WASHINGTON

KILLEEN

WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Reserve, pledging a

Area leaders and law enforcement officials gathered on the campus of Scott and White Memorial Hospital Wednesday to initiate a coalition devoted to promoting helmet use.The organization, called Waco Traffic Safety District Promotion Coalition, will implement and evaluate a comprehensive, community-based program to increase helmet ownership and usage among child bicyclists, in-line skaters and skate boarders in Bell and McLennan counties.

HOUSTON

A group of parents worried about the future of the fine arts curriculum in the Temple school district is sponsoring a public interest meeting on Saturday, Feb. 3.The session scheduled from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Cultural Activities Center will feature a presentation by Dr. John Benham, a fine arts advocate from Minnesota, who tours the country speaking and presenting facts on the importance of fine arts programs in schools.Sponsoring the session and Benham

WACO (AP)

If the Houston Astros have a mantra coming off a disappointing 2000 season, it'll likely be this: turn the page."I hope everybody's put last year behind us," pitcher Scott Elarton said. "I don't know what happened last year. It's history, so there's no use worrying about it now."Elarton and other Astros players and officials were in Temple Wednesday concluding the team's four-day stop in the area as part of its annual off-season caravan. The team is owned by Temple businessman Drayton McLane Jr.For a squad that established itself as a National League power in winning Central Division titles from 1997-99, 2000 was a humbling experience for the Astros, who finished 72-90, good for fourth place.Moving to Enron Field after 35 seasons at the Astrodome, the team never got comfortable in its new surroundings. In their first three homestands, the Astros lost 13 of 19 games, a performance that set the tone for an at-times nightmarish season."It was more of a problem than we anticipated," manager Larry Dierker said of the move. "It was a park that was vastly different than the Astrodome from the standpoint of offense and I think a lot of the pitchers got psyched out."Last year, our problems in our own home park were the source of our psychological problems overall. If you can't play well at home, you've got no chance." by Greg Rajan

Temple College's basketball teams knew what not to expect against Grayson County College on Wednesday night at TC Gym.TC's women knew Grayson wasn't going to come in and beat them by 54 points, as last year's Lady Vikings team that went 30-0 in the regular season did.TC's men knew Grayson wasn't going to come in and be overpowered, as last year's Vikings squad that went 1-29 did in losing by 41.The home teams' scouting reports on Grayson were accurate, but not enough for the Lady Leopards to pull off an upset or for the Leopards to suffer a surprise defeat.The TC women came back from an 11-point deficit to force overtime, but Grayson dominated the extra session to earn a 78-72 victory in the first half of the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference doubleheader.Later, the TC men came out determined to show that Grayson

BELTON

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)