A Texas company is closer to forcing Lance Armstrong to return about $12 million in bonuses he was paid for winning the Tour de France while secretly using performance-enhancing drugs. In a key ruling against Armstrong, a Texas arbitration panel in Austin said Wednesday it would consider Dallas-based SCA Promotions’ appeal to recover its money. The company tried to prove Armstrong used steroids and other drugs and doping methods in 2005, but ultimately agreed to pay him in a 2006 settlement. Armstrong’s attorneys have argued the settlement is irreversible. But the same three-person arbitration panel that presided over the original dispute ruled 2-1 that the settlement gave the panel jurisdiction to decide all future disagreements. – Associated Press