KRGV.com

HOUSTON (AP) A spokesman for former President George H.W. Bush says Bush's recovery from a bronchitis-related cough and subsequent complications is "continuing" but there's still no timetable for his release from a Houston hospital. The 88-year-old Bush has been in Methodist Hospital in Houston since Nov. 23.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas Health and Human Services commissioner says his agency can meet the demand of providing family planning services to poor women without Planned Parenthood clinics. On Jan. 1 the state cut off funding to Planned Parenthood clinics that were providing check-ups and birth control to 48,000 women a year. Republican leaders cut off all funding to groups that support abortion rights.

(Information in the following story is from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com)

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) U.S. District Judge Walter J. Gex III has sentenced a mother and daughter from Texas to prison terms on charges of bank robbery. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/VGjPuN ) that 58-year-old Evie Mearlene Herrin and 30-year-old Amelia Darci Crew, both of Cleveland, Texas, were fined $5,000 each.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A budget expert has told Texas' school finance trial that the sluggish economy contributed to the state Legislature's decision to cut almost $5.4 billion from public schools in 2011. Testifying today was Rob Coleman, assistant director of fiscal management for the Texas Comptroller's Office. He detailed how a bad economy has created budget shortfalls. But under cross-examination, Coleman noted that lawmakers could have avoided the cuts by pulling money from the state's Rainy Day Fund.