Free Republic

Town Raffles Rifles to Raise Money for School DALLAS - To raise money for a local school project, residents in Lampasas, Texas, are turning to a time-honored tradition, the raffle. But their fundraiser has a unique twist -- the winner walks off with two rifles. Lampasas, located in central Texas Hill Country, wants to raise about $15,000 to build a fence around parts of Hanna Springs Intermediate School, where a known sexual predator has been seen near campus. Officials said it is easier to raise money selling guns in the area, which is a popular hunting spot, than to peddle...

Former Garland councilman killed in IraqGaston shot while working on project for Halliburton subsidiary07:59 AM CDT on Friday, September 5, 2003By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News Vernon Gaston, a former Garland City Council member, died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday of gunshot wounds suffered while driving in a convoy as an employee of Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton. The Rev. Patrick Slack of the First Assembly of God Church in Lampasas, Texas, where Mr. Gaston, 46, and his family were members, confirmed Thursday that company officials had notified Mr. Gaston's family of his...