Texas

HOUSTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Laredo, a major inland port on the U.S. border with Mexico, continues to be in the spotlight of trading activity between China and the United States as plans move forward to build a multi-million dollar free trade center near the city's downtown.

Local company Laredo Lomas Properties and a Houston-based investor of Chinese origin recently signed a joint development agreement that will convert an abandoned seven-floor hospital building that's fallen into disrepair and been fenced off for nearly 20 years into the World Free Trade Plaza of America Inc.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas death row inmate once described by a prosecutor as having “a heart full of scorpions” was set to be executed Thursday for killing his estranged wife’s parents and her brother, who was a police officer.

Billie Wayne Coble was condemned for the August 1989 shooting deaths of his in-laws, Robert and Zelda Vicha, and their son, Bobby Vicha, at their homes in Axtell, northeast of Waco.

Coble, 70, would be the third inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the second in Texas, which is the nation’s busiest capital punishment state.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border that the government needs a broader, more effective approach to border control. He suggested the Pentagon might contribute with its expertise in surveillance and monitoring.

“How do we get out of treating the symptoms and get at the root of the issue,” Shanahan said in an interview while flying back to Washington.

Houston, Feb 19 (PTI) An Indian-American couple was found dead in their home in an apparent murder-suicide at an affluent suburb in the US state of Texas, police said.

Police officers were called to the house in Sugar Land on Monday around 6 am.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government has suddenly stopped force-feeding a group of men on a hunger strike inside an El Paso immigration detention center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

The dramatic reversal came Thursday as public pressure was mounting on ICE to halt the practice, which involves feeding detainees through nasal tubes against their will. Last week, the United Nations human rights office said the force-feeding of Indian hunger strikers at the facility could violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

Dallas, Feb 1 (AP) Catholic leaders in Texas on Thursday identified 286 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children, a number that represents one of the largest collections of names to be released since an explosive grand jury report last year in Pennsylvania.

Fourteen dioceses in Texas named those credibly accused of abuse.

The only diocese not to provide names, Fort Worth, did so more than a decade ago and then provided an updated accounting in October.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A 61-year-old Texas inmate was executed Wednesday evening for killing a Houston police officer more than three decades ago.

Robert Jennings received lethal injection for the July 1988 fatal shooting of Officer Elston Howard during a robbery at an adult bookstore that authorities said was part of a crime spree.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A 61-year-old Texas inmate was set to be executed Wednesday for killing a Houston police officer more than three decades ago during a robbery.

Robert Jennings was condemned for the July 1988 slaying of Officer Elston Howard during a robbery at an adult bookstore.

Jennings would be the first inmate put to death this year both in the U.S. and in Texas, which is the nation’s busiest capital punishment state.

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas authorities filed a capital murder charge Tuesday against a black man they believe fired the bullet that killed a 7-year-old black girl in a drive-by shooting her family initially believed was racially motivated.

Prosecutors believe 24-year-old Larry D. Woodruffe killed Jazmine Barnes on Dec. 30 as she and her family drove to a grocery store in Houston.

The driver of the SUV Woodruffe rode in, 20-year-old Eric Black Jr. has also been charged with capital murder. Both suspects remain jailed.

HOUSTON (AP) — A judge on Monday ordered the U.S. government not to deport a Honduran woman, whose lawyers worry about her being separated from her 15-year-old daughter who has been detained with her for six months.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued the temporary restraining order at the request of the woman’s lawyers, who feared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement might deport her before they could appeal after Christmas and leave the teenager alone in government custody.