Oklahoma began last Labor Day weekend by tying the record set in 2011 for its strongest earthquake: 5.6 magnitude, centered fifty miles west of Tulsa. The state has recorded thousands of earthquakes during the past few years. In 2009 Oklahoma suffered nine quakes over 3.0, the strength than can be felt. In 2015, there were 907. So far this year, 400. The state’s official position is that the upsurge has nothing to do with the hydraulic fracturing – “fracking” – that has increased exponentially over that period.
Category: Places
Places I remember
Where Does the Time Go?!
Fifty years ago, August 29, 1966 to be exact, the Beatles played a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. That was their last live performance until their impromptu show on the roof of their Abbey Road studio three years later. They stopped playing live shows because the screaming from the audience was so loud they could not hear themselves play.
Director Ron Howard has produced a documentary film, “Eight Days a Week,” chronicling the era of Beatlemania. Never-before-seen footage of the Candlestick concert is featured in the movie.
“But I also thought it was even more important to try to tell a story that would convey to people who really have no idea — I’m thinking of the millennials, I suppose; people who have grown up with the music and think they know something of the story — the intensity of the journey and the impact they had.”
The movie is set for release – excuse me, will drop – mid-September.
Bonus points if you know the reference “Eight Days a Week.”
News From My Alma Mater
The University of Oregon has many prominent alums: Steve Prefontaine, Ann Curry, Phil Knight, Ken Kesey, and me. A driving force behind the founding of the University of Oregon in 1876 was Matthew Deady. He served as the university’s president for its first twenty years. The first building at the U of O was named in his honor and is still in use today. Deady’s other accomplishments include serving as president of the convention to draft Oregon’s first constitution and he was named Oregon’s first district court judge after statehood. Deady also was a staunch defender of slavery and a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan. Oops.
Well, they don’t have to know where they’re going…
Here’s a news bulletin for travelers: New York City taxi drivers are no longer required to speak English. Blame Uber and Lyft.
The Mayor of 42nd Avenue
Most days he would step inside the front door of our office on Northeast 42nd Avenue to declare, with a loud and dissonant voice, that it was going to rain that day; or announce something that was – or maybe wasn’t – happening up the street. He would then abruptly turn and leave to share his news report with other businesses or passersby along the avenue. Eddie Morgan, aka the Mayor of 42nd Avenue, was standing on the corner of 42nd and Alberta Street early one morning when he was shot to death.
Didn’t See That Comin’
This…
“In 2011, the state Legislature cut Texas’ family planning and women’s health program, which provide care and routine screenings for low-income women. Lawmakers slashed its budget by two-thirds—and kicked out women’s health providers that also provide abortions.”
Then this…
“Within a two-year period between 2010 and 2012, the rate of pregnant women dying in Texas doubled – and it’s not entirely clear why.”