Jan 30, 2015

EoT: It’s Southwest, Not Middle East, Y’all

A roundup of news, columns and features about the state, from media around the world.

On a day when hundreds of Muslims traveled to the Texas Capitol to learn about politics, one state representative rolled out the not-welcome mat at her office.

The Daily Kos reports that Rep. Molly White, R-Belton, “pulled a quill from her quiver of insanity” on Texas Muslim Capitol Day by requiring any Muslim visitor to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly declare allegiance to the United States. She left an Israeli flag on her reception desk to underscore her message.

She makes no apologies. On a Facebook post, White stated that “if you love America,” you need to “obey our laws and condemn Islamic terrorism.”

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As long as he never changes clothes – or takes off the ski mask – an armed robbery suspect may be easy to find.

Police in the Houston suburb of Rosenberg released a sketch of the wanted man. He was wearing a ski mask and a Los Angeles Dodgers jersey at the time of the theft, so naturally, the sketch artist drew him just as the witnesses saw him, the New York Daily News reports.

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Some parents in a Dallas suburb want the name of their new high school to be more Southwest than Middle East.

They are battling with the Frisco school board over the name of its newest school: Lebanon High, the BBC reports. Proposed alternatives include Freedom High, a name that would fit with other high schools in the area: Liberty, Lone Star and Independence.

The name comes from an old farming town that once stood in its place. Parent Liffey Skender says Lebanon reminds her of “all the sad … turmoil that goes on in the Middle East.” Other parents echo her sentiment, saying Lebanon doesn’t sound Texan.