East Texas

WEWOKA, Okla. -- The wind-whipped flames were upon them before they knew it, Margo Weger recalled, and the cattle disappeared behind plumes of smoke that parted to reveal a terrifying sight. "Larry!" she remembers screaming to her husband, "the cows are burning!" Nine days after a wildfire scorched their ranch here in east-central Oklahoma, the Wegers, like others in the drought-stricken region, are reliving narrow escapes and counting their blessings. They were spared, as were their 75 head of cattle.

WACO, Texas -- President Bush returned to his transplanted roots in the heart of Texas' flag-waving politics yesterday, issuing a sharply worded appeal for the state Republican ticket and telling voters: "Don't tell me what's wrong about this country. Show us what's right about it.""Tomorrow's vote is critical," Mr. Bush said, in a last-minute effort to use his presidential persuasion to draw Republican voters to the polls today. "You have a chance to make a difference."For President Bush, who was born in Massachusetts but whose political life began after he moved to Texas in 1948, the final day of the 1990 congressional campaign provided an opportunity to return to the tough talk of his successful 1988 presidential campaign -- laced with a strong dose of anti-Washington appeal.

GRAPELAND, TEXAS -- On the run from the fierce winds and rising waters of Hurricane Rita, thousands of Gulf Coast residents found themselves caught in a different kind of struggle yesterday, stranded, here and there, along rural highways across East Texas with no gas, no shelter and grim choices as they braced for the storm that would reach them within hours. Places such as Grapeland, a town of 1,450 on a secondary highway about 100 miles north of Houston, were overrun with evacuees who had abandoned the jammed interstates in search of gas, food and refuge.

FREEPORT, Texas - Thousands of residents of Texas' vulnerable Gulf Coast clogged highways heading inland yesterday as they heeded mandatory evacuation orders. Hurricane Ike churned through warm gulf waters and took aim at southeast Texas. Facing a hurricane that Gov. Rick Perry said could have "extraordinary impact," authorities ordered the evacuation of residents of low-lying coastal areas south and east of Houston. Chemical companies and refineries shut down their plants, bracing for high winds and damaging floods.

SHADY SHORES, Texas -- Wrestler Kerry Von Erich Adkisson, member of a star-crossed wrestling family that had already lost four of its sons, died yesterday of a bullet wound that was apparently self-inflicted.Mr. Adkisson, 33, a well-known wrestler dubbed "the Texas Tornado," was found dead about 2:50 p.m. by his father, Jack Adkisson, who also wrestled professionally for several years under the name Fritz Von Erich and raised a family of wrestling stars.He apparently used a gun he had given his father two Christmases ago.Kerry Adkisson was only the second of six sons still alive since a string of tragedies began in 1959.

A rival telephone company is about to enter Bell Atlantic territory.SBC Communications Inc., perhaps the most aggressive of the nation's regional telephone companies, announced yesterday that it has agreed to merge with Southern New England Telecommunications Corp., a phone company that serves Connecticut.The $4.4 billion all-stock merger would give SBC a beachhead in the Northeast, a region that Bell Atlantic Corp. has dominated since its merger with Nynex last year.Many analysts had expected that SNET might be absorbed.

He is a young man, only 25, although there's no way of knowing this from his appearance. Fire has excavated almost to the bone both his face and body. Still, even in his blunted features, agony has found a way to express itself. The young man's suffering is captured in the flickering black-and-white images of a grainy tape filmed in a Texas hospital 25 years ago.Once, Donald Cowart was an Air Force pilot who flew jets in and out of Vietnam; a handsome, strong-willed man with a passion for driving fast in his Alfa Romeo.

Yesterday's resultsEast RegionalGeorgetown 73, N. Mex. 62Tex. Tech 92, N. Carolina 73Southeast RegionalCincinnati 78, Temple 65Georgia Tech 103, BC 89Midwest RegionalLouisville 68, Villanova 64Wake Forest 65, Texas 62West RegionalArizona 87, Iowa 73Kansas 76, Santa Clara 51InsideEast: Texas Tech breaks a backboard, then breaks away from North Carolina; Iverson's big second half leads Georgetown over New Mexico. 4cSoutheast: Georgia Tech's win over Boston College is a Marbury showcase; Cincinnati ousts Temple for second straight year.

BASEBALL (AL) * Seattle Mariners -- Activated Ken Griffey Sr. (outfielder) from the 15-day disabled list. Optioned Dave Burba (pitcher) to Calgary of the Pacific Coast League.FOOTBALL (NFL) * Detroit Lions -- Signed Gary Hadd (defensive lineman).* Kansas City Chiefs -- Signed Herman Ford (cornerback).* San Francisco 49ers -- Traded John Levelis (linebacker) to the New York Jets for past considerations.HOCKEY (NHL) * Minnesota North Stars -- Recalled Derian Hatcher (defenseman) from North Bay of the Ontario Hockey League, and Cal McGowan (center)

DALLAS - A state district judge has approved a $6.1 million settlement supported by most victims of a fatal bus crash near Terrell in East Texas, overruling opposition from parents of two victims whose attorneys say they were unfairly excluded. The litigation stems from a June 24, 2002, crash that occurred when a Discovery Tours of Texas bus taking a youth group from Metro Church in Garland to a church camp in Louisiana slammed into a concrete bridge support. The bus driver, who investigators blamed for the accident, also was killed.