By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
As Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison head toward an epic primary showdown in the race to be Texas governor, the two haven't been able to agree on much lately.
But the two GOP powerhouses were able to find common ground in at least one area Wednesday: their opposition to the popular "Cash for Clunkers" federal stimulus program.
Hutchison's Capitol office released a statement Wednesday saying she planned to vote against a $2 billion appropriation for the program. It allows consumers to get a federal subsidy for trading in their gas guzzling autos for greener cars.
Perry spokesman Mark Miner was quick to follow up with his own statement, saying, "Governor Rick Perry is opposed to the program."
A spokesman for Democratic candidate Tom Schieffer declined to comment.
Court hears Texas religious expression case
A federal appeals court has finished hearing arguments in the case of a suburban Dallas school district accused of banning Christmas messages and religious expression from the classroom.
Attorneys for the Plano Independent School District and a group of students presented their case Wednesday before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Religious rights group Liberty Legal Institute represents the students. They contend Plano school officials refused to let a student hand out candy canes with a religious message, stopped students from giving invitations to church events and banned writing Merry Christmas on cards for military members overseas.
An attorney for Plano schools did not immediately comment. He has previously said the school district believes each student has a right to religious expression and pointed out Plano has students of diverse religious beliefs.
14 people indicted in East Texas
A 23-year-old man is facing charges in connection with passing counterfeit $100 bills at a Wal-Mart in Tyler earlier this year. Federal officials have unsealed the indictments of Jordan Ladue, of Whitehouse, TX, and 13 others on various charges.
Ladue was indicted by a grand jury on charges of possessing and using counterfeit money on April 8 and 9, according to a statement Wednesday from John M. Bales, the U.S. attorney in eastern Texas.
Leonel Miralrrio, Jr, 23, Jose Gaona-Arroyo, 38, Alejandro Cabrera, 45, and Juan Ramirez Caballero, 41, all of Dallas, were indicted on conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and aiding and abetting; and possession of a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Independent study requested for A&M's indoor football practice facility
Texas A&M interim president R. Bowen Loftis has requested an independent safety analysis of the McFerrin Athletic Center.
That's a massive fabric structure on the College Station campus that houses both an indoor football practice facility for the Aggies and an indoor track.
The facility was erected by the same company, Summit Structures LLC of Allentown, Pa., that built the Dallas Cowboys practice facility that collapsed in May, injuring 12.
The Texas A&M building is one of Summit's largest at nearly 191,000-square feet. It was completed last year at a cost of $35.6 million.
In an e-mail, a school spokesman said that the building meets campus construction standards and has withstood previous weather events. But he also said an independent evaluation is warranted "to ensure the ongoing safety of our student-athletes, coaches and guests."
Drunken driving case against judge dismissed
A judge who threw out key blood evidence from a drunken driving charge against state District Judge Elizabeth Berry has granted a prosecutor's request to dismiss the case.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Johnson County Attorney Bill Moore said he had no case without blood evidence that retired Senior Judge Robert Dohoney ruled inadmissible in January. Dohoney dismissed the case Tuesday.
Berry was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving in November after the Tarrant County judge was pulled over for speeding. Police say her breath smelled of alcohol and there were empty beer cans in her car.
Dohoney ruled there wasn't enough probable cause for the blood test that showed her blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit of .08.