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North Texas Teenager Becomes Youngest Professional Bowling Champion Since 1979

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Anthony Simonsen, 19, represented Princeton, Texas by winning a major professional bowling tournament.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: President Obama will appoint court justice Scalia’s successor in “due time”; Houston banned suspension for early elementary students; Jeb Bush’s looking to his older brother for help; and more.

Anthony Simonsen of Princeton, Texas won the U.S. Bowling Congress Masters in Indianapolis on Sunday, becoming the youngest champion since 1979. The 19-year-old beat “Canadian amateur Dan MacLelland of Canada 245-207 in the title match, rolling strikes on eight of his first nine shots,” the Associated Press reported. And MacLelland beat another Texan — Wes Malott of Pflugerville — 216-213 in the semifinal match.

Credit Bowl.com
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Bowl.com
Anthony Simonsen

The Indianapolis Star published a feature on Simonsen before the big weekend. “Anthony Simonsen likes to joke he’s been bowling since before he was born. That’s because his mom was in a bowling alley at nine months pregnant with him when his dad bowled one of his several perfect games.” The story also mentioned Simonsen bowling with two hands, not typical form but becoming more acceptable in the sport. “

 

According to the Star, Simonsen joined the PBA Tour in 2013 at 16 when he dropped out of high school late in his freshman year. “He had ‘some family stuff back home’ (Simonsen declined to talk about it more in-depth) and felt if he was going to start bowling for money to support himself, he said, the timing just worked out.”

Read more. [AP, Indianapolis Star]

  • Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes at a ranch near Marfa while visiting friends on Saturday. The 79-year-old’s death will be ruled as a heart attack, according to The Texas Tribune. NPR writes of the late justice and staunch conservative: “In his 29 years on the court, Scalia achieved almost a cult following for his acerbic dissents, which in many ways shaped the ongoing legal debate over how courts should interpret the Constitution.” President Obama will appoint a successor in “due time,” much to the chagrin of Senate Republicans, “who have already said a replacement should not come until a new president is elected.” Read more. [Texas Tribune, NPR]

  • Houston ISD is the first big school system to ban suspensions for children in second grade and below. The Texas Observer reported: “Community groups and child advocates supported the change, inspired by research suggesting that suspending students so young was not only ineffective, but perpetuated racial inequity in the school system.” In November some people, wanting the choice to enforce suspension to be left to the individual principal, started to question the ban. But, two months later, the tide changed again and Friday night the school board made it official “with a 6-3 vote to ban suspensions for young students, except in cases where state law requires it. Those “statutory” violations include acts of violence or bringing a weapon to school.” Read more. [The Texas Observer]

 

  • At this point in the presidential race, Jeb Bush is bringing in backup — his older brother. George W. Bush has laid low on the political front in the years following his presidency, but younger brother Jeb is finally asking for a boost. NPR reported the two will be together during a rally tonight in North Charleston, South Carolina. “George W. Bush is still thought to be popular in the state, especially in the low country, where there are strong military ties. It's a region where Jeb Bush needs to perform well.” Read more. [NPR]

Watch George Bush’s campaign commercial for Jeb:

  • What nail salons are to Walmart, tattoo parlors are to Whole Foods. In the competitive organic grocery store world, attracting millennials is a priority. However, most millennials can’t afford to shop at places like Whole Foods on the regular, so there needs to be greater incentive besides better quality. The Austin-based company is considering establishing in-store tattoo parlors to do the trick. Texas Monthly reported: “Well, ‘tattoos’ isn’t the whole answer. Currently, Whole foods is planning on opening a series of smaller, cheaper stores that compete more directly with Trader Joe’s, under the branding “365 by Whole Foods Market. Those stores aim to reach millennials and budget-conscious families who would rather not eat GMO-modified and factory-farmed foods, but who prefer to save their discretionary budgets for some additional skin art. Or something like that.” Read more. [Texas Monthly]