A former Texarkana area youth baseball coach who sexually abused young boys received a 10-year prison sentence, the maximum punishment allowed, from a federal judge Wednesday. Richard Roberts, 62, covered his eyes with a hand or simply kept his eyes shut as victims and their fathers testified about...

Texarkana, Texas, water rates could go up 29 to 39 cents monthly in a new funding proposal to relocate a water line along U.S. Highway 82. The City Council is expected to meet at 6 p.m. May 30 to consider a resolution approving the intent to issue no more than $2.2 million in bonds to relocate and...

In a 5-to-1 vote on Tuesday, the Texarkana, Ark., School District Board of Education approved the start of a charter high school at Washington 4-A Academy on Marietta St. The school will open in August. Board president Carol Dalby was the dissenting vote. Board members supporting the school inclu...

A resolution supporting Texarkana’s funding of a water-line relocation project is among the items of consideration when Riverbend Water Resources District meets Friday. The meeting is at noon at the district’s office, 28 Morris Lane Suite 118 in Texarkana, Texas. The water-line relocat...

ORLANDO, Fla.—A Chechen immigrant was shot to death by authorities in central Florida early Wednes-day after he turned violent while being questioned about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, officials said. Ibragim Todashev, a 27-year-old mixed martial arts fighter, was...

WASHINGTON—At the center of a political storm, an Internal Revenue Service supervisor whose agents targeted conservative groups swore Wednesday she did nothing wrong, broke no laws and never lied to Congress. Then she refused to answer lawmakers’ further questions, citing her Fifth Amend...

In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day. It’s the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab. In the case...

LUBBOCK, Texas—The driver of a parade float involved in a train wreck that killed four war veterans in West Texas told investigators the oncoming train appeared to be stationary, and that he didn’t notice anything was wrong until he saw people jumping from the float, according to documen...

LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday he hopes to name a replacement in the next several days for the state treasurer, who resigned over accusations she took cash bribes from a bond broker. Beebe said he already has spoken with some candidates about filling the unexpired term of...

NEW YORK—Wal-Mart Stores Inc. named Dan Bartlett, most recently president and CEO of the U.S. arm of global business advisory firm Hill & Knowlton Strategies, as its new executive vice president of corporate affairs. Bartlett has also served as a senior counselor to President George W. Bu...

Submitted photo • American Electric Power recently presented a $9,000 check to Texarkana Independent School District in support of robotics programs at Morriss Elementary, Texas middle and high schools. AEP’s contributions help to improve lives through education from early childhood thro...

 The Bi-State Justice Center’s Central Communications office will continue to have the legal right to use Microsoft products on its computers and servers for the next three years. Intergovernmental Advisory Committee members approved renewing a Microsoft Licensing Enterprise Agreement co...

Tonight’s movie at Spring Lake Park is “Rise of the Guardians.” The movie begins at dusk. Concessions are available, but people may also bring a picnic. The event is sponsored by the city of Texarkana’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Cossatot River State Park will host a guided kayak tour Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The park will provide the kayaks, paddles and life jackets, said park interpreter Shelley Flanary. The kayak tour starts at 9 a.m. at the visitor center classroom and will end about 4 p.m. off the rive...

MARSHALL, Texas—An East Texas pastor has been sentenced to two years in prison for an online chat from church with an alleged 14-year-old girl who turned out to be a Louisiana trooper. Raymond Earl Cooper also received 10 years’ probation during his sentencing Wednesday.  He&rsquo...

Special contributor to the Gazette Frank McConnell • Chris Holmes and Danielle Bascomb, both of Texarkana, Texas, spend a peaceful Wednesday afternoon relaxing at Spring Lake Park. The pair said they were enjoying a sunny day after the storms on Tuesday.

AUSTIN—A stalemate over a Texas budget deal eased late Wednesday when the House and Senate finally backed down and took up major pieces of a roughly $100 billion spending package that is the biggest order of business left for the Legislature.  The 140-day session ends Monday. Lawmakers a...

The ceremony to rename field three of the Swanger Complex at Spring Lake Park in honor of Dave Hall has been rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.  Hall, a longtime emergency management coordinator in Texarkana, was also a coach for Dixie League Ball for about 25 years.  The field is being...

 The Bowie Central Appraisal District Board of Directors got its first glimpse of the district’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 during a Wednesday meeting. The proposed budget includes a 2 percent overall increase in spending compared to this year. Presently, the proposed budget c...

The friends of Arkansas High School graduate Trey Varner who recently died in a boating accident are selling bracelets to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and tornado relief efforts in Oklahoma.  Varner and Rachel Nicole Swetnam, both 21, were good friends. News repo...

HOUSTON—Retail gasoline prices across Texas have risen 2 cents as travelers prepare for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. AAA Texas on Wednesday reported the average price at the pump reached $3.43 per gallon. Nationwide retail gasoline prices jumped 6 cents this week to hit $3.66 per ga...

LUFKIN, Texas—An East Texas restaurant worker standing outside the eatery and holding an umbrella during a storm has died after being hit by lightning. Lufkin police say the lightning strike happened Tuesday night. The woman died at Woodland Heights Medical Center in Lufkin. Lt. Ronny LaRue...

A national relay to honor veterans and servicemen and women will be passing through Texarkana today. Carry the Load is a walk to honor those who have fallen in service to our country and highlight the meaning of Memorial Day across America, ultimately driving attention and steering resources to exi...

The Little River County Memorial Day Ceremony will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday on the courthouse lawn in Ashdown, Ark. Activities will include a performance by the Harmony Band and the guest speaker will be Air Force Col. Archie Fry.  The Army National Guard and the Hope Junior ROTC will...

AUSTIN—Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says his office has settled a lawsuit the state had filed against Penguin Group Inc., accusing America’s largest book publishers of colluding with Apple Inc. to raise ebook prices on customers. Abbott said Wednesday an agreement was reached on b...

AUSTIN—The Texas House has approved a bill that allows the state to drug test unemployment applicants. But Democrats successfully used a parade of stalling tactics to run out the clock on a similar measure mandating such screening for welfare applicants. Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, spon...

GRAPEVINE, Texas—As protesters made one last stand, the Boy Scouts of America’s leadership began a conference Wednesday that was expected to culminate in a long-anticipated vote on whether to allow openly gay Scouts—a decision that, either way, could deeply affect the organization...

PHOENIX—It was the customer service disaster heard around the Internet. An Arizona restaurateur, fed up after years of negative online reviews and an embarrassing appearance on a reality television show, posted a social media rant laced with salty language and angry, uppercase letters that qu...

NEW YORK—In an age when checks can be deposited by smartphone and almost everyone retrieves cash from ATMs, the corner bank can seem a relic, with its paper deposit slips, marble countertops and human tellers behind glass partitions. But some banking executives say the brick-and-mortar branch...

Banks big and small are redesigning their branches. Here are a few of the features that are showing up: • “Instant Issue” machines: They can print debit and credit cards immediately, so customers don’t have to wait a week for them to show up in the mail.  • Hi...

The Internet is enticing a rapidly growing number of shoppers to make a very personal purchase, prescription eyeglasses, online. Deep discounts and greater variety are prompting many to try something new.    By Tom Murphy n The Associated Press T he Internet is enticing a rapidly growin...

Growth Spurt Online eyewear sales jumped 31 percent from 2010 to last year, according to The Vision Council, a trade group representing industry manufacturers and suppliers.   Advantages Shoppers looking for glasses online can find a broader range of styles and price breaks that they may no...

MOORE, Okla.—Dan Garland could feel the latch on the shelter door begin to turn in his hand. It was as if the storm outside were a living, breathing thing—and it was trying desperately to get in. Huddled beside him in the darkened 5-foot-by-6-foot hole were not just his wife and 91-year...

MOORE, Okla.—With its single-story design and cinder-block walls, Plaza Towers Elementary School may have seemed sturdy when it was built a couple of generations ago. But a powerful tornado revealed the building’s lack of modern safety standards, destroying the school and killing seven s...

MOORE, Okla.—The tornado that struck an Oklahoma City suburb this week may have created $2 billion or more in damage as it tore through as many as 13,000 homes, multiple schools and a hospital, officials said Wednesday as they gave the first detailed account of the devastation. At the same ti...

CEO pay has been going in one direction for the past three years: up. The head of a typical large public company made $9.7 million in 2012, a 6.5 percent increase from a year earlier that was aided by a rising stock market, according to an analysis by The Associated Press using data from Equilar, a...

LA RUANA, Mexico—The farm state of Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror. The Knights Templar cartel is extorting protection payments from cattl...

NEW YORK—Anthony Weiner knows there may be a lot of New Yorkers who would never consider voting for him again, but he says he’s running for mayor because he wants to bring his ideas to the fore—and win. “I don’t kid myself. I know that this is going to be a difficult s...

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama in which he pl...

RAMALLAH, West Bank—Palestinians believe the U.S. effort to restart peace talks is doomed, and they’re preparing instead to resume their campaign of seeking membership in key international organizations as soon as next month, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. As U.S. Sec...

ROME—An Italian judge has ordered the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship to stand trial for manslaughter in the vessel’s shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany, which killed 32 people. Judge Pietro Molino, at a closed-door hearing Wednesday in the town of Grosseto, agreed to prosecu...