Tourney time

Ags lose out on national seed; host regional starting Friday. Sports, B1

Barriers to break
Women havent made it onto Navys elite team. Nation, A7

The Eagle
Bryan-College Station, Texas theeagle.com

Weight-loss shows not helping U.S. waistlines shrink.

DIVERSIONS, A6

TUESDAY
May 31, 2011
50 cents

WEATHER
High 95, Low 72
Partly cloudy

theeagle.com/weather

Special session starting today

Dems refuse to vote on school finance bill
By CHRIS TOMLINSON Associated Press

IN BRIEF
Syrian opposition starts to fight back
Residents used automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to repel advancing government troops in central Syria on Monday, putting up a fierce fight for the first time in their two-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assads autocratic regime. Until now, the opposition against Assad has taken the form of peaceful protests by unarmed demonstrators, though authorities have claimed that it was being led by armed gangs and propelled by foreign conspiracies. World, A3

AUSTIN Republicans began the Texas legislative session with unprecedented majorities in both chambers and holding every statewide office, but 140 days later, they still failed to pass a key budget-related bill and two of the governors top priorities. So theyll be back on Tuesday. Lawmakers need to finish their work on the budget, but the governor may add any additional subjects he wishes. The governor has expressed hope to me that we wont be here e f for a terribly long

time, Speaker of the House Joe Straus said of the special session beginning Tuesday. But Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst wrote Gov. Rick Perry asking him to put nine issues on the agenda, including new immigration enforcement rules, Medicaid savings measures, interstate health insurance, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and congressional redistricting. Dewhurst said he was ready to do away with the Senates tradition of requiring a twothirds vote to approve bills, something designed to give even the minority party a say in legislation.

Given that a small number of Senate Democrats have demonstrated their unwillingness to find consensus on these important legislative items, I can see no other alternative than to operate under a simple majority vote in the special session, Dewhurst said in his letter to the governor. Republicans hold 19 out of 31 seats in the Senate and 101 out of 150 seats in the House. The only way Democrats can stop legislation is for senators to leave the state. Seasoned veterans predicted the special session could be

See SESSION, Page A5

AP photo Gov Rick Perry speaks at a press conference before signing a tort reform bill Gov. at the Capitol in Austin on Monday.

U.S. debt has nowhere to go

Congress is playing a game of chicken with the nations finances, and the U.S. economy is at stake, with an Aug. 2 deadline. The gross federal debt hit $14.3 trillion on May 16. Thats as high as the law allows. Unless Congress raises the legal ceiling to permit more federal borrowing, a financial disaster is all too possible. Nation, A8

A red, white and blue day Team pitched in to help Missouri

BY MATT WOOLBRIGHT matt.woolbright@theeagle.com

U.S. pulls Bahrain official under fire

The United States pulled its human rights officer from Bahrain last week after hed become the subject of a weeks-long campaign of ethnic slurs and thinly veiled threats on a pro-government website and in officially sanctioned newspapers. Ludovic Hoods early depardepar ture from Bahrain underscores the serious tensions that have arisen between the U.S. government and Bahrain. World, A3

IM SMILING BECAUSE...

Stuart Villanueva Eagle photo by Stuar Above: Air Force veteran Isiah Lovings and other veterans collect American flags to place on graves of fallen soldiers during a Memorial Day ceremony at VFW Post 4692 in Bryan on Monday. Below: Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffery Huffman served two tours in Iraq as a trauma surgeon. surg He is now a urologist at the College Station Medical Center.

Jim Yeager was teaching a medical specialist class at Disaster City when his cellphone buzzed. Without hesitation, he got a replacement teacher, grabbed his gear at home and headed to the meeting place for Texas Task Force 1. Yeager is a team leader for the task force, which is Texas sole search and rescue program and one of 28 national agencies under the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Yeager and seven others across the state got the call to mobilize around 3 p.m. Wednesday. Their first mission in Missouri to aid the victims of the deadly F5 tornado that devastated Joplin was Thursday

See DISASTER, Page A5

I have the best team ever.

TRICIA VONGONTEN Dallas

INDEX
Annies Mailbox Classified Comics Crossword Horoscopes Lottery Movies Obituaries Opinions Television A6 B6 B4 B4 A6 A2 A6 A5 A4 B5

Never too old to serve

JONATHAN RESENDEZ jonathan.resendez@theeagle.com

Vol. 137, No. 151, 2 sections

ome men and women join the military right out of high school. Others wait a while to enlist. But its unlikely that many wait as long as Dr. Jeff Huffman of College Station, who was 51 when he joined the Air Force. Although well past the maximum age for enlistment, the Air Force was in need of surgeons, and Huffman was in need of fulfilling a lifelong goal. Huffman, now 55, had always wanted to serve. He and wife

Obama picks new security leaders

By ROBERT BURNS and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

More coverage online and inside

To see more photos hotos fr from events Monday, go to

12624 00050

See DOCTOR, Page A5

theeagle com

Read about celebrations across the country /A5 Although women have made gains in the military, /A7 theyre left off of high profile missions

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama moved Monday to seal an overhaul of his national security team, selecting Army Gen. Martin Dempsey as the next Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman amid protracted battle in Afghanistan, U.S. involvement in the NATO-led effort against Libyas Moammar Gadhafi and a winding down of the war in Iraq.

See TEAM, Page A5

The confidence of three doctors consulting on your case.

2010, 2009, 2008, 2007,2006,2005, 2004 Texas Monthly Super Doc 2009, 2008,2007 The Eagle Readers Choice Award
Terry Jenkins, M.D. Erin Fleener, M.D. Kumud Tripathy, M.D.

Teamwork.

Providers at St. Joseph Regional Health Center, The Med, The Physician Centre and Scott & White Healthplan.

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