Cardinals stun Texas, force World Series to Game 7 (AP)

ST. LOUIS – Hours after David Freese's home run plunked down on the grass patch beyond the center field wall, long after the ballpark emptied, a message still burned bright on the scoreboard: "See you TOMORROW NIGHT for Game 7 of the World Series!"

Whatever happens, whether the St. Louis Cardinals or Texas Rangers win, they'll have a hard time topping Thursday night.

"You had to be here to believe it," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.

In one of the greatest thrillers in baseball history, the Cardinals twice rallied when they were down to their last strike of the season. First, Freese saved them with a two-run triple in the ninth, then Lance Berkman delivered a tying single in the 10th.

And when Freese led off the bottom of the 11th with his shot to beat Texas 10-9 and stomped on the plate, this Game 6 had already been stamped forever.

"Turned out to be one for the ages," said Daniel Descalso, who keyed a Cardinals comeback.

A Series that was dismissed by many around the country before it began for lacking glamour teams suddenly has turned into must-see TV. And fans can savor the prospect of the first World Series to reach Game 7 since 2002, when the Angels beat the Giants.

After it was over, La Russa wasn't willing to announce his starter — many believe it will be ace Chris Carpenter on three days' rest for only the second time in his career.

"I learned what my body's going to feel like, what my stuff's going to be like," Carpenter said. "You go out there and you make pitches. We'll see what happens."

Matt Harrison is set to start for Texas. Derek Holland, who pitched shutout ball into the ninth inning in Game 4, could've been ready on regular rest after Wednesday's rainout. Instead, Texas manager Ron Washington used him in relief.

Home teams have won the last eight Game 7s in the World Series, a streak that started with the Cardinals beating Milwaukee in 1982.

Oh, and this: By far, the Cardinals have won the most Game 7s in Series history, going 7-3.

"There is tomorrow, now, for us," Cardinals star Albert Pujols said.

A sloppy game that made for terrible viewing turned terrific in the late innings. Freese added to the lore created by the Carlton Fisk homer in Game 6 of the 1975 Series and Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 Series.

"A ridiculous game, weird game," Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "But I bet it was fun for the fans. We just came out on the wrong end."

To Freese, who was raised in the St. Louis area and was MVP of the NL championship series, it all reminded him of a game-ending home run Jim Edmonds hit in the 2004 playoffs.

"Growing up or whatever, and you see stuff like that happen, those become memories," said Freese, who immediately donated his bat and jersey to the Hall of Fame.

Tremendous theater, that is, except for Texas. The Rangers were that close to winning their first championship.

"I understand it's not over till you get that last out," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I was just sitting there praying we got that last out. We didn't get it."

This was just the third time that a team one out from elimination in the World Series came back to win the game, according to STATS LLC. The New York Mets did it with Buckner's mistake and wound up winning the championship. In 1911, the New York Giants rallied past the Philadelphia A's in Game 5, but lost the next game.

Freese's tying triple off the wall and just over right fielder Nelson Cruz came on a 1-2 pitch from closer Neftali Feliz. In the 10th, after Josh Hamilton had homered to give Texas a two-run lead, Berkman's two-strike, two-out single made it 9-all.

"Initially I was like `Are you kidding me? My first AB off Feliz in this situation ever,'" Freese said. "I just beared down, got a pitch to hit. Initially I thought I hit it pretty good, I thought (Cruz) was going to grab it, so just a lot of emotions on that one."

Berkman came through on a 2-2 pitch from Scott Feldman, finishing off a two-run rally in the 10th.

"I was one strike away," Feldman said. "That pitch there, I didn't quite get it in enough and he was able to get enough of the bat on it to knock it into center field."

Busch Stadium was still in frenzy when Freese opened the 11th with his homer off Mark Lowe. Freese thrust his arm in the air as he rounded first base, and the crowd was delirious.

"Just an incredible feeling, seeing all my teammates at the dish waiting for me," said Freese, whose shirt was torn off during the celebration.

Texas trudged off the field as Freese circled the bases, having been so close to that elusive title. Much earlier, team president Nolan Ryan was high-fiving friends in the stands as Adrian Beltre and Cruz opened the seventh with home runs that helped Texas take a 7-4 lead.

"I'm not going to lose any sleep over it," Hamilton said. "We're just going to do everything we can to prepare. Guys are already talking about it. We're ready for Game 7. Shake it off and come back tomorrow. That's just our mentality. But it goes both ways. Seems like they had that mentality. too."

Allen Craig's solo homer in the eighth began the Cardinals' comeback. Jake Westbrook wound up with the win.

NOTES: Texas was 0 for 11 with two outs and runners in scoring position in the Series until Kinsler's RBI double. ... Berkman hit his first Series home run. He was moved up a spot to cleanup for this game. ... David Eckstein, MVP of the 2006 Series for St. Louis, threw out the first ball. ... Ninety-year-old Hall of Famer Stan Musial rode in on a golf cart during pregame festivities. ... The crowd of 47,325 was a record for 6-year-old Busch Stadium.

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EPA on scene at massive Texas chemical fire to test for toxic fumes (The Christian Science Monitor)

Firefighters battled a blaze at a small, privately-held chemical plant in Waxahachie, Texas, Monday, amid concerns that the fumes from the plant could be toxic.

The US Environmental Protection Agency brought sensors into the area, but so far, the detectors have found nothing that requires additional evacuations or precautions beyond those already taken, according to EPA officials on the scene.

The blaze prompted officials to evacuate homes and schools near the plant, which sits at the intersection of two major highways, and people farther afield were encouraged to stay indoors and close windows.

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The fire, which sent a plume of black smoke billowing into the air much of the day, is about 90 percent contained, according to local fire officials.

Officials say no one at the plant or in the surrounding area has been injured.

Fire officials say the blaze broke out around 11 a.m. as workers at Magnablend, Inc.'s facility were mixing chemicals. The company blends and packs liquid and powdered chemicals for a range of activities from farming and oil production to cleaning products for industry.

Among the liquids at the facility: large quantities of ammonia and several forms of acid, including sulfuric and hydrochloric acid.

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APNewsBreak: Texas has hottest June-August (AP)

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas just finished the hottest June through August on record in the U.S., the National Weather Service said Thursday.

Weather service meteorologist Victor Murphy told The Associated Press that Texas' 86.8 average beat out Oklahoma's 85.2 degrees in 1934.

That Dust Bowl year is now third on the list for the three-month span, behind No. 2 Oklahoma's heat wave this June through August (86.5 degrees).

Both states and others in the nation's southern tier have baked in triple-digit heat this summer. Texas had its hottest June on record, the fifth warmest month overall, and July was the warmest month ever.

Oklahoma's July was the country's highest monthly average temperature ever, at 89.1 degrees.

Louisiana's heat this June through August puts it in the fourth spot all-time — 84.5 degrees.

The average figures are taken from the entire 24-hour cycle of the day, not just from daily highs.

The reason for all the hot, dry weather lies thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean. The La Nina phenomenon is associated with cooler sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. It brings dry conditions to the southern U.S. states.

Unfortunately, the forecast shows the likelihood of La Nina re-emerging.

Texas hasn't just been hot this summer. It's in the midst of its worst drought since the 1950s and enduring its driest single year going back to 1895.

The heat and lack of rainfall have clobbered agriculture. An early estimate shows crop and livestock losses at $5.2 billion. That figure was expected to rise. The drought and scorching temperatures have burned grazing pasture and rangeland, forcing ranchers to severely cull herds. Ranchers keeping animals are paying high prices for supplemental feed or the cost of transporting their animals to states with grazing land.

Producers who planted more than 2 million acres of cotton that rely on only rainfall to grow in the world's largest contiguous growing patch around Lubbock abandoned their fields.

Texas' economy will take a more direct hit. Agriculture accounted for $99.1 billion of Texas' $1.1 trillion economy, or 8.6 percent, in 2007, the most recent year data on food and fiber was available from the extension service. Losses in that sector have a ripple effect that's about twice the amount of the actual agricultural loss.

Grasses, vegetation and trees around the state remain tinderbox dry and wildfires have destroyed more than 3.5 million acres since last November, about when the drought started. Just this week, hundreds of homes were destroyed when wildfires raged southeast of Austin.

Fish and other wildlife are struggling as lakes and rivers are drying up across the state and more than 850 water suppliers have implemented mandatory and voluntary restrictions on usage. Two Central Texas springs relied upon for life by eight endangered and threatened species are perilously close to levels that will require an evacuation by federal wildlife officials.

The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday shows that not a speck of Texas is out of drought, and more than 81 percent is in the worst category. A year ago just 15 percent of Texas was abnormally dry, the least dry status on the map.

Other states in the southern U.S. also are in drought. Almost all of Arizona and Oklahoma are in some drought stage. All of New Mexico is mired in drought, with about 38 percent of it in the worst stage — exceptional. About 70 percent of Oklahoma is in exceptional drought.

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Polygamist leader's Texas trial set for closings (AP)

SAN ANGELO, Texas – The child sex assault case of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is heading to closing arguments.

Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, asked Thursday to suspend the trial for two days to call more witnesses, saying he didn't have enough time to prepare from jail.

State District Judge Barbara Walther rejected the request after quizzing Jeffs over what witnesses he planned to call. Jeffs didn't offer any names.

The lone defense witness Jeffs called, church elder JD Roundy, spent about 10 minutes on the stand Thursday discussing FLDS history after 4 1/2 hours of testimony Wednesday evening. Prosecutors objected to the entire line of questioning, saying it was irrelevant.

Jeffs is accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old and 15-year-old he'd taken as so-called spiritual wives.

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Tropical system leaves little rain in dry Texas (AP)

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, Associated Press Christopher Sherman, Associated Press – Sat?Jul?30, 9:52?am?ET

McALLEN, Texas – The storm that many had hoped would bring some relief to parched areas of South Texas passed Saturday after dropping less than an inch of rain — good news only for the cotton farmers who were ready to resume their harvest.

The National Hurricane Center said its 4 a.m. CDT advisory on what was once known as Tropical Storm Don would be its last as the remnants passed into northern Mexico. Don had failed to live up to even low expectations by tropical storm standards and was downgraded earlier to a tropical depression.

"There's really not much left of it," said Barry Goldsmith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Brownsville. "It's a done deal."

With dry air falling in behind Don, a hot and sunny weekend was forecast with only a chance of showers. "That great beach weather we had last week is coming right back," Goldsmith said.

Most of Texas has been suffering an extreme drought, and Don was seen as South Texas' best hope for widespread rain in months. But totals from various sites in the Rio Grande Valley and coastal Willacy County failed to rise to even an inch.

The storm was a disappointment for ranchers who have been selling off cattle at a rapid clip because their pastures are barren.

But it was a huge relief for cotton growers, who are in the middle of their harvest. Double the amount of cotton was planted this year in the state's four southernmost counties, and the fields along many rural roads are still dotted with white bolls. The area got the most rain from Don, but it still wasn't much.

"I think it was pretty much a non-event," said Sally Ross at the Ross Gin Company in Mercedes on Saturday morning. They received less than one-half inch of rain at the gin. Some of their truckers reported showers as they brought the fluffy white bales to the gin Friday, but nothing intense.

"The wind blows, and the sun's out, they may be able to get back in the field in a day or two," Ross said.

Don was never predicted to be a punishing storm, but by the time it neared the Texas coast Friday evening the little anxiousness there had been, evaporated.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Don to a depression at 10 p.m. as what remained of it came ashore over sparsely populated ranch lands near Baffin Bay. That advisory also ended all tropical storm warnings along the Texas coast.

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Texas Rep. Ron Paul to retire from Congress (AP)

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Tuesday he will retire from Congress when his term runs out in 2012 to focus on his campaign for president.

The 75-year-old Republican said he has been criticized in the past for running for Congress and the presidency at the same time. He said he's received more support for his 2012 presidential bid than any before, and that he wants to concentrate exclusively on that race.

"I think that you have more credibility if you run for only one office at a time," Paul said.

Paul said he will serve out his term through December 2012, though he acknowledged that he may miss some votes because of the presidential campaign. He said he would continue to provide constituent services.

As for the issues he believes passionately about, including U.S. foreign and economic policy, he said he will always fight for those, whether in public office or not.

"I believe I can continue to do what I have been doing outside of Congress," Paul said of his sometimes controversial political efforts. "I was ready for a change."

The former obstetrician has served 12 terms in Congress from Texas Congressional District 14, centered on Lake Jackson. He was first elected in 1976 in a special election, but later lost in a general election. He won again in 1978. His mix of Libertarian and Republican politics has prompted many to call him the "intellectual godfather" of the tea party movement.

He is the author of six books on politics and monetary policy. This is his third presidential run.

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Texas executes Mexican despite White House plea (AP)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Texas from executing a Mexican citizen despite a White House-backed appeal that claimed the case could affect other foreigners arrested in the U.S. and Americans in legal trouble abroad.

Humberto Leal was executed Thursday evening for the 1994 rape and murder of a San Antonio teenager after his attorneys, supported also by the Mexican government and other diplomats, unsuccessfully sought a stay. They argued that Leal was denied help from his home country that could have helped him avoid the death penalty.

From the death chamber, Leal repeatedly apologized and then shouted "Viva Mexico!" as the lethal drugs began taking effect. The 38-year-old mechanic was sentenced to death for killing 16-year-old Adria Sauceda, whose brutalized nude body was found hours after the two left a street party.

Leal was just a toddler when he and his family moved to the U.S. from Monterrey, Mexico, but his citizenship became a key element of his attorneys' appeals. They said police never told him following his arrest that he could seek legal assistance from the Mexican government under an international treaty.

Mexico's government, President Barack Obama's administration and others wanted the Supreme Court to stay the execution to allow Congress time to consider legislation that would require court reviews for condemned foreign nationals who aren't offered the help of their consulates. The high court rejected the request 5-4.

But questions remain over how Leal's execution may affect relations between Mexico and the U.S. — and Texas, the country's busiest death penalty state that shares a roughly 1,250-mile border with Mexico.

Leal's relatives who gathered in Guadalupe, Mexico, burned a T-shirt with an image of the American flag as a sign of protest. Leal's uncle, Alberto Rodriguez, criticized the U.S. justice system and the Mexican government, saying "there is a God who makes us all pay."

Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement that the government condemned Leal's execution and sent a note of protest to the U.S. State Department. The ministry said Mexican ambassador Arturo Sarukhan attempted to contact Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who refused to speak on the phone.

The governor's office declined to comment on the execution Thursday.

Relatives said Leal would be buried in a cemetery next to his grandmother in Monterrey, Mexico, as he requested.

"I have hurt a lot of people," Leal said during his final minutes Thursday. "I take full blame for everything. I am sorry for what I did."

"One more thing," he said, then twice shouted "Viva Mexico!" He told the prison warden he was ready, adding "let's get this show on the road."

He grunted, snored several times and appeared to go to sleep. He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., 10 minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arms.

In denying his attorneys' appeal, the Supreme Court's five more conservative justices doubted that executing Leal would cause grave international consequences. "Our task is to rule on what the law is, not what it might eventually be," the majority said.

The court's four liberal-leaning justices said they would have granted the stay.

Leal's attorney Sandra L. Babcock said that with consular help her client could have shown that he was not guilty. But, she said, "this case was not just about one Mexican national on death row in Texas.

"The execution of Mr. Leal violates the United States' treaty commitments, threatens the nation's foreign policy interests, and undermines the safety of all Americans abroad."

Prosecutors said Congress was unlikely to pass the legislation and Leal's appeals were simply an attempt to evade justice for a gruesome murder.

Leal's argument that he should have received consular legal aid wasn't new — Texas has executed other condemned foreign nationals who raised similar challenges, most recently in 2008.

Leal's appeals, however, focused on legislation introduced last month in the U.S. Senate by Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy. The bill would bring the U.S. into compliance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations provision regarding the arrests of foreign nationals. It would ensure court reviews for condemned foreigners to determine if a lack of consular help made a significant difference in the outcome of their cases.

"Americans detained overseas rely on their access to U.S. consulates every day," Leahy said after the Supreme Court decision was announced. "If we expect other countries to abide by the treaties they join, the United States must also honor its obligations."

The Obama administration took the unusual step of intervening in a state murder case last week when Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. joined Leal's appeal, asking the high court to halt the execution and give Congress at least six months to consider Leahy's bill.

The Mexican government and other diplomats also contended that Leal's case needed to be thoroughly reviewed. Some warned his execution would violate the treaty provision and could endanger Americans in countries that deny them consular help.

Measures similar to Leahy's have failed at least twice in recent congressional sessions. The Texas Attorney General's office, opposing the appeals, pointed to those failures in its Supreme Court arguments and said "legislative relief was not likely to be forthcoming."

Stephen Hoffman, an assistant attorney general, said evidence against Leal was strong.

"At this point, it is clear that Leal is attempting to avoid execution by overwhelming the state and the courts with as many meritless lawsuits and motions as humanly possible," Hoffman said.

Prosecutors said Sauceda was drunk and high on cocaine the night she was killed, and that Leal offered to take her home. Witnesses said Leal drove off with her around 5 a.m. Some partygoers found her body later that morning and called police. There was evidence Sauceda had been bitten, strangled and raped, and bludgeoned with a large chunk of asphalt.

A witness testified that Leal's brother appeared at the party, agitated that Leal had arrived home bloody and saying he had killed a girl.

In his first statement to police, Leal said Sauceda bolted from his car and ran off. After he was told his brother had given detectives a statement, he changed his story, saying Sauceda attacked him and fell to the ground after he fought back. He said when he couldn't wake her and saw bubbles in her nose, he got scared and went home.

Testifying during his trial's punishment phase, Leal acknowledged being intoxicated and doing wrong but said he wasn't responsible for what prosecutors alleged. A psychiatrist testified Leal suffered from alcohol dependence and pathological intoxication.

Sauceda's mother, Rachel Terry, told San Antonio television station KSAT her family already had suffered too long.

"A technicality doesn't give anyone a right to come to this country and rape, torture and murder anyone," she said.

In 2005, President George W. Bush agreed with an International Court of Justice ruling that Leal and 50 other Mexican-born inmates nationwide should be entitled to new hearings in U.S. courts to determine if their consular rights were violated. The Supreme Court later overruled Bush.

___

Associated Press Writers Jesse J. Holland in Washington and Porfirio Ibarra in Monterrey, Mexico, contributed to this report.

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