A 43-year-old Temple woman is in critical condition at Parkland Hospital in Dallas following a domestic dispute that left her with burns on the left side of her torso and left arm. Her 59-year-old boyfriend, Roy Lane Brooks, has been charged with aggravated assault family violence.

If your kids came home from school wet Monday evening, it was for a good cause. While the weather outside was steamy, the kids at Kennedy-Powell Elementary school cooled off by throwing balls at a target to dunk teachers in a water-filled dunk tank.

If all the confusion surrounding the mortgage mess makes you want to curl up on the couch and write a check for another month´s rent, don´t despair. In the journey to home ownership, a good place to start is choosing who will hold your hand through the mortgage application process. When it comes to filling out pages and pages of applications regarding your personal, professional and financial history, it´s important to carefully pick the party who will consider your best interest.

BELTON - Belton High School is expected to graduate 525 seniors - the largest number in its history - at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Bell County Expo Center. Dr. Vivian Baker, superintendent of the Belton schools, will give her charge of inspirational remarks to the seniors.

BELTON - The Bell County Commissioners Court said Monday they support location of a plant that uses an untested energy production process in Killeen, and Killeen City Council members are poised to do the same thing today. That´s even though scant information is available about the company that is seeking the written accolades or its patented energy-making process or its sources for funding.

AUSTIN (AP) - State officials and bureaucrats are still using a state airplane fleet to shuttle them around the country, even though Texas leaders tried to disband the fleet to save taxpayer dollars five years ago. Officeholders including Gov. Rick Perry use the service to fly to meetings, award ceremonies, funerals and even a neighboring GOP governor´s inauguration. Flyers say they look at cost and efficiency before deciding whether to use the aircraft, which range from $258.75 to $977.50 per flight-hour.

KILLEEN - A large grass fire in southeastern Killeen led to the loss of a Killeen Fire Department vehicle, and the evacuation of dozens of homes and at least one elementary school Tuesday afternoon. Emergency crews and Killeen fire fighters were called to the area of Stagecoach Road and Rein Road shortly before 1:30 p.m. For more, see the Wednesday edition of the Daily Telegram.

SALADO - The scouting report on third-ranked Salado never seems to change. Don´t let Seth Collins get on base. Be careful throwing to Matt Fritsch and Kevin Jackson. Keep Justin Schiller in the ballpark.

Trenette Smith had been contemplating her future plans for a while. A Temple fixture in volleyball, basketball and track and field in high school, Smith spent nearly her entire senior year before deciding which sport to pursue at the college level.

COLLEGE STATION (AP) - Kyle Colligan slugged two home runs to lead Texas A&M to a 13-5 victory over Houston on Monday night in the deciding game of their regional of the NCAA tournament. The Aggies (46-17) advanced to face host Rice (45-13) in a super regional this weekend.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Freshman Krista Donnenwirth homered and had two RBI singles, and Katie Burkhart threw a two-hitter to lead Arizona State past Texas A&M 3-0 Monday night in Game 1 of the Women´s College World Series finals. Donnenwirth, who leads all freshmen with 73 RBI, went the opposite way for a pair of run-scoring singles to right and also pulled an inside pitch over the left-field fence for a solo home run to provide all of the offense for the Sun Devils.

WALTHAM, Mass. - Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant were playing pickup basketball in a UCLA gym last summer, a couple of frustrated NBA stars trying to sweat away the memory of a disappointing season. Talk soon turned to trades. Bryant had lashed out at Lakers management for assembling a team that hadn´t won a playoff series in three years. Boston had gone four years, and Pierce worried that he might become the trade bait that kick-starts the rebuilding process.