The Midday Brief: May 20, 2010

Your afternoon reading.

“El Paso trailed only Honolulu for the lowest crime rate for cities with more than 500,000 population in an annual publication released Monday by CQ Press. The ranking is based on crime data for 2008.” — El Paso 2nd safest U.S. city: Ranking a contrast to violence across border — El Paso Times

“A week after insisting that Perry allow an independent audit of the Texas Enterprise Fund, which the governor uses to entice companies to relocate to Texas, and a few days after a poll showed Perry lengthening his lead over White, the White campaign suggested for the first time that some campaign contributors were, in effect, repaying the governor for grants they received from the fund.” — White camp blasts Perry over fund use — San Antonio Express-News

“If you think the new Social Studies TEKS proposed by the SBOE are outrageous, and are concerned about their effects on textbooks, check this out from "New History." — Remembering History: Texas History Textbook from 1895 — Musings

“BP said today it is now siphoning 5,000 barrels of oil a day from a leak in the broken riser pipe lying a mile under the Gulf, yet more continues to flow out.” —Capture rate suggests oil flow exceeds estimate — Houston Chronicle

“As much as they might want to defer the conversation, the politically charged issue of illegal immigration continues to dog members of the Obama administration.” — Md. second-grader gives first lady pop quiz on immigration — The Washington Post

“In the first address to Congress by a foreign national leader this year, Calderon is delivering a message that the two countries must cooperate to improve security along the often-violent border and to control the flow of immigrants into the U.S.” — Mexico's Calderon urges US to curb drug demand — The Associated Press