Texas News

A car driven by a drunk driving suspect with four previous DWI arrests raced away from a sheriff's deputy, ran a red light then went airborne after a wreck and landed on top of an SUV, killing a newlywed couple inside, authorities said.

Second-grade teacher Erika Clouet, 24, and her husband of a little over a month, construction worker and aspiring musician German Clouet, 23, of Irving, were killed in the accident early Monday.

The driver, Uriel Perez Palacios, 22, of Dallas, remained in the hospital Tuesday. His passenger had to be cut from the vehicle and was also hospitalized.

Officials on Tuesday charged Palacios with two counts of murder and three counts of intoxication assault. A phone listing for Palacios could not be found. Palacios was arrested as recently as June for driving while intoxicated and was released after paying a $500 fine. He was also involved in two police chases and had four outstanding drug and DWI warrants, officials said.

A Dallas County sheriff's deputy pulled over Palacios around 2 a.m. Monday after spotting him weaving through traffic, authorities said. As the deputy approached the car on foot, Palacios sped off with his lights off and drove through a red light, striking a sport utility vehicle carrying five Southern Methodist University students.

Palacios' car went airborne and crashed into the Clouets' SUV, crushing it and killing them at the scene, authorities said. The couple was returning from a date at the movies.

"She was a wonderful teacher and will be greatly missed," said Irma Vega-Zadeh, the principal at the elementary school where Clouet taught.

At least three others were injured, including two SMU students who were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

"Many deputies said it was one of the worst accidents that they ever saw," Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Kimberlee Leach said in a story on The Dallas Morning News' Web site. "You couldn't make out what kinds of vehicles were involved."

Thousands of Southeast Texans who fled from Hurricane Gustav are returning home today.

Fresh off his electoral victory in May, Mayor Vicente Garza Jr. has embarked on a quixotic project, betting against long odds that a casino could secure the future of this indebted town of 485 residents.

Founded in 1767, but not incorporated until 1993, Granjeno clings to a sharp curve in the road a mile from the Rio Grande. It has a single city employee and a beer joint is its only business.

But things are happening. The border fence that put Granjeno in the spotlight last year when initial plans had it running through yards and homes is taking shape instead just behind property lines on the south side of town. A new international bridge to Reynosa, Mexico, is under way to the west.

Hundreds of Hurricane Gustav evacuees today left Texas shelters and headed home.

The city of Tyler is now officially relieved of its duty. This morning, the city of Beaumont lifted its mandatory evacuation, meaning more than 3,000 evacuees will soon head back home. For the last three days, they found safe haven from Hurricane Gustav in 21 area shelters. City officials say it was a huge undertaking, one they can be proud of...

Hundreds of evacuees staying in east Texas are those with special needs, and the city of Tyler has four special needs shelters. One of those shelters had the help of a federal disaster medical assistance team to relieve our local health resources. This morning, the Secretary of Health and Human Services visited Tyler.

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Here in east Texas many have responded to help evacuees, at the same time getting ready for when what's left of Gustav arrives here.

In Longview, more than 800 evacuees are staying in shelters tonight, all while city and county leaders prepare for what could be heavy flooding.

Texas elections shaping up as high-stakes battle The career of the first Republican Texas House speaker in modern times is on the line.

The Beaumont EOC has received a number of complaints from Southeast Texas citizens in reference to traffic situations in the Chambers County area.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Sunday that evidence strongly suggests that there was a dead body in the back of Casey Anthony's car.

As city officials detailed plans for an evacuation that could be called over the weekend, some residents weren't waiting to be told to leave.

President Bush is skipping the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. He will travel instead to Texas to meet with emergency workers and evacuees as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast.

In the region where Hurricane Rita swamped the flat marshland and homes with several feet of water three years ago, few people waited around for Hurricane Gustav or even the mandatory evacuation that began at 6 ...

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Texas and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Gustav ...

WASHINGTON - Drunken-driving deaths fell in 32 states in 2007, the government reported Thursday, but alcohol-related fatalities increased among motorcycle riders in half the states.

If you're getting hitched in Texas, get ready to face a stiffer fee for a marriage license.

Tropical Storm Gustav closed in on Jamaica Thursday at near-hurricane strength as the death toll in Haiti rose to 51 while Tropical Storm Hanna formed in the Atlantic.

Royal Dutch Shell, BP and other oil companies wrapped up evacuations and shut down production Saturday as an intensifying Hurricane Gustav churned toward the petroleum-rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico.