Immigration lawsuit update
A federal judge Wednesday blocked enforcement of employer-related provisions of House Bill 1804, the state’s controversial immigration law.
The Oklahoman’s Jay Marks and Devona Walker report U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron in Oklahoma City ruled those sections likely interfere with federal rules regarding the hiring of unauthorized workers. In granting the injunction, she said a pending lawsuit against HB 1804 has “a substantial likelihood of success.”
Continental Airlines Inc. said today it is cutting 3,000 jobs and reducing capacity in the fourth quarter by 11 percent, citing record fuel costs that have pushed the airline industry into a “crisis.”
John Sutter reports the state secretary of agriculture asked the governor Wednesday afternoon to start the process of classifying the Oklahoma Panhandle as a disaster area because of an extreme drought. Here’s how it’s affecting farmers: Crops are failing in the western Panhandle, and farmers are running out of grass to feed their cattle.
Your OKC forecast: Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 90s. Southerly winds 25 to 35 mph. Twenty percent chance of thunderstorms, with some turning severe late in the afternoon.
Most popular travel sites
NY Times had a list recently of the Web’s most popular travel sites. As you might expect, the usual suspects top the charts.
I used TripAdvisor when searching for hotels in NY for my trip in December.
Site, Property, Time Spent
1. Expedia, 14.1, 14:26
2. Travelocity, 13.0, 14:11
3. Orbitz, 12.8, 11:38
4. Yahoo! Travel, 9.4, 3:30
5. Southwest Airlines, 9.2, 26:44
6. American Airlines, 8.0, 57:06
7. TripAdvisor, 7.9, 7:24
8. Marriott, 6.9, 16:22
9. Priceline, 6.8, 14:05
10. Hilton, 6.7, 18:09
3 Things: Happy Birthday Brooklyn Bridge
Here’s the story on the wires this morning: It was so singular a marvel, so ambitious a feat, that its opening drew the president and a crowd of thousands. A leading national magazine said it stood poised to become “our most durable monument.”
Some 125 years later, the Brooklyn Bridge remains a powerful symbol of engineering might and imagination, and a revered fixture in the landscape of the nation’s largest city.
And it can still draw a crowd. Thousands of people are expected at the bridge’s 125th birthday blowout Thursday, with fireworks, a Navy flyover, a colorful new lighting scheme and the debut of a tribute song scheduled to honor the storied span. It opened on May 24, 1883.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits the silver screens today. And the reviews for the fourth installment of the adventure series are mixed. The Oklahoman’s George Lang – check out his Static Blog on NewsOK – gives it a 3.5 stars, saying it follows formula and entertains. Find your movie times at Wimgo.com.
Facebook is about to undergo a redesign. Why? Because like all Web sites, it becomes cluttered. Facebook is looking to add tabs to contain all your customization. The facelift for Facebook is set to debut in June.
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Bike to work week fun video
Yes, really.
One of The Oklahoman’s business reporters, Don Mecoy, approached me with a video idea last week. He and his fellow reporters from the Biz desk were working on alternate methods of getting to work stories. With gas prices high, people have options: bike, bus, walk (ok, maybe not walk) and other stuff.
So Don Mecoy, who has a couple nice bikes, decided he would bike to work from Edmond. Read his account here. Jim Stafford would ride the bus.
David Jones and Kyle Roberts shot Mecoy as he rode to work, about 10 miles. Stafford took a hand held camera on the bus as he rode from Edmond to downtown – past The Oklahoman’s office – to catch the right ride to the office.
Kyle edited together a classic piece. Mecoy and Stafford were great sports and good to work with. It’s not your routine gas price package.
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Airport update
The Transportation Security Administration had to re-screen nearly 700 travelers Monday because of a security breach at Will Rogers World Airport. The security breach was caused when someone found what was thought to be a prohibited item in a restroom.
The Festival of the Arts opens today in downtown Oklahoma City. Here are the facts: the 42nd annual Arts Festival it opens daily at 11 am and runs through Sunday, featuring 144 artists and more than 300 performing artists.
Darnell Mayberry reports it you log onto SuperSonics.com, the official site of the team, you’ll see the word Seattle is nowhere to be found inside the actual Web page. Team officials, however, said the Seattle references were omitted on Feb. 28, when the site was relaunched to introduce a new design.
Your OKC forecast: Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. Northeasterly winds about 10 mph. Twenty percent chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.
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How to de-ice a plane
So last night, I’m sitting on the runway (in a plane) in Denver. It’s snowing like a madman and the snow is actually piling up on the wing. You might have made a small snowman out of it.
We had some serious turbulence coming out of Vegas en route to Denver. Not a pleasant flight at all. Then we arrive to a snow storm in Denver, where it was cold enough to see your own breath as you exited the plane.
We finally board the delayed flight and notice all the snow on the plane’s wings. And then they pull us up to a row of trucks that looked like the monster from War of the Worlds.
I’ve flown planes that have been de-iced before. And it’s more than a little unsettling. So I whipped out the iPhone and took pictures.
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