Home > Waco Breaking News > Archives > 2009 > July > 03
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sarah Palin stepping down as Alaska governor this month
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a surprise announcement Friday that she is resigning from office at the end of the month without explaining why she plans to step down, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race.
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Texas gas prices drop prior to holiday
Just in time for the July 4th holiday weekend, retail gasoline prices are falling, according to the weekly AAA Texas gasoline price survey.
The survey shows that the average price of regular unleaded self-serve fell by 4 cents this week to $2.49 per gallon. It also fell 4 cents nationally to an average of $2.63.
Auto club spokeswoman Sara Schimmer says July 4 is the time of year when gasoline prices often peak. If so, they’ve peaked at a level nearly $1.50 per gallon below last summer’s high.
Texarkana has the cheapest gasoline in this week’s survey at $2.43, 7 cents below last week. The highest was in El Paso, where the average price fell 3 cents to $2.58 per gallon.
We have our GasBuddy link here , which currently shows the lowest price in Waco reported at $2.34 at Flying J.
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Business owner robbed at gunpoint in East Waco this morning
A man was robbed at gunpoint this morning outside his East Waco business, according to Waco police.
At 9:42 a.m. the owner of Chapman’s, 801 E. Waco Drive, pulled into the parking lot of his business after returning from the bank, according to a release from Waco police spokesman Melvin Roseborough.
According to the release, a white Plymouth van occupied by two men pulled in behind him and got out of the van. The suspects approached the driver’s side of the victim’s truck, opened the door, and pointed a gun at the owner and demanded money.
The victim surrendered a large sum of money without incident and the suspects got back into the van and fled east on Waco Drive, Roseborough said.
Waco police found the van a short while later abandoned behind part of the G.L. Wiley School buildings on East Live Oak Street. The van was still running when discovered by officers. The van was impounded to be processed for evidence.
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Waco post offices closing early today; closed on July 4
Somehow I missed this note earlier, but all Waco post offices are closing early today prior to being closed all day for the Fourth of July.
Here’s the list of operating hours today for local post offices:
- Bellmead Station, 901 Bank Drive, 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Downtown Station, 424 Clay Ave. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (passports from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.)
- Highlander Station, 4428 N. 19th St., 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Woodway Station, 430 W. State Highway 6, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (passports, 9:30 a.m.- 4 p.m.
- Westview Station, 800 Wooded Acres Drive, 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
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11 horses from North Texas ranch dead
Authorities in North Texas are investigating the deaths of 11 horses, possibly from a lack of food and water.
Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler says 40 horses total were on the 3,000-acre ranch near Lake Weatherford.
He says nine horses were found dead Wednesday and two were euthanized Thursday.
Fowler says the owner of the horses leased the land and hired someone to feed and provide water to the horses.
He tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “That’s when things went wrong.”
Fowler says there was no water and the well was broken. He declined to name the owner or the person hired to care for the horses. He says that once the owner found out what happened, he got a veterinarian to the horses and had the well repaired.
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South Carolina governor sets out on Florida family trip
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has left his official residence in the state capital and appears to be heading to spend the weekend with his wife and children.
Sanford left the governor’s mansion in Columbia on Friday morning in the passenger seat of a state security sedan. A day earlier, his spokesman said Sanford planned to fly to Florida accompanied by state security for the long holiday weekend.
The two-term Republican says he does not intend to resign. He and wife Jenny also hope to reconcile despite an interview during which the governor told The Associated Press that his Argentine mistress is his soul mate.
Jenny Sanford said in a statement Thursday that she may be able to forgive her husband, but true reconciliation will take time and won’t be easy.
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Giant ‘tea party’ set for Southfork on July 4
Organizers of America’s Tea Party hope to attract 50,000 people to Southfork Ranch on the Fourth of July.
But Gov. Rick Perry, who in April fired up an anti-tax “tea party” with his stance against the federal government and for state rights, was not invited to speak, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Dallas Tea Party organizers said they have accepted no support from any political party and won’t allow any elected official or anyone running for office to speak.
Phillip Dennis says they plan to celebrate the “original Declaration of Independence signed in 1776” with a goal of getting like-minded middle-class taxpayers active in the political process.
Perry, meanwhile, is planning to speak at four tea parties across the state.
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Heat believed cause in deaths of 82-year-old twins in San Antonio
Police believe heat may have played a role in the deaths of 82-year-old identical twin sisters in San Antonio.
The bodies of the women were found in their home Thursday morning. Authorities said no one had heard from the women since June 26. A neighbor called police after noticing a foul odor and flies around the windows.
The single window air conditioner in the home was off, officers said. Neighbors told the San Antonio Express-News that the women lived on a fixed income and weren’t likely to spend money on cooling the home.
One woman was found lying on a couch and the other was in a rocking chair.
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Final Lone Star Cup standings released; Midway 2nd, Robinson 4th
The UIL state baseball tournament has been in the books for a while now, but it was only yesterday that the University Interscholastic League updated its Lone Star Cup numbers online to provide the final standings.
Midway and Robinson, both helped greatly by their girls basketball teams winning state titles in their respective classifications, fared best in the Cup standings.
The Texas Dodge Dealers Lone Star Cup is designed to recognize the best overall athletic and academic programs among participating high schools in Texas.
High schools accumulated points based on their team performance in district and state championships. The winning schools in each classification receive the Lone Star Cup trophy and a $1,000 scholarship, also presented by the Texas Dodge Dealers.
The standings tally up successes in these areas: state and area marching band, team tennis, boys and girls cross country, volleyball, football, swimming and diving, wrestling, girls and boys basketball, soccer, golf, One Act Play, state academic meet, track and field, softball and baseball.
In Class 4A, Midway was edged out by Friendswood for the title. Friendswood rolled up 92 points to Midway’s 90.
In Class 3A, Robinson scored 50 points, which put the school in a four-way tie with Abilene Wylie, Carthage and Celina. No one was closed to winner Argyle, which had 94 points.
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U.S. Marines push deeper into southern Afghan towns
U.S. Marines moved into villages in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan on Friday, meeting little resistance as they tried to win over local chiefs on the second day of the biggest military operation here since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001.
One Marine was killed and several others injured or wounded on Thursday, when some 4,000 Marines launched the operation in Helmand province — a remote area that is at the center of the country’s illegal opium cultivation, which helps finance the insurgency.
So far, however, there has been little resistance from the Taliban, according to a military spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said a roadside bomb Wednesday in Helmand killed the most senior U.K. officer to have died in combat in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Rupert Thorneloe was the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
In the country’s east, meanwhile, a roadside bomb Friday killed three Afghans and a foreigner working on a road construction project, said Bismillah Mangal, the deputy governor Paktia province. The blast ripped through their vehicle as it was traveling on a road that connects Paktia and Khost province, Mangal said.
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Heating up for the Fourth
We’ll be crying for rain again after this weekend, as the Fourth of July holiday looks to keep us seeing highs in the 100s. It was 103 degrees yesterday, and the forecast today calls for around 100, with a heat index around 105-108.
A south-southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph will be bringing in the moisture, adding to the humidity, and therefore, the heat index.
For Independence Day, it’ll be mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 102 and that south-southwest wind around 10 mph.
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms does come back into the forecast for Sunday. We’re looking at mostly cloudy skies, with a high near 96. That would be a relief. Of course, actually getting rain would be best.
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