Texas

The news made Nihad Awad sick to his stomach. Like the rest of the nation, Awad, who heads the Council on American-Islamic Relations, learned this week that it allegedly was a Muslim who opened fire at a U.S. Army base in Texas, killing 13 people and injuring many more. According to witnesses, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan issued the great, exalting cry of his faith before opening fire: " Allahu akbar !" God is great. Hearing the story, Awad too would invoke his maker -- but with a weary lament that is echoing coast to coast among American Muslims.

Given the choice of getting his quarterback a school record or playing it safe and sane, Coach Mack Brown and No. 2 Texas took the high road in a 35-3 win over Central Florida. Brown removed Colt McCoy with just over nine minutes to play, even though the senior was just three yards short of matching the school record for yards passing in a game. McCoy completed 33 of 42 passes for 470 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Brown said he decided against putting McCoy back in the game to show sportsmanship and because of the possibility of injury.

The radical cleric contacted by accused Ft. Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has such unmistakable connections to past terrorist plots that his e-mail exchanges with the American should have triggered an all-out investigation, a number of officials and experts now believe. Anwar al Awlaki is an extremist whose sermons have helped radicalize terrorists from Atlanta to New Jersey to London, including cases in which the U.S. military was targeted. A well-spoken Yemeni American, Awlaki has emerged as the leading ideologue for a homegrown generation of young militants who conspire over the Internet.

Mexico sent 10 drug smuggling suspects to the United States, capping a record year for extraditions between the countries. The suspects, who will face charges in California, Texas, Florida and Georgia, bring to 95 the number extradited from Mexico to the United States this year, the U.S. Embassy said.

Regarding Hugo Martin's article ["Come Fly With Me," March 29]: I was born in Port Arthur, Texas, and grew up in Houston and made Galveston my home. I'm living in California with my husband who lives here, or I would still be in Texas. Martin said High Island is neither high nor an island, but I say it is both. You don't understand this, because you live in California, where an island is like Catalina and sea level happens at the shore. But if you look on the Internet, you will see a picture of High Island taken after Hurricane Ike, and it is clearly an island surrounded by water.

Thanks for Hugo Martin's update on Galveston, Texas ["Battered Island on the Rebound," April 12]. I greatly enjoyed the article. I grew up in southeast Texas, and Galveston was the place to go for summer vacations and even great weekends. Galveston is a very charming city. Though it can't hold a candle to Malibu, it is, for all practical purposes, southeast Texas' version of Malibu. I can't believe all they've been through, but I am glad they are hanging in there and trying to rebuild.

Monday through Wednesday: Rangers at Angel Stadium Friday through July 12: Yankees at Angel Stadium The Texas Rangers, trying to dethrone the Angels in the American League West, make their first visit to Anaheim this season. The teams have played six games in Texas, with the Rangers winning five and scoring at least nine runs three times. Then come the New York Yankees, with first baseman Mark Teixeira and pitcher CC Sabathia visiting Anaheim for the first time since rejecting nine-figure contract offers from the Angels in favor of higher bids from the Yankees.

Don Yarborough, 83, who was a three-time gubernatorial candidate in Texas during the 1960s and whose challenge to incumbent Gov. John B. Connally was one of the reasons President Kennedy decided to make a swing through Texas in November 1963, died Wednesday at his home in Houston of complications from Parkinson's disease. Yarborough was born in New Orleans in 1925. He served in the Marine Corps at the close of World War II and received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1950.

NFL stadium: An article in the Sept. 20 Travel section on the state-of-the-art features of a new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys incorrectly reported that the stadium's site, Arlington, Texas, is south of Dallas. Arlington is west of Dallas.

Berkeley Breathed: An article about "Bloom County" creator Berkeley Breathed in Saturday's Calendar said that he arrived at the University of Texas at Austin in 1978 at age 18. He was indeed 18 when he started there but the year was 1975.