Physician-astronaut to speak at A&M

Joseph Kerwin, the first physician to be an astronaut, is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Texas A&M University about the space program and his experiences on Apollo Skylab, officials said.

Kerwin, 76, is a retired captain of the U.S. Navy, where he served in the Medical Corps. He logged more than 672 hours of space flight while he was in the NASA Astronaut Corps.

After the interactive lecture, Kerwin will sign copies of his book, Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story, which tells the story of America's first space station.

The free event will be in the orientation theater of The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

To ensure a seat, call 691-4014.

Suddenlink ushers in video on demand

Suddenlink's digital TV customers will soon have access to a much larger selection of programming.

The company's video-on-demand service will launch Tuesday and offer customers choices of movies, sports, news, music and shows from popular cable networks. Local programming also will be available, and high-definition selections are included.

The video-on-demand service allows viewers to order the program of their choice, through their remote control, at any time. Viewers can also pause, rewind and fast-forward their choices. More than a third of Suddenlink's video-on-demand library will be free.

"VOD service clearly puts more control in the customer's hands," said Tom Way, Suddenlink's director of business operations. "It lets them view all kinds of entertainment programming, when and how they want to see it."

Access to the service will be enabled through a new program guide. Customers using DVRs as their digital boxes will need to set an appointment for the conversion to the new service.

For more information, area residents can visit www.sudden

link.com/vod or Suddenlink's local office at 4114 E. 29th St. in Bryan. They can also call 888-822-5151.

House next door to Bush's sold to trust

DALLAS -- A home next door to the residence that President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush will move into when he leaves office has been sold to a trust chaired by a prominent Republican donor, a newspaper reports.

The Dallas Morning News reports in its Thursday online editions that documents filed with Dallas County show the home was purchased on Dec. 10 by American Escrow Co. Its chairman, William A. Kramer, has donated generously to political campaigns of both major parties, but primarily to Republicans.

Teen sect member's custody case set

SAN ANGELO -- A jury trial will be held in September to determine whether a 14-year-old allegedly married to jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs should permanently remain in state custody.

Texas District Judge Barbara Walther on Thursday ordered a Sept. 28 trial for the parents of the girl, who was shown in photos and church records as marrying the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 12, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported in its online edition.

Texas child welfare authorities have asked to keep the girl, in foster care since August, permanently in their care.

-- Staff and wire reports

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