The State of Texas: June 17, 2014

Video of the Day

As evidenced by this reverse police cam, Rosenberg cops know how to party. According to KVUE, “Aerial Ronell and Ranell Roy filmed themselves singing to Katy Perry because they wanted to give the ‘inside scoop’ of what goes on in a patrol car.” It’s certainly an exclusive new video:

Daily Roundup

State of Emergency — The situation at the border is getting so dire that “State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, said Monday that he and other conservative lawmakers are urging the state’s Republican leadership to call a special legislative session to address the influx of undocumented immigrants in South Texas,” according to the Texas Tribune. The cynics might call this a bit of politicking, but this contingent appears ready to put the money where its mouth is: “Stickland said he and others would consider tapping into the state’s Rainy Day Fund for the state-based border security initiative if the federal government did not provide relief. Details of the plan would probably be debated should a special session be called.”

Trouble With Down Under — Not even the Austin American-Statesman and the Associated Press could resist a pun in this story: It would seem that “The Texas agriculture commissioner on Monday aired a beef with Chipotle Mexican Grill and wants to talk with its founder after the company decided to import grass-fed beef from Australia.” In a rather direct letter, the “shocked” commissioner, Todd Staples, called Chipotle’s decision to get its beef from down under, “misguided,” “irresponsible,” and “foolish.” For its part, Chipotle said the number of cattle in the U.S.—the lowest since 1952—means “there are fewer animals that meet the company protocol of using no hormones or antibiotics.”

Jaws II — Just in time for ocean-swimming season, two great white sharks are heading for Texas. “A satellite picked up a ‘ping’ from Katherine, a more than two thousand pound great white shark about 100 miles south west of the Florida coast. In another week she could be past the Mississippi river, a week after that she could be right here, off the coast of the Lone Star State, researchers said,” according to the Houston Chronicle. “Another, Betsy, was tracked on June 5 about 120 miles west of Sanibel Island, Fla.” If you really want to have fun this summer, there’s an app for all this. “Beach goers can track her path via the Ocearch website and match it up with their vacations to see if she swam by them.”

Back in the Limelight — The Great Lime Shortage of 2014 appears to be over. The reason? It’s lime season, and this great fruit apparently grows like weeds. “Prices skyrocketed this spring from the usual $10-$12 for a 40-pound box of limes to up to $125, forcing shoppers and restaurateurs to do the unthinkable — substitute lemons in such staples as margaritas and guacamole,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “The high prices were mostly caused by last year’s bad weather, when tropical storms and hurricanes blew the blooms off trees and delayed harvesting for much of Mexico’s lime crop. News articles explored the other reasons for the lime crisis, which included disease and the influence of Mexican drug cartels.” As the Star-Telegram notes, the lime shortage is ending just as Margarita Man, Jimmy Buffet, comes into town. Which actually might be the one reason to wish the shortage continued.