AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry wants to invest in critical water and transportation systems in the state. And the governor wants to tap the Rainy Day Fund to do it. He wants to spend $3.7 billion from the fund for a one-time investment in infrastructure was needed to ensure a high quality of life. His call came in his State of the State today. He also called on lawmakers to amend the Texas Constitution to allow the state to return tax money it collects but doesn't spend to its citizens, and an end to accounting tricks to balance the state budget.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Prosecutors in Dallas County say they aren't appealing a state judge's decision to halt today's scheduled execution of a Texas woman. State District Judge Larry Mitchell issued a reprieve for 51-year-old Kimberly McCarthy less than five hours before she could have been taken to the death chamber for the 1997 slaying of a neighbor. The new execution date is April 3. She would have been the first woman put to death in the U.S. since 2010.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - An agreement for BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the company's role in the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been approved by a federal judge. BP agreed in November to plead guilty to charges involving the deaths of 11 workers aboard the drilling rig that exploded and for lying to Congress. More than 200 million gallons of oil spewed from the well about 50 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast before it was capped three months later.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A spokesman for T. Boone Pickens says a grandson of the oil tycoon has died. Pickens' spokesman Jay Rosser said today that the death of Thomas Boone Pickens IV is an "unspeakable family tragedy." No cause of death has been given for the TCU junior, who was found dead at an off-campus location.
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