Five stories that have Texas talking: 鈥淜iller Bees鈥� swarm in central Texas, Gov. Perry goes after jobs in other states with Texas swagger, hate speech charted through Twitter and more.
A Central Texas man was killed over the weekend after being stung to death by Africanized bees. Larry Goodwin, a 62-year-old resident of Moody, reportedly drove his tractor into a wood pile that concealed a hive of 鈥渒iller bees.鈥� The bees swarmed him, and two women tried to help, but they were stung, too. Goodwin was pronounced dead at the scene. Family members say every square inch of his exposed skin was covered in stings.
Allen Miller, the bee removal specialist who got rid of the giant hive from Saturday鈥檚 attack, estimates there were 40,000 bees inside it. He says he鈥檚 run into five cases of Africanized hives in the last month, and that鈥檚 more than he usually sees all year. []
- Blue States Seeing Red: Gov. Rick Perry鈥檚 bold campaign to lure companies to Texas is making some prominent Democrats hot under the collar. With the promise of a low taxes and a pro-growth atmosphere, Perry is buying up radio time and ad space in states like California and Illinois. He wants businesses to move to the Lone Star State, plain and simple. He wasn鈥檛 mincing words with this full-page ad in : 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a business owner in Illinois, I want to express my admiration for your ability to survive in an environment that, intentionally or not, is designed for you to fail. There is an escape route to economic freedom 鈥� a route to Texas.鈥� Is this smart marketing or has Perry gone too far? lets the experts weigh in.
- 40 Years Later, Town Still Feels Tornado: The whole country was watching Oklahoma Friday as another round of severe weather blitzed the Sooner State. And the news wasn鈥檛 good; , including children and storm chasers, and experts say a handful of people are still missing. With the May 20 tornado in Moore and the fresh in our minds, NPR鈥檚 Noah Adams takes us back in time to 1974鈥檚 Xenia, Ohio. The town near Dayton was gutted by a tornado on April 3. The storm was so powerful, railroad cars were derailed and thousands of buildings were destroyed. When the dust cleared, 33 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured. about how far they鈥檝e come, and how close they keep their memories.
- Rockwall Educates Parents About Teen Suicide: After two young students took their own lives this spring, Rockwall ISD is trying to keep parents plugged into the realities of teen suicide. Tomorrow night at 6:30 a forum called will be held at the Rockwall High Performing Arts Center. This comes after eighth grader Brianna Escobedo fatally shot herself May 22 and Rockwall High School freshman Hanna Clark committed suicide in late April. Hanna鈥檚 parents, Tim and Raina Clark, told the they didn鈥檛 see any warning signs. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt in my mind that this was an impulse suicide,鈥� says Tim Clark. 鈥淚t has been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare, because she was everything to us. She was so full of life.鈥�
- Is Twitter A Compass For Hate Speech?: A Humboldt State University professor and a team of students sifted through 150,000 negative tweets, looking specifically for racial slurs and hate speech against sexual preference. It wasn鈥檛 hard to find, nor was it difficult to plot on a map. Some states like California didn鈥檛 have much hate speech, but it was a different story in Texas. The term 鈥渨etback,鈥� which ties Latinos to illegal immigration, was most used in the Lone Star State, but interestingly enough, not necessarily in communities near the border. []
