Wire

[AP] Woman in Texas struck by bullet from Mexico

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

EL PASO A woman shopping on a busy downtown El Paso street became the first victim of bullets flying across the border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Tuesday when she was hit in the calf and wounded, authorities said.The 48-year-old woman, whose...... Full story

This Feb. 13, 2012 handout photo provided by Heritage Auction shows the CGC-Certified 3.0 copy of Action Comics #1 from the Billy Wright Collection at Heritage Auctions in Dallas,Texas. On Wednesday, the collection is expected to bring more than $2 million when Heritage Auctions offers the comics at auction in New York City.

[AP] Comic books expected to fetch $2 million at auction

DALLAS When Michael Rorrer found 345 comic books neatly stacked in a basement closet as he cleaned out his great aunt's Virginia home after her death, he thought they were cool but didn't think much about their value. He later discovered...... Full story

[AP] E-cigarette airline passenger detained in Portland

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND, Ore. An airline passenger who refused to turn off an electronic cigarette could face a federal charge in Portland. FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steel says the man was held Tuesday after he was taken off a Continental Airlines flight...... Full story

[AP] Killeen police say boy, 4, fatally shot brother, 3

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KILLEEN Police have determined that a 4-year-old boy found his mother's gun and fatally shot his 3-year-old boy at their Central Texas home. Killeen police on Tuesday identified the victim as 3-year-old Jordan Kenneth Jones. Investigators...... Full story

[AP] 3 inmates killed in Mexico prison near deadly riot

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTERREY, MEXICO Three inmates were killed Tuesday in a northern Mexico prison a few miles (kilometers) from the penitentiary where authorities say 44 gang members were massacred this week by prisoners from a rival drug cartel. Nuevo Leon state...... Full story

The headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention is shown Dec. 7 in Nashville, Tenn. The nation's largest protestant denomination will definitely remain

[AP] Southern Baptist Convention leaders OK alternative 'Great Commission Baptists'

Delegates must vote at annual convention

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Some Southern Baptists worry that their denomination's name still carries the stigma of a 19th century split with northern Baptists over slavery. Others who fought hard to build the brand and its conservative theology and politics...... Full story

[AP] Plane crashes in West Texas, 2 dead

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALBANY Authorities say two people have died in the West Texas crash of a small plane that disappeared on a flight to Oklahoma.Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration says the wreckage was found Tuesday morning and law enforcement...... Full story

[AP] Pennsylvania man busted on drug warrant after casino win

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALTOONA, Pa. A man accused of dealing drugs had his luck run out when he won $2,500 playing blackjack at a casino near Philadelphia. Altoona police say 34-year-old Mateen Johnson was arrested Saturday because he had to produce identification to...... Full story

[MRT] Southwest to cut Midland-Albuquerque flight

BY KATHLEEN THURBER

MIDLAND Midlanders won’t have the ability to fly directly to Albuquerque starting in August after Southwest announced it will eliminate the nonstop flight. “The volatile fuel landscape, which West Texans are so familiar with, really...... Full story

[AP] Economy better, but state budget still short

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN The Texas economy is coming back, but the state budget is still in trouble, top budget experts told lawmakers Tuesday. John O'Brien, director of the Legislative Budget Board, said the Legislature did not appropriate enough money to cover...... Full story

Jeff Maxwell, right, enters Judge Trey Loftin's Weatherford, Texas courtroom on Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012. Maxwell, 59, is charged with aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault.

[AP] Man found guilty of raping former neighbor on deer-skinning device

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEATHERFORD A Texas man on Tuesday was found guilty of kidnapping his former neighbor, holding her captive and torturing her for nearly two weeks. Jurors deliberated 50 minutes before reaching a verdict in the trial of Jeffrey Allan Maxwell, who...... Full story

Three buildings and a travel trailer sit in the backyard of a Dayton, Texas, house Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, where 11 children, some of them reportedly found in restraints, were removed by children's protective services last month. A next door neighbor said that the buildings had electricity and that there were beds inside. Texas authorities said Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, that they removed 11 children last month from the home where a registered sex offender lives after they found eight confined in a small, dark bedroom with restraints tying some to their beds. One month after a raid on the house, authorities are still trying to determine how the children are related and why they were there, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter said. Along with the children, 10 adults were living in the one-story, 1,700-square-foot home.

[AP] Eleven children removed from Texas home

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DAYTON Texas authorities said Tuesday they removed 11 children from a crowded home where a registered sex offender lives after they found eight confined in a small, dark bedroom with restraints tying some to their beds. Along with the children, 10...... Full story

Demonstrators Sid Jacobo, left, and Jazel Flores, right, both University of California- Berkeley students, protest outside of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a panel heard arguments in San Francisco, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. More than 15 years after California banned affirmative action, a federal appeals court on Monday heard a legal challenge to the ban on considering race in public college admissions. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Proposition 209, which barred racial, ethnic or gender preferences in public education, employment and contracting.

[AP] High court to take new look at affirmative action

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court will once again confront the issue of race in university admissions in a case brought by a white student denied a spot at the flagship campus of the University of Texas.The court said Tuesday it will return to the issue...... Full story

Leora Jean Dyess, left, and Gilbert Melendrez Jr.

[CCA] N.M. jury convicts man in Halloween 2010 death

Former Odessan saved trick-or-treaters from being run over

BY STELLA DAVIS

CARLSBAD, N.M After only an hour of deliberation Monday, an Eddy County District Court jury found Gilbert Melendrez Jr. guilty of vehicular homicide and five other charges against him in the 2010 Halloween night death of Leora “Jean”...... Full story

Sara Ward, a precinct captain for Ron Paul, had her photo taken by Rick Stodieck, left, a Paul delegate elected at his caucus in Richfield earlier in the evening, while their candidate addresses the crowd Tuesday Feb. 7, 2012.

[AP] Paul looks for delegates, respect in caucus states

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON Ron Paul may not win the Republican nomination for president — he has yet to win a single state — but his strategy of trying to amass delegates in caucus states could land him a prominent role at the party's national...... Full story