Brownsville Police officers clear debris from a store damaged during Hurricane Dolly, Wednesday, July 23, 2008, in Brownsville, Texas. Hurricane Dolly gathered strength and slammed into the South Texas coast Wednesday with punishing rain and winds of 100 mph, blowing down signs, damaging an apartment complex and knocking out power to thousands. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Hurricane Dolly slammed into the South Texas coast Wednesday with punishing rain and winds of 100 mph, blowing down signs, damaging an apartment complex and knocking out power to thousands before weakening over land.

Local officials' greatest fear - that the levees holding back the Rio Grande would fail and cause massive flooding - eased when Dolly meandered 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border just before coming ashore on South Padre Island as a Category 2 storm. About two hours later, Dolly's winds slowed to 95 mph, and the storm was downgraded to a Category 1.

"The levees are holding up just fine," said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos. "There is no indication right now that they are going to crest."

The storm defied forecasts that it would swarm the mouth of the Rio Grande, pushing its current upstream and causing massive flooding on both sides of the border.

But "it's still very early in the storm," cautioned Sally Spener, a spokeswoman with the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Most of the destruction was on South Padre Island, a beach resort town on a barrier island off the Texas coast. Part of an apartment complex roof collapsed, and a hotel sign blew off. The causeway linking the island to the mainland was closed.

"I thought it was just a big clap of thunder, (then) saw this stuff flying around and it's the roof," said Buck Dopp, who lives in the ground floor apartment under the collapsed roof. Dopp and his family packed up and left the building, despite their plans to ride out the storm.

A 17-year-old boy fell from a seventh-story balcony, injuring his head, breaking his hip and fracturing his leg, said Dan Quandt, spokesman for South Padre Island emergency operations. He was being treated at an island fire station.

Forecasters warned of up to 12 inches of rain that could produce flooding in the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley. Up to 20 inches was predicted for isolated areas. Thunderstorms were attributed to Dolly as far away as Houston, 400 miles up the Texas coastline.

Even as the front edge of the storm passed over the Texas mainland, residents still needed breakfast. The few stores that were open - even without electricity - were doing brisk business before Dolly fully revved up.

"Tienes tortillas?" Jorge Herrera shouted, rushing soaking wet into Johnny's Grocery and Meat Market #2. His 3-year-old son Michelangelo, sporting a Superman T-shirt and matching underpants, was in tow.

Discovering the tortilla factories had closed before the storm and the store didn't have any to sell, the Herreras settled for a bag of charcoal, chocolate cookies and two tall cans of beer.

Store owners were most worried about the pounds of meat now sitting unrefrigerated in the July heat, but cashier Elvira Farias said her boss "wanted to stay open to serve the community. We know that some people need to buy a meal for their kids."

Residents were apparently staying put. Food was selling fast, but gas pumps were idle.

In Mexico, fields were filling with water, palm trees were bent over in the wind and beaches were closed to the public.

Mexican soldiers made a last-minute attempt to rescue people at the mouth of the Rio Grande. The soldiers battled storm-charged waves in an inflatable raft to rescue at least one family trapped in their home, while others further inland were still refusing to go to government shelters, said Matamoros spokeswoman Leticia Montalvo.

"These are people who did not want to leave, and now they are in trouble," Montalvo said.

In Brownsville, palm trees leaned and small debris was strewn across the all-but empty streets. The windows and doors of shops were boarded up with plywood and most businesses were closed. Thousands were without power in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties, as well as South Padre Island. Transformers were popping in downtown Brownsville, utility officials said.

People fled to shelters in towns on both sides of the border, patrolled by local police and National Guard troops.

At Gladys Porter High School, evacuees flowed inside even as Dolly's winds dismantled a school sign. Principal Dora Sauceda said people were lined up outside when she arrived at 4:30 a.m. The shelter was quickly nearing its 300-person capacity.

Miguel Angel Cruz and his wife Maria Hernandez brought their four children to the shelter because they feared the trailer they lived in wouldn't withstand the wind and a nearby resaca - or pond formed by a bend in the Rio Grande - would flood.

"Yes, we're scared," Cruz, a welder, said in Spanish as his family settled in. "It's our first hurricane."

At 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, the storm's center had come ashore on South Padre Island about 35 miles northeast of Brownsville and was moving northwest at about 7 mph. Tornado watches were in effect for coastal counties between Corpus Christi and Houston through Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly's projected path, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm's effects.

Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas before the storm began, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers to areas in the storm's path.

The storm, combined with levees that have deteriorated in the 41 years since Beulah swept up the Rio Grande, posed a major flooding threat to low-lying counties along the border. Beulah spawned more than 100 tornadoes across Texas and dumped 36 inches of rain in some parts of south Texas, killing 58 people and causing more than $1 billion damage.

Around Brownsville, levees protect the historic downtown as well as preserved buildings that were formerly part of Fort Brown on the University of Texas at Brownsville campus. Outside the city, agricultural land dominates the banks of the Rio Grande, but thousands of people live in low-lying colonias, often poor subdivisions built without water and sewer utilities.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Shell Oil evacuated workers from oil rigs, but said it didn't expect production to be affected. It also secured wells and shut down production in the Rio Grande Valley, where it primarily deals in natural gas. Mexico's state-run oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, said it had evacuated 66 workers from an oil platform off the coast of the port city of Tampico.

As Dolly approached, oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico evacuated workers from 62 production platforms and eight rigs, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which monitors offshore activity.

Oil production in the Gulf was down about 4.5 percent, while natural gas production was down 7.8 percent.

Dolly is the first hurricane to hit the U.S. since the fast-forming Humberto came ashore in South Texas last September. It is the 26th hurricane known to make landfall in the U.S. in July since record keeping started in 1851, according to federal researchers.

The busiest part of the Atlantic hurricane season is usually in August and September. So far this year, there have been four named storms, two of which became hurricanes. Federal forecasters predict a total of 12 to 16 named storms and six to nine hurricanes this season.

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Associated Press writers Elizabeth White in Brownsville; John Porretto in Houston; John Pain in Miami; Mark Walsh in Matamoros, Mexico; Jaime Zea in Mexico City; Regina L. Burns in Dallas and video journalist Rich Matthews on South Padre Island contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., point to the audience during a campaign stop at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Wednesday, July 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

By TOM RAUM

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Republican John McCain on Wednesday credited the recent $10-a-barrel drop in the price of oil to President Bush's lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling, an action he has been advocating in his presidential campaign. The cost of oil and gasoline is "on everybody's mind in this room," McCain told a town-hall meeting.

He criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for opposing drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Bush recently lifted the executive order banning offshore drilling that his father put in place in 1990. He also asked Congress to lift its own moratorium on oil exploration on the outer continental shelf which includes coastal waters as close as three miles from shore.

"The price of oil dropped $10 a barrel," said McCain, who argued that the psychology of lifting the ban has affected world markets.

The White House didn't go that far. Presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said the price drop also could reflect diminished demand.

"I don't know if we fully deserve the credit," Perino said.

"We don't predict what happens in the market," she said. "We can't really tell. Certainly, taking that action would send a signal that at least the executive branch is serious about moving forward and increasing the supply we have in America."

There are 42 gallons in each barrel.

A barrel of light, sweet crude fell $1.86 to $126.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's down from more than $140 a barrel earlier in the summer.

McCain also said Obama's Iraq policies amount to "unconditional withdrawal." His criticism of his Democratic rival has heated up as Obama has drawn the lion's share of attention over the past few days for his visit to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and other destinations.

McCain said Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops over a 16-month period "could lead to a resurgence in our enemies, and we would have to come back."

Under a McCain presidency, the Arizona senator said, "we will never have to go back. We will have won this conflict."

McCain campaigned in this key battleground state. Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry carried the state in 2000 and 2004 while losing nationally to Republican George W. Bush. Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton easily bested Obama in winning the Pennsylvania primary in April.

McCain said that the cost of oil and gas was "an energy issue, an environmental issue and a national security issue."

McCain also said that, if elected, he'd have a news conference once a week.

He also suggested that he would regularly submit himself to questioning before the House speaker and minority leader just as "the British prime minister goes before Parliament and answers some pretty interesting questions."

"Why not," asked McCain. "I think it would be fun."

He was spending the day campaigning in Pennsylvania, and then heading to Ohio. McCain had planned to go to Louisiana but was forced to cancel the trip due to severe weather. There had been speculation that he would meet with a potential vice presidential pick, Gov. Bobby Jindal, while in Louisiana.

President Bush arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July 22, 2008, after attending a fundraiser in Georgia. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

WASHINGTON - Congress is moving quickly to pass a housing package that aims to help 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosures and prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from collapsing.

Momentum for passage picked up mightily after President Bush earlier Wednesday dropped his opposition to the bill just hours before a scheduled vote in the House. That put the legislation on track toward enactment as early as the end of the week. Bush's decision to sign the election-year bill came despite his strong resistance to including $3.9 billion in the measure for neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures.

The administration and lawmakers in both parties teamed to negotiate the election-year measure, which pairs Democrats' top priorities - federal help for homeowners facing foreclosure and $3.9 billion for devastated neighborhoods - with Republicans' goal of reining in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while reassuring financial markets of their stability.

In a policy statement on the bill, the White House said that parts of it "are too important to the stability of our nation's housing market, financial system, and the broader economy not to be enacted immediately."

Bush had objected to the neighborhood grants, which would be for buying and fixing up foreclosed properties, saying that they would help bankers and lenders, not homeowners who are in trouble.

But Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, told reporters in a conference call that a showdown with Congress over the funds would be ill-timed.

It was a striking split for Bush and congressional Republicans, many of whom are angrily opposed to the housing legislation, which they call a handout for irresponsible homeowners and unscrupulous lenders.

At a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning, House Republicans denounced the plan, although it's clear they don't have enough votes to prevent it from becoming law.

Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the minority leader, said he was "deeply disappointed" at Bush's decision to sign the bill.

"We must take responsible steps to ensure our financial and housing markets are sound, but the Democrats' bill represents a multibillion dollar bailout for scam artists and speculative lenders at the expense of American taxpayers," he said in a statement.

The measure hands the Treasury Department the power to extend the government-sponsored mortgage companies an unlimited line of credit and buy an unspecified amount of their stock, if necessary, to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two companies chartered by Congress. The firms back or own $5 trillion in U.S. mortgages - nearly half the nation's total.

With Congress just 10 days away from leaving Washington for a five-week summer break, Perino said, the possibility of waiting until mid-September for the housing measure "is not a risk worth taking in the current environment."

Key senators said they were ready to swiftly approve the measure without any changes.

"We'll be anxious to move this product along," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman.

Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Banking Republican who was his party's lead negotiator on the measure, said Bush's turnabout reflected political reality.

"They looked at the Hill, they counted some votes and they see there's pretty broad support for this," Shelby said.

At the Treasury Department, Paulson told reporters that he urged Bush to sign the bill despite its inclusion of the "wasteful" $3.9 billion in grants. He said its enactment would be "a strong message that we are sending to investors" that would play a key role in "helping us turn the corner" on the housing crisis.

Congressional analysts estimate that the mortgage giant rescue could cost $25 billion, but predict there's a better than even chance it won't be needed at all.

The bill would let hundreds of thousands of homeowners trapped in mortgages they can't afford on homes that have plummeted in value escape foreclosure by refinancing into more affordable, fixed-rate loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Lenders would have to agree to take a substantial loss on the existing loans, and in return, they would walk away with at least some payoff and avoid the often-costly foreclosure process.

The plan also creates a new regulator with tighter controls for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and modernizes the FHA.

It includes about $15 billion in housing tax breaks, including a credit of up to $7,500 for first-time home buyers for people who bought homes between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009. It also allows people who don't itemize their taxes to claim a $500-$1,000 deduction on their 2008 property taxes. That chiefly benefits homeowners who have paid off their homes and can't claim a deduction for mortgage interest.

And it increases the statutory limit on the national debt by $800 billion, to $10.6 trillion.

The White House, which initially denounced the FHA rescue as too burdensome on the government and risky for taxpayers, dropped most of its objections to the measure in recent weeks in search of a swift deal. The urgent request by Paulson to throw Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a federal lifeline acted as a powerful locomotive for a deal.

The bill sets a cap of $625,000 on the loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may buy and the FHA may insure. It lets them buy and back mortgages up to 15 percent above the median home price in certain areas.

Lawmakers abandoned efforts to place conditions on any Fannie and Freddie rescue, but the bill hands the new regulator approval power over the pay packages of executives at the companies regardless of whether the government moves to financially reinforce them.

It also counts any federal infusion for the mortgage giants under the debt limit, essentially capping how much the government could spend to stabilize the companies without further approval from Congress. As of Tuesday, the national debt that counts toward the limit stood at about $9.5 trillion, roughly $360 billion below the statutory ceiling.

By LOLITA BALDOR

WASHINGTON - It will be left to the next administration to decide on any sizable troop increase for Afghanistan, the Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

U.S. commanders in the nearly seven-year-old war have been asking for three combat brigades, or roughly 10,000 more troops, to help confront increasing violence in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week that officials have been looking for ways to send additional forces as soon as possible - likely in smaller units and fewer than commanders want.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference Wednesday that the decision on how and when to meet the request for the larger amount is "a question, frankly, for the next administration," which will be chosen in November's presidential election.

His comment came as President Bush was arriving at the Pentagon for a briefing by top military leaders.

Bush has made the five-year-old war in Iraq the Defense Department's top priority, and defense officials have been candid about the fact that the focus on Iraq has meant fewer troops and other military assets available for the campaign in Afghanistan.

"That is the war which we have focused on," Morrell said of Iraq, asserting, "That is the war we are now winning."

Officials have said that if improved security conditions in Iraq hold, they hope to be able to devote more troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent following its ouster by the U.S.-led invasion of late 2001.

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Associated Press reporter Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.

In this photo released by the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, meet in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. A senior Palestinian official says Obama has assured Palestinian leaders he'll get involved in the Mideast conflict quickly, if elected U.S. president. (AP Photo/Palestinian Authority, Omar Rashidi, HO)

By DAVID ESPO

SDEROT, Israel - From the solemnity of a Holocaust museum to a dusty village battered by Hamas rockets, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Wednesday professed "an unshakable commitment to the security" of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere.

"The way you know where somebody's going is where have they been. And I've been with Israel for many, many years now," he said on a day that bore striking similarities to campaigning in the United States.

In his public remarks, Obama sidestepped a question of whether he would condone an Israeli attack to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he said he was confident that in several private meetings he had not left Israeli politicians with the impression that, if elected president, he would be "pressuring them to accept any kinds of concessions that would put their security at stake."

Obama packed more than a half-dozen meetings, a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, a helicopter tour of the country and a visit to a house hit by Hamas rockets into his only full day in Israel during his trip to the Middle East and Europe.

He also rode past an Israeli checkpoint into Ramallah on the West Bank, where he assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of his support for a two-state resolution of the region's long animosities. Later, entering a session with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Obama said his talks with Abbas indicated "there's a strong sense of progress being made" toward peace. Olmert nodded and said, "That's right."

Obama's major focus was clearly reassuring Israelis - and by extension millions of Jewish voters in the United States - of his commitment to the survival of the Jewish state. He leads his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, among Jewish voters, but his support falls short of what Democrat John Kerry drew four years ago.

Obama's trip is financed by his presidential campaign, and he flew to Israel from Jordan on Tuesday night about his chartered Boeing 757 emblazoned with his trademark slogan, "Change We Can Believe In."

If his campaign aides were looking for memorable images during the day, they got them, from Obama donning a skullcap at the Holocaust Memorial, to President Shimon Peres saying, "God Bless You" outside his official residence, to a stop at a house under reconstruction in Sderot where he saw firsthand the destruction caused by Hamas rockets.

"People are committed," he said, making a fist and thumping his chest three times.

Shielded by intense U.S. and Israeli security, he then traveled a short distance to the local police station. There, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and local officials showed him racks filled with debris from Hamas rockets that have landed in Sderot in the seven years since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip a few miles away.

The same racks formed a made-for-television backdrop for a news conference attended not only by U.S. reporters, but also Israelis whose satellite trucks jammed the parking lot across the street.

Eli Moyal, the local mayor, gave Obama a souvenir T-shirt - merely the latest he has received since he began running for president - and the senator also came away with a gift of a piece of rocket as artwork, attached to a wooden plaque.

Olmert said to Obama that "the situation in Iran is of course the main concern for the people of Israel." The subject of Tehran's presumed drive to gain a nuclear weapon was a recurrent theme throughout the day.

The American presidential candidate said, "Iranians need to understand that whether it's the Bush administration or an Obama administration, that this is a paramount concern to the United States."

He said he favors both "big sticks and carrots" to persuade Iranians to switch course.

"What I have also said, though, is that I will take no options off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat. And understand part of my reasoning here.

"A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East but around the world. Whatever remains of our nuclear nonproliferation framework, I think, would begin to disintegrate. You would have countries in the Middle East who would see the potential need to also obtain nuclear weapons."

At his news conference, Obama brushed aside a question of whether he had backed off his statement this spring that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel. Palestinians also lay claim to the city as the capital for any state they establish as the result of peace talks, and the two sides have agreed that the final decision is to be negotiated.

Criticized by Abbas after he made that comment, Obama subsequently amended it. "Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations," he said. He added that "as a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute" a division of the city.

Abbas issued a statement saying he and Obama had not discussed the issue in their hour together.

Asked by an Israeli reporter about the matter, Obama said, "I continued to say that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel. And I have said that before and I will say it again. And I also have said that it is important that we don't simply slice the city in half. But I've also said that that's a final status issue."

Obama departs on Thursday for Germany, where he is scheduled to deliver an outdoor speech before a large crowd. He also has stops planned for France and England before flying back to the United States on Saturday.

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Associated Press writers Matti Friedman and Laurie Copans contributed to this story.

This undated booking file photo provided by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office shows polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs in Arizona. Jeffs was indicted Tuesday July 22, 2008 in Texas on a sex assault count. (AP Photo/Mohave County Sheriff's Office, File)

By MICHELLE ROBERTS

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Texas authorities on Wednesday began looking for five indicted members of a polygamist sect, in a child sex-abuse case that the group's spokesman alleged was a face-saving move by officials who lost a court battle over their seizure of hundreds of children from a sect-owned ranch.

The five men were indicted Tuesday with sect leader Warren Jeffs, who already was convicted in Utah and jailed in Arizona on charges related to underage marriages.

Jeffs and four of the followers were charged in Texas with felony sexual assault of a child, and the fifth follower was charged with failing to report child abuse. One of the followers also was charged with bigamy.

"Our office does have warrants in hand and indictments in hand," said Sheriff David Doran of Schleicher County, where the ranch is located. His tiny west Texas department was working with Texas Rangers and prosecutors to arrest the men.

The identities of the men and details of the accusations were to remain under seal until the men are arrested. Doran, who cultivated a relationship with the ranch's residents before state authorities raided the property April 3, said it's hard to tell whether they are even still in Texas.

"I haven't personally seen them since the raid took place," he said.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, whose office is acting as the special prosecutor in the case, vowed Tuesday that authorities would make an aggressive effort to find the accused members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Church members have traditionally lived in two communities along the Arizona-Utah line, but they are often nomadic, moving between jobs and church member-controlled sites scattered across the West and Canada. The church bought the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado five years ago.

Jeffs, already convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice and awaiting trial in Arizona on other charges, is accused of assaulting a girl in Texas in January 2005.

FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop said Wednesday that law enforcement officials had not disclosed who they are looking for or tried to enter the ranch, but he said members would cooperate.

"We don't believe their evidence is credible. We don't believe they obtained it legally, but we'll stand up in court and face the allegations," he said. "We believe in our innocence."

Jessop said he believes the criminal prosecutions are designed to try to justify the raid and the subsequent placement of all the more than 400 children from the ranch into foster care. Calls alleging sexual abuse of girls at the ranch prompted the raid, but they are now believed to have been a hoax.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled child welfare officials had overreached in placing the children in foster care because they didn't show any more than a handful of teenage girls were abused. The vast majority of the children taken were younger than 6 or were boys.

Law enforcement and prosecutors have said their investigation is continuing. The grand jury is expected to meet again Aug. 21.

"It's a large investigation and it's going to take some time to go through this," Doran said. The sheriff described Tuesday's indictments as helping to tell "the other side of the story" after the child custody case debacle.

Child Protective Services is also continuing its investigations, even with the roughly 440 children returned to their parents six weeks ago.

Agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said investigators will look at the living circumstances of the children associated with the men who were indicted and determine if they are safe.

"We know where each child is and we know the household situation, who lives there, et cetera," he said Wednesday, the same day some parents began court-ordered parenting classes. "We'll take a closer look at each one of those family situations to verify that the appropriate protections are in place."

Under Texas law, a girl younger than 17 cannot generally consent to sex with an adult. Bigamy is also illegal in Texas, and although FLDS plural marriages were not licensed by the state, the law contains a provision outlawing the act of "purporting to marry" more than one person.

The FLDS, which believes polygamy brings glory in heaven, is a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which officially renounced polygamy more than a century ago and has sought to distance itself from the FLDS.

Sabal palm trees are shown Wednesday, July 23, 2008 in Miami. The sabal palm, Florida's state tree, is under attack by a microscopic killer that has scientists stumped. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

By SARAH LARIMER

MIAMI - The sabal palm, Florida's state tree, is under attack by a microscopic killer that has scientists stumped. An unknown but growing number of sabal palms in the Tampa Bay area have died from a mysterious disease that researchers are struggling to identify. Even after scientists pinpoint the disease - and that could take years - they will have to learn what insect spreads it. The disease will be tough to stop.

"It's not simply a matter that we will be able to eradicate," said Monica Elliott, a University of Florida plant pathologist. "That's not very likely."

Sabal palms, also known cabbage palms, can grow to 50 feet. In the United States, they can be found from the Florida Keys to parts of North Carolina and can grow in marshes, woodlands or along the coastline. The palm, which is also South Carolina's state tree, is featured in Florida's state seal and was designated the state tree in the 1950s.

Tim Schubert, an administrator and pathologist in Florida's Division of Plant Industry, said it's impossible to say what the disease's eventual effect on the state's sabal palms will be but "it's not going to be good."

"There's going to be fewer palms. They may present a less attractive tree in nature because of this new disease showing up," he said.

This is not the first time iconic Florida trees have been ravaged by disease. The state's orange and other citrus trees are being attacked by canker and greening. Scientists have been unable to stop either.

The new disease destroys the sabal palm and its other victims, which include Canary Island date palms and queen palms, from within. It's a tough diagnosis, Elliott said, often confused with nutrient deficiencies or excessive trimming. First to go are the lower leaves in the tree's canopy, followed by a dead spear leaf. Finally, the palm's canopy collapses.

Understanding how the disease spreads requires a trip back to high school science class.

This is a phytoplasma disease, which means it is a very small bacterium that doesn't have a cell wall. And it can only be transmitted through a plant's phloem, a type of transport tissue similar to veins in a human. The disease has likely found its way to sabal palms' phloem by either a tree- or leaf-hopping insect.

The disease is hitting the state during a tight budget year and University of Florida research funding has taken a hit. Officials can still turn to federal and private grants, and a proposal to dip into a small emergency fund is being considered, said Jack Battenfield, a spokesman for UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

"We don't have some of the freedoms we might have had before," Battenfield said. "The budget's tighter. We've got to look at things we can do most effectively, most efficiently, and have the biggest impact."

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On the Net:

UF Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center: http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/

In this Saturday, July 19, 2008 booking photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, rapper DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is shown. The 37-year-old was arrested at a Phoenix mall Saturday on suspicion that he gave a gave a false name and Social Security number to a hospital to get out of paying for medical expenses. (AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriff's Office) .

PHOENIX - Rapper DMX has been indicted on felony charges by a grand jury in Arizona for allegedly trying to get out of paying a hospital bill.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas says the 37-year-old rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has been charged with one count of theft and one count of taking someone else's identity.

Authorities say Simmons went to Scottsdale's Mayo Clinic in April, said his name was "Troy Jones," and received care with the intent of not paying the bill.

Simmons' attorney, Cameron Morgan, wasn't immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Simmons was arrested Saturday at a Phoenix mall.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's office says the rapper was released from jail Sunday night.

MILFORD, Mass. - Dozens of pairs of pantyhose have been left near a Milford school bus stop - causing sheer annoyance in the neighborhood. The pantyhose - sometimes new, sometimes used - has been left on Camp Street for more than two years. They're almost always black and queen sized.

Resident Laurie Warich told the Milford Daily News she picked up 43 pairs in one day.

Police say they've done some investigating and talked to one suspect. But Chief Thomas O'Loughlin said the only crime is littering - and they don't have the resources to focus on the case.

That's left some neighbors discussing doing their own amateur sting with video cameras and walkie talkies to catch the culprit, whom they've dubbed the "Pantyhose Bandit."

Warich said the pantyhose dumping is "weird, it's odd, it's scary for the kids."

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher James Shields throws in the third inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Wednesday, July 23, 2008, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - James Shields allowed three runs pitching into the ninth inning, and Jonny Gomes and Ben Zobrist hit back-to-back homers to lead the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays past the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 on Wednesday.

Shields (9-6) gave up six hits and struck out seven in improving to 5-1 in his last six starts. Shields' bid for his fourth complete game of the season ended when Jack Cust doubled with one out in the ninth.

Troy Percival replaced Shields and got the final two outs for his 20th save in 22 chances. It's the 10th time in his career the right-hander has recorded at least 20 saves.

Tampa Bay is 40-16 at home this year. The Rays are one victory away from the franchise record of 41 home wins in a single season, set in 2004 and matched in 2006.

The Athletics have lost seven of eight.

Gomes hit a two-run shot and Zobrist homered on the next pitch off Greg Smith in the fifth, giving the Rays a 3-2 lead. Gomes is just 6-for-42 over his last 24 games, but four of the hits have been homers.

Zobrist added an RBI single in the seventh that extended the Tampa Bay lead to 4-2.

Smith (5-9) allowed four runs and five hits in six-plus innings, dropping to 1-4 over his last six starts.

Emil Brown and Carlos Gonzalez hit consecutive solo homers in the second to put Oakland ahead 2-0. Brown added a sacrifice fly in the ninth off Percival.

Smith retired his first nine hitters before Akinori Iwamura singled to start the fourth. He then caught Iwamura leaning the wrong way at first for his 11th pickoff of the season.

Notes:@ Oakland 2B Mark Ellis (sore right shoulder) missed his second straight game. He expects to play Friday. ... Rays manager Joe Maddon said it's "more than likely" that SS Jason Bartlett (sprained right knee) will be activated from the 15-day DL on Thursday. ... Brown is 2-for-11, with both hits homers, off Shields. ... Zobrist, the No. 9 hitter, has hit all five of his homers this season in his last 16 games. ... Tampa Bay has won 13 of its past 14 series at home.