A 14-year-old Fort Worth eighth-grader has died after she was diagnosed with swine flu.
The father of Chloe (KLOH’-wee) Lindsey says his daughter, who died Sunday, had no underlying health problems.
"She was so healthy. And it got her and got her so fast," Tom Osborne told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Meanwhile, all schools in the Huntsville Independent School District are closed until Thursday due to students and staff being sick.
A statement on the school’s Web site says classes and extracurricular activities Tuesday and Wednesday at the eight campuses, with about 6,300 students, are canceled "due to a high rate of absences."
Concerns about swine flu and other illnesses have led to numerous absences at schools statewide.
Huntsville, with a population of about 37,000, is 60 miles north of Houston.
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Sen. Bob Menendez is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The New Jersey Democrat says the special election to replace Hutchison, along with the candidacy of Houston Mayor Bill White, create a Democratic opportunity. Other Democrats also are running.
Menendez said Tuesday that White appeals to a voter cross section and is well positioned because he comes from Houston.
Hutchison plans to step down as soon as this year to challenge Gov. Rick Perry in the 2010 Republican primary for governor next March.
Republican John Cornyn holds the state’s other Senate seat and heads the GOP Senate campaign committee. His spokesman says the GOP will fight hard to keep Hutchison’s seat in Republican hands.
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A bipartisan push is under way in the Senate to spend more money to stop mortgage scams.
Sens. Charles Schumer, a Democrat, and Jon Kyl, a Republican, proposed legislation on Tuesday that would award up to $200 million to state and local prosecutors to go after real estate fraud.
The money would be awarded as competitive grants to prosecutors’ offices to hire new investigators, accountants and attorneys. Advocates say states have been unable to prosecute many troubling cases because of a lack of staff and other resources.
"The housing crisis has spawned a cottage industry of refinancing and foreclosure prevention scams," Schumer said in a statement. "This bill will put a stop to the criminals who are trying to swoop in and take advantage of desperate homeowners."
As a New York senator, Schumer represents Wall Street but has championed such politically popular issues as reducing foreclosure rates.
Kyl, a conservative, has taken up consumer rights issues such as identify theft. His home state of Arizona has experienced some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country.
Their legislative proposal represents a rare show of bipartisanship in a Congress divided on President Barack Obama’s plan to rewrite the rules governing financial institutions.
Democrats are advocating the creation of a new agency dedicated to consumer protections. Republicans oppose it, saying the measure would be too burdensome on banks.
-The Associated Press
The head of the Senate Democrat’s campaign arm is expressing some confidence his party can win the seat Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison is leaving.