According to the reports, the driver of the truck had taken his eyes off the rode briefly and hit the 28-year-old officer when he swerved to avoid hitting the stopped vehicles.

Statewide, the average price of gas reached $3.45 a gallon, up from $3.39 a gallon a week ago. The national average is $3.52, a 3-cent increase over last week.

Twenty-two people were arrested and pleaded guilty in federal court this week to firearms charges. The suspects were as young as 20 years old, and agents said many of them were women who had been recruited to go into gun stores and buy the weapons.

“The last time we had Marines aboard was when we deployed Oct. 2008,” said Cmdr. Neil Koprowski, commanding officer of the USS San Antonio, “but since then we had very limited amounts of Marines.”

Of course, that fact has usually been premised on the assumption that the aging bodies of key players like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili tend to start a season healthy, only to deplete as months of wear and tear take their toll. So how is it that this year, with Ginobili sidelined since the sixth game of the season and a healthy Duncan producing at the statistical ebb of his career, the Spurs have still managed to win nearly 60% of their games.

The high court rejected a last-day appeal about two hours before Hernandez, 38, was set for lethal injection for the slaying of Susan Verstegen, an employee of snack maker Frito-Lay. She was attacked at a storage area behind a supermarket and her body was found dumped in a garbage barrel behind a San Antonio church.

That prisoner, Rodrigo Hernandez, was slated to die by injection Thursday for the abduction, rape and strangulation of 38-year-old Susan Verstegen. The execution would be the first of the year in Texas, which puts more prisoners to death than any other state and which is scheduled to kill at least six more inmates in the next several weeks.

Tim Duncan added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Spurs also snapped a streak of 10 consecutive road losses overall, dating to last season.

The Magic were led by Dwight Howard with 24 points and 25 rebounds. Ryan Anderson added 17, but it wasn’t enough for Orlando to overcome a dismal shooting night.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak and three-game home win streak against San Antonio. It also was the Magic’s only loss in their lone back-to-back-to-back of the season.

Both teams traded a pair of baskets to begin the extra period before and 18-foot jumper by Duncan made it 81-79 with under a minute to play in OT.

A dunk by Howard off a missed jumper by Jameer Nelson quickly tied it again before Gary Neal’s 3-pointer on the ensuing possession put the Spurs back up three.

Von Wafer drove, was able to spin in a layup and was fouled with 16.3 left, but missed the free throw.

Richard Jefferson was fouled on the rebound, though was able to connect on only one of his two free throws.

The Magic got multiple looks at a 3-pointer to win the game on their final possession, but J.J. Redick’s final swish from the top of the key was ruled to be after the final horn.

Parker scored 10 of the Spurs first 12 points of the fourth quarter to push San Antonio out to a 69-64 lead with less than eight minutes to play in regulation.