Week in review
Another week has passed, and here is your chance to catch up with what you may have missed.
- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won an easy and expected victory in a high-profile Iowa Republican Party Straw Poll, claiming nearly twice as many votes as his nearest rival, but the real surprise was the strong second-place finish by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, visiting President Bush at the Bush family’s oceanfront estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, focused on more than two centuries of united history between the
U.S. and France. - Sierra Leone held its first presidential elections since U.N. peacekeepers withdrew two years ago.
- Tiger Woods scored his 13th career victory at a major PGA event at the PGA Championship held at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club.
- Legendary talk show host and entertainment entrepreneur Merv Griffin died from complications of prostate cancer at 82.
- Four suicide bombers struck at communities of a small Kurdish sect in northwestern Iraq, killing at least 175 people and wounding 200 more, Iraqi military and local officials said. The death toll was the highest in a concerted attack since Nov. 23.
- Mattel recalled 9 million Chinese-made toys because of safety concerns dealing with magnets and lead paint that the toys were made with.
- Oklahoma’s 2007 high school graduates did better overall on the ACT than the previous two graduating classes, a new report says.
- Minnesota officials selected a preliminary design for replacing the collapsed I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, and have set a goal of opening the replacement by the end of 2008.
- Karl Rove, President Bush’s top political adviser and the mastermind behind his races for the White House, resigned ending a partnership that spanned more than three decades.
- Oklahomans who signed up for Medicare Advantage plans they did not want now can cancel those plans by calling the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at (800) 763-2828
- The Oklahoma City Council approved final plans to spend $10.5 million more for construction at livestock barns at State Fair Park.
- An Oklahoma City councilwoman (Willa Johnson) and a former state legislator (Forrest Claunch) won their parties’ primaries and will face off in the Sept. 11 election to become Oklahoma County District 1 commissioner.
- U.S. Army Staff Sgt. William Scates, 31, of Oklahoma City was killed by a roadside bomb in Arab Jabour, Iraq.
- Police in Edmond have seized a bed, washcloths, towels and other evidence from a house where a boy, Declan Stewart, was fatally injured, after telling a judge “the stories given” by his mother and her boyfriend “are not consistent with his injuries,” court records show.
- Oklahoma City police said they used DNA to identify remains as Mayuko Kawase, nearly six years after she had gone missing. The 21-year-old student at Oklahoma City Community College was last seen at the campus library.
- The judge delayed the formal sentencing of Raye Dawn Smith to Sept. 11. Smith was convicted in July of enabling child abuse in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Kelsey Smith-Briggs.
- The military said that 99 U.S. Army soldiers took their own lives in 2006. According to a report, it was not just the stress of war or the hardship of being far from home. The report said often it was a reaction to a heartbreaking “Dear John” letter that drove soldiers to suicide.
10 is the average
How many times in one year do you eat frozen pizza?
Twelve times?
Twenty-four times?
Never?
If you live in south central part of the United States, you’re likely to eat a frozen pizza 10 times a year. That statistic comes from the folks at the NDP Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based provider of consumer and retail market research information.
For the study the NDP Group defined the south central states as Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
The states were divided into nine regions. Here’s how often a year (from most often to least often) Americans from other parts of the country indulge themselves by eating pizza:
— 22 times: Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota)
— 16 times: North central (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio)
— 15 times: South Atlantic (Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida)
— 13 times: Mountain (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico)
— 12 times: Pacific (Washington, Oregon and California)
— 11 times: South central: (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama)
— 8 times: Mid-Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey)
—6 times: New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island)
Brian Sargent
Staff Writer
Divine Intervention.
Imagine you’re sitting at the bedside of a loved one in the intensive care unit and doctors tell you that things look bleak. Do you lose hope, or start praying to God for intervention or a miracle? Well, according to a Newsweek poll, 84 percent of Americans believe that praying for others can have a positive effect on their recovery. The poll also revealed that 72 percent of Americans surveyed believe that God can cure people who’ve been given a zero chance of survival by medical science. While many scientists are not convinced about the benefits of prayer, religious leaders say there’s no denying the benefits, according to Newsweek. Jim Killackey, medical writer.
Record temps dominate western U.S. in July
Last month there were record and near-record high temperatures in the western United States, but there were cooler-than-average temperatures in most of the eastern and southern United States, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
Highlights released by NOAA:
— 46 percent of the contiguous United States was is a drought at the end of July. The global average temperature was the
seventh warmest July.
— Cooler-than-average water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean reflected the possible development of a La Niña.
— The mean temperature for July for the contiguous United States was 74.3 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 1.43 degrees Fahrenheit above average for the 20th century and was 15th warmest since record-keeping began in 1895.
— It was the warmest July ever in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. The average temperature in Boise, Idaho, was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 9 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
— There were 11 days of triple-digit temperatures in Missoula, Mont., eclipsing the previous record of 6 days.
Click to view “Climate of 2007 — July in Historical Perspective.”
NOAA, a scientific agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, focuses on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. NOAA warns of dangerous weather, charts seas and skies, guides the use and protection of ocean and coastal resources, and conducts research to improve understanding and stewardship of the environment.
Brian Sargent
Staff Writer
If you build it, they will come
We dropped in on the new POPS convenience store/restaurant/tourist trap in Arcadia about 6:30 p.m. Sunday and almost didn’t find a parking spot. The place was packed, and it took a couple circles around the lot before we found a space.
My wife and I were astounded by the size of the crowd, but perhaps we shouldn’t have been. The debut of POPS with its distinctive soda bottle out front and architecture has been long awaited by area residents.
It’s sort of an “if you build it they will come” scenario, with some Route 66 nostalgia thrown in for good measure.
We hoped to sample a burger at the POPS restaurant, but it turned out that the booths were full and the waiting line was long.
So, we decided instead to try a soda from POPS’ massive “soda ranch,” which promises 400-plus flavors of sugar water. I wanted a Grape Nehi, or whatever is the modern-day equivalent.
Turned out their whole cooler was empty, wiped out from massive crowds that flocked to the new mecca of the Mother Road over the weekend.
So, we wandered around the store for a few minutes, took a few snapshots and then hit the road for the (short) trip home. We look forward to giving it another try on a night when there won’t be such a crowd, like mid-week or something.
By the way, POPS has a Web site as unique as the store itself, and also has a big presence on the state tourism site, Oklatravelnet. Check out the interviews with POPS management and with architect Rand Elliot.
Jim Stafford
Business News reporter
Never Leave Child Alone
Safe Kids Oklahoma warns state parents and guardians to never leave a child alone in a parked vehicle, especially during the current hot-and-steamy temperatures. The interior of a parked can rise dangerously in just a few minutes, and a small child’s body temperature can increase three to five times as fast as an adult’s. The resulting heat-related illness can cause permanent organ damage or death, according to Safe Kids Oklahoma Coordinator Christy Cornforth. And don’t forget sleeping babies, she stressed.
– Jim Killackey, staff writer
Organic galore
It all started at a camping trip last weekend near Buena Vista, Colorado. While my friends and I were preparing to fix the staple camping dessert — s’mores — Michael, the Colorado native who organized the trip, handed me some organic chocolate.
“Organic chocolate?” I questioned with hesitancy. “Please don’t tell me we have to make s’mores with this instead of real chocolate!”
Michael, being a health nut who works at the Vitamin Cottage (yes, there really is a place by that name in Colorado), was immediately offended and made it his duty to prove to me that some organic chocolate really is better than my version of “real” chocolate. Over the next few days, I was coerced into trying about eight different kinds of organic chocolate, ranging from semisweet chocolate with hazelnuts to freeze-dried raspberries embedded in dark chocolate.
As I sit at my desk now nibbling at the last of the raspberry chocolate bar, I have to admit that I am a bit of an organic convert. Not only the chocolate, but most of the organic products I tried in Colorado were just as good as the “normal” version of the product, only more natural by leaps and bounds. And in case you’re still not clear on exactly what organic means, the USDA defines “organic” to mean foods whose ingredients cannot have been made by using most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic engineering, growth hormones, irradiation or antibiotics. (from http://www.dellanatura.com)
My trip to Colorado was refreshing. I’m not saying organic chocolate changed my life, but the number of people striving to eat and live healthier challenged me. Everywhere I walked in Denver, I always saw someone carrying Vitamin Water. You can call it a trend, or consider it a smart way to get your daily dose of nutrients in a pretty good tasting drink.
Upon my return to Oklahoma, I made sausage rolls for breakfast and I’m looking forward to my next dinner that includes fried chicken. But at least I’ll have my Vitamin Water in hand, and I’ll be thinking of ways to work off that grease after the meal.
-Lindsay Goodier, NewsOK.com Editor
Smokeless Tobacco Dangers Outlined
It may not be inhaled into the lungs, but smokeless tobacco exposes users to many of the same potent carcinogens as cigarettes, according to the August edition of Cancer Epidemiology. A University of Minnesota report found that users of smokeless tobacco, or snuff, are exposed to higher amounts of tobacco-specific ”nitrosamines” — molecules that are known to cause cancer — than cigarette smokers. “Smokeless tobacco products have been proposed by some as safer alternatives to cigarettes, but they are not safe,” said report author Stephen D. Hecht, University of Minnesota Cancer Center professor. Snuff is sucked on by slipping pouches between the cheeks and gums.
Jim Killackey, staff writer.
The news quiz
It’s time to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz:
1. Barry Bonds made Major League Baseball history when he hit his 756th home run, passing whom?
a) Brad Henry
b) Hank Blalock
c) Henry Aaron
d) Patrick Henry
2. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation gave a $7.23 million grant to five Oklahoma museums for what?
a) To take hands-on science and discovery learning exhibits on the road
b) New rest rooms
c) New planetarium
d) New dinosaur exhibits
3. The Oklahoma Air National Guard is losing its C-130 cargo planes to another state. What will our unit fly?
a) F-101 interceptors
b) KC-135 tankers
c) CP-140 Aurora patrol planes
d) C-119 cargo planes
4. The Mannford native who wrote “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ ” and turned Nancy Sinatra into a hit-maker in the 1960s has died after a long bout with kidney cancer. What was his name?
a) Lee Greenwood
b) Lee Glennwood
c) Lee Blackwood
d) Lee Hazelwood
5. The two brothers who own the Deep Deuce Grill have added what to their restaurant’s offerings?
a) A Wednesday night jazz series
b) Only Cajun food on Mondays
c) A meatless menu on Sundays
d) All-fondue Fridays
6. An annual Bartlesville music festival bearing the name of a legendary composer has gotten a new executive director, Scott Black. What is the name of the festival?
a) B’ville Beethoven
b) Haydn Cool
c) OK Mozart
d) Chopin Handle
7. As small dairies are selling out, what effect is it having on Oklahoma milk?
a) It’s gotten more expensive
b) It’s harder to find skim milk
c) There’s been a dramatic increase in chocolate milk varieties
d) The glass bottle has largely returned as the packaging of choice
8. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said not to expect what in Iraq by the September date for an assessment of the current U.S. military strategy?
a) The defeat of al-Qaida in Iraq
b) Political stability
c) The resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
d) Withdrawal of U.S. forces
9. Before heading to Tulsa for this week’s PGA Championship, Tiger Woods achieved what during his win at the Bridgestone Invitational?
a) Finished eight-under for the tournament
b) Played the final round without making a bogey
c) Was the only golfer to finish the tournament under par
d) All of the above
10. Gunmen in the West Bank gave up what in exchange for amnesty from Israel?
a) Guns
b) Coffee
c) Krispy Kreme doughnuts
d) Prisoners
11. Oklahoma City water plants are pumping billions of gallons of water that will never reach customers. During the past five years, the city’s water system lost about 15.4 percent of the water pumped each year. Thomas Rooney, president of Insituform Technologies, the world’s largest water pipe repair company, said:
a) “That’s a tremendous annual loss.”
b) “I would call that normal”
c) “That’s far worse than it ought to be.”
d) “That’s better than Philadelphia.”
12. A week after the deadly collapse of the Minneapolis highway bridge, the Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax to establish a new bridge trust fund. President Bush’s reaction to this was:
a) “I think that’s about right.”
b) “We should raise it by 10 cents.”
c) “A bad idea, at least until Congress changes how it spends highway money.”
d) “The states need to face up to the need for infrastructure repair.”
13. Gail Parker, who grew up in Oklahoma but now lives in Virginia, is running for chairman of the Fairfax County, Va., board of supervisors on the ticket of the Independent Green Party. She is also seeking the Green Party’s nomination for president. Which one of the following is NOT on her list of projects for the Green Party this year.
a) To build a nationwide light-rail system
b) To attract Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City to the ballot for president on the Green Party ticket
c) To get the Green Party on the ballot in Oklahoma
d) To increase the use of clean-burning Oklahoma gas by 100 percent
14. How long does a construction company have to complete work begun last week Broadway Extension?
a) The rest of your life
b) 439 calendar days
c) Six months
d) One year
15. A Russian submarine expedition came home to a hero’s welcome after a mission under the North Pole to do what?
a) Plant a Russian flag
b) Dive to a record depth
c) Test a scuba device
d) Rendezvous with U.S. submarine
How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-C, 2-A, 3-B, 4-D, 5-A, 6-C, 7-A, 8-B, 9-D, 10-A, 11-B, 12-C, 13-D, 14-B, 15-A
Week in review
Another week has passed, and here is your chance to catch up with what you may have missed.
- In an analysis of 2006 federal bridge data, The Oklahoman found it would cost about $3.2 billion to replace the 5,000 Oklahoma bridges whose ratings are as bad as or worse than the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota. State officials say it would cost more because of the increasing price of materials.
- A special inspection was launched on 11 Oklahoma bridges similar in design to the one that collapsed Aug. 1 in Minneapolis. In all, special inspections will be made on 77 state bridges, at a cost of $8 million to $9 million, a state Department of Transportation official said.
- New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez, 32, became the youngest player in major league history to hit 500 home runs.
- San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds surpassed the home run record of Henry Aaron, slugging his 756th. Bonds has been plagued by allegations that he used steroids.
- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said political stability in Iraq won’t likely occur before the Bush administration makes its critical September assessment of whether its war strategy is working.
- China banned crude and insensitive slogans promoting its one-child policy. Slogans such as “Raise fewer babies but more piggies” stoked anger in rural areas.
- Most gunmen with ties to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement have given up their weapons as part of an amnesty deal, a senior Palestinian security official said.
- Oliver W. Hill, a civil rights attorney who was part of the team that argued the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case, died at 100.
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with President Bush at Camp David to discuss the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban regains strength.
- At least six Oklahomans were among the thousands of singing hopefuls who gathered at Texas Stadium for a 30-second shot at fame as an “American Idol.”
- A Noble family mourned the death of Austin Haley, 5, who died after being struck in the head by a stray bullet fired by a police officer who was trying to kill a snake.
- Thomas Glenn’s family fired attorney Mike Gassaway after they say he duped them and filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit without permission. The 14-year-old was killed last week when a dump truck ran over him as he jogged on an Oklahoma City trail. Gassaway immediately filed suit against the company that owns the truck. Gassaway said he had a contract with the family and they asked him to file the suit.
- The decision of a French bank caused the Dow Jones industrials to fall more than 380 points. The bank stated it was freezing three funds that invested in American subprime mortgages. This raised the specter of a widening impact of U.S. credit market problems.
- A day after space shuttle Endeavour’s mission began, NASA said nine pieces of foam insulation broke off from the craft’s fuel tank during liftoff. A NASA official said three pieces appeared to have hit the shuttle.
- Foot-and-mouth disease is so highly contagious — and such a threat to farm economies — that the U.S. won’t let researchers work with the virus on the mainland. But in
Britain, a lab making foot-and-mouth vaccines was located near herds of cattle and may have been the cause of a new outbreak. - Temperatures soared into the triple digits across the state and Kingfisher was hit hard by a thunderstorm with wind gusts of more than 70 mph that uprooted trees and knocked down utility poles.
