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The Texas pledge of allegiance would change to include the words “one state under God” under legislation overwhelmingly approved Friday by the House. The bill by Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, was sent to the Senate on a 124-12 vote.

Opponents said the inclusion of religion in a state-sanctioned pledge amounted to religious oppression – particularly since it’s recited in school every morning.

The pledge would now be: “Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God and indivisible.”

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ALBANY, Oregon (AP) — These guys were not exactly Snap, Crackle and Pop.

What began as a faint popping in a 9-year-old boy’s ear — “like Rice Krispies” — ended up as an earache, and the doctor’s diagnosis was that a pair of spiders made a home in the ear.

“They were walking on my eardrums,” Jesse Courtney said.

One of the spiders was still alive after the doctor flushed the fourth-grader’s left ear canal. His mother, Diane Courtney, said her son insisted he kept hearing a faint popping in his ear — “like Rice Krispies.”

Dr. David Irvine said it looked like the boy had something in his ear when he examined him.

When he irrigated the ear, the first spider came out, dead. The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. Both were about the size of a pencil eraser.

Jesse was given the spiders — now both dead — as a souvenir. He has taken them to school and his mother has taken them to work.

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MAGNOLIA, Ohio (AP) — A sixth-grader who was denied permission to use the restroom while taking a state achievement test this week had an accident in class, and a school administrator blamed an overzealous teacher.

The shame brought to the student, who had to urinate, was an unfortunate outcome of efforts to prevent cheating, said Sandy Valley Local Schools Superintendent David Janofa.

“There are no words we could say. We feel horrible about this happening,” he said.

Bathroom breaks are permitted during the tests, which help determine school rankings and the state’s annual report cards, said J.C. Benton, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education.

The state recommends having an adult supervisor — but not the teacher administering the test — escort students to and from the bathroom to make sure they aren’t looking at books or notes.

“We want to maintain the integrity and security of all tests, but not at the expense of a student having an accident in a classroom,” Benton said. “Educators need to use common sense.”

School officials in California recently cleared a science teacher who was accused of forcing a 14-year-old boy to urinate into a bottle during class, saying the eighth-grader acted on his own.

The district cited rules that instruct teachers not to let students out of class during the first and last 10 minutes of a period.

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