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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Governor Rick Perry says he wants to help blunt the rising costs of higher education by letting students lock in four-year tuition rates at state colleges and universities. Perry says he may push the plan starting in January in the Legislature, where tuition freezes have been discussed before. He mentioned the idea Friday while speaking at a public policy forum in Austin.

HOUSTON (AP) A Houston police officer has fatally shot a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair after police say the double amputee waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen. Police did not immediately release the man's name. The officer, Matthew Marin, has been placed on standard administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) One of the Navy's newest warships has a new name the USS Fort Worth. Navy officials commissioned the $480 million combat ship yesterday in Galveston. The 390-foot-long USS Fort Worth leaves tomorrow for San Diego, where it will be based. The ship was originally christened in Wisconsin in 2010.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Demonstrators in the United States and elsewhere have protested the natural gas drilling process known as fracking. Participants in the "Global Frackdown" campaign yesterday rallied in cities and posted photos on social media websites showing mostly small groups. Scientists disagree on the risks of hydraulic fracking, a process that injects large volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to break rock apart and free the natural gas. The process was pioneered by Texas oilman George Mitchell during the 1990s.