP's national convention in 2000.

Feb. 15 -- Faulty ZX Nissan costs $2.9 million jury verdict: HOUSTON (AP) -- A jury returned a $2.9 million verdict Friday against Nissan, finding that the automaker concealed faulty cruise-control and accelerator throttle assemblies in its popular ZX line of cars.

Feb. 15 -- Rauschenberg's works seized pending payment of $5.5 million judgment: HOUSTON (AP) -- A famed artist is being told to cough up $5.5 million owed under a 1997 lawsuit if he wants to see his paintings again.

Feb. 15 -- Former sheriff enters no contest plea to tampering charge: WACO, Texas (AP) -- A former Falls County sheriff who allegedly pocketed $23,574 in fake expenses has pled no contest to a felony charge of tampering with a government document.

Feb. 15 -- Federal officials question tobacco fees: AUSTIN (AP) -- A federal agency has written a memo to Gov. George W. Bush informing him it plans to evaluate the $2.3 billion in legal fees stemming from the settlement of the state"s tobacco lawsuit.

Feb. 15 -- KKK settles lawsuit with state civil rights group: VIDOR, Texas (AP) -- A faction of the Ku Klux Klan has settled a lawsuit with the state of Texas and agreed to stay away from a public housing complex that was all-white until being federally ordered to desegregate in 1993.

Feb. 14 -- Pursuit of bigger, better barbecuing lure for national convention: ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- For a concept as simple as cooking meat over an open flame, the technology, ingenuity and energy on display at the National Barbeque Association Convention is staggering.

Feb. 14 -- Judge doesn't announce formal charges for Zamora jury: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- The judge presiding over the capital murder trial of a former midshipman accused of killing a romantic rival will announce Monday whether jurors will be allowed to consider a lesser charge of murder.

Feb. 14 -- Defendant gives his version of 1996 cheerleader slaying: MONTAGUE, Texas (AP) -- Capital murder defendant Joshua Bagwell has given jurors a third version of the October 1996 slaying of a 16-year-old Waurika, Okla., cheerleader.

Feb. 14 -- Court says DART can withhold records: AUSTIN (AP) -- The Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority can continue to withhold public records from The Dallas Morning News while it appeals a court order to release them, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Feb. 14 -- Regents approve new UT dorm at cost of $40 million: AUSTIN (AP) -- Armed with data to defend the $40 million cost of a proposed dormitory, University of Texas officials have gotten the nod from UT regents to pursue construction.

Feb. 14 -- HUD files charges against Austin apartments: AUSTIN (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced racial discrimination charges against two Austin apartment complexes.

Feb. 14 -- Defendant to be extradited to Florida in slaying case: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A man charged in the slaying of a Florida mother of quadruplets has told police he hired his cousin to commit the crime for $14,000, an arrest warrant says.

Feb. 14 -- Study reveals many getting federal aid may not be eligible: EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A federal audit has confirmed the long-held suspicions of Social Security workers that many Supplemental Security Income recipients here are not eligible for the aid because they're not citizens.

Feb. 14 -- Oprah plaintiffs adjust damage estimates, then rest: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Cattle industry attorneys rested their case Friday in the feef defamation trial of Oprah Winfrey.

Feb. 14 -- Computer connection leads to Valentine vows: MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas -- It wasn't exactly love at first byte, but you could say that Terry Edward and Paul Guest did make a love connection when they found out that they were each other's type.

Feb. 14 -- Home used as 'Grand Central Station' for immigrant smugglers: WACO, Texas (AP) -- Two men who allegedly smuggled hundreds of illegal immigrants from Mexico used a Waco home as "Grand Central Station" for their operation, U.S. Border Patrol officials say.

Feb. 14 -- Female teacher charged with sexual assault of a 14-year-old student: EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A middle-school teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old male student, and police said Friday they were investigating whether there were any other victims.

Feb. 14 -- Union Pacific, Burlington Northern cooperate on breaking rail jam: HOUSTON (AP) -- Union Pacific Corp. and The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. today announced they will share some railroad lines in hopes of clearing congestion that has choked shipping in the Gulf Coast area.

Feb. 13 -- Psychologist says former midshipman is a deviant: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A psychologist testified Thursday that former midshipman Diane Zamora, accused of killing a romantic rival, tested positive as a "psycopathic deviant" who tends to blame others for her troubles.

Feb. 13 -- Veterinary expert continues attacking credibility of 'Oprah' guest: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Though some scientists believe mad cow disease could cause an epidemic of a similar human disorder, a veterinary expert testified Thursday that a guest on Oprah Winfrey's talk show didn't have the clout to make such remarks.

Feb. 13 -- New parents getting greetings from governor with reminder to immunize their new child: HOUSTON (AP) - Parents of new little Texans will be bringing home from the hospital not only their bundles of joy but a congratulatory card from Gov. George W. Bush and his wife that reminds the new moms and dads to get their babies immunized against diseases.

Feb. 13 -- Closing of remote section of interstate is traveler's nightmare, small-town boon: ELDORADO, Texas - Stephen Murphy popped open a road map and fumed. "Get me to an interstate!" he yelled to friends as truck after truck rumbled past his parked car in downtown Eldorado.

Feb. 13 -- Parents of victims express outrage after 13-year-old given probation: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A teen-age molester's release on probation has angered relatives of three girls who cursed the judge deciding the punishment.

Feb. 13 -- Defendant to be extradited to Florida in slaying case: SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A defendant in the slaying of a mother of quadruplets is being extradited to Florida to face a murder conspiracy charge.

Feb. 13 -- Attorney group, small business group support Bush in tobacco fuss: AUSTIN (AP) - Groups representing small businesses and those who say they oppose frivolous lawsuit are supporting Gov. George Bush's legal challenge to $2.3 billion in attorneys' fees stemming from the state's tobacco settlement.

Feb. 13 -- Storms through South and Southeast Texas caused millions in damage: HOUSTON (AP) - Damage is expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars from the thunderstorms that roared through South and Southeast Texas earlier this week, insurance industry officials said Thursday.

Feb. 13 -- Author of love books collection offers tips for Valentine's Day: HOUSTON (AP) - Ah, romance. The stuff that makes women coo, and men cuckoo. Love it or hate it, you've gotta deal with it at least once a year, and that once a year is back.

Feb. 13 -- Justice Clarence Thomas says thought, not feelings, key in decisions: HOUSTON (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says decisions in cases have nothing to do with feelings.

Feb. 12 -- Winfrey's attorneys go after livestock pricing expert: AMARILLO - Oprah Winfrey's attorneys asked an agricultural economics expert on Wednesday why he testified that her talk show caused "a dramatic shock" in cattle prices but he never wrote that in his weekly newsletter.

Feb. 12 -- Zamora says she confessed to murder out of love: FORT WORTH - A former Naval Academy midshipman accused of murdering her 16-year-old romantical rival told a jury Wednesday that she falsely confessed to the crime to protect her boyfriend.

Feb. 12 -- Documentary on Branch Davidians nominated for Academy Award: DALLAS - A documentary based on grainy, black-and-white videotape recorded from an FBI surveillance aircraft that circled over the Branch Davidian compound has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Feb. 12 -- Consumer group calls Allstate mailer misleading, illegal: AUSTIN (AP) - Allstate Insurance is trying to trick Texans into lower accident settlements, a consumer group complained Wednesday. Allstate said it's doing no such thing.

Feb. 12 -- Won't you stamp my Valentine? PECOS, Texas - Valentine, Texas, may be a small community (population 220) that's well off the beaten path for most folk, but there's one thing they do get plenty of - mail.

Feb. 12 -- Snafu slows lottery's truck game: AUSTIN (AP) - The Texas Lottery Commission is having a slight problem doing what everyone else in the state can easily do: purchase pickup trucks.

Feb. 12 -- Hispanics fall victim to telephone scams: BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Telephone scams targeting Spanish-speaking customers are on the rise, with complaints to the state Public Utility Commission increasing nearly seven times since September.

Feb. 12 -- Committee considering 'civil commitment' law for sex offenders: AUSTIN (AP) - A legislative committee Wednesday continued hearings on a proposal to implement "civil commitment," a new law that would allow the state to institutionalize some violent sexual predators for treatment after their prison terms end.

Feb. 12 -- Prison company must draft proposal for problem-plagued jail: ANGLETON, Texas (AP) - The private prison company that bought out the troubled Capital Correctional Resources has until April to convince Brazoria County officials they can run a jail where apparent abuse was videotaped.

Feb. 12 -- Capital Briefs: AUSTIN (AP) - Chevron USA has sent checks totaling more than $13 million to the state and hundreds of private royalty owners as the first step in a settlement of a 1995 lawsuit that alleged underpayment of oil royalties.

Feb. 11 -- Defense gets its turn in Zamora trial: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Crime scene evidence contradicts an account former Naval midshipman Diane Zamora gave police of how she helped kill a 16-year-old girl, her attorneys tried to show Monday.

Feb. 11 -- Baptist group may oust Austin church that welcomes gays: AUSTIN (AP) -- A Southern Baptist church that welcomes practicing homosexuals may be ousted by the Baptist General Convention of Texas when it meets in Dallas later this month.

Feb. 11 -- Fatal truck crash leads to evacuations, closing of Interstate 10: SONORA, Texas (AP) -- A truck carrying a highly toxic chemical crashed and burned east of here, killing one person and forcing police to shut down 10 miles of Interstate 10 on Tuesday.

Feb. 11 -- Embattled cancer doctor settles 1992 lawsuit with Texas attorney general: HOUSTON (AP) -- Embattled cancer doctor Stanislaw Burzynski settled a lawsuit Tuesday, agreeing to no longer distribute his unproven treatment within the state of Texas or advertise it as an effective weapon against the deadly disease.

Feb. 11 -- Revisions to Houston's affirmative action program considered: HOUSTON (AP) -- Three months after Houston voters upheld the city's minority contracting program, officials say they will work on long-promised revisions sought by opponents.

Feb. 11 -- Oklahoma City bombing trial attorney is leaving UT: AUSTIN (AP) -- The man who defended Oklahoma City bombing defendant Terry Nichols is leaving the University of Texas law school faculty for a similar job with a Washington, D.C., university.

Feb. 11 -- Air Force cuts in California, Texas, Nebraska: WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Air Force announced a series of cuts and consolidations Tuesday at domestic bases, including some directed by Congress, that will cost thousands of jobs in some states but add jobs in others.

Feb. 11 -- Livestock pricing expert says Oprah caused cattle crash: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- A "shock" in cattle prices in April 1996 was caused by a discussion about mad cow disease possibly infecting U.S. beef on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," an expert in agriculture economics testified Tuesday.

Feb. 11 -- Thousands of seniors have yet to pass TAAS: AUSTIN (AP) -- More than 16,000 high school seniors still haven't passed all sections of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills required for them to graduate, according to state education officials. They'll get study guides to help them do better next time.

Feb. 10 -- Defense gets its turn in Zamora trial: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Crime scene evidence contradicts an account former Naval midshipman Diane Zamora gave police of how she helped kill a 16-year-old girl, her attorneys tried to show Monday.

Feb. 10 -- Steven Renfro executed for 1996 shooting rampage: HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Condemned killer Steven Renfro was executed Monday, less a year after he was condemned for a 1996 East Texas shooting rampage that left three people dead and a police officer wounded.

Feb. 10 -- Internet gives death row inmates a worldwide audience: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Texas death row inmates are enjoying a freedom of expression not even the Supreme Court could have guaranteed a decade ago.

Feb. 10 -- Talk show host's trial continues into its fourth week: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- The lead plaintiff suing Oprah Winfrey for slander testified Monday that his cattle operation lost millions of dollars because of "false statements" made about the impact of mad cow disease on her talk show.

Feb. 10 -- Latest Plano overdose similar to deadly 'speedball' drug combination: DALLAS (AP) -- A 17-year-old high school dropout from suburban Plano was in critical condition on life support Monday after an apparent heroin and cocaine overdose known as "speedball."

Feb. 10 -- Nuclear dump opponents protest licensing hearing: AUSTIN (AP) -- By the sight of it, Monday's protest of a proposed nuclear waste site in West Texas was hard to distinguish from a circus parade.

Feb. 10 -- Accused killer's suicide note will not get brother off the hook: HOUSTON (AP) -- An accused killer's suicide note will not clear his brother in a murder-for-hire scheme, a prosecutor said Monday.

Feb. 9 -- No hoopla this time, but another Texas execution set to take place Monday night: HUNTSVILLE - An East Texas laborer convicted of killing three people during a shooting spree is scheduled this week for execution that's expected to generate little of the worldwide commotion that marked Karla Faye Tucker's punishment.

Feb. 9 -- Talk show host's trial continuing into its fourth week: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Oprah Winfrey's trial continues into its fourth week on Monday with witnesses still on the stand for Texas cattlemen, who accuse the talk show host of defaming beef.

Feb. 9 -- Defense may show Zamora didn't help kill romantic rival: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Unraveling a former Naval midshipman's youthful, innocent image, prosecutors have called a parade of witnesses to recount how she told them of helping to kill a girl who had a fling with her boyfriend.

Feb. 9 -- Aggie cloners trying to produce medicinally beneficial pigs: AUSTIN (AP) - More barnyard celebrities could come in the form of cloned pigs and cows whose disease causing genes can be removed or knocked out to create animals that are more useful to humans.

Feb. 9 -- Houston-area school superintendents average top paychecks: HOUSTON (AP) - Area school superintendents appear to average a better paycheck than some of their counterparts in other parts of Texas, according to the Houston Chronicle's Sunday editions.

Feb. 9 -- Lax Texas laws allow capture, sale of animals: HOUSTON - Request a dinner of soft-shell turtle in a Taipei restaurant, and the main course just might have come from a Texas river, not Taiwan.

Feb. 9 -- Driftwood looks for a buyer with harmonious goals: AUSTIN (AP) - Nestled among the limestone bluffs and cedar breaks southwest of Austin, the town of Driftwood is already somewhat isolated from the Texas Capital's crime and crowding and residents want to keep it that way.

Feb. 9 -- San Jacinto Battleground restoration plan brings money, value, concerns: HOUSTON (AP) - When it comes to landmarks, the state wants a battlefield to look like a battlefield. And when it comes to the San Jacinto Battleground, where Texas won its independence in 1836, officials like a $47 million plan to recreate the authentic look, without parking lots and other evidence of the modern age.

Feb. 9 -- In Houston, flood control looks like real estate business: HOUSTON (AP) - The flood control business here looks a lot like the real estate industry. In the Houston area, authorities move the people instead of diverting the water flow in flood-prone areas.

Feb. 8 -- Funeral giant Service Corporation International drops casket supplier, York Group: HOUSTON (AP) -- Global funeral home giant Service Corporation International plans to drop its casket supplier, York Group, in favor of Indiana-based Hillenbrand Industries, the nation's largest casket manufacturer.

Feb. 8 -- Dallas Independent School District Board reaches settlement with chief financial officer: DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas school board has agreed to pay its chief financial officer $600,000 in exchange for his resignation from the district and his relinquishment of a $10 million lawsuit against the school board and another $10 million lawsuit against its former president.

Feb. 8 -- Officials fear fruit fly quarantine may spread: McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- Agriculture officials met Friday to discuss an existing fruit quarantine in parts of southeastern Hidalgo County, fearing that a widespread fruit fly infestation would make their citrus crops unmarketable.

Feb. 8 -- Judge scolds attorneys in beef defamation trial: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Three weeks into the Oprah Winfrey beef defamation trial, the judge lashed out at attorneys after they got testy with witnesses.

Feb. 8 -- Two dead, one wounded in shooting outside Wal-Mart: ALICE, Texas (AP) -- Two men were killed and a woman was wounded when angry words in a parking lot became a barrage of bullets late Friday afternoon.

Feb. 8 -- Continental Airlines reportedly about to purchase one-third of AeroPeru: HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston-based Continental Airlines is reportedly negotiating with AeroPeru to purchase 35 percent of the Peruvian carrier, strengthening Continental's growing network in Latin America.

Feb. 8 -- Officers cleared by grand jury: AUSTIN (AP) -- A Travis County grand jury has cleared two Austin police officers in the accidental shooting of two fellow officers during a domestic violence call.

Feb. 7 -- Morales challenges Bush to meet publicly: AUSTIN (AP) -- It was shades of "High Noon" at the Capitol on Friday.

Feb. 7 -- Prosecutors rest their case in cadet trial: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Jurors in the murder trial of a former midshipman were shown a page from the defendant's notebook Friday where the victim's name had been jotted down next to the date and time she was killed. Original suspect in cadet killing case settles federal lawsuit

Feb. 7 -- Theft ring in New York moved stolen cars to Dallas for sale: DALLAS (AP) -- Investigators are looking for luxury cars in Texas that were stolen through a New York theft ring.

Feb. 7 -- Veterinarian says vegetarian activist gave false information: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Several comments a vegetarian activist made on Oprah Winfrey's show about mad cow disease were false, a veterinarian testified Friday in the beef slander case against the talk show host. Winfrey juggling personas as talk show host and defendant

Feb. 7 -- Game wardens round up suspected poachers in South Texas: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- After more than a year of undercover work, 40 state game wardens have fanned out across the South Texas brush country to arrest men suspected of poaching deer.

Feb. 7 -- Emotional jurors sentence mother to 90 years in prison for sexual abuse: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A woman convicted of sexually abusing her 9-year-old daughter was stoic during her sentencing.

Feb. 6 -- Governor says Texas system fair: AUSTIN (AP) -- Gov. George W. Bush, who denied a 30-day reprieve for pickax killer Karla Faye Tucker this week, said Thursday he is satisfied that the Texas death penalty law is being carried out fairly.

Feb. 6 -- Examiner says victim's head wound consistent with pistol whipping: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A medical examiner's testimony Thursday seemed to conflict with prosecution allegations that a former Navy midshipman bludgeoned a 16-year-old girl with a dumbbell before the victim was shot.

Feb. 6 -- Judge schedules hearing in Tyler on parent's plea: AUSTIN (AP) -- Students are being thwarted in efforts to leave low-performing public schools by a federal desegregation order, says a group that has filed a court challenge to exempt a transfer program from desegregation requirements.

Feb. 6 -- Neighbors raise a stink about stench of human waste fertilizer: DEVERS, Texas (AP) -- Neighbors who live near a Liberty County farm where treated human waste is being used as fertilizer are raising a stink about the unbearable stench.

Feb. 6 -- Tucker gave prison chief a letter with plan for rehabilitating inmates: HOUSTON (AP) -- Karla Faye Tucker's celebrity status doesn't mean a final letter to the state's top prison official offering suggestions to make inmates more responsible will get special treatment.

Feb. 6 -- Ambassador, Bush say radioactive dump must be safe: AUSTIN (AP) -- Mexico's ambassador to the United States says his government wants assurances that a low-level nuclear waste dump planned for West Texas will be safe.

Feb. 6 -- Settlement prohibits judge from forcing defendants to attend church: DALLAS (AP) -- A judge agreed to stop sentencing defendants to attend church or Sunday school as an alternative to paying fines under terms of a settlement with a family that sued over the practice, an attorney said Thursday.

Feb. 6 -- Oprah testimony takes over civil trial: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey told jurors in her beef defamation trial Thursday that she doesn't believe a cattle industry representative was "ambushed" on her TV show about mad cow disease.

Feb. 6 -- Property taxes rise, but growth slowing in recent years: AUSTIN (AP) -- School property tax levies grew 124 percent from 1984 to 1995 -- from $4.2 billion to $9.3 billion -- but the growth rate has slowed in recent years, according to a report from the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association.

Feb. 5 -- Winfrey says talk show merely forum for debate: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Oprah Winfrey said Wednesday that a talk show is "not the evening news" but merely a forum for debate and that "not every show ends in a tie" while testifying about the balance of a program she did about mad cow disease.

Feb. 5 -- Witness account of killing differs from prosecutors' allegations: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A former Naval Academy roommate of Diane Zamora told a jury Wednesday that Ms. Zamora gave her an account of the killing of a 16-year-old girl that is very different from prosecutor's allegations.

Feb. 5 -- Women death row inmates considered Karla Tucker their spiritual leader: GATESVILLE, Texas (AP) - Karla Faye Tucker is being mourned on women's death row, where the six remaining inmates are taking her execution hard, a chaplain says.

Feb. 5 -- Critics say AG's office keeping HMO complaints under wraps: HOUSTON (AP) - Consumer advocates are fuming over a Texas attorney general opinion that says complaint details about HMOs should not be made public, the Texas Journal of The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Feb. 5 -- Super collider properties finally attracting investors: HOUSTON (AP) - The state's white elephant - the remains of the Superconducting Super Collider - may finally have some takers, the Texas Journal of The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Feb. 5 -- Judge upholds multi-million dollar ruling against abortion protestors: DALLAS (AP) - A federal judge Wednesday upheld a $10 million judgment against anti-abortion protestors who tormented a doctor and his wife for about a year.

Feb. 5 -- El Paso case good for criminal defendants, lawyers say: AUSTIN (AP) - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has expanded the circumstances in which Texas judges can throw out criminal cases and stop them from being refiled, according to criminal defense attorneys who hailed the move Wednesday.

Feb. 5 -- Court hears arguments on parental consent measure: AUSTIN (AP) - A requirement that minors get parental consent before obtaining state-paid birth control and other prescriptions won't keep them from getting the drugs but is a way to express the state's views, an assistant attorney general told the Texas Supreme Court Wednesday.

Feb. 5 -- Program allows 'life-line' telephone services for disconnected customers: AUSTIN (AP) - Starting this month, Texans who fall behind on their long-distance telephone bills no longer have to give up local telephone services.

Feb. 5 -- State funding repair of historic Rayburn home: AUSTIN (AP) - More than $200,000 in state funds will go toward repairing the Bonham house of Sam Rayburn, the Texan who for 17 years ran the U.S. House.

Feb. 4 -- Former Saybolt Inc. president accused of paying Panamanian officials $50,000: HOUSTON (AP) -- The former president of a petrochemical testing service appeared in federal court Tuesday, accused of ordering a $50,000 bribe be paid to Panamanian officials in exchange for tax breaks and new business in that country.

Feb. 4 -- Air Force research base takes budget hit under Clinton plan: SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A Brooks Air Force Base research unit would lose more than half its $35.8 million budget and at least 100 civilian jobs under President Clinton's budget proposal, an Air Force general says.

Feb. 4 -- Witness: Zamora said victim deserved to die: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A former Naval Academy cadet accused in the killing of a romantic rival told a fellow student the victim deserved to die because she took something that was not hers, the student testified Tuesday.

Feb. 4 -- Viewers could make up own minds about beef, Winfrey says: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- In a role reversal from her duties as a talk show host Oprah Winfrey was grilled with questions as she took the stand for the first time Tuesday in a $10.3 million lawsuit filed against her by Texas cattlemen.

Feb. 4 -- Texas executes Karla Faye Tucker for 1983 pickax slaying: HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Karla Faye Tucker, the born-again Christian who stirred debate over redemption on death row, was executed Tuesday for a 1983 pickax slaying in Houston. Karla Faye Tucker chronology

Feb. 4 -- Business group backs voucher movement: AUSTIN (AP) -- Small business owners who say they have trouble finding qualified workers are putting their muscle behind a group that advocates taxpayer-funded private school tuition vouchers for students who can't otherwise leave low-performing public schools.

Feb. 4 -- Senate nears consideration of Texas low-level radioactive waste compact: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate backers of an agreement between Texas, Maine and Vermont governing the disposal of low-level radioactive waste are hopeful they can push the long-stalled legislation to the Senate floor within the coming weeks.

Feb. 3 -- Clinton budget includes billions for Texas: WASHINGTON (AP) - The $1.7 trillion budget unveiled Monday by the White House includes billions of dollars for Texas, running the gamut from new buses for Houston and more money for bilingual education to next-generation jet fighters and Border Patrol agents.

Feb. 3 -- Editor asked to cut out comments by beef spokesman, producer says: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - The person responsible for editing on Oprah Winfrey show on mad cow disease said the talkshow host told him to "cut that boring beef guy out," according to a former senior producer of the program.

Feb. 3 -- Parole board denies pickax killer's bid for clemency: AUSTIN (AP) - Pickax killer Karla Faye Tucker's bid for clemency was rejected Monday, with the chairman of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles citing the gruesome nature of her crime.

Feb. 3 -- Cadet urged boyfriend kill romantic rival: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A former Naval Academy cadet urged her boyfriend to kill her romantic rival by screaming "shoot her, kill her, shoot her," the defendant's one-time best friend testified Monday.

Feb. 3 -- Morales suggests contempt-of-court order: AUSTIN (AP) - Attorney General Dan Morales suggested Monday that a Republican running for his job and several state lawmakers should be held in contempt of court by a federal judge who approved Texas' $15.3 billion tobacco settlement.

Feb. 3 -- Rehab service gives blind vets tools for life: WACO, Texas - Herbert Hemilla once carved the sky in a jet fighter, wheeling and soaring high above the mundane world. Floyd Starks held a high-tech Army job, while enjoying life with his wife and toddler son.

Feb. 2 -- Oprah beef trial stampedes Amarillo: AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Roadhouse waitress Gretchen Cotter's smile rivaled the glitter of the neon lights and her drawl competed with a juke box, a pinball machine and three television sets. "Hamburger, cheeseburger or ribeye steak?" she asked, reciting the entire menu of the Lone Star Bar & Grill. "And," she purred, "we serve only mad cows - REALLY mad cows."

Feb. 2 -- Parole board set to announce clemency decision: HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Condemned killer Karla Faye Tucker learns Monday if Texas parole officials believe she is a woman of God who should be spared a trip to the death chamber this week.

Feb. 2 -- Atheist leader left almost $100,000 in gold coins behind: SAN ANTONIO (AP) - When atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son and adopted daughter disappeared more than two years ago, they left almost $100,000 in gold coins behind, the San Antonio Express-News reported Sunday.

Feb. 2 -- Capital murder trial of cadet may mirror soured relationship: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - On a bitter cold night in December 1995, police say Diane Zamora and David Graham returned from a foggy lake, leaving the body of a bludgeoned and shot 16-year-old girl lying in an overgrown field.

Feb. 2 -- Marines return to Rio Grande - this time without weapons: SAN ANTONIO (AP) - For the first time since a corporal killed a teen-ager who was tending to his family's goat herd, Marines have returned to Presidio County along the Rio Grande in far West Texas.

Feb. 2 -- Agency: security officer accused of murder shouldn't have been hired: SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A state agency says Arthur Rodriguez should never have been licensed as a security guard because of a felony conviction almost eight months earlier.

Feb. 2 -- Amateur artifact hunter treasure mammoth find: LAKE JACKSON, Texas - Amateur artifact hunter Brian Miles says he watches the ground whenever he walks anywhere. You never know when you'll find an arrowhead or an ancient sea shell ... Or the jawbone of a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth.

Feb. 2 -- North Texas boot camp tries to turn young offenders around: DENISON, Texas - On a Saturday, four young men, each of them with pasts filled with crime, courts and alienation, filed past a door that locks magnetically and entered a different world than they had ever seen before.

Feb. 2 -- Teacher battling multiple sclerosis invents board game: FORT WORTH, Texas - Jeanne Lee may be confined to a bed and a wheelchair, but that hasn't stopped the former teacher from continuing to work. Lee, who has had multiple sclerosis for almost half of her 56 years, has invented a board game based on the presidential election process.

Feb. 2 -- Taming Texas' favorite wildflower for export outside the state: DALLAS - Hidden in a cluster of North Dallas greenhouses, several hundred Big Bend bluebonnets bloom in tiny fireworks of blue, white and pink, exuding a subtle yet spicy perfume. It's the dead of winter, and these flowers wouldn't naturally reach their peak bloom until spring. But such is the art of science.

Feb. 2 -- City folks find dreams, recreation in cattle ranching: SANTO, Texas - Sixteen Texas longhorns grazed indolently along a scenic twist and turn of the Brazos in Palo Pinto County, some 400 feet below a hilltop lodge owned by Ron and Deborah Hall.

Feb. 1 -- Declared dead radio executive arrested, charged with abandonment: HOUSTON (AP) -- A radio station executive was in jail Saturday, accused of deserting his family 15 years ago and starting over in Texas, where he became a prominent member of several civic organizations.

Feb. 1 -- Tape: Gunman wanted to kill all family members: GRANBURY, Texas (AP) -- A gunman showed no remorse in a tape he left as a suicide message after the carnage of three family deaths, complaining that his stepson survived the attack, according to a recorded message.

Feb. 1 -- Former judge indicted for perjury: HOUSTON (AP) -- A former state judge has been indicted on perjury charges, accused of lying to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct investigating him for improper conduct during a high-profile toxic contamination case.

Feb. 1 -- Report: Prosecutor investigated for possible misconduct: HOUSTON (AP) -- Department of Justice investigators are reportedly looking into allegations that a veteran federal prosecutor engaged in potentially criminal misconduct in a bank fraud case.

Feb. 1 -- State audit finds UT slow to improve safety in labs: AUSTIN (AP) -- The University of Texas is still in violation of safety codes more than a year after a six-alarm fire burned through chemistry labs on campus, a state audit concluded.

Feb. 1 -- Former parole official acquitted in prison sex case: AUSTIN (AP) --A former parole official has been acquitted of charges that he used threats to force three female inmates at Gatesville's Murray Unit to perform sex acts.

Feb. 1 -- Tejano Democrats endorse both Mattox, Overstreet for attorney general: AUSTIN (AP) -- Tejano Democrats were divided Saturday in the attorney general's race, voting to endorse both Jim Mattox and Morris Overstreet.

Feb. 1 -- Group aiding Jones' suit against Clinton asks president to help condemned Texas killer: CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- The group that is bankrolling Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton asked the president on Saturday to join a fight to stop the execution of a woman in Texas.

Feb. 1 -- Texas' record-breaking execution pace sign of citizens' fear: HUNTSVILLE -- Texas executed a record breaking 37 convicts in 1997 -- the same amount as the other 49 states combined.

Feb. 1 -- Huntsville debates merits of Tucker death penalty as well: HUNTSVILLE -- The words carved into a wooden sign on the gray walls of the Cafe Texan in downtown Huntsville speak volumes about how folks here view executions.