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Articles written by Nomaan Merchant


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  • Mayor: Deaths of Texas DA, wife 'not a random act'

    NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

    KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) — Two months after one of his assistant prosecutors was gunned down, a north Texas district attorney and his wife were found killed in their home, authorities said. The bodies of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found in their home Saturday, Kaufman County sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis said. Authorities would not comment on a motive. "E AP Photo/Mike Fuentes Reporters gather at the Kaufman County Law Enforcement Center in Kaufman, Texas, Sunday, in advance of a n...

  • Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys

    DAVID CRARY, NOMAAN MERCHANT - Associated Press

    GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez Boy Scouts of America National Commissioner Tico Perez, front, addresses reporters questions as BSA National President Wayne Perry, left, rear, watches Thursday in Grapevine, Texas. Local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America v...

  • Large tornadoes, damage reported in Dallas area

    JAMIE STENGLE, NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press

    DALLAS — Tornadoes tore through the Dallas area Tuesday, peeling roofs off homes, tossing big-rig trucks into the air and leaving flattened tractor trailers strewn along highways and parking lots. The National Weather Service confirmed at least two separate "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes. Several other developing twisters were reported as a band of violent storms crept through the metropolitan area, destroying mobile homes and forcing hundreds of flight cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. A...

  • 2011 now deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950

    NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

    AP Photo/John Bazemore Chad Wichter works to clear debris from a storm damaged dental office in Cullman, Ala. Friday. Authorities say the death toll from the devastating tornado outbreak across the South has climbed to 318, making it the deadliest day for twisters since the Great Depression. JOPLIN — The numbers look increasingly bleak for families hoping for the best after a monster tornado that devastated the town of Joplin, as the city has raised the death toll to at least 142 and state officials say 100 people are s...

  • Engineers go into Joplin hospital to assess damage

    NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

    JOPLIN, Mo. — Rescue and recovery work in Joplin was shadowed by uncertainty today as crews still hoping to find survivors combed areas that had already been searched several times and engineers entered the battered Joplin hospital where the tornado killed five to see if it could be salvaged. The death toll has reached at least 122, with 750 people hurt, from a mighty twister that the National Weather Service said was an EF5, the strongest rating assigned to tornadoes, with winds of more than 200 mph. But officials in the s...

  • A race to find survivors before more storms arrive

    ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, JIM SALTER, NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press

    JOPLIN, Missouri — Emergency crews drilled through concrete at a ruined Home Depot, making peepholes in the rubble in hopes of finding lost shoppers and employees. A dog clambered through the shattered remains of a house, sniffing for any sign of the woman and infant who lived there. Across devastated Joplin, searchers moved from one enormous debris pile to another Tuesday, racing to respond to any report of a possible survivor. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein Residents look at an acoustic guitar while searching through the wrecka...