Jasper’s lawyers also raised several other claims to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, including contentions he had poor legal help at his trial and that the Texas death penalty statute is unconstitutional.

Area historian Megan Hutter, who is compiling a book detailing some of the remarkable people and achievements connected to the Heights, will present the session. It will feature maps, photos and other information chronicling the history of the community, which has been in existence just north of Upland since 1887.

The two barely played together last season, Splitter’s first in the NBA after emerging as one of the best players in Europe. But Popovich had paired them for about 108 minutes this season as of mid-February – two months and 25 games ago. It seemed like a signal that Popovich was ready to at least experiment with the Splitter/Duncan duo as a way to address the Spurs’ largest alleged weakness: the lack of a good secondary big-man defender next to Duncan, and a resulting inability to defend teams with two behemoth post players.

The Grizzlies exposed that flaw in upsetting the Spurs in the first round last season, and head-to-head matchups become paramount in the playoffs. With the Lakers, Clippers and Grizzlies fighting for seeds 3-5 in the Western Conference, the Spurs — who are in good position to get the top seed — are likely to face one of the league’s top two-headed post attacks in the second round. That likelihood becomes a certainty if the Lakers slip to fourth, into a first-round matchup with Memphis.

And don’t discount the Clippers. Only a miracle blunder stopped the Clips from taking two of three from the Spurs this season, and the sheer size of the DeAndre Jordan/Blake Griffin combo creates problems for San Antonio, even if Jordan isn’t an accomplished back-to-the-basket scorer. Jordan is huge and long, and he can hurt teams on the offensive glass. The Spurs have gone long stretches using Duncan on Jordan and Matt Bonner/DeJuan Blair on Griffin during the three meetings between the teams.

Alas, Popovich scrapped the Splitter/Duncan pairing in Tuesday’s victory after it (once again) failed to produce enough offense. The Spurs have scored just 97.6 points per 100 possessions in the minutes those two have played together, the equivalent of what Washington’s 29th-ranked offense has produced this season, per NBA.com’s stats database. San Antonio leads the league in scoring overall, so that drop-off is huge. Only two of the 50 player pairs that have logged at least 80 minutes for the Spurs this season have had a worse impact on the team’s offense. One such pair features a player no longer on the team (Richard Jefferson), and the other includes one who just arrived (Stephen Jackson).

Duncan has looked spry of late, but he’s not a consistent back-to-the-basket threat anymore. Point guard Tony Parker, for all his brilliance, is a non-threat from three-point range. The Spurs, as a result, have built a lights-out offense around fast-moving pick-and-rolls, quick-hitting passes from one side of the court to the other and lineups that feature at least two very good three-point shooters (and ideally, three) to spread the floor around the central pick-and-roll.

The Splitter/Duncan pairing cramps that style, even though both are wonderful pick-and-roll players and clever passers. Space is cramped in the lane, meaning wing defenders don’t have to help as far off San Antonio’s outside shooters in order to thwart the initial pick-and-roll. Splitter has thus found a home as the only non-shooter on several second-unit groups that carve up defenses by running Manu Ginobili/Splitter pick-and-rolls surrounded by Matt Bonner and two wing shooters. Good luck against that.

But Bonner and Blair will inevitably struggle against Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph and Griffin, and the Spurs won’t be able to go super-small, with Jackson or rookie Kawhi Leonard at power forward, against such post-oriented teams. Boris Diaw has the bulk and quick feet to bother some post players. The Spurs have been stingy when Diaw and Duncan play together, though the sample size is small (just 83 minutes). Still,  Diaw is not tall enough to check someone like Gasol, and he’s just not equipped to handle this kind of duty for long stretches without help.

The Splitter/Duncan pairing has become the white whale for San Antonio fans, but it seems unlikely at this point that Popovich will make it a significant feature of his postseason rotation. This might not be a factor at all if the matchups break right, but if they break wrong, the Spurs could be in trouble.

There are some caveats, though. The Spurs have actually done quite well against post-up plays this season. They rank 10th in points allowed per possession on post-ups, and opponents devote about 10 percent of their possessions against San Antonio to post-up chances, a league-average rate, per Synergy Sports. Opposing players are shooting an almost-unbelievable 26.5 percent (18-of-65) man to man against Bonner in the post. They have torched Blair to the tune of 51 percent in the post, and if recent lineup patterns are an indication, Blair may see his role cut during the playoffs — at least against some potential opponents.

Bonner isn’t exactly ripped or fast, but he understands positioning and opponent tendencies, and (like just about every Spur, save some occasional Blair gambles) he doesn’t lunge out of position for steals or commit fouls. The Spurs are also clever at helping inside without over-committing. Many of their wing players, including the Danny Green/Leonard combination in the starting lineup, have long arms and can make entry passes difficult — especially if they are guarding a non-shooter, allowing them to play a step further back toward the post. When opponents do enter the ball, the Spurs will have one of their perimeter players dart in and back or, if possible, have their second big man shift just a tiny bit toward the ball. This kind of stuff won’t work all the time, but it at least gives interior scorers some pause and can result in some picked-up dribbles.

San Antonio’s defense, by the way, has gotten better as the season has gone along, even as offense league-wide has surged. In the last 15 games, the Spurs have allowed just 98.2 points per 100 possessions, a mark that would rank about fifth overall for the season, per NBA.com. They’re on the verge of cracking the top 10 in points allowed per possession after lingering around the 13-15 range all year. The Spurs’ schedule has been somewhat soft over those 15 games, but two of their only defensive hiccups  in that stretch have come against New Orleans and Sacramento. They’ve been mostly stout against the best offenses over the last 20 games, and they have shut down the decent teams with below-average offenses (Memphis, Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas).

Meanwhile, the Spurs’ offense just keeps on scorching everyone. The combination of a top-level offense and a slightly above-average defense might not be Popovich’s dream combination, but it appears to be the best one available. And it may well be good enough to win the title — even if the matchups break the wrong way.

The 16-year-old, financially-challenged company has been staggering toward its demise for months, if not years, but its fate was all but assured in early January when it canceled its scheduled performances of “Don Giovanni” and closed its offices. The final straw was apparently a lawsuit filed last week by the American Federation of Musicians demanding promised compensation for its musicians for the last minute cancellation of a 2010 production of “Daughter of the Regiment.” The company’s attorney said it had no assets.

At the same time, Opera Theater San Antonio announced plans to start operations with a gala concert in 2013 and take the San Antonio Opera’s place at the now under-construction Tobin Center with its first production in 2015. We wish them luck.

Rudy Purificato, a longtime military historian who is producing a public television documentary series on Brooks to air this year, called the plan a “grand design” for the historic Hangar 9 and adjacent Sidney Brooks Memorial, where the base’s namesake is buried.

“It was make or miss. I just didn’t want him to go by me,” said Duncan, who had 10 points and 16 rebounds. “To be honest with you, he probably got the shot he wanted.”

Green played his rookie season for Cleveland, which cut him at the end of training camp in 2011. He’s found a new home with the Spurs, who built a 22-point lead in the first half and rested Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili for most of the fourth quarter in pushing their lead to 37.

The goal of the program is to provide economical alternative to car ownership to people living and working downtown. Tourists and business travelers may make use of the program.

His girlfriend, Julie Navejar, was 16 when their 7-week-old daughter, Jayda, was found dead in 2009 outside a fire station. A note left with the girl suggested she was alive when dropped off and deserved a better life.

But he’s heading into neighboring Texas on Thursday to address USAA in San Antonio.

USAA is a financial services and insurance giant that primarily serves military veterans and their families.

Santorum also has a fundraiser scheduled in Dallas before heading back to Louisiana.