http://www.cbs7.com Your Eye on West Texas en-us Copyright 2012 CBS 7. All Rights Reserved. 5/16/2012 8:58:16 PM Texas News 20 May 16, 2012

ABILENE, Texas (AP) - The Abilene Reporter-News is promoting former managing editor Doug Williamson to be the new editor of the newspaper.

Williamson will succeed Barton Cromeens, who left the Scripps Newspaper Group-owned daily earlier this year.

A notice posted on the Reporter-News (http://bit.ly/KuaZf2) website Wednesday afternoon says Williamson is to assume his new duties Monday.

Most recently, Williamson has directed niche publications at the newspaper.

Other Scripps Newspapers in Texas are the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, San Angelo Standard-Times and Wichita Falls Times Record News.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34690 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 16, 2012

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - A West Texas toddler has died after being run over by an SUV driven by his dad.

San Angelo police say the boy's father, Jacob Wallace, didn't see his 18-month-old son while pulling into the driveway Monday.

The San Angelo Standard Times (http://bit.ly/JdZsR5) reports that that the boy, Liam Wallace, was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

Police spokesman Lt. David Howard said Wednesday the boy's death was ruled an accident and no charges will be filed.

Investigators say the dad's children ran to greet him as he pulled up to their home. Police say Wallace opened the SUV's doors to let three of his children climb in and wasn't aware that the fourth child was hidden by another car parked on the driveway before he pulled in.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34680 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports 5/16/12

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - The University of Texas at El Paso is primed for
plugging in by students, staff and visitors.

UTEP on Wednesday announced 10 electric vehicle charging stations are now
operating.

The stations are located at the Sun Bowl, certain parking garages and the
Mike Loya Academic Services Building.

UTEP says the 220-volt stations are made possible by a $256,000 Texas State
Energy Conservation Office grant. The money was approved in 2009 for the City of
El Paso in partnership with UTEP.

An addition $98,000 state grant, approved last June, will pay for additional
vehicle charging stations by the end of 2012.]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34675 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 16, 2012

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) - The state will begin offering permits for game hunters to use silencers on their guns, effective Sept. 1.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted rules in March that permit the use of silencers for the hunting of alligators, game animals or game birds.

Such devices already were legal for the hunting of exotic animals, including feral hogs.

However, hunters will still have to apply for state permits to have and use silencers.


Longview gun dealer Bob Godell tells the Longview News-Journal (http://bit.ly/JulcsH) the change is "long overdue." Longview hunter Earl Ates, a lifelong National Rifle Association member, says he doubts the benefits of silent hunting, though, and worries about its use for poaching and other illegal activities. He says silencers "can also go against making a humane kill."]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34673 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 16, 2012

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) - About 100 Central Texas homes had to be evacuated when
a 6-foot inactive training missile accidentally fell from a military helicopter.

Killeen police spokesman Carroll Smith said Wednesday that nobody was hurt
and Fort Hood has taken over the investigation.

Smith says a witness saw something fall from a military helicopter around 8
p.m. Tuesday.

Ordinance technicians from Fort Hood who were dispatched to the field
determined the missile was not active. The equipment left a hole, several feet
deep, in the ground.

Smith says evacuees were allowed back into their homes within an hour of the
incident.

A spokesman for the post did not immediately return a message Wednesday from The Associated Press.]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34670 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - George W. Bush is backing presumptive Republican White House nominee Mitt Romney.

The former president offered a four-word endorsement of Romney as the doors of his elevator were closing after a speech Tuesday in Washington.

Bush said: "I'm for Mitt Romney."

ABC News caught Bush after the speech, prompting his unscripted - but not surprising - endorsement.

Bush's parents, former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, endorsed Romney in March during an appearance in Texas. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also publicly backed Romney.

Romney's campaign issued a brief statement welcoming the support.

Since leaving office in January 2009, George W. Bush has tried to avoid politics. He left Washington deeply unpopular with voters who blamed him for the economic crisis that unfolded on his watch.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34661 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

PLAINVIEW, Texas (AP) - Prominent West Texas farmer S.M. True, who served as Texas Farm Bureau president for 11 years in the 1980s and early `90s, has died in a tractor accident on his South Plains farm. He was 88.

A Farm Bureau statement says True died Tuesday. Hale County sheriff's Deputy John Phillips tells the Plainview Herald that True was working on the tractor at his farm "when a large part of the tractor fell on him, striking him around his neck."

Phillips says True was alone and died outright. His brother, Riley True, found his body early Tuesday afternoon.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34660 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Texas Department of Public Safety has paid tribute to eight Texas law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in the past year, three of them feloniously.

DPS Trooper Javier Arana Jr., who died accidentally in a traffic accident in El Paso March 24, received special tribute in the Tuesday ceremony at the DPS Training Academy. He was one of five Texas officers to die accidentally in the line of duty.

Also recognized were Bexar (BAYR) County sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Vann Sr., killed in a May 28 ambush; Beaumont police Officer Bryan Hebert (AY'-behr), killed when a suspect rammed his patrol car July 8; and Austin police Senior Officer Jaime (HYE'-meh) Padron (pah-DROHN'), shot and killed while trying to arrest a suspect April 6.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34658 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Researchers say they've shown that certain plants have smarts during dry times.

Experts say the findings could lead to crops that are better able to withstand drought, like Texas endured last year.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher Michael Fromm says studies on two crops have shown a short-term memory for surviving dry times. Fromm's initial study, with a member of the mustard family, found that stressing plants helps them adapt and aids in surviving transplanting.

Murray Coulter, a genetic biologist who taught at Texas Tech for more than three decades, said Fromm's research isn't saying plants can think.

But Coulter says if it's just one gene that needs modifying, he thinks the technology could be in crop fields in five years.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34649 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry isn't saying whether he approves of the University of Texas at Austin president whose job was reported to be in jeopardy.

Perry said Tuesday that UT regents will decide the performance of Bill Powers, who recently criticized the board for freezing tuition at the state's flagship campus for most students the next two years.

Asked whether he was satisfied with Powers, Perry said "I got a state to run" and added that he isn't focused on one campus.

Perry did say the tuition freeze sent a "good message" about not raising college costs. He made the remarks while praising a $10,000 bachelor's degree offered at the University of Texas A&M at San Antonio.

The UT system chancellor has denied that regents told him to fire Powers.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34647 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

DALLAS (AP) - U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson has placed her longtime chief of staff on administrative leave.

The Texas Democrat put Murat Gokcigdem (goh-CHEE'-dem) on leave Monday after a Washington newspaper reported Gokcigdem had questioned the qualifications of a legislative staffer who applied for another job. The Washington Blade printed an email it said Gokcigdem had sent about the staffer, Chris Crowe. Gokcigdem allegedly said Crowe was unqualified for the new job.

Crowe, who died last year, was gay. The email doesn't mention Crowe's sexual orientation but suggests Crowe is benefiting from a "group watching and supporting each other."

Spokesman Eddie Reeves says Johnson hasn't confirmed if the email is real but wants to find out "what the facts really are."

Gokcigdem did not return an email seeking comment.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34646 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 14, 2012

DALLAS (AP) - A Dallas woman has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using her cellphone to share sexual images of a 6-year-old girl.

A federal judge in Dallas on Monday sentenced 38-year-old Holli Chapman.

Chapman in February pleaded guilty to production of child pornography.

Investigators say Chapman used her cellphone to create images of the girl engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors say Chapman then texted the images to another person.

Further details on the girl and the recipient of the images were not immediately released.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34627 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 14, 2012

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has stopped this week's scheduled execution of a convicted killer whose mental health had become an issue in his appeals.

The state's highest criminal court gave a reprieve Monday to 49-year-old Steven Staley. Staley was set for lethal injection Wednesday for the 1989 shooting death of a Fort Worth restaurant manager during a botched robbery.

Prosecutors contend Staley is competent for execution but the prisoner's lawyer said that's only because a judge ordered Staley be given drugs to make him competent.

Staley's attorney also said the prisoner's IQ of 70 likely meant he was mentally impaired and ineligible for execution under Supreme Court rulings.

Staley was an escapee from a Denver halfway house when 35-year-old restaurant manager Bob Read of Fort Worth was killed.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34626 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 11, 2012

HOUSTON (AP) - Crews have been working to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses that lost electricity during Texas storms.

CenterPoint Energy reported about 1,000 customers without power Friday afternoon, down from almost 9,000 outages around dawn.

About 3,000 Austin Energy customers lost electricity during storms since Thursday night, but utility officials say that number had dwindled to a few dozen by Friday.

Oncor (ON'-kor) reported nearly 1,900 customers without power in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, plus Central Texas and the Midland-Odessa area.

Authorities say an apparent tornado touched down in the Southeast Texas town of Weimar (WY'-mer) late Thursday. Eight people in a trailer in a school parking lot were slightly hurt.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34596 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 11, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Early voting begins Monday for the May 29 Texas primary election.

The secretary of state's office says early voting ends May 25. July 31 has been set for any races that require runoffs.

The general election is Nov. 6.

Various local and school elections are set for Saturday in communities across Texas.

The Justice Department will have monitors present for Saturday's municipal elections in Dallas, Galveston and Jasper counties. The federal agency said Friday that the monitors will help ensure compliance with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prohibits discrimination.

The agency annually deploys hundreds of federal observers to monitor elections nationwide.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34595 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports
CBS 7 News
May 11, 2012

Associated Press

AUSTIN, TX - A judge has ruled against three newspapers and found that the Texas Department of Public Safety doesn't have to release travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail.

The Austin American Statesman reports that District Judge Scott Jenkins decided Thursday that officers' travel vouchers could compromise the governor's safety.

That reversed Jenkins' own 2008 ruling that the information should be released under Texas Public Information Act requests by the Statesman, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.

The papers sued in 2007. They had sought further detail on how public money was spent while protecting Perry during trips abroad since 2001.

In July, the Texas Supreme Court reversed Jenkins ruling. The judge then said Thursday that the Supreme Court's direction left him little choice but to rule against the newspapers.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34593 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 10, 2012

TIMPSON, Texas (AP) - Authorities say a 3.7 earthquake has shaken parts of East Texas.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the tremor struck Thursday morning in an area between Garrison and Timpson, about 24 miles northeast of Nacogdoches.

Timpson City Secretary Tanya Windham says it "shook the whole city hall" for about 15 to 20 seconds and she initially thought a nearby train had derailed. A short time later though, she realized it had been an earthquake.

There were no reported injuries.

The Shelby County sheriff and his deputies are out trying to determine whether there was any serious damage.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34573 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 10, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa says he has not been told by regents to fire the president of the University of Texas at Austin.

Cigarroa issued a statement Thursday in response to rumors that regents Chairman Gene Powell wanted Bill Powers fired in a dispute over tuition rates at the system's flagship campus.

Powers was critical of the regents last week for freezing tuition rates for most students at the Austin campus for the next two years.

A Wednesday night blog post on Texas Monthly magazine's website cited an anonymous source saying Powell asked Cigarroa to recommend firing Powers, which Cigarroa refused to do. A spokesman for Cigarroa said the chancellor will not comment beyond the issued statement.

A spokesman for Powers declined comment.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34572 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 10, 2012

HOUSTON (AP) - A travel association survey finds retail gasoline prices have tumbled 7 cents across Texas this week.

AAA Texas on Thursday reported the average price at the pump fell to $3.61 per gallon.

Gas prices nationally also down 6 cents, reaching $3.74 per gallon.

AAA Texas says crude oil prices have declined in the last week.

The group's weekly survey finds the most expensive gasoline statewide is in El Paso, at $3.73 per gallon. Amarillo has the cheapest gasoline, selling for an average $3.46 per gallon.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34571 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 9, 2012

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A university report says a South Texas oil and gas bonanza supported nearly 48,000 jobs last year while creating overnight boom towns cashing in on a $25 billion economic windfall.

The report on the liquid-rich Eagle Ford shale was released Wednesday by the University of Texas at San Antonio's Institute for Economic Development. The energy rush that started in 2008 mushroomed into nearly 1,700 wells last year.

The shale formation stretches from the western Texas-Mexico border and hooks all the way toward Louisiana. The study urges once-struggling small towns now flush with cash to spend on infrastructure and education before the boom goes bust.

Demand for housing and skilled labor remains intense throughout the region, but the report says shortages so far haven't slowed down the lucrative play.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34551 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports