Former presidents call for unity at aid concert

The five living former presidents put aside politics and appeared together for the first time since 2013 at a concert on Saturday to raise money for victims of devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Democrats Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Republicans George H.W. and George W. Bush gathered in College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M University, to try to unite the country after the storms.

5 living ex-presidents attend Texas hurricane relief concert

Democrats Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Republicans George H.W. and George W. Bush are putting aside politics in contrast with President Donald Trump, who has vowed to help Texas and Florida for as long as it takes but has criticized Puerto Rican leaders while suggesting aid there won't be unlimited. Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which made landfall after Harvey and Irma had battered other areas.

Reina Lobo holds her grandson, Julio, in this 2014 photo. The family…

With more than 4,000 families facing the loss of their state-subidized KidCare health insurance in the wake of Hurricane Irma, Florida regulators have reversed course and now say they are prepared to seek federal help. Florida Healthy Kids, the agency that operates the KidCare insurance program, told the Herald/Times Friday that it will call a special board meeting next week to explore asking the federal government for a waiver to help families still financially stressed from the hurricane.

Texas man’s execution halted amid alleged confession scheme

A judge on Wednesday halted the execution of a man known as the Houston area's "Tourniquet Killer" so authorities can investigate an alleged scheme in which the inmate says a fellow death row prisoner asked him to confess to another killing. Anthony Allen Shore was scheduled to be given a lethal injection Wednesday evening, but the judge withdrew the execution warrant at prosecutors' request just hours before Shore was set to die.

What Hollywood Forgets About LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson has enjoyed a remarkable run in Hollywood. Next month, the most recent addition to the fictional canon will be Rob Reiner's LBJ , a movie starring Woody Harrelson as the oversized Texan who dominated American political life like almost no one else in the 1960s.

Feds mull tougher balloon pilot rules year after Texas crash

Federal investigators could urge medical screenings for hot air balloon pilots during a meeting Tuesday in which they're also expected to formally determine what caused the crash of a Texas ride that killed 16 people, the deadliest disaster of its kind in U.S. history. The National Transportation Safety Board is meeting in Washington to reveal its findings about the July 2016 crash near Austin, Texas.

Police: Student confessed to killing Texas Tech campus cop

A Texas Tech University police officer has been shot and killed at the campus police headquarters, prompting a lockdown of the campus on Monday, ... . Emergency personnel stage at an intersection across from Talkington Hall on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas, Monday, Oct. 9, 2017.

The fish still stink in Trump’s Washington swamp

When Tom Price was pushed out of his cabinet job last month for sticking taxpayers with $1 million worth of private jet travel, the White House explained that his behavior was unacceptable in an administration devoted to draining the Washington swamp. I wonder where the former health and human services secretary got the notion that it was OK to mix public service and personal privilege.

As Nate looms, cost of federal hurricane disaster relief grows

While President Donald Trump said this week that disaster aid efforts in Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria were "throwing our budget a little of whack," the reality is that the relief numbers are quickly growing overall as the feds help deliver aid to those hit hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, with Tropical Storm Nate now possibly ready to take aim at the Gulf Coast in coming days as well. The White House on Wednesday sent Congress a $29 billion request for extra disaster relief funds, which GOP leaders say will be voted on in the House next week, as the Trump Administration acknowledged the cost is not small change.

U.S. House committee approves Texan’s bill to put $10 billion toward border wall

WASHINGTON The House Homeland Security Committee voted to send a bill to the full U.S. House on Wednesday that aims to follow through on President Donald Trump's campaign promise of constructing a wall at the United States' southern border. The bill from U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul , an Austin Republican and the committee's chairman, included $10 billion toward building a wall.