Wichita Falls Times Record News

Lori Wilson, Sheppard Air Force Base’s installation voting assistance officer, said her mother taught her many lessons, but three important concepts have always stuck with her.

Forty years of memories can overwhelm a guy — especially when they rush back all at once.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Cries for help inside a Trenton, N.J., home turned out to be for the birds.

CEDARBURG, Wis. (AP) _ John McCain and Sarah Palin on Friday cast the new Republican presidential ticket as a team of determined reformers eager to challenge Washington's political establishment.

DURYEA, Pa. (AP) _ Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain's acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee's biography instead of the struggles of the middle class.

BAGHDAD (AP) _ Concern over upcoming elections and widening tensions among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups appear behind the U.S. military's recommendation to put the brakes on withdrawing more American troops from Iraq despite improvements in security.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Two-thirds of a century ago, Kathleen Wyman drove her brother to California to join the Navy. From there, he shipped out to the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor.

HONOLULU (AP) _ An official says at least three U.S. Coast Guard crewmembers were killed when their helicopter crashed in waters about five miles south of Honolulu, and another crewmember is missing.

A 911 call Wednesday led police, first responders and animal control officers to an animal attack that seriously injured a Wichita Falls woman. When officers arrived, she wasn’t moving. Police said they believe 46-year-old Aurora Castro is the owner of the dogs that were mauling her.

Indictments A Wichita County grand jury handed down 67 indictments — including six sealed — when it met Wednesday. Those indicted, their charges and bonds include:

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Scientists have mapped the cascade of genetic changes that turn normal cells in the brain and pancreas into two of the most lethal cancers. The result points to a new approach for fighting tumors and maybe even catching them sooner.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Broken and disgraced, lobbyist Jack Abramoff will spend four years in prison for his role in a corruption scandal that upended Washington politics and contributed to the Republicans' loss of Congress in 2006.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) _ Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she's excited about a landmark trip she will make to Libya on Friday, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the North African country in more than a half-century.

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) _ Tropical storm watches or warnings were extended from Georgia to areas just south of New York City on Friday as states along the Atlantic braced for Tropical Storm Hanna.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, dramatic proof of the mounting damage a deeply troubled economy is inflicting on workers and businesses alike.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ Invigorated by back-to-back political conventions, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama grappled for the mantle of change Friday as the fall race for the presidency took off in states teeming with the independent voters they needed to win.

A spokesman at the Avis Budget Group’s corporate headquarters in New Jersey Thursday confirmed that an undisclosed number of its employees in Wichita Falls are among those being affected by upcoming companywide layoffs. Media contact John Barrows said he was not at liberty to disclose specifics of the layoffs. He did say the corporation has 30,000 employees worldwide and that the layoffs would only affect a small number of its overall work force. “I can’t confirm a number for the Wichita Falls location, and I can’t confirm the date,” he said. Kevin Pearson, vice president of economic development at the Wichita Falls Board of Commerce & Industry, said the company had 250 full-time and 50 part-time employees as of January of this year.

If dogs go on the attack, things can take a dangerous turn quickly, and it’s best to make yourself as quiet and unassuming as possible if a strange animal approaches you, said Susan Morris with the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District.