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Posted: 5:15 a.m. Monday, Dec. 13, 2010

KRMG Morning News "Stack of Stuff" and Notes 12/13/2010 

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By Joe Kelley, Host of the KRMG Morning News

  1. FOX23 - The people of Glenpool will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not they want to approve a $7 million bond issue that could raise taxes. Voters will decide on three separate proposals as part of the total bond package. The first is $1 million to be used on road improvements. The second is $1.7 million to build a city cemetery. The third is $4.3 million to build a city sports complex.
  2. TULSAWORLD - Mayor Dewey Bartlett is sending a nearly $1.6 million budget amendment to the City Council this week to hire an outside law firm to defend the city from police corruption-related lawsuits, hire a planning director and boost his travel allowance, among other items. Bartlett told the Tulsa World his administration worked to make the proposed mid-fiscal-year adjustment as tight as possible. Mayoral Chief of Staff Terry Simonson called it a "need-to-do-now" list, adding that it is hoped the council will vote on the amendment this week, since the council will then recess for the rest of the month. The budget amendment totals $1,561,000 and would bump up the city's general fund from about $231 million to $232.5 million.
  3. A powerful, gusty storm dumped mounds of snow across the upper Midwest on Sunday, closing major highways in several states, canceling more than 1,600 flights in Chicago and collapsing the roof of the Minnesota Vikings' stadium. At least four weather-related deaths were reported as the storm system dropped nearly 2 feet of snow in parts of Minnesota and marched east. A blizzard warning was in effect Sunday for parts of eastern Iowa, southeastern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois and northern Michigan, according to the National Weather Service. Surrounding areas, including Chicago, were under winter storm warnings. Much of Iowa was under a wind-chill advisory. In Minneapolis, the heavy snow left the Metrodome decidedly unready for some football. Video inside the stadium aired by Fox Sports showed the inflatable Teflon roof sagging before it tore open, dumping massive amounts of snow across one end of the playing field.
  4. Say hello to the Navy's little friend. Navy scientists set a world record Friday during a test of an electromagnetic railgun, a tractor-trailer sized weapon that sends a 20-pound projectile rocketing through the air at seven times the speed of sound. The futuristic gun was tested twice at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., and the first shot generated 33 megajoules of force out of the barrel, a world record for muzzle energy, the scientists said. One megajoule is a unit of energy roughly equal to the energy generated by a 1-ton vehicle moving at 100 MPH. The same rail gun generated about 10 megajoules during a test two years ago. Roger Ellis, the railgun program manager, told The Washington Post that people "see these things in the video games, but this is real. This is what is very historical." What is novel about the gun - aside from its astonishing power - is the way it works. Instead of relying on explosive propellants like gunpowder to fire, the gun uses a giant surge of electricity to propel the slug out of the barrel at speeds that can approach Mach 8 and can strike targets more than 100 miles away.  
  5. WSJ - A Virginia federal judge is expected to rule Monday on whether the Obama administration's health law violates the Constitution, opening a new stage in the administration's defense of its biggest legislative achievement. The ruling by District Judge Henry E. Hudson is perhaps the most significant so far among a slew of state-based legal challenges to the law, which also faces attack by newly resurgent Republicans in Congress. More than 20 federal lawsuits have been filed against the health overhaul since President Barack Obama signed it in March. While the cases differ somewhat, they largely rest on the argument that Congress lacks constitutional authority to require most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a fee. The Obama administration counters that three clauses of the Constitution gave Congress the power to put the requirement, known as the individual mandate, in the law as part of regulating how people pay for health care.
  6. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who angered Washington by releasing secret cables, said in a documentary on Sunday he faced prosecution by the United States and was disappointed with how Swedish justice had been abused.
  7. Mark Madoff, son of infamous Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, was found hanged in his New York City apartment Saturday, dead from an apparent suicide. Both Mark and his brother Andrew have been the focus of investigators regarding their possible roles in their father's Ponzi scheme.
  8. The Home Secretary Theresa May has confirmed that rioters who surrounded Prince Charles' car during violent student protests made physical contact with the Dutchess of Cornwall.
  9. (Reuters) - The Democratic-led Congress moved on Monday toward grudging approval of President Barack Obama's deal with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts, even for the wealthiest Americans. Backers were expected to muster on Monday the needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to clear a procedural hurdle, before passage on Tuesday or Wednesday. The bill would then go to the House of Representatives for likely passage -- despite complaints from many Democrats that Obama conceded too much to Republicans. The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, said Democrats should "eat their spinach" and accept a deal because their influence will plummet when the new Congress convenes next month.
  10. CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN? MILWAUKEE (Dec. 12) -- He seemed like Superman, able to guide jumbo jets through perilous skies and tiny tubes through blocked arteries. As a cardiologist and United Airlines captain, William Hamman taught doctors and pilots ways to keep hearts and planes from crashing. He shared millions in grants, had university and hospital posts, and bragged of work for prestigious medical groups. An Associated Press story featured him leading a teamwork training session at an American College of Cardiology convention last spring. But it turns out Hamman isn't a cardiologist or even a doctor. The AP found he had no medical residency, fellowship, doctoral degree or the 15 years of clinical experience he claimed. He attended medical school for a few years but withdrew and didn't graduate. His pilot qualifications do not appear to be in question - he holds the highest type of license a pilot can have, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. However, United grounded him in August after his medical and doctoral degrees evaporated like contrails of the jets he flew. He resigned in June as an educator and researcher at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., after a credentials check revealed discrepancies, a hospital spokeswoman said.
  11. AOLNEWS - Prison rules may prevent convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff from attending the funeral of his eldest son, whose body was found hanging from a pipe in his living room on the second anniversary of his father's arrest. Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead Saturday in his Manhattan apartment. The city's medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. He reportedly was despondent over a slew of recent news stories about investor lawsuits related to his father's multibillion-dollar scheme and was struggling rebuild his life. His father is serving a 150-year prison term at a medium-security federal prison on North Carolina. Rules at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution do allow supervised furloughs for funerals of immediate family members, but are available only to inmates with two years or less left on their prison terms, the New York Post reported today. A white-collar felon typically can receive an emergency furlough to attend a funeral, Ed Bales, managing director of Federal Prisons Consultants, told the Post. "But this is a whole different ballgame." "I would question whether they'd grant him a furlough because of heightened publicity," Bales said. "He could be a target. He could be shot."
 
 

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