A 12-Year-Old From Texas Will Begin Classes At Cornell University Next Week

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Texas native Jeremy Shuler, 12, begins his freshman year in the Ivy League this fall; H-E-B bought six grocery stores in Dallas-Fort Worth; the State Fair of Texas announced its food finalists; and more.

When you’re reading English and Korean at age 2, studying pre-calc at 5 and acing the SAT at 10, it just makes sense to go college — make that Cornell — before you’re a teenager.

That’s the abbreviated story of Jeremy Schuler, a 12 year old from Texas. His parents, Harrey and Andy Shuler, both engineers, recognized their son’s unique abilities when he was around 3 months, according to The Washington Post. As an infant, he displayed a longer-than-normal attention span and a fascination with numbers and letters. A little more than a decade later, Jeremy was graduating high school from Texas Tech University Independent School District in Lubbock.

Aside from his advanced intellect, Jeremy is a normal pre-teen who likes fishing, Minecraft and the "Divergent" films. The family relocated to Ithaca, New York, so Jeremy can still live with them, and his mother plans to walk the campus with him at least for the first two weeks. His dad told the Post:

Jeremy plans to major in applied and engineering physics with a minor in math and pursue a career in academia. If he graduates on time at 16, he'll be the youngest graduate in Cornell's history. Read more about the Shulers. [The Washington Post]

• In state fair news, here are the eight food finalists for the Big Tex Choice Awards. The eight were announced early Wednesday morning: Caribbean Pineapple Korn-a-Copia, Deep Fried Bacon Burger Dog Slider on a Stick, Deep Fried Pulled Pork "FUNYUN" Dings, Fernie's Down Home Chicken Pot Pie Pocket with Mac 'n Cheese Dip, Fried JELL-O, Injectable Great Balls of BBQ, Southern Fried Chicken and Dumplins and State Fair Cookie Fries. Have questions? Check out the State Fair of Texas' page about this year's eats. [State Fair of Texas]

• San Antonio-based H-E-B/Central Market is making moves in North Texas. The state’s largest independent grocery chain recently purchased four Sun Fresh Markets in Uptown, Lake Highlands, Lakewood and Northwest Dallas and two more in McKinney and Grapevine. The expansion was expected for a long time, The Dallas Morning News reported. “Today, H-E-B, which dominates in the state with Wal-Mart, only has a 1.9 percent market share in the Dallas area.” Whether the handful of stores will be H-E-B or Central Market branches is unknown at this point. [The Dallas Morning News]

• Gov. Greg Abbott has committed almost all of the state's emergency funds for 2016-2017. Abbott’s staffers are blaming state budget writers, who “allotted nearly $50 million less in general revenue for disaster relief than what Abbott’s office had asked for ahead of the 2015 legislative session,” The Texas Tribune reported. The budget issue surfaced when the governor denied funding to Harris County lawmakers on June 30, after severe flooding had affected that part of the state. The Disaster Fund is fed by several sources, including general revenue funding. This source has weakened, falling from “$63.3 million in the previous biennium to $14.8 million in the current budget cycle.” [The Texas Tribune]  

• If one of your #fav7films doesn’t include one by Texas director Richard Linklater, you’re doing it wrong. But, there’s a chance to make amends tonight with a screening of “Dream is Destiny,” a new documentary on the Houston native’s life and work. The film, directed by South By Southwest co-founder Louis, will be presented at 8 p.m. at Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff. Here’s more on the film from the Facebook event. [Texas Theatre]

https://vimeo.com/151707655">Richard Linklater - dream is destiny from https://vimeo.com/bernsteindocumentary">Karen Bernstein on Vimeo.