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Are the Longhorns ready? More specifically are Colt McCoy and his wide receivers ready? Colt seems to think so, “Everybody wants to play and be a part of what we’re doing,” McCoy said. “When you have a little competition…it requires them to come to practice and be prepared every day. If they have a good week of practice, they know you’ll see them get a chance to play more on Saturday. It has helped us and you can see it in our offensive work.” The Cowboys seem to be ready for the challenge too. “I always felt good about playing...

One of the oldest, and most anticipated match-ups in sports took place yesterday at the Cotton Bowl with the 104th showdown between the University of Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. This game has been a hot topic of conversation since the last meeting, a high scoring affair where Texas topped OU, 45 -35. This year Oklahoma’s record is 3-2, while Texas is 5-0. Texas to date, however, has fallen short of fans expectations with the running game not gaining ground and the passing game lagging behind. However, Texas’ defense and special teams has saved the day in the last...

A University of Texas at Austin staff member who checked into the hospital over the weekend has died of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu. Linda Duran, 42, worked at UT for 15-years as a service worker. The university says she had underlying health problems but they would not say what. Funeral serves were set for Friday October 2 at Weed-Corley-Fish Chapel at 10 a.m. This is the first known H1N1 death at UT. Last week, more than 1,000 students came into the student health center -- 92 of those were confirmed flu cases. Since the beginning of...

My Longhorn friends were really looking forward to this week’s game thinking this week’s game against UT El Paso Miners would be an easy win. A win that would put the Horns back on solid ground and quiet any concerns fans may have had from last week’s shaky win, but it’s another week and a different game. The game got off to a fast start with a UT El Paso fumble and quick touchdown run by Horns RB, Tre Newton, all within the first couple of minutes of the game. Texas 7, UTEP 0. A few minutes later QB, Colt...

AUSTIN, Texas - After further evaluation of the right shoulder injury that Longhorn senior linebacker Jared Norton sustained in UT’s season-opening victory over ULM, it was determined that he will need to have season ending surgery, Texas’ Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd said on Monday.

Torture-slayings trial, Day 9: Victim's families: Jury 'let us down' with Letalvis Cobbins verdict KNOXVILLE - The families of a young Knox County couple tortured and killed in January 2007 tonight sharply criticized a jury's decision to spare defendant Letalvis Cobbins the death penalty. "I think the jury has let us down," said Mary Newsom, mother of murder victim Chris Newsom. "I think they've let Channon and Chris down. We were hoping for the death penalty." After deliberating a little more than two hours, the jury delivered its verdict about 6:50 p.m. in Judge Richard Baumgartner's courtroom. The judge polled...

VERNAL -- Authorities are crediting an alert driver in Vernal for foiling the attempted kidnapping of an 8-year-old boy. Shalyn Searle says she never thought twice about stopping to help the boy. "He was screaming out, ‘Help me! Help me!' I could hear him from in my car with the windows rolled up," Searle said. Kid Canal, where boy was fishing She was on her way home Sunday morning when she saw a man, later identified as 22-year-old Joseph Yump, grabbing a little boy who was fishing at Kid's Canal. "He was kicking and screaming. The guy had him by...

I have a wee tiny suggestion for Free Republic. Is it at all possible to have a ZOT category, just as for General chat, or smokey back room? It would be genuinely nice to have a place where the shame of so many trolls could be put on public display! Thanks Mods!

MIDVALE -- A man with a concealed weapons permit stopped two would-be Midvale robbers from making off with his friend's stuff. Police say the men were coming home from an errand around 7 a.m. Wednesday morning when they spotted the suspects with their things. The suspects took off on foot. One of the men being robbed grabbed a gun from his truck and started running after them. Midvale police Detective Sgt. John Salazar said, "Grabs a loaded .40-caliber handgun and chases with the gun, shooting rounds either into the air or into the ground as they were chasing." The gunfire...

Amid an avalanche of new interest in Utah's widely recognized concealed-carry firearm permit, two of the state's best-known gun-rights advocates hosted a no-cost class to acquire the permit for Salt Lake media members on Sunday. Applications for Utah concealed-carry permits have skyrocketed this spring according to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification, the agency tasked with issuing and administrating concealed weapon carry permits. Last February's 2,548 applicants jumped to 8,142 this year and March permit seekers more than doubled from 4,412 in 2008 to 10,878 in 2009. Clark Aposhian, a registered lobbyist, firearm instructor and chairman of the Utah Shooting...

BY BOB BERNICK, JR.The Deseret News Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says he loves Mormons and believes they make the most effective public servants in America. "Utah doesn't need to think there is a problem with me," Huckabee told the KSL Radio Doug Wright show Friday morning. Huckabee has received some criticism in Utah for comments he has made about fellow former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and about some of the church's religious beliefs. Romney received 90 percent of the vote in Utah's Republican Party presidential primary...

Kiffin introduced as UT coach; will make $2 million in 2009 - Former Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin was introduced today as the Vols’ 21st head football coach at a 2 p.m. press conference. Kiffin will earn $2 million in 2009 and the contract will escalate to $2.75 million by its end in 2014, according to a release from UT distributed to the press just before today's press conference. The deal averages $2.375 million over its six-year term and includes performance bonuses if certain goals are achieved. "I'm rolling my sleeves up and going to work," said Kiffin, after being...

WASHINGTON — A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected. But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding: 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a Christian who was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Yet just 45 percent of those polled identified the Illinois senator as a Protestant. The Obama-is-a-Muslim confusion is...

A poll that the University of Texas will release tomorrow shows that 23 percent of Texans think Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim. Less than half of respondents — 45 percent — correctly identified him as a Protestant. The poll, conducted by UT’s Texas Politics Project and Department of Government, also shows Republican John McCain leading Obama in the state 51 percent to 40 percent, and shows Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn ahead of Democratic challenger Rick Noriega 45 percent to 36 percent, with 14 percent undecided in that race. “Republican candidates continue to hold an advantage in...

(KCPW News) Utah lawmakers took tips on highway funding from a Texas legislator this morning. Texas Republican Representative Mike Krusee joined them on Capitol Hill. He told the Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee that with federal money drying up, the only way to pay for new highways is to make them toll roads. "Guess how many roads pay for themselves in taxes? Zero. Not a one. Most of them are less than 50 percent," said Krusee. "Imagine if you're a grocery a store owner, and you decide, I'm gonna sell sirloin at a buck a pound, and I'm gonna sell...

Your daily routine -- switching on a light, cooking a meal, driving down the street -- would generate less greenhouse gases under a first-of-its-kind regional strategy to curb global warming unveiled Wednesday at the state Capitol in Salem. The strategy emerged from the Western Climate Initiative, an alliance of Western states -- including Oregon and Washington -- and Canadian provinces trying to jump ahead of any federal move to regulate greenhouse gases. Large utility companies and factory owners would feel the effects first, followed by fuel distributors, as they face limits on their greenhouse gas emissions. Individual Oregonians would not...

Now recovered, hoops star says treatment affected his game - University of Tennessee men's basketball star Chris Lofton didn't want to make any excuses for his slump the first half of this past season. But cancer isn't an excuse - it's a reason. The senior All-American guard told the News Sentinel on Thursday that he underwent four weeks of radiation treatment after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last March. Tears came to his eyes when discussing his battle with cancer. Lofton said he has made a full recovery, but he acknowledged that last spring's treatment affected his offseason training regimen...

A 21-year-old University of Tennessee student was gang-raped, choked and bound in January 2007 before being stuffed inside a trash can while still alive, a federal prosecutor told jurors in opening court statements today. "The evidence will be when she went into that trash can, she was alive," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jennings said this afternoon in U.S. District Court. "Probably, mercifully, Channon Christian died (later that evening)." Jennings revealed details about the killings of Christian and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, as a jury was seated in the trial of Eric Dewayne "E" Boyd. Boyd is charged with helping...

They're called the "Lost Boys," the teenagers kicked out of their homes and communities by leaders of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to ensure there's an ample supply of single, young women who will one day become plural wives. Representative Lorie Fowlke (R-Orem), is running a bill to make this abandonment a felony. "Estimates are that we've had more than 1,000 children - primarily in southern Utah - thrown out of their homes," Fowlke says. "What we were trying to do with this bill is criminalize this behavior and send a message to this...

Sen. Chris Buttars was a no-show Tuesday for a meeting with leaders of the Salt Lake branch of the NAACP, saying the event had become a "cheap shot" after its organizers purportedly changed their minds about meeting with him in private and insisted the session be public. NAACP board members expressed disappointment that Buttars didn't meet with them, and renewed their call that the West Jordan senator resign. Buttars - under siege for a week after saying of a bill he opposed, "This baby is black. . . . It's a dark, ugly thing" - said he wanted to meet...

Rocky Anderson, it turns out, is not stepping aside quietly. Joining a list of liberal luminaries, including Noam Chomsky and George McGovern, Salt Lake City's outgoing mayor submitted a letter Friday that calls on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the Bush administration for abuses of power. The letter, signed by 18 political and cultural figures, asks House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., to hold hearings on alleged violations of the law under President Bush that include kidnapping and torture, warrantless wiretapping, a war of aggression against Iraq and disseminating false propaganda to deceive the American people. It came...

From State funding which would have included lethal embryonic research to vouchers, to defending Marriage, referendums across the country should concern Catholic voters. Voters in New Jersey defeated a proposal that would have authorized $450 million in bonds for stem-cell research projects, but an effort in Utah to repeal a schools voucher program was successful. The ballot questions were among 34 initiatives or referendums held in six states Nov. 6 during off-year elections. Another nine questions had been decided in elections earlier in the year. The Catholic bishops in five New Jersey dioceses had urged rejection of Public Question 2...

By W. Scott Lewis - Should you ever find yourself perusing the newspaper archives at your local library, take a few minutes to track down and compare the August 2, 1966, and April 17, 2007, editions of any American newspaper. You'll undoubtedly find that, for two papers written more than four decades apart, they tell strikingly similar stories. In both editions you'll likely see that coverage of American soldiers fighting a publicly unpopular war overseas is pushed to the back pages by news of a mass shooting on the campus of a major university. But although the headlines suggest a...

Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer and his wife, Vicky, are contributing $1 million to the University of Tennessee through its Campaign for Tennessee fund-raising program. The University of Tennessee made the announcement at a press conference at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The money will go in equal parts to academics and athletics and be used to support scholarships, athletic facilities and programs. The donation represents one of the largest gifts by a coach and his family to a university.in the country, UT athletics spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter said. “The University of Tennessee has been Phillip’s heart and soul for most of his...

A historic mall's winding hallways became a shooting gallery for a gunman in a trench coat who fired a shotgun randomly at customers, slaying five before being killed by police, authorities and witnesses said. For hours after Monday evening's rampage at the Trolley Square shopping mall, police searched stores for scared, shocked shoppers and employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort. Marie Smith, 23, a Bath & Body Works manager, saw the gunman through the store window. She watched as he raised his gun and fired at a young woman approaching him from behind. "His expression stayed totally...

A Christian woman who once served as an FBI informant on her husband's alleged support of terrorism now is seeking divorce from the self-described radical Muslim who told her he would be proud if their two teen sons blew themselves up for Allah. But she's finding herself on her own – completely – after a judge allowed her lawyer to withdraw, refused to allow an interested lawyer from appearing in her court, and then refused to allow time for any other replacement to be found before today's trial. At stake are Rosine Collin Ghawji's sons, whose futures have been defined...

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - The two dozen FBI agents who swarmed Park City Mountain Resort weren't busting anybody Friday. They weren't even armed - unless you count the sharp ends of ski poles. With the temperature near zero, agents hit the slopes - some on challenging runs, others on bunny hills - in an unusual drive to publicize the FBI and perhaps attract a few recruits. Many skiers and Park City regulars were perplexed or even a bit unnerved. Some thought the whole effort was nutty. Jokes were flying about agents skiing on the public dime, but nobody seemed...

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 Salt Lake Catholic Diocese gets new bishop By Elaine Jarvik Deseret Morning News       The new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City is described as humble and caring — the kind of man who not only visits the sick and elderly but who rolls up his sleeves to wash their dishes. Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News Salt Lake Bishop John C. Wester       The Most Rev. John C. Wester was named Salt Lake City's new Catholic bishop on Monday, filling the nearly yearlong vacancy left when former Bishop...

As Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath lay dying of alcohol poisoning, members of the club he was trying to join defaced his body with anti-gay epithets and obscene drawings, according to a medical examiner's report. "It was disgusting and despicable behavior," said Houston attorney Randy Sorrels, who represents Phoummarath's family. Sorrels said Phoummarath was not gay. The 18-year-old freshman from Houston, who wanted to join the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Texas at Austin, died Dec. 10, 2005, after ingesting large amounts of alcohol at a party at the fraternity house. The medical examiner reported his blood-alcohol content was...

Houston & Texas News Dec. 27, 2006, 10:53PM UT to explore fate of statues that honor the Confederacy AUSTIN — University of Texas President William Powers Jr. said he plans to form an advisory committee to study whether something should be done about the numerous campus statues honoring the Confederacy. The statues have in recent history become a topic of debate among students, professors and administrators. They include four bronze figures on the South Mall honoring Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States, and Gen. Robert E. Lee. Powers said he plans to appoint a committee...

AUSTIN — University of Texas President William Powers Jr. said he plans to form an advisory committee to study whether something should be done about the numerous campus statues honoring the Confederacy. The statues have in recent history become a topic of debate among students, professors and administrators. They include four bronze figures on the campus South Mall honoring Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States, and Robert E. Lee, the chief general. Powers said he plans to appoint a committee of advisers early next year, probably including faculty members and students. "The whole range of...

EDINBURG TEXAS — University of Texas-Pan American will announce a plan next week to cover all tuition costs and fees for Texas students whose families make less than $25,000 annually. Administrators are still ironing out details of the plan, which is part of a system-wide UT effort to make college more affordable for the lowest-income students. Although many low-income students contribute little out of pocket — their costs are largely covered by federal and state grants — the word "free" sends a powerful message to poor students who do not think college is an option, according to administrators and local...

Homeowner Shoots Burglar Who Returns For Second Try (TX)Robbery attempt nets suspect a wound in the leg (TX)Pittsburgh Homeowner Opens Fire On Intruders (PA - Police: Body Found In Nearby Cemetery Fatal shooting in Greene County (TN)Armed robber outgunned (ME)Fatal domestic incident act of self-defense (MD)Store clerk shoots robbery suspect (TX)Concealed Weapon Keeps Man Safe in Attempted Carjacking (UT)Intruder shot, killed by homeowner (NM)Sisters Defend Store, Ward Off Would-Be Robber (TX)Shootout in Cape leads to 2 arrests (FL)Police Seek Customer Who Stopped Robbery In Progress (TX)

Knoxville Fire Department crews are on the scene of a fire at the Doughtery Hall, the UT engineering building on the University of Tennessee campus. Smoke and flames are erupting through the roof. Check back for more on this breaking story.

NEW YORK — Replay officials at last season's Rose Bowl were unable to properly review a Texas touchdown that should have been overturned because the wrong television feed was plugged into a monitor. Big Ten and national coordinator of officials David Parry told The Associated Press that he went to the replay booth during January's Rose Bowl between USC and Texas to ask about Selvin Young's 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. It appeared on replays that Young received a pitch from Texas' Vince Young after the quarterback's knee touched the ground. Parry said replay officials told him one...

Campus Fusion brings "Week of Dialogue" to The University of Texas at Austin Sponsored by The University Co-op, The Multicultural Information Center, and Student Government Campus Fusion, a collaborative vision built by the Multicultural Information Center and Student Government at The University of Texas at Austin, and sponsored by The University Co-Op, brings a "Week of Dialogue" to campus from October 16-19. Through different programs during the week-long event, the campus community recognizes the importance of talking about diversity issues at the University. The Kick-off Rally took place this morning on Gregory Plaza and in the Gregory concourse. Also on...

It is sad to report, but a local parish in the Victoria, Tx Diocese invited UT professor Robert Jensen to speak to the faithful at the end of September. I have contacted the church office and informed them of Jensen's views on abortion and homosexuality, but they have not decided to cancel his appearance. I have initiated an email campaign to urge Catholics to call the parish and the diocese and ask why someone with his views would be invited to speak. I have not determined yet whether he will receive payment, nor whether the Bishop knows about his views....

Wyoming may soon get own conservation corps By Jennifer Frazer rep8@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE - The Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s was famous for its use of the nation's youth to rejuvenate forests and public lands. Soon Wyoming may have a modern-day version of the corps, which would join corps in Utah, Montana and Colorado. The corps in all three of those states have worked in Wyoming in the past. The Wyoming Conservation Corps would provide youth 18-24 with an opportunity to learn skills and work with government agencies while improving Wyoming's public lands. The project...

DRAPER, Utah, June 30 (UPI) -- A Utah state trooper commanding an anti-drunk driving squad was charged with DUI after he crashed an unmarked police car. Lt. Fred Swain has been on administrative leave from the Utah Highway Patrol since his arrest last week, the Deseret Morning News reported. Officers responding to the report of a crash found Swain in the car. He had struck the barrier separating two sides of a road. Swain's blood alcohol tested at .116, well over the legal limit. "Speaking on behalf of the Department of Public Safety and the Utah Highway Patrol, the administration...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver today welcomed Mexico President Vicente Fox and his wife, Marta Sahagún de Fox, to California. The President's visit to the Golden State is the last leg of a three-state visit to the United States. The Governor and President met in private for ten minutes in the Governor's office and a larger meeting was held immediately afterward that included advisors to both the Governor and President. The leaders discussed a variety of issues, including ways to increase the already robust business between California and its largest export trading partner. California exported $17.7 billion...

HOT Oscar tip Heath Ledger yesterday compared US bans on his gay cowboy film to racism. Critics' Choice Awards Picture Gallery Ledger said he was not surprised a Utah cinema had banned Brokeback Mountain, which depicts a lifelong love affair between two Montana cowboys. "I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected," Ledger said. "Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial) but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature...

Cool, the first OFST of the new year. My only standing resolution was to make no more resolutions and I've already broken it. *shrugs*

It's over. I don't have to watch sports anymore. I've seen the best college football game in the history of the sport and the best performance by an athlete in any sports event -- ever. In the wake of Texas' entertaining win over USC in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, about 173 analysts, blowhards, pinheads, gasbags and otherwise sane people have lost their minds, and their credibility. Vince Young was very good, even great against the Trojans. Yes, it lived up to the grotesque hype. The best college football game ever? The greatest performance in any sport, ever? People actually...

Try placing a year on this scenario: a crusty, old-line newspaper teams up with an equally risk-averse broadcasting outfit, to provide a full time outlet for reporters to discuss their stories on the AM radio dial. What era do you think we'd be talking about here, the fifties? At best, the sixties? How about 2006! Yes, the Washington Post, notorious print media fossil, has teamed up with Bonneville Broadcasting to provide "Washington Post Radio" on 1500 AM, until now home to WTOP-AM news radio. Secondarily, its programming will also be heard on 107.7 FM, with its very limited signal reach.....................

(KUTV) An incredible and un-suspecting accident leaves a Utah Boy Scout just inches from death when he was stabbed right between his eyes. Jeff Jaeger spoke to Kevin Coulter and tells 2News how this was a truly freak accident. While raking leaves for a Boy Scout event, one of the leaders flung a knife from his hand while trying to catch another scout who had tripped. “It was dark, it was like 8:30 and there was a light and I saw it flash before it hit me,” said Kevin. The blade landed in between his frontal lobes. It was 2...

In a surprise finish to months of battle, the University of California prevailed yesterday in its bid to run Los Alamos National Laboratory, the storied weapons research center in the mountains of New Mexico and the birthplace of the atomic bomb. The university teamed with the Bechtel Corporation, the world's largest construction and engineering company, and two other industrial giants to win the contract. It is the first time the laboratory's management has been put up for bidding. Federal officials announced the winner in Washington yesterday. Most analysts expected that the contract would be wrenched away from the University of...

UT football players accused in robberies, assaults 12/16/2005 4:30 PM By: News 8 Austin Staff Several football players from The University of Texas are being investigated by the Austin Police Department for robbery by assault, according to sources close to the investigation. The investigation stems from two incidents on Sept. 4 and December 10. The two incidents involve robbery by assault. Sources tell us that the victims are telling police they were downtown when they were beaten up and robbed of their money. There have been no arrests and no indictments in the investigations, but the cases have been turned...

Ted Rappaport came to Austin just a few years ago to set up a wireless-technology center at the University of Texas at Austin. The Wireless Networking and Communications Group, which Rappaport directs, has attracted a dozen corporate sponsors and 14 world-class faculty to the wireless center. It is a huge success story. But there are two problems, and they are related. The wireless group has 70 students — all but five of them graduate students. Nearly all of them are from China, India and other non-U.S. countries. They gain entry by attaining essentially perfect scores on the graduate record exams....

The bitter truth, as we feast on the bounty of the empire -Our myth of Thanksgiving warps a history of genocide ONE indication of moral and intellectual progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day with a National Day of Atonement. Indigenous people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas. But the thought of changing this white-supremacist holiday is hard to...

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Southern California and Texas remain the top two teams in the BCS standings and only an upset in one of the final two weeks will prevent the two storied programs from meeting in the Rose Bowl on January 4 for the national championship. The Trojans (11-0) had a close call this past weekend with a 50-42 victory over a tough Fresno State squad, but they'll have this week off before facing city rival UCLA on December 3. The Longhorns (10-0), meanwhile, had their final bye this past Saturday and will play each of the next...