BELTON - Belton Mayor Jim Covington and City Manager Sam Listi officially opened the Nolan Creek Hike and Bike Trail by snipping a strand of barbed wire. The event in Yettie Polk Park Friday marked the beginning of five days of Fourth of July festivities in the city.

An investor group and the Central Texas Ag Development Board have agreed to begin plans for a fuel ethanol plant in Central Texas, the ag development board announced on Friday. The new corporation, formed to carry out the long-discussed ethanol plant, will be known as the Blackland Ethanol Corporation, in recognition of the Blackland Prairie, where much of the corn that will be used for local ethanol production will be grown.

Temple City Manager David Blackburn submitted his first budget Friday and it includes a 10.2 percent spending increase, a small tax rate increase and outspending projected revenue by about $4 million. The proposed 2006-07 budget estimates spending at $88,412,484, in addition to $78,850,857 in proposed capital improvement projects over a multi-year period.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - President Bush

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA chief Michael Griffin is taking a calculated gamble by going ahead with the launch of Discovery, overruling two top managers who fear foam flying off the fuel tank might harm the space shuttle. The world will soon know if his gamble pays off.

BEIJI, Iraq (AP) - A group of American soldiers in an insurgent-riddled town allegedly noticed a young Iraqi woman when on patrol and later returned to rape her, according to U.S. officials Friday. In an apparent cover-up attempt, she and three members of her family then were killed and her body was set on fire. Five U.S. troops are being investigated, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press.

BELTON - On the opening night of the Belton Fourth of July PRCA Rodeo, the 82nd annual clash between man and animal, Round 1 went to the competitors of the four-legged variety. During a bulls-only performance that featured just nine PRCA cowboys, only two managed to hang on for the required eight seconds Friday night at Bell County Expo Center.

ARLINGTON (AP) - Mark Teixeira scored the go-ahead run after avoiding his first five-game hitless streak since the start of his career and Vicente Padilla outdueled Roy Oswalt as the Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros 3-1 Friday to end a season-worst five-game losing skid. Teixeira ended an 0-for-17 stretch when he led off the seventh inning with a double between center fielder Willy Taveras and second baseman Chris Burke, who collided but remained in the game.

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - A major doping scandal threw the first Tour de France of the post-Lance Armstrong era into chaos Friday, with favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso forced out of the world

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - Martina Hingis wiped away a tear as she walked off Centre Court, a match that seemed within her grasp suddenly gone. James Blake figured it would take until about dinner time to get over his loss to a much lower-ranked opponent. David Nalbandian was ready to watch the World Cup after his earliest exit at Wimbledon. There were plenty of opportunities to dissect how top players deal with disappointment at the All England Club on Friday. One upset after another shook up the draws, with 1997 Wimbledon champion Hingis, 2002 runner-up Nalbandian and No. 8-seeded Blake joined on the way out by 2004 U.S. Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova.

BERLIN (AP) - Racked with exhaustion, its leader hobbled by cramps and fatigue, Germany summoned its last ounces of energy. Showing there