Five stories that have North Texas talking: Ahmed Mohamed withdraws from Irving ISD; the Dallas County district attorney extends her leave of absence; the Cowboys’ Tony Romo will miss two months; and more.
The Muslim teen who was arrested for making a clock that was mistaken for a bomb has withdrawn from Irving ISD, his family says. Ahmed Mohamed's father, Mohamed El-Hassan Mohamed, is still figuring out where he should go to school, The Dallas Morning News reports. His siblings were also pulled out of Irving ISD. On Monday, Ahmed was in California visiting Google. On Wednesday, his family says he’ll head to the United Nations. And then Mohamed wants to take his son to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Catch up on our earlier coverage of how Ahmed became a social media sensation. MacArthur High students sounded off about what happened to Ahmed. And Ahmed talked about his newfound fame.
- The Dallas County district attorney, who has been out of the office since late July to seek treatment for depression, is extending her leave two more weeks. Susan Hawk plans to return to work on Oct. 2. Hawk announced late last month she was taking four unpaid weeks off. That came after a three-week absence for what she called a “serious episode of depression.” WFAA-TV obtained a statement that Hawk sent to her staff Monday. Hawk has previously acknowledged getting a doctor's help in weaning herself from medication for back pain in 2013. Hawk took office in January. Read more here.
- The Dallas Cowboys have a clearer timetable for the return of Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo, who broke his left collarbone in Sunday's win at Philadelphia. The team says Romo is expected to miss about two months but will not require surgery. Coach Jason Garrett says tests revealed no ligament damage for Romo after the second broken collarbone of his career. Romo was injured while getting sacked in the third quarter of a 20-10 victory over the Eagles. The injury current makes Brandon Weeden the starter for Dallas. [Associated Press]
- Dallas photographer Laura Wilson's images of the American West are featured in a new exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. The exhibit featuring more than 70 of her photographs runs through Feb. 14. Wilson, who worked with photographer Richard Avedon on his project photographing the American West, is the mother of actors Andrew, Owen and Luke Wilson. Her husband is Robert A. “Bob” Wilson, one of KERA-TV’s first chief executive officers. Recently, Laura Wilson talked about her photography on Think on KERA 90.1 FM – listen to the conversation here. [Associated Press/KERA]
- A musical opening in Dallas gets some national attention. The New York Times has more on Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical: “Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally sat across from each other at one end of a long conference table in a long conference room on a high-up floor at the Wyly Theater here. It was an early September morning, and they were tired. The night before had been the first full dress rehearsal of ‘Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical,’ for which they had been writing songs since 2013 — an extension of the long working relationship that has made them two of the most in-demand and disruptive songwriters in country music. For six weeks they had been at the Dallas Theater Center fine-tuning in advance of the … opening. Generally, though, their work takes place 650 miles to the northeast in Nashville, where “musical” is a four-letter word.” KERA’s Jerome Weeks reported on the musical – read his story on Art&Seek.
