Texas News Minute - KTRE.com | Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - Jury selection for the trial of the man charged in the Fort Hood shootings will start July 9th and testimony could start in early August. A military judge set the date today after rejecting Major Nidal Hasan's request for a three-month delay.

HOUSTON (AP) - A Houston man accused of threatening Senator Ted Cruz is in the Harris County jail. Court documents say 37-year-old Nick Gates admits making calls to Cruz's offices in Austin and San Antonio. The caller also threatened to "blow up" the sun if he wasn't paid $3 million.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Travis County district attorney spoke to reporters today for the first time since Governor Rick Perry vetoed $3.5 million for the Public Integrity Unit. Rosemary Lehmberg says she remains responsible for investigating state ethics violations. Perry cut the funding after Lehmberg refused to quit following a drunk-driving conviction.

TYLER, Texas (AP) - A man from Tyler has admitted smuggling snakes on several planes from South America to the United States. William Lamar faces up to five years in prison for illegally importing wildlife. He says he bought the snakes at a Peruvian market and hid them in his jacket on flights from Lima to Miami and then to Dallas.

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