Carrie Brownstein helped start Sleater-Kinney, the celebrated punk trio, when she was still in college. That band split in 2006, and though Brownstein kept busy — as a blogger and commentator for NPR Music, among other things — she says that by the end of 2010, she was feeling antsy.

Amnesty International offered new evidence today of what it said was the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on protesters. The human rights organization said the mutilated body of 18-year-old Zainab al-Hosni, the first woman known to have died in custody during Syria's recent unrest, was discovered by her family in "horrific circumstances."

That anyone with bedbugs in their home would resort to desperate measures to get rid of them comes as no surprise. The insects are some of the most aggravating and entrenched of any bug that bites or buzzes around us. But a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the DIY approach to bedbug control is a pretty risky enterprise.

COMMERCE - The Commerce City Council has elected to send two councilmen to a mediation hearing on October 25 concerning the city's lawsuit against Mayor Quay Throgmorton.

After consulting with their attorney's during executive session Tuesday night, council determined they would work to resolve the dispute through a mediator. Richard Hill and John Sands were appointed to attend.

WOLFE CITY - The search continues for a Wolfe City woman who first went missing four years ago Friday.

Officials say there are no additional leads or clues into the disappearance of Lisa Chandler. The case does remain open. Chandler's family has posted a $1,000 reward for information.

SULPHUR SPRINGS - Hopkins County Precinct 2 Constable Larry Argenbreit has announced he will not seek another term in office. Argenbreit has held the position for 16 years. He will serve the remainder of his term, which ends on December 31, 2012.

Meanwhile, Precinct 1 Constable Norman Colyer says he'll seek his first full term in office. Following last year's retirement of Roger "Tex" Maynard, Colyer was appointed to fill the remainder of his term.

GREENVILLE - An Austin-area based demolition firm has filed a general denial of a lawsuit filed by Hunt County and state environmental officials alleging illegal dumping.

A&R Demolition, of Del Valle, is alleged to have illegally dumped materials from demolished Texas A&M University-Commerce buildings last year.

The suit was filed in July. No hearing or trial dates had been set concerning the suit as of Wednesday.

An intoxication manslaughter charge has been levied against Kimberly Sherill for a August 17 wreck that led to the death of a Royse City man.

The charge was issued this week following an investigation by State Troopers and Sulphur Springs-Hopkins County Special Crimes unit officers.

Sherill was reportedly driving when she wrecked along Hwy 154, ejecting Jeremy Hargrove from the vehicle. Hargrove was then run over by an 18 wheeler.

Sherill is currently out on bond following her arrest in Wood County.

HUNTSVILLE - White supremacist gang member and former Sulphur Springs and Delta County resident Lawrence Russell Brewer has been executed for the infamous dragging death slaying of a black man from East Texas.

49-year-old James Byrd Jr. of Jasper was chained to the back of a pickup truck 13 years ago and pulled whip-like to his death along a bumpy asphalt road. It's one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history.