Houston

HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush has been admitted to the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital "following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever," but he is alert and talking to medical staff, his spokesman said Wednesday. Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said in a brief e-mail that Bush was admitted to the ICU at Methodist Hospital on Sunday. He said doctors are cautiously optimistic about his treatment and that the former president "remains in guarded condition.

HOUSTON - A Houston traffic stop ended with a gunman shooting and killing a police officer and a bystander on Christmas Eve in the parking lot of a body shop, police said. The incident that began shortly before 9 a.m. Monday quickly deteriorated from a traffic stop into a violent confrontation when the suspect sped off in his black car rather than pull over, police spokesman John Cannon said. As the suspect fled, he sideswiped a white truck, which also took off after him, he said. The suspect and the truck's driver eventually pulled into a nearby Maaco body shop, and that is when the officer with the Bellaire Police Department approached the vehicle, Cannon said.

Vikings 23, Texans 6 HOUSTON - Adrian Peterson rushed for 86 yards, falling far short of the 2,000-yard mark, to help 9-6 Minnesota keep its playoff hopes alive with an upset of 12-3 Houston. Peterson has 1,898 rushing yards and needs 208 to break the NFL single-season record of 2,105 set by the Los Angeles Rams' Eric Dickerson in 1984. Minnesota 7 6 3 7 – 23 Houston 3 0 3 0 – 6 First quarter Hou–FG S.Graham 51, 10:50. Min–Rudolph 3 pass from Ponder (Walsh kick)

APHILADELPHIA COP was arrested Sunday at the Houston Texans' stadium for resisting arrest, according to the Houston Police Department. Police were called to the Crown Royal Saloon at Reliant Stadium in Houston about 2:40 p.m. during the Texans-Colts game for a report of a disturbance. Details of the disturbance were few, but Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said that Neil Kohler, 46, was charged with resisting arrest, though he didn't know why officers had tried to arrest him in the first place.

Jose Calderon collected 18 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds to lead shorthanded Toronto over the visiting Houston Rockets, 103-96, on Sunday. Calderon started for the third consecutive game in place of Kyle Lowry, who has a tear in his right triceps. Andrea Bargnani also is out with a torn ligament in his right elbow. Calderon held Rockets guard Jeremy Lin to just seven points and two assists the day before Lin faces his former team, the New York Knicks, at Madison Square Garden.

THROUGH WEEK 13, I'm hitting on 56.7 percent of my picks, which isn't all that bad. Problem is, my pool requires us to rank each team that we take, No. 1 through No. 8. The No. 1 team is worth eight points, the No. 2 team is worth seven, the No. 3 is worth six, and so on. Long story short, I haven't had the greatest of luck with where I rank my teams. So now it is going to take something close to perfection, a "Remember the Titans"-type run to finish the season near the top of the standings.

HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush was in a Houston hospital Thursday for continuing treatment of a lingering cough. Bush, 88, has been in and out of the hospital recently for complications resulting from bronchitis, Methodist Hospital said in a brief statement. The hospital and Bush's spokesman in Houston, Jim McGrath, described Bush as in stable condition and said that they expected the former president to be released by the weekend. He's been under hospital care for nearly a week.

HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush was in a Houston hospital Thursday for continuing treatment of a lingering cough. Bush, 88, has been in and out of the hospital recently for complications resulting from bronchitis, Methodist Hospital said in a brief statement. The hospital and Bush's spokesman in Houston, Jim McGrath, described Bush as in stable condition and said they expected the former president to be released by the weekend. He has been under hospital care for nearly a week.

A WEEK THAT began with Ruben Amaro Jr. confident he could upgrade his team before next week's Winter Meetings is likely to end with the Phillies general manager empty-handed and still looking to fill two big holes on the roster. The widely reported proposed trade that had the Phillies acquiring Houston reliever Wilton Lopez went from on the verge of completion on Wednesday to dead on Thursday, according to a baseball source. The deal would have cost the Phils two prospects and netted Amaro and Co. a young, proven and inexpensive reliever who could fill the team's need of a setup man in front of closer Jonathan Papelbon.

IT'S A SHAME the Giants' Martellus Bennett doesn't play for the Eagles. He'd come in handy if distraught fans start leaping from the upper deck of the Linc. Don't laugh, Bennett has experience in such matters. The tight end had three catches in a win over the Packers on Sunday. But his biggest grab came after the game when he caught a middle-aged man who had fallen over a railing. Bennett was walking toward the tunnel that leads to the locker room when he made the clutch catch of the fan, who had fallen approximately 15 feet.