East Texas

MINEOLA, Texas -- The Rathburns are the kind of indulgent pet owners who treat their animals like children -- bottle-feeding them as babies, building them a pool with a waterfall, posing with them for Christmas photos. That their pet cats happen to be Bengal tigers probably would raise eyebrows in most places but Texas, where exotic animals have become such a part of the landscape that they even have their own name: "Texotics." This, after all, is the state where hunters flock to bag scimitar-horned oryx and aoudad sheep, restaurants casually offer elk and wild boar and having a really big cat in your back yard has gotten so trendy, some say more tigers live in Texas than their ancestral home of India.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- They roam the Texas countryside by the hundreds of thousands. They can grow to be 400 pounds and have been known to flip a vehicle in a collision on a dark country road. And one bullet usually isn't enough to drop the biggest ones. Wild hogs, which once were a problem only in east and south Texas, are moving into areas of the state where many thought they couldn't survive. They damage crops and play havoc with wildlife, and experts worry that they carry diseases that could create an epidemic for farmers and ranchers.

Oh, don't you remember, a long time ago When two little babes, their names I don't know Were stolen away one bright summer day And lost in the woods, I've heard people say --Traditional lullaby As a mother, she would sing it to her children. As a child, she would sing it to her pets. And whenever the world came crashing down around her, as it often did for Mary Leona Gage, she would sing it to herself. Growing up in the Piney Woods of east Texas, her friends were mostly imaginary or four-legged - fairies, "weed people" and wildlife.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Behind a trash bin in an otherwise empty downtown parking lot yesterday sat a piece of metal the size of a car door. All day, people came and went to catch a glimpse of it - and yellow police tape made sure they didn't get too close. In Kalin Kendrick's pasture east of town, the county sheriff's department guarded a charred piece of metal that appeared to be part of a computer, just one piece in a line of debris that extended from her property over a creek and onto her father-in-law's adjacent land.

No. 13 Virginia Tech (9-2) vs. No. 9 Texas (10-1-1)Site: New OrleansTime: 7:30 tonightTV: Chs. 2, 7Line: Texas by 2 1/2Players to watch:Cornell Brown, Virginia Tech: The 6-foot-2, 246-pound junior had 14 of the Hokies' 44 sacks.James Brown, Texas: The elusive quarterback set Longhorns records with 2,447 yards passing and 19 touchdowns.Best win:Virginia Tech 13, Miami, Fla. 7: The Hokies started the season 0-2, scoring 14 points. This victory triggered a season-ending, nine-game winning streak and established Virginia Tech as the team to beat in the Big East.

Baseball Chicago Cubs -- Optioned P Shawn Boskie to Class AAA Iowa. Purchased the contract of P Laddie Renfroe from Iowa.Minnesota Twins -- Placed P Scott Erickson (strained right elbow) and OF-1B Gene Larkin on the 15-day disabled list, Erickson retroactive to June 30. Activated P David West from the 30-day disabled list. Recalled OF Jarvis Brown from Class AAA Portland.Philadelphia Phillies -- Extend Lee Thomas' contract as general manager by 2 years.Texas Rangers -- Announced that rookie P Scott Chiamparino (1-0)

HOUSTON -- Texans went to bed Wednesday night expecting to be struck by a tropical storm. They awoke to find they had been hit by a hurricane. The stunningly fast buildup of what became Hurricane Humberto shocked scientists, some of whom said there was nothing like it in the historical record. In 18 hours, Humberto strengthened from a tropical depression with 35-mph winds to a Category 1 hurricane with 85-mph winds before crashing ashore. It did not grow into a hurricane until after midnight.

Baseball National League -- Suspended Cincinnati Reds P Rob Dibble 3 games for throwing at Houston Astros SS Eric Yelding. Suspended Yelding 1 game for charging mound. Both have appealed.Houston Astros -- Placed P Mike Scott (0-2, 12.86 ERA; rotator-cuff tendinitis) on 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 14. Called up P Jim Corsi from Class AAA Tucson.Oakland Athletics -- Placed SS Walt Weiss on 15-day DL.San Francisco Giants -- Optioned P Eric Gunderson (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1 save in 2 appearances)

Last May, the Texas Civil Liberties Union asked Galveston lawyer Anthony Griffin if he would defend a Ku Klux Klan grand dragon's right to free speech. Mr. Griffin said "no problem." But there was one small problem: Neither the Texas Civil Liberties Union, nor the prospective client, Michael Lowe, grand dragon of the Knights of the KKK Realm of Texas in Waco, realized that Mr. Griffin is black -- and also general counsel of the Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches.Mr. Griffin says there's no contradiction in his defending Mr. Lowe's right to keep the Klan's membership list, financial records and other documents from the Texas attorney general.

FootballBuffalo Bills -- Signed C Mike Devlin, DB Sebastian Savage, DT John Parella, G Corbin Lacina, T Chris Luneberg, TE Pat Akos, WR Russell Copeland and WR Willie Harris.Chicago Bears -- Signed G Gregg Rakoczy and LB Dave Hoffman.Green Bay Packers -- Re-signed S Tim Hauck; signed P Dan Turk; waived DB Casey Greer and P Josh Miller; announced that John Johnson has resigned as administrative assistant to coach Mike Holmgren.Kansas City Chiefs -- Promoted Terry Bradway to director of college scouting; hired Ken Blair as a pro scout and Lamonte Winston as a talent scout and administrative assistant.