By JAIME POWELL, Scripps Howard News Service

FULTON, Texas - The U.S. flag draped his bar stool Tuesday and an icy cold scotch sat in front of his favorite spot at 301 Bar & Grill.

Gary Lee never bragged about his years with the U.S. State Department. Nor did he dwell on being one of 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days, starting in 1979, friends said.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Until the flow of oil is stopped, no one is sure what the losses from the Gulf spill will be, but experts estimate that the economic impact could top more than $1 billion, counting mitigation and ecosystem costs, losses to tourism and commercial and recreational fishing.

A South Texas ranch is the epicenter of a months-long outbreak of a deadly horse disease rarely seen in the United States that kills as many as 20 percent that it infects.

Kicked, beaten and stabbed nearly 20 times. Last rites twice in a single day. Still, Father Shaji Varghese harbors no anger toward his attacker.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church could have been the scene of his death four months ago. Instead it's where he is living one of the most important lessons in the Bible -- forgiveness.