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In 2008, around the time of the Republican National Convention, a white 20-something male approached the Texas Governor's Mansion and threw a Molotov cocktail at it. The mansion burned down. The case remains unsolved, though federal and state authorities have long presumed it was a left-leaning anarchist. In fact, around the same time, left-wing anarchists were fighting police in the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota, during the GOP's convention, and some plotted to go back to Texas to commit acts of violence. In 2010, Andrew Joseph Stack crashed a plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. Members of the...

A former Black Lives Matter activist is making stunning accusations against fellow agitators in an unprompted YouTube video.Trey Turner, who says he protested police killings in St. Paul, Minnesota, created a video to expose what he learned while he was active with the group.Turner said he joined Black Lives Matter after the shooting of Jamar Clark last March, and that he was a part of the “4th Precinct shutdown.” He said he joined because activists insisted the movement was peaceful and “didn’t hate whites.” According to Turner, he was an active participant in the protests at the governor’s mansion after...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Rats have been evicted from the Arkansas governor's mansion but the lingering effects of a rodent infestation, including noxious odors, require its study to be demolished and rebuilt, officials said this week. The rodents, in a non-partisan manner, have been a problem for former Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat who served from 2007 to 2015, and for current Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who has served since then. "You can walk in (the study) today and still smell the rat stench. It looks fine, but it's hideous smelling," current first lady Susan Hutchinson told a...

Some security cameras at the Texas Governor's Mansion were "not operational" during an early morning fire Sunday that nearly destroyed the 152-year-old state treasure, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The source, who did not want to be identified because of the ongoing investigation, said other cameras at the property were properly working. Another source familiar with the investigation said a lone Texas Department of Safety trooper was on duty when the fire began and was stationed at the security booth in a carriage house behind the mansion. The source said authorities believe that trooper acted appropriately in...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Arson is suspected in the fire that struck the historic Texas Governor's Mansion early today, causing damage that state officials described as "bordering on catastrophic," the state fire marshal said. No one was inside the 152-year-old mansion at the time, said Robert Black, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry. The mansion had been undergoing a $10 million renovation, and Perry and his wife, Anita, had moved out last fall. "We have some evidence that indicates that we do have an intentionally set fire," said state Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado. "So we believe that we may be looking...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California's chief executive may not have an official governor's mansion, but he soon will have a historic place to entertain visiting dignitaries. The Leland Stanford Mansion was home to three governors before becoming an orphanage at the turn of the 20th century and finally falling into disrepair. When it opens to the public in September after a three-year, $20 million facelift, it will have been restored to its former glory with some high-tech additions. The four-story Italianate mansion, with its distinctive double curving staircase at the entrance, will be a museum and a center for the governor's...

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 - After more than a year in office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still has not found a home in the capital city. He is holding out for a place with an easy commute and amenities appropriate to his ego and style. And so, Mr. Schwarzenegger continues to split his week between Los Angeles and Sacramento, commuting by private jet. When in Sacramento, the governor stays at the Hyatt Hotel at a cost of $6,000 a month, paid for, until now, with campaign funds. But state election law prohibits the practice after one year in office, which Mr....

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal attorney announced the formation Tuesday of a nonprofit corporation to raise money for an official residence for the governor and his family. Thomas Hiltachk said the Governor's Residence Foundation would seek private donations "to cover the governor's housing costs without unduly burdening California taxpayers." Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, said no decision had been made on whether to buy an existing residence in the Sacramento area or build a new one. "We're exploring all options," she said. Nor would the home necessarily be ready for Schwarzenegger and his family. But she said...

California Governor Arnold Scwarzenegger may not exactly be homeless, but the only place in Sacramento where he and his wife can call home is a Hyatt hotel across the street from the state Capitol. State officials are questioning how the hotel's sizable room rate is being paid. According to the San Francisco Chronicle's columnists Matier and Ross, California's Fair Political Practices Commission demanded the Schwarzeneggers stop having the governor's campaign committee pay the hefty $6,000-a-month rental. There is no governor's mansion in Sacramento, so, starting today, the hotel bill is being paid by a new nonprofit foundation that is on...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Former President Clinton received the loudest and longest applause as Arkansas' seven living governors were introduced to a crowd of more than 1,500 gathered to raise money for renovation of the Governor's Mansion. Coming together for the first time ever, the seven men entered the Statehouse Convention Center banquet hall Tuesday in the order of the years they served in the state's top post. Former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who resigned in 1996 and was succeeded by current Gov. Mike Huckabee after Tucker's Whitewater-related conviction in federal court, also received loud applause from those who had...