CAMERON - “It´s an ending for us,” said Linda Mollica, after her husband´s pickup truck was dredged from the Little River Monday afternoon. “Death is sad, no matter how you look at it, but when you have to wait so long...now he´s out of the water...,” she said.

THE WASHINGTON POST NEW YORK - Stocks kicked off the fourth quarter with a strong rally Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing at an all-time high despite warnings from two major investment banks that they would be hit by substantial losses from the ongoing credit crunch.

KILLEEN - When Tyrone Haskins, 18, of Killeen was shot to death in front of an apartment unit shortly after 7:45 p.m. Sunday, he became the fourth person to be killed by gunfire in the area in the past 90 days. The spot where Haskins was gunned down Sunday is less than a half-mile from the Dollar Store on W. Stan Schlueter Loop where store employees Sheila Reed, 40, of Killeen, and Gricelda Ramos, 28, of Killeen, died July 4 from gunshot wounds in a case yet to be solved.

THE WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTON - After the crammed parking lot, the amusement-park-length check-in lines, security procedures that require all but a striptease, flights that are jampacked, if they´re not delayed or canceled - after all that comes baggage claim, where the maddening odyssey of modern air travel is supposed to end but often just gets worse.

CHICAGO - A surprising study of elderly people suggests that those who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower risk for developing Alzheimer´s disease than people who are less conscientious. A purposeful personality may somehow protect the brain, perhaps by increasing neural connections that can act as a reserve against mental decline, said study co-author Robert Wilson of Chicago´s Rush University Medical Center.

If history is any indication, the Mary Hardin-Baylor men´s golf team is in perfect position. The Crusaders, who rallied from third place in the final round to win last year´s title, fired an opening-round 302 Monday and sit third at the UMHB Fall Invitational.

BELTON - As Mary Hardin-Baylor coach Pete Fredenburg guided his team from field level during a 61-19 rout of McMurry on Saturday, former longtime Baylor coach Grant Teaff had a bird´s-eye view from the press box. For a 13-year span, however, it was the other way around for the coaching tandem.

DENVER - Matt Holliday raced home on Jamey Carroll´s shallow fly ball, capping a stunning, three-run rally in the 13th inning against Trevor Hoffman and leading the Colorado Rockies over the San Diego Padres 9-8 Monday night for the National League wild card. After Scott Hairston´s two-run homer put the Padres ahead in the top of the 13th, Colorado came back against baseball´s career saves leader.

IRVING - The gap keeps getting wider for the Dallas Cowboys. Off to a 4-0 start for the first time since their last Super Bowl season a dozen years ago, the Cowboys´ margin of victory has increased and they have literally gotten better each game under Wade Phillips.