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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) A pianist who played for every American president since Harry Truman is being memorialized at a Forth Worth ceremony on Sunday at the church where he worshipped for decades. Van Cliburn died Wednesday at age 78 after fighting bone cancer. He's best remembered for winning first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, as the height of the Cold War.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas had been one of 11 states nationwide not to seek a reprieve from federal mandates under No Child Left Behind. Now the state is changing course. Education Commissioner Michael Williams sent a letter yesterday seeking to forego accountability standards and to avoid at-risk student intervention guidelines in favor of existing state policies.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) El Paso police say they've shot and killed a Michigan fugitive after he began shooting at them. The man was wanted on aggravated robbery charges in Michigan. El Paso officers and a Border Patrol agent tried to stop the man in a desert area and chased him on foot before the shootout.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) Texas Tech University's regents aren't leaving much suspense on who will likely take over as president. They listed University of Idaho President M. Duane Nellis as the lone finalist for the job. State law requires 21 days to pass before final action is taken on the appointment. He would succeed Lawrence Schovanec, who served as Tech's interim president since the August resignation of Guy Bailey.