By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – Former U.S. House majority leader Tom DeLay is headed to court again in his fight against state criminal charges. Tuesday's hearing is a step toward a possible trial for DeLay and two co-defendants, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis.
They face money laundering and conspiracy charges related to efforts to elect Republican legislative candidates in 2002.
State Judge Pat Priest is considering some remaining questions lingering before trial: Will the case be moved from Austin? Should the defendants be tried separately? Was there prosecutorial misconduct that could get the whole case thrown out?
Defense lawyers say their clients have done nothing wrong.
DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, says the indictment was politically motivated.
Texas gas drilling area getting more air monitors
Eight new air monitors will be installed in the north Texas region where a natural gas drilling boom has raised questions about emissions effects.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Monday that sites and funding for the monitors haven't been determined, but they could be operational as early as year's end.
Some state lawmakers said they didn't want to wait until the legislative session to increase emissions monitoring in the Barnett Shale, the gas-rich underground rock formation that stretches beneath Dallas, Fort Worth and about 20 counties.
The new monitors will join seven others -- including four already operational in the area.
Toddler Left In Hot Car: Mom Arrested
A mother is under arrest for leaving her two year old in a hot car in a Dallas parking lot this afternoon.
A security guard at the Texas Workforce Commission on Stemmons Freeway called police to report a child in a car with the windows partially down and the doors unlocked.
Officers arrived and found the mother inside the Workforce Commission with an infant. She was arrested for child endangerment. The two year old boy is okay. Both children are now in state custody.