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By DEAN SCHABNER Feb. 3, 2013 A man is under arrest in connection with the killing of two men at an Erath County, Texas, gun range, police said. One of the victims is former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle. "We have lost more than we can replace. Chris was a patriot, a great father, and a true supporter of this country and its ideals. This is a tragedy for all of us. I send my deepest prayers and thoughts to his wife and two children," "American Sniper" co-author Scott McEwen said in a statement to ABC News....

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said emphatically Saturday that the Boy Scouts of America shouldn’t soften its strict no-gays membership policy, and dismissed the idea of bending the organization to the whims of “popular culture.” Perry is an Eagle Scout and in 2008 he authored the book “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For.” It detailed the governor’s deep love for the organization and explained why it should continue to embrace traditional, conservative values—including excluding openly gay members and Scout leaders. … Even though the Boy Scouts reaffirmed the no-gays policy just seven...

University of Texas offensive coordinator Major Applewhite and the school's athletic director released a joint statement on Friday night acknowledging that Applewhite had an "inappropriate" relationship with a student during the team's trip to the 2009 Fiesta Bowl. Beyond the cheating on his wife while she was apparently nine months pregnant*, the timing of this announcement raises a lot of questions for the University of Texas and how it handled the affair.

NEW YORK — Hostess has picked a lead bidder for its famous Twinkies. The bankrupt Irving company said late Wednesday that it has selected a joint offer from two investment firms — C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management LLC — as the lead bid for its Twinkies and other snack cakes. Hostess says the two are offering to pay $410 million for the snack-cake business and five bakeries. The "stalking horse" bid would set the floor for an auction process that lets competitors make better offers. A judge would have to approve any final sale. After years...

Authorities are on alert after a shootout was reported across the border from Falcon State Park. It all started with reports of a gunfire coming from Nueva Ciudad Guerrero just after 9 a.m. Friday. Mexican authorities have not released any information but Border Patrol, sheriff's deputies, customs officers and others are on alert. The law enforcement agencies have increased patrols on the American side of the border. Falcon State Park Manager Carlos Rivas told Action 4 News that there is heightened security at the park but it remains open.

February 1, 2013 Democratic presidential candidate already running campaign ads for 2016 by Laura Byrne Look out Joe Biden, another Democrat has already thrown his hat in the ring for the 2016 presidential race, and he’s already running campaign ads on TV.Lee L. Mercer, Jr. of Texas has reportedly started running a TV commercial spreading his campaign promise to create “a new computerized government that will run the office of the President of the United States with a computer.”According to the ad, “Lee L. Mercer, Jr. of Houston, Texas is announcing his campaign for President of the United States in...

Texas Senator Ted Cruz wants Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to back of gun manufacturers. The Republican senator issued a response to Emanuel’s letter to banks which do business with gun makers. The Lone Star politician considers the former Obama administration official a bully. Cruz told gun companies that Texas banks would welcome their business and offered to personally introduce them to leading lenders. Senator Cruz’s response to Rahm Emanuel stated: “Your city’s longstanding policies stripping citizens of their Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms have, in turn, produced some of the very highest murder rates in the nation. Regardless,...

Sure, Chuck Hagel might have been a bumbling, stumbling mess at his confirmation hearing yesterday. But the real story was how awful were the Republicans who questioned him. That was the collective judgment of today's Morning Joe panel. For example, so contemptuous was Joe Scarborough of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, that the Morning Joe host announced that he would not even mention him by name. "Clown show" was the panel's operative phrase for the Republican performance. Andrea Mitchell, Mika Brzezinski, Mike Barnicle et al. joined in the Republican roasting. View the video here.

I heard something the other day that needs correction. Rush Limbaugh talked about the "Obama tax increases" and if he was talking about Obamacare tax hikes he's right on the money because Barack Obama owns them. The GOP didn't support it. But I got the impression El Rushbo was talking about the deal agreed to at the beginning of this year that restored 2 percent to the Social Security tax and raised taxes on "the rich." John Boehner is co-owner of those tax increases with Barack Obama. And just like the Obamacare taxes, they are economically destructive. It looks like...

Ten years ago Friday, the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed and its seven astronauts killed during the final minutes of its flight. NASA will mark the 10th anniversary of the accident at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, and take part in an observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where three of the astronauts are buried. Other commemorations Friday include events at a 2-year-old Columbia museum in Hemphill, Texas, where shuttle debris fell. PBS is also airing a new documentary about Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut on Columbia. The wife of the shuttle's commander, Evelyn Husband Thompson, said she has seen...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) has a message for firearms manufacturers and banks under attack from Chicago Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Texas welcomes you. Cruz pilloried Emanuel’s gun-control efforts and invited executives to consider the warmer, friendlier climes of the Lone Star State in a Tuesday letter to the CEOs of Bank of America, TD Bank, Sturm & Ruger, and Smith & Wesson.

MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials broke up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex-slavery ring among its followers on the U.S. border, Mexican immigration authorities said Tuesday. The "Defensores de Cristo" or "Defenders of Christ" allegedly recruited women to have sex with a Spanish man who claimed he was the reincarnation of Christ, according to an official of a victims' advocacy group, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Followers were subjected to forced labor or sexual services, including prostitution, according to the National Immigration Institute that said it...

Introduced Caption Text: Relating to exempting the intrastate manufacture of a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition from federal regulation.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz displayed a flair for showmanship this afternoon at the Senate’s gun violence hearing as he sought to puncture the argument for a proposed ban on assault weapons.“What it bans, I would suggest to you, are scary looking guns,” he said.With a life size photo of a Remington 750, a popular hunting rifle used — as Cruz said, by millions of Americans – the senator argued that the proposed ban focuses on “cosmetic features” such as pistol grips that in no way change the lethality of a weapon.He produced a plastic pistol grip and held it to...

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has advanced its position in the North American shale race adding another 6,900 miles of pipelines and nine processing plants to its empire. Kinder’s deal to purchase Copano Energy for $3.9 billion, announced late Tuesday, will expand its its 46,000-mile pipeline network and, perhaps more important, will give it processing capabilities in key shales plays including the Eagle Ford in South Texas. “Copano gives us a great platform in the Eagle Ford,” partnership President Park Shaper said Wednesday. The pipeline giant announced late Tuesday night that it would buy midstream natural gas company Copano Energy for...

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) announced Sunday that she has spearheaded a bipartisan letter calling on the French government to cancel plans to release a convicted terrorist who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an American and an Israeli diplomat. The letter, which was sent to France’s Ambassador to the United States, urges French officials to stop the release of George Ibrahim Abdallah, the former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade who was convicted in 1987 of killing an Israeli diplomat and a U.S. military attaché. The U.S. State Department has also expressed its opposition...

There is a showdown over guns coming to the Senate Wednesday, but no firearms are allowed. In advance of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday morning, two of the committee’s Republican members sent a complaint that they were refused permission to bring guns to the hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas sent a letter Tuesday night to Chairman Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, that the purpose of bringing the firearms was to educate fellow Senators and “shatter the mistaken belief that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are a danger to society.” However,...

Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter said Wednesday the state’s rapidly increasing oil production was posing “a very difficult economic question” for drillers faced with curbing oil production or flaring natural gas produced along with the oil. Natural gas is selling at only a fraction of the fuel content price of oil. And oil wells are being completed before natural gas pipeline connections can catch up. As a result, the Texas Railroad Commission issued 1,963 flaring permits last year, more than six times as many as it did in 2010. ... Texas oil production has increased rapidly in the last two...

That’s the question that keeps dogging the South Texas oil and gas field. Even as thousands of workers and major oil and gas companies flood into the region, investors have been reluctant to invest in houses, apartments and other permanent infrastructure. A when-will-it-bust mentality hangs over the region. But participants in the San Antonio Clean Technology Forum’s Eagle Ford Forum II event Tuesday said the oil and gas development appears to be here to stay, and that it’s time for the region to figure out how to manage everything from water issues to roads. Lance Robertson, vice president of Eagle...

... "This is usually full of .22 up here. .45 and .40... "We used to sell 30,000 rounds a month of ammo and we’ve done that in a week, and sometimes even a day in ammo," James said. What little they do have is generally high end and there is a limit on all purchases: a three-box max or 150 rounds at a time. That’s for all types and all sizes. It’s not just one store. Ron Casady has been shopping for weeks. "I noticed online and everything is out of stock. Click add to cart. Sorry we are out...