http://www.cbs7.com Your Eye on West Texas en-us Copyright 2012 CBS 7. All Rights Reserved. 5/16/2012 8:58:16 PM Texas News 20 May 16, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) - An attorney says Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s estranged wife has been found dead in New York.

Kerry Lawrence says Mary Kennedy died on Wednesday. He says he doesn't know the cause of her death.

Police confirm a body was found on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s property in Bedford, north of New York City.

Lawrence had represented Mary Kennedy in a drunken-driving case.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34688 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 16, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats controlling the Senate have rejected for the second consecutive year a budget plan passed by House Republicans.

The vote came after a daylong debate Wednesday in which Democrats blasted Republicans for refusing to consider tax increases as part of a solution to trillion-dollar deficits.

Republicans in turn attacked Democrats for not offering a budget at all and said they were ducking the deficit issue to avoid politically difficult votes in advance of the November elections.

Democrats like Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad of North Dakota said last summer's budget agreement with the Obama administration set the budget for next year and that larger questions involving expensive benefit programs would best be dealt with after the election.

Economists warn the swelling debt could swamp the economy and spook the markets.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34683 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 16, 2012

Mexico City, Mexico - Banners have appeared in northern Mexico signed by the Zetas drug cartel saying the gang was not responsible for killing 49 people whose mutilated bodies were found on a highway in a neighboring state.

An employee of the prosecutors' office in northern San Luis Potosi state says the banners were hung from overpasses in the city of Ciudad Valles. The banners were found early Tuesday.

The employee was not authorized to speak on the record, and did not give the precise wording of the banners.

The bodies were found Sunday in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon with their heads, hands and feet hacked off. A slogan scrawled on a stone arch nearby read "100 percent Zetas," but it may have been there well before the bodies were dumped.

]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34672 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports Associated Press
May 16, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - A soldier from New Mexico has been killed in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense said Staff Sgt. Israel P. Nuanes of Las Cruces died May 12 of wounds sustained during an enemy attack with an improvised explosive device.

Officials announced the 38-year-old soldier's death Wednesday. The attack occurred in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan.

Nuanes was assigned to the 741st Ordnance Company at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Congressman Steve Pearce says in a statement Nuanes' dedication to preserving liberty will long be remembered in New Mexico and the U.S.

Photos Courtesy: Fort Bliss/U.S. Air Force

]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34671 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President George W. Bush is praising the Arab spring movement and says the U.S. shouldn't fear the spread of freedom, even if it doesn't know what policies newly liberated countries will pursue.

Bush says uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya marked the broadest challenge to authoritarian rule since the fall of the Soviet Union. He says some fear what the regime changes will mean for U.S. foreign policy, but that America should always stand for freedom.

Bush says the U.S. doesn't get to choose where or when a "freedom revolution" begins, just which side it's on. He says the U.S. should help countries put firm democratic reforms in place after a revolution to prevent backsliding or corruption.

Bush spoke Tuesday in Washington at an event for his presidential institute.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34654 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will host bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House Wednesday to discuss economic proposals Obama wants Congress to act on this year.

Republicans will be represented at the meeting by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. They will be joined by two Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Ahead of that meeting, the president will visit a small business in the Washington area to tout his proposals for giving an income tax credit to businesses that create new jobs or increase wages this year.

Obama is also calling on Congress to pass initiatives eliminating tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas and promoting new tax credits for small businesses and for companies to develop clean energy.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34652 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - More details are emerging in the case of a Newark Liberty Airport security supervisor who allegedly has been using the identity of a dead man for the last 20 years.

Law enforcement authorities involved in the investigation say Nigerian Bimbo Oyewole began using the identity of Queens, N.Y., resident Jerry Thomas three weeks before Thomas was shot and killed in 1992.

New Jersey's attorney general's office is working with the NYPD and other authorities to determine if Oyewole had any role in Thomas' death, which is unsolved.

As Thomas, Oyewole worked first as a security guard and then as a supervisor for a private security firm at Newark Liberty. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to second-degree identity theft and is being held on $250,000 bail.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34651 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 15, 2012

PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a Florida mother shot and killed her four children before shooting herself.

Sheriff's deputies in Brevard County said 33-year-old Tonya Thomas on Tuesday shot her four children, who ranged in age from 12 to 17.

Sheriff spokesman Tod Goodyear says three of the children went to a neighbor's house early Tuesday to say their mother had shot them. The mother then called the children back to the house and killed them.

Goodyear says the neighbors called 911.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34650 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 13, 2012

SEATTLE (AP) - A video featuring cancer-stricken children, their nurses, doctors and parents lip-synching and dancing to the popular Kelly Clarkson song "Stronger" has become an online sensation.

Clarkson says in her own video message to the children at Seattle Children's Hospital that their performance was amazing.

The youngsters, many attached to IVs, dance along with parents and medical staff. One child even rides a bike through the hallways of the hematology oncology floor.

The video is part of a creative arts program with cancer patients at the facility.


The kids' video went online May 6.

You can watch the video for yourself by clicking here.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34615 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 11, 2012

DALLAS (AP) - Legendary race driver and Shelby Cobra sports car designer Carroll Shelby has died at age 89.

Shelby's company Carroll Shelby International says Shelby died Thursday at a Dallas hospital. He had received a heart transplant in 1990 and a kidney transplant in 1996.

The one-time chicken farmer had more than a half-dozen successful careers during his long life including car manufacturer and African safari tour operator.

Shelby first gained fame in the automotive world by winning France's grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race with a teammate in 1959.

He then combined a Ford V-8 engine with a British sport car chassis to make the Cobra, which debuted in 1962.

Shelby also later worked on Chrysler's high-powered Viper sports car.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34599 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 11, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is resuming some arms shipments to Bahrain after most transfers were suspended last year amid a crackdown on political dissent.

The State Department announced Friday the administration would release the military aid shipments because they are necessary for Bahrain's defense. The announcement follows meetings in Washington this week between Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bahrain's crown prince.

It also came as Bahraini riot police on Friday fired tear gas and stun grenades during clashes with anti-government protesters following a rally calling for the release of detained activists, according to witnesses.

At least 50 people have died amid Bahrain's unrest since it began in February 2011.The strategic island nation is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34598 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 11, 2012

RENO, Nev. (AP) - President Barack Obama is pressing Congress to help homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure, taking his economic pitch to hard-hit Nevada.

Obama wants Congress to make it easier for struggling homeowners to refinance, pointing to a proposal that would lower lending rates for millions of borrowers.

Obama didn't mention presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney by name, but the president says Republicans want the housing market to "hit bottom and hope for the best."

Obama's plan faces a tough sell in Congress but he says there's "absolutely no reason why they can't make this happen right now."
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34597 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 10, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Prosecutors have rested their case against John Edwards after calling to the witness stand many of his closest friends and advisers.

The 14 days of testimony was often dramatic. Edwards' once-close confidant Andrew Young talked about how he and his wife used money from wealthy donors to hide Edwards' pregnant mistress. Young also testified about the decision to claim paternity of Edwards' child.

Edwards is accused of masterminding a plan to use secret payments from two wealthy donors to hide Rielle Hunter during his run for the White House in 2008.

Edwards' attorneys say he didn't know about the money. They got Young to acknowledge much of the money went to build his dream home.

Edwards has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34575 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 10, 2012

FORT HOOD - Federal lawmakers have proposed making the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage eligible for the Purple Heart.

A bill introduced in Congress would remove the distinction between international and domestic terrorism, making any military victims of terrorist attacks in the U.S. eligible for the Purple Heart. It's now awarded only to troops attacked in a combat zone.

The bill is sponsored by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York.

Some members of Texas' delegation already proposed allowing Fort Hood victims to receive the same benefits as those killed or wounded in combat.

Thirteen people were killed and more than two dozen wounded in the rampage. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted at his August trial.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34569 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - The GOP-controlled House has made clear that it's unhappy with how long the Justice Department is taking to hand over documents regarding a botched U.S. gun-tracking operation in Mexico.

By a voice vote, the House agreed to a symbolic $1 million cut in money for salaries at the department. That move was orchestrated by South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy during action Tuesday on the Justice Department spending bill. Gowdy says Congress has been too patient with the department.

In Operation Fast and Furious, U.S. agents hoping to track weapons allowed hundreds of guns to flow from U.S. gun shops in Arizona into Mexico. Two of the guns were later discovered at the scene of the killing of a U.S. border agent.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34558 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 9, 2012

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Jerry Sandusky's lawyer is asking a judge to delay his June 5 trial on 52 counts related to child sex abuse charges against 10 boys, saying that without the delay he may not be able to "effectively and adequately represent" the former Penn State assistant football coach.

Joe Amendola argued in a court filing Wednesday that he needs more time to investigate the case and seek more information related to the charges that were filed by state prosecutors in November and December.

Amendola says he's still waiting for material from prosecutors about the charges.

The request comes a month before Judge John Cleland is set to pick jurors in Centre County to hear the case. Cleland has said before that he was reluctant to postpone the trial.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34553 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 9, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks are plunging in early trading as uncertainty about Europe's political future dominates financial markets for a third day.

European stocks fell sharply Wednesday, three days after voters in Greece and France threw out leaders who had imposed tough spending cuts to soothe investors. Now Greece is without a government, and many fear France will cut its debt too slowly and fall victim to the region's spreading debt crisis.

Oil, silver and copper fell sharply as nervousness about Europe fed ongoing fears about the pace of the global economic recovery.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34552 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) - Mitt Romney has won the Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia presidential primaries.

The trio is certain to push Romney closer to the 1,144 delegates he needs to clinch the GOP nomination, handing him 100 or so delegates of the 288 he still needs.

None of the outcomes is a surprise. Romney faces no serious challenge to the Republican nomination.

Even the candidate himself is essentially ignoring Tuesday's primaries. Romney has been spending the day campaigning in Michigan, where he castigated President Barack Obama as an "old-school liberal" whose policies would take the country backward.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34534 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 9, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina voters have approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, making it the 30th state to adopt such a ban.

With 35 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial returns showed the amendment passing with about 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent against.

In the days before the vote, members of President Barack Obama's cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to reject the amendment.

Meanwhile, supporters ran their own ad campaigns and church leaders urged Sunday congregations to vote for the amendment. The Rev. Billy Graham was featured in full page newspaper ads supporting the amendment.
]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34533 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports May 8, 2012

CHICAGO (AP) - The defense has rested in the trial of the man accused of killing Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

Attorneys for William Balfour rested their case Tuesday after calling two police detectives as witnesses. Balfour chose not to testify in his own defense.

The judge says closing arguments will be Wednesday morning. Jurors will then begin deliberations.

Prosecutors rested their case earlier Tuesday after spending two weeks laying out a largely circumstantial case against Balfour.

Jennifer Hudson has sat through the trial on fourth-row bench, hanging her head during particularly grim testimony. She took the stand last month as prosecutors' first witness.

]]> http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=34523 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:58:16 UTC sports