Norman depicted in national comic book
The University of Oklahoma’s Bizzell Library is featured on the cover of a new comic book from Oni Press. “Local” is a 12-issue comic miniseries created by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. Each issue acts as a stand-alone story with “Megan” serving as the common character throughout. In the just-out issue nine, Megan…
Leading Economic Indicators
Updates: Zimbabwe’s almost comically sad hyperinflation, which News of the Weird reported had reached 1,593 percent in January (one could buy a house, pool and tennis court in 1990 for the same dollars as would buy a single brick today), was up to 3,731 percent in May, and is expected to get much worse. Star…
Least Competent Criminals
Claude White, 34, was arrested in April in Elizabethton, Tenn., and charged with stealing a forklift, which sheriff’s deputies later found overturned in the middle of a road, but with a pair of shoes and socks trapped underneath. Around the same time, a call came from Sycamore Shoals Hospital about a patient (White) telling an…
Update
In November, News of the Weird reported the arrest of Michael McPhail of Spanaway, Wash., who was charged with bestiality under the state’s brand-new law, having allegedly been caught by his wife having sex with the family dog. In May 2007, a jury in Tacoma, Wash., found McPhail not guilty.
Fetishes on Parade
In January, Ronald Dotson, 39, pleaded no contest to attempting to break into a Ferndale, Mich., store in order to steal a mannequin outfitted in a French maid’s uniform, which authorities said was his seventh “statuephilia”-related offense in 13 years. “I thought I was getting my life together,” he told the judge, even though his…
The Continuing Crisis
At least five convicted sex offenders in Florida’s Miami-Dade County have their official residence in a makeshift encampment underneath a bridge on the Julia Tuttle Causeway to Miami Beach, with the blessing of the state Department of Corrections, according to an April report by CNN. Officials say that the state’s tough zoning law for sex…
Oops!
Try to Read This Without Wincing: A cable broke on a leg extension machine at a YWCA facility in Akron, Ohio, in 2004, catapulting a steel bar forcefully at a 22-year-old football player working out for a shot at a college scholarship, hitting him squarely between his parted legs, whacking his left testicle. Three years…
Knocked Up
Reviewer’s grade: A- Writer-director Judd Apatow makes R-rated comedies the way they were meant to be: foul-mouthed, gleefully raunchy and often hilarious. But he performs the nifty trick of making us care about his cretins. As he did in 2005’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” is packed with assorted misfits, dorks and losers, but they…
21st annual Red Earth Festival celebrates tribal culture
From Friday through Sunday, the 2007 Red Earth Festival will celebrate American Indian culture with a parade, art and representatives from more than 100 tribes from across the continent. “It’s the world’s largest Native American cultural event,” Eric Oesch, deputy director of Red Earth Inc., said. The festival will kick off at 10:30 a.m. Friday…
Compelling Explanations
Local music producer Ricky Lackey, during questioning in March by a judge in Cincinnati to help her determine an appropriate sentence for Lackey for his crime of attempted theft, told her that he has no children but that he has “six on the way.” The judge sought clarification. “Are you marrying a woman with six…
Hispanic population revitalizing Capitol Hill area
Twenty years ago, Capitol Hill appeared to be in the final stage of urban decay, suffering a series of setbacks brought on by:” city planning, ” business relocations, ” unemployment and ” low property values. But from 1997 to 2006, public and private investments totaling more than $12 million ” combined with a growing Hispanic…
No Hornets, but still plenty of sports in city
The local sports scene is offering plenty of alternatives to all of the folks going through recent NBA withdrawals. There’s probably nothing on the slate fully capable of replacing the level of excitement the Hornets generated, but area fans don’t have to sit around at home and mope. Baseball enthusiasts, who always have the RedHawks…
ATV racing competition pulls into Stillwater
The PowerSports ATV Tour hits Stillwater’s Cooperland Raceway, Friday through Sunday. “The PowerSports ATV Tour is a nationally touring, televised ATV racing series,” said Justin Anderson, director of communications for PowerSports Entertainment. Featuring such pro riders as Doug Gust and Dustin Wimmer, the Southwestern National competition will consist of three categories: ” QuadMX Pro 450,…
Hellogoodbye builds following with online popularity
California-based indie-pop band Hellogoodbye began at Huntington Beach High School during 2001, when lead vocalist/guitarist Forrest Kline teamed up with keyboardist Jesse Kurvink to produce its brand of heart-on-sleeve synth-pop songs. “I wasn’t a bro or a surfer, and that’s what was the primary at the school,” Kline said. “The first couple years of high…
Harkins Bricktown offering summer movie camp
Harkins Bricktown Cinemas is giving kids the chance to see 10 movies this summer for only 50 cents each. The theater’s “Summer Movie Fun” begins this week with “Curious George.” With the purchase of a season pass for $5, kids can see a movie per week at 9:45 a.m. on whichever weekday they choose. “The…
Nursing license revoked in injured baby case
The Oklahoma Board of Nursing Wednesday revoked for 20 years the license of a former OU Children’s Hospital nurse who admitted to police she may have injured an ill baby in her care. Former RN Renny Jacob also will be required to pay a fine of $6,000 within 90 days of Wednesday’ s ruling,…
American Indian symposium held at Skirvin
The 20th Sovereignty Symposium is being held Thursday at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park. The theme this year is entitled “Making Medicine,” and keynote speakers include ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The Sovereignty Symposium was established to make available a forum for people to share ideas and…
Two painters showcased at JRB Art
Paintings featuring fanciful subjects in three dimensions will be juxtaposed with works of symbolism through shape and color by artists Louise Jones and James Smith at JRB Art at The Elms. The exhibit kicks off with an artists’ reception from 6-10 p.m. Friday. Both the artists’ work will be on display until June 30. “It…
Oklahoma billboard opens can of worms
Ah, freedom of speech, that blessing our forefathers gifted us with a can of worms. Case in point: A recent addition to the metro’s billboard landscape on Interstate 35 by the OklahomaRiver. The white expanse features a cartoon of a Revolutionary War-esque patriot, an upside-down American flag topped by the Mexican standard, the phrase…
The Litigious Society
In lawsuit-friendly Madison County, Ill. (termed “the promised land” by some trial lawyers), a judge awarded $311,700 to Amanda Verett for a long series of painful injuries that her courtroom-veteran chiropractor has been treating. Verett said she was holding a door open at a Pizza Hut when an employee yanked it open farther, and calamitous…
Ironies
So many U.S. executives want to visit India to make deals to outsource their companies’ jobs that in March, India’s Washington, D.C., embassy said it was forced to outsource the job of processing the executives’ visa applications. Yet another U.S. job was outsourced to India in May, that of “local government reporter” covering city hall…
Black war veterans in Tulsa race riot got no respect
The May 31, 1921, Tulsa race riot pit a white mob of 2,000 against some 75 black men who had fought in World War I. Tulsa race riot historian Scott Ellsworth, author of “Death in a Promised Land,” reveres the black soldiers. “These are guys who faced German bullets for democracy, and when they came…
Edmond’s Summerstock outdoor theater thrives
In 2003, a popular Oklahoma City amphitheater, Jewel Box Under the Stars, closed down. Several families who enjoyed outdoor musical theater, however, decided they didn’t want the fun to end. Spearheaded by Theresa Nelson, Summerstock Productions began, at Edmond’s Mitch Park Amphitheatre at 2733 Marilyn Williams, an area surrounded by open land and quiet neighborhoods…
Curing the system
The economy is booming, but why does the middle class feel so squeezed? For parents, the soaring cost of higher education is an ever-present concern, and each of us is stunned by the price at the pump. However, neither one of those problems is enough to bankrupt the average family out of the blue. …
George Benson hopes to keep jazz alive
George Benson already was one of the best guitar players in the history of jazz before he finally achieved his 1976 breakthrough with “Breezin’.” Currently he’s on tour with his latest album, the Grammy-winning “Givin’ It Up,” a collaboration with legendary vocalist Al Jarreau which includes covers of some jazz classics. By stocking up with…
Edmond couple faces charges for violating “social host” regulations
According to a story in The Edmond Sun, a high school graduation party led to the arrests of two parents who allowed the festivities at their house. The story states that the party, held in an Edmond subdivision with the appropriately Edmond subdivision-y name “Crown Colony Court,” garnered a visit from the Edmond police…
Oklahoma’s war on drugs takes a fowl turn
A new epidemic is plaguing law enforcement. The war on drugs has taken a “fowl” turn, causing even the most experienced federal agents to crow in disbelief. A recent raid of facilities in Oklahoma and Arkansas turned up more than illegal gambling activity. After several months of investigation, which included undercover operations, about 62…
KWTV News 9 set makes its way to YouTube
If watching the local TV news sometimes has you wishing you were on angel dust, save your brain cells and instead experience a comedy high, courtesy of a four-minute, locally shot short film making its way across those Internets. “The News” is a parody of just that, “as seen through the eyes of a…
Let them eat watermelon!
The 51st Oklahoma Legislature has completed its 2007 session. This historic session, which featured a tied Senate, a Republican House and an unfettered governor, will be remembered for a variety of reasons. It is tougher to get an abortion in Oklahoma than it used to be, but you still easily can sue a doctor,…
OKC school system earns another clean audit
The Oklahoma City Public Schools district garnered a clean audit for the fourth year in a row, district officials announced Tuesday. The report refers to the 2005-2006 school year. According to the audit, performed by public accounting firm Cole & Reed, revenues for the school year were about $255 million, and the fund balance…
