TX New Home Financing in Texas

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called Tuesday for a nationwide criminal investigation into recent voter-registration efforts by ACORN, a grassroots group.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now has been at the center of a political firestorm. Voter-registration lists submitted by the group included Mickey Mouse and the Cowboys' starting lineup.

Cornyn, R-Texas, sent U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey a letter Tuesday asking the Justice Department to investigate ACORN - long a political target of Republicans - as a "criminal enterprise."

ACORN officials say that they are required to turn in all applications but that workers mark them as "good," "incomplete" or "suspect" and let election officials determine whether the registrations are legal.

"Sen. Cornyn is making an allegation, as all the other allegations have been made," said Derrick Richardson, an ACORN field organizer in Fort Worth. "As far as I know, there's no substance to the allegation."

"We have stringent quality control," he said. "We are our own whistle-blowers. We normally verify each card . . . and when we find something is wrong, we let [election officials] know there is a problem with those cards."

Republicans have linked ACORN to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, a former community organizer, while Democrats are suggesting ties to Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

FBI agents arrested a South Texas sheriff at his office Tuesday after he was indicted on drug charges alleging he was involved in a large-scale cocaine and marijuana smuggling operation.

Gov. Rick Perry removed the state's troubled youth prison system from conservatorship Tuesday and appointed a new executive commissioner.

A jury has convicted a woman of capital murder for the shooting and beating deaths of four people in suburban Houston in 2003.

LIVINGSTON, Texas - Alvin Kelly doesn't deny he committed a murder and deserves a prison cell.

A Houston television station's helicopter crashed while covering breaking news in Montgomery County on Monday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies said KTRK-Channel 13's helicopter went down along F.M. 1488 near Magnolia, Texas, at about 11 a.m.

Smoke could be seen rising from the burning wreckage.

The helicopter was flying over the scene of shooting that resulted from a police chase. It crashed about five miles from that scene.

The station said a pilot and a photographer were on board. The station has not said if they were injured nor released their names.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

AUSTIN _ Students at the University of Texas at Austin will be allowed to put up signs in their dormitory windows starting today, officials said -- one day after two students were barred from registering for ...

Chip Tate hopes to join the ranks of fewer than a dozen distillers operating in Texas by producing whiskey with a regional flair.

A 21-year-old Clovis man has been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of a Melrose man and a Texas woman.

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico - Norbert dissipated into a tropical depression over the northern mountains of mainland Mexico on Sunday, after ripping off roofs and forcing thousands to seek shelter in Baja ...

A month later, piles of Sheetrock, appliances, furniture and family mementos dot most streets in this island town.

A bald eagle has escaped from a South Texas zoo's aviary. It was last seen about two blocks from the zoo Thursday, when it disappeared over a rooftop.

Texas has adopted new driver's license regulations that require all immigrants to show proof of legal status.

A lot is on the line with the Red River Rivalry game, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry makes a wager.

A state lawmaker wants Texas license officials to rescind a new policy requiring non-U.S. citizens to prove they live legally in the country before receiving a Texas driver's license or identification.

The crowd on A-Wing A-Section at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Polunsky Unit is about to get thinned.

Foreign nationals living in Texas must now prove they're in the country legally before getting a state driver's license or identification card - one that will look markedly different from those issued to U.S. citizens.

"While we welcome legally documented individuals to the Lone Star State, we must ensure that this privilege is not abused by those seeking to enter our country illegally," Gov. Rick Perry said. "These new guidelines will provide additional security."

The licenses and identification cards, which will be vertical instead of horizontal, will also be stamped with the words "temporary visitor" and will list the date their legal residency expires. Advocates for immigrant rights say the change could facilitate profiling.

"If you're an employer, or you're a person who rents out apartments, and you see a vertical license, that could have a negative impact," Dallas City Council member Steve Salazar said. "There's going to be an added incentive for people not to get a license."

Under the new guidelines, DPS will not issue or renew licenses or ID cards for any immigrant who is here illegally, or who has overstayed his or her residency.

Nor will the agency give them to immigrants who have permission to stay for fewer than six months.

DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said people who are living in the country illegally and show up to get a license without proper identification will simply be turned away. Their information will not be passed on to authorities.

"They won't be arrested ... unless there is already a warrant out for their arrest," Ms. Mange said.

U.S. citizens will not have to provide any additional evidence; birth certificates and other information already on file with the state is sufficient. And online and mail-in renewals will still be allowed as long as they include proper documentation.

It's time for Americans to look beyond their borders, superstar Texas preacher T.D. Jakes said Thursday as he prepared to hold his trademark Megafest in Johannesburg, South Africa -- outside the U.S. for the ...

Texas officials are prepared to offer $100 million in incentives to the federal government to lure a new laboratory for dangerous diseases to San Antonio, Gov.

Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega wants to use tonight's televised debate with Republican Senator John Cornyn to impeach Cornyn's leadership for Texas in Washington.