Do you know who you are?

From its airport to minor league baseball, Sugar Land sweetens its identitycrisis

The Sugar Land Lizard Kings?
Sugar Land's Cultural Entertainment District concept plan with baseball stadium
Sugar Land ... where names are a struggle.
How about those Skeeters!
Sugar Land Regional Airport ...
Photo by WhisperToMe/Wikipedia
King Canes

Our neighbor to the southwest, Sugar Land, is mixing up the local nomenclature. The Sugar Land Regional Airport's fixed based operator is rebranding itself as Global Select in an effort to set it apart from other municipally-operated airports and market its state-of-the-art amenities.

The name switch echoes the recent contest to pick a moniker for the burb's minor league team. The committee ignored our brilliant choices, including The White Flight and the Delays, leaving three final picks that have been voted upon by locals. First in that list was Sugar Land King Canes, which Examiner.com suggests "honors the pride and winning attitude of our region."

Another of the final options, culled from more than 8,000 submissions, the Sugar Land Lizard Kings, refers to the Texas state reptile, which Sugar Landers identify with as "crafty and cunning." The Sugar Land Skeeters also made the cut. Promoters believe that mosquitos shows how "America has an itch for baseball" while appealing to a young crowd.

The still unnamed team hasn't announced the winner yet.

"The finalists take into consideration the tradition and history of our region, plus the desire expressed by many to see a 'fun and unusual' name," team president Matt O'Brien told the Examiner.

Yet the tawdry trio points to a wider identity crisis afflicting Sugar Land. Recent months have seen the suburb mimicking Houston with its own restaurant week and fashion week. These copycat events arrived shortly after the sad Sugar Land Town Square "think big" Google rally in March, which drew less than 200 attendees.

The most ironic aspect of this bedroom community's placeless-ness is the baseball team's attempt to hold on to the area's agricultural heritage. While the minor league franchise gears up for bat, Sugar Land's ever-expanding subdivisions are contributing to Texas leading the nation in loss of farmland.

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”