An Algerian man whose sentence for plotting to blow up the Los Angeles airport around the turn of the new millennium was thrown out for being too lenient was ordered Wednesday to spend 37 years in prison.

Ahmed Ressam, who had trained with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, was arrested in December 1999 when a customs agent noticed that he appeared suspicious as he drove off a ferry from Canada onto Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. A resulting search turned up a trunk full of explosives.

Cheerleaders at a Texas public school have jumped headfirst into litigation that could have implications on the division of church and state and the First Amendment as it affects the public school system.

The Kountze High School cheerleaders are suing the school for the First Amendment right to use Bible verses on their run-through banners at football games.

A fourth Texas high-tech startup that received taxpayer dollars through Gov. Rick Perry’s signature economic development fund has filed for bankruptcy in the $194 million portfolio’s biggest bust yet.

The collapse of bioenergy producer Terrabon Inc., which was awarded $2.75 million in 2010 and was backed by large Perry political donors, raises questions about whether the state’s Emerging Technology Fund launched in 2006 could now be worth less than what taxpayers have put into it.

Journalist and nationally recognized author Carlton Stowers spoke Tuesday to several Baylor classes, offering writing advice from his own experiences.

The event was in conjunction with One Book, One Waco, a program of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce in which a new book is selected each year that community members will read simultaneously.

“One Book, One Waco is a community literacy program that started at Baylor that [the Waco] Chamber took over in 2008,” said Alexis Weaver, director of community development for the chamber.