West Texas News

Trained arson dogs play a vital role in helping law enforcement officers and firefighters in detecting ignitable liquids and investigating fires.

Arson dogs work and live with their handlers, who are either law enforcement officers or firefighters. Each dog has to undergo a strict training for four weeks every year. The Labrador Retrievers species accounts for majority of the dogs that partake in the training program. This year's training is going on Yarmouth, where pooches from across the North America are gathering to obtain their annual arson dog certification.

Brunswick Junior High School has state-of-the-art anti-bullying policies but it failed to protect a boy from bullying by his peers because of his perceived sexual orientation, the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) said in its report.

The Commission concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe the student of the Brunswick Junior High School who accused his peers of bullying him for two years and the school district of discriminating against him.

In a move that aims to counter consolidation among TV distributors, Rupert Murdoch's Fox has made an unsolicited takeover offer for its rival media giant Time Warner for $76 billion in cash and stock. This move is the one that aims to counter consolidation among the distributers of TV.

Time Warner has rejected the bid which amounted to almost $86.30 per share but an analyst called it just an attempt in a courtship that would make the combined firm as big as Disney in its market value.

Tuesday night approval of the measure by the planning board of the city which is intended to block transportation of tar sands oil through the city was lauded by the supporters of a proposed South Portland ordinance.

The 6-1 endorsement of the planners of ordinance marks another incremental step towards the final approval and comes between two votes by the city council on the issue.

Last week, the council voted by a similar 6-1 tally to give the Clear Skies Ordinance initial approval and also must vote again on July 21 to give it the final passage.

For a good cause, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales took ice shower challenge on Wednesday noon. In front of City Hall staffers and onlookers, Hales allowed five buckets full of icy water to be poured on him.

As every bucket was emptied on his head, he just laughed off. Rising temperatures owing to summers proved beneficial for Hales. Mayor took part in the challenge to raise funds for the Officer Down Memorial Page, a non-profit group, which provides services to law enforcement officers died in the line of duty.

The city of Portland has partnered with The Trust for Public Land and nonprofit Portland Trails. Main aim of the partnership will be to conduct a study, in parts that will reveal which city owned properties should be kept as public spaces and which properties should be considered for development.

The assessment's main aim is to take the list of Portland's parks, gardens, trails and other open spaces and come up with a 'holistic vision' for the network of public places.

In the time when competition has become grim and numbers of retail websites are opening every other day, it is vital to hold your position right. EBay Inc managed to ensure its good position, as it reported a rise of 13% in its quarterly revenue in 2014.

The Wall Street had expected the average revenue of $4.38 billion, but company has been able to generate $4.37 billion in its second quarter.

In the second quarter, the company has increased its gross merchandise value by 12 %, slightly better than analysts forecast.

On Thursday, the ECB (European Central Bank) framed plans to publish a pile-up of data on individual banks.

This ranges from measures of their leverage to a standard level of non-performing loans. Also, the central bank stated that it will give lenders two weeks of time to come up with some definite plans to deal with capital losses.