By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Texas says it is staying in the Big 12. Shortly after Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott confirmed to The Associated Press in an e-mail that the University of Texas had declined an invitation to join his conference, the Longhorns put out a statement saying they would "continue competing in the Big 12."
Oklahoma and Texas A&M also say they will stay in the Big 12, which on Friday seemed in danger of falling apart after Nebraska and Colorado both decided to leave over the next two years.
Texas president William Powers Jr. wouldn't give any details about why the school decided to stay put when asked by the AP. The school has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday morning.
Texas challenges EPA ruling in court
Texas has filed a legal challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to not approve the state's permitting process for refineries.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed the state's petition on Monday. It asks the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to review the EPA rejection of the state's so-called flexible permits plan, which sets a general limit on how much pollutants an entire facility can release.
The EPA says the state's permitting process allows industry to emit too many pollutants. Abbott's office says that decision threatens a state regulatory program that successfully reduced harmful emissions, as well as thousands of jobs in the petrochemical industry.
An EPA spokesman did not return a telephone call seeking comment Monday.
NTSB: Witnesses saw helicopter break up in midair
The National Transportation Safety Board says the crash of an air medical helicopter near Dallas occurred after its tail and rotor systems separated from the fuselage in midair.
The preliminary NTSB report cites witnesses who reported seeing the components separate from the CareFlite helicopter while it was cruising at 600 feet.
The Bell 222U crashed in a field in Midlothian during a maintenance run June 2. Both the pilot and mechanic on board were killed. The three-paragraph report says the rotor system hit the ground 200 feet from the main wreckage, while the tail landed 400 feet away.
The report was posted on the NTSB website Friday. A CareFlite spokeswoman declined to comment.