Texas

There was cheering from the Texas contingent when Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy last night, in another example of the blurring lines of journalism. I know the good old days weren't always so good, but that would have never happened twenty years ago. For the second year in a row a quarterback from Texas - that the University of Texas didn't pursue - has won a Heisman. I wonder how that sits with the QB challenged folks in Austin? After a season when Manziel wasn't allowed to speak to the media, the freshman certainly made up for it in New York.

John P. Smith, DO grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. He received his Doctor of Osteopathy degree from University of Health Sciences / College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City. Dr. Smith completed a rotating internship at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital in Ohio, and his surgical residency at Normandy Osteopathic Hospitals in St. Louis. Dr. Smith also completed a Clinical Nutrition fellowship at Ravenswood Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago. He is board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery.

Everyone is talking about Florida and Ohio, yet when it comes to the Chase for the Championship, Texas may be the true swing state. Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski have been the clear front runners for the chase from the beginning. But like any true underdog, both Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne have been hanging around ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness from the leaders. "Certainly one little slip up on either one of their parts then Kasey or I can be right there for the taking," said Bowyer.

by Chris Durden Dillon's has yet to decide whether it will rebuild in Greensburg, but another company has. Duckwall-Alco says it will not reopen the store it's had in town for 40 years. Employees at the Greensburg location have been offered jobs at other Duckwall stores across the state. The company has also announced that it will not rebuild its store in Tulia, Texas also destroyed by a tornado. Duckwall-Alco is based in Abilene, KS.

Brett Hemingway, Thomas Beauregard and Matt Robinson all scored in a shoot-out as the Wichita Thunder beat the Arizona Sundogs 2-1 on Wednesday night. Beauregard put the Thunder in the lead in the second period as he scored on a power play to make it 1-0 Wichita.  Arizona's Daymen Rycroft tied the game at 1 mid-way through the third period and a scoreless overtime forced the shoot-out. Arizona went first in the shoot-out and missed their first three attempts while the Thunder made all three of theirs.  Goaltender Adam Russo finished with a whopping 47 saves for Wichita in the victory.

For What it's Worth---on this last day of January -- What does it say about us as a culture when Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis denies using deer-antler spray - a product with banned substances in the NFL---and the next day its sales are eight times higher than normal? Open mouth-insert foot--- It's bad enough when someone's so insensitive to insult an entire element of the population; it's another thing when that individual doesn't know the crowd he's playing to. San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver is back tracking faster than if Anquan Boldin was running a go route on him. Asked yesterday whether he would ever accept a gay teammate, Culliver made it clear, with flippancy, that he would not. Keep in mind that he plays in a city with one of the most vibrant gay populations in the country.

Garrett Gilbert threw for two touchdowns and 227 yards to lead No. 6 Texas past Texas Tech 24-14 in a sloppy victory for the Longhorns on Saturday night. Texas put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter after draining more than nine minutes off the clock. The 22-play drive included a risky and successful fake punt on fourth-and-1 on its own 29. Gilbert threw a 1-yard pass to Barrett Matthews to give the Horns a 24-14 lead. Gilbert finished 21 of 36 with three interceptions.

Eugene Martinez is one of more than 230 employees who won't have a job come May 25. "I was hoping to retire there.  Nine more years before I reached retirement age,” Martinez said. Beef Products Incorporated is closing three of its processing plants. One of them is in Finney County, just outside Garden City. "All we heard was misinformation and lies.  It brought down a great company,” Martinez said. In a statement, BPI blames "unfounded and misguided attacks" on its product called "lean, finely textured beef.

A Texas mother was technically dead when she gave birth to a baby girl. But now the baby is three months old, and both she and her mom, are doing well. Erica Nigrelli was 36 weeks pregnant when she collapsed in a co-worker's classroom. Her heart stopped and co-workers started CPR and used a defibrilator. When she got to the hospital, doctors delivered her baby by emergency caesarean section.   It was technically a post-mortem delivery because Erica's heart wasn't beating.

Email Merril at: mteller@kwch.com Like Merril on Facebook: Teller12 Merril Teller has been Chief Meteorologist at KWCH since September, 1981. Merril began his broadcasting career doing weather reports and forecasts on the student radio station at his alma mater, Rutgers University. Next came more radio forecasting at the University of Oklahoma where he was a graduate meteorology student. While attending OU, Merril did part time meteorology work for a private weather company in Oklahoma City.