By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
A proposition to limit the government's powers of eminent domain is getting overwhelming support from Texas voters in early election returns.
Proposition 11 had 81 percent of the vote favoring it, and 19 percent against, as initial results were tallied. In all, 11 proposed constitutional amendments were on the Texas ballot Tuesday.
A proposition to guarantee public beach access and to help build veterans hospitals were also getting heavy support in initial returns reported to the Texas Secretary of State's Office.
Proposition 4, creating a fund to establish more top-tier research universities, was winning early voter support.
Buffett's Berkshire buys Burlington Northern rail
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway today agreed to buy Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Buffett says Berkshire's $34 billion investment in BNSF is a huge bet on that company, CEO Matt Rose and his team, and the railroad industry.
Buffett says it's more importantly what he calls an "all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."
Berkshire Hathaway already owns about 22 percent of BNSF and plans to offer $100 a share in cash and stock for the rest of the company.
The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies. It would be the biggest acquisition ever for Berkshire Hathaway.
Berkshire also owns MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which controls power companies in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. BNSF's tracks run through both regions -- a major coal supply route for power plants.
Murder trial starts in Dallas shooting
Opening arguments started Tuesday in the capital murder trial of a 21-year-old man accused of killing a customer during a botched robbery at a smoke shop in Dallas.
Arsenio Desmond Petty was arrested in January for the Dec. 30 shooting death of 18-year-old Rabeca Rae Kemp at the Gas Pipe. The store sells rolling papers, water pipes and other items.
Three other people were injured.
Initially, police said robbery did not appear to be the motive, in part because the gunman appeared to have fired without making any demands. But further investigation led investigators to believe it was a "botched" robbery.
A second man, Maurice Antione Hall, of Allen, was also accused of capital murder in the shooting.
Feds: Gun, cash seizures up at Mexican border
U.S. authorities say they are seizing significantly more illicit cash and guns along the Mexican border. Three federal agencies that police the border said Tuesday that $40 million in Mexico-bound cash was seized on the southwest border from mid-March through September.
That is nearly double the amount from the same period in 2008.
The agencies say officers also seized nearly 600 illegal weapons headed for Mexico, up more than 50 percent from last fiscal year. The announcement came as top federal immigration officials gathered in San Diego to discuss ways to curb the flow of weapons and drug sale profits into Mexico from the United States.
Jury awards $20 million in Texas hotel tax dispute
A jury has awarded $20 million to more than 170 Texas cities in a dispute over online booking companies and hotel occupancy taxes.
The class-action suit was brought by cities in an effect to collect tourism tax revenue allegedly underpaid by Internet hotel room wholesalers.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tuesday that an example was online companies booking blocks of rooms at $75 a night, reselling them for $100, then paying taxes on the lower rate.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Expedia said it's disappointed with the jury's verdict against it and other online travel companies. The company intends to appeal. The verdict was returned Friday in San Antonio, where the 2006 lawsuit was originally filed.