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Posted: 5:35 a.m. Friday, Feb. 25, 2011

KRMG Morning News "Stack of Stuff" and Notes 2/25/11 

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By Joe Kelley, Host of the KRMG Morning News

  1. The 51st Holland Hall Book Fair will be Saturday, Feb. 26, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This Holland Hall tradition attracts book lovers from Tulsa and the surrounding region. It features tens of thousands of used books with a huge selection of rare books, children's books, games, puzzles, stuffed animals, CDs, videos and DVDs. The fair will be in the Middle School building on the Holland Hall campus at 5666 E. 81st Street, between Yale and Sheridan. Admission is $1 per adult, children are free. Cash and credit cards accepted, ATM available on-site.
  2. KOTV - The City of Tulsa spent as much as $3 million on the recent snow storm and is hoping the federal government will reimburse some of the cost. Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett said the final figures would be available soon, but said "It's going to be somewhere between $2 and $3 million."  Bartlett made the statement during an interview Thursday on "Six In the Morning." The City of Tulsa spent money on overtime and outside contractors to plow the snow. There was also damage to road signs and curbs during the plowing that is still being repaired.
  3. KOTV - One of the biggest road projects in Tulsa history is finally finished. What was the worst section of the Inner Dispersal Loop around downtown reopened Thursday with brand new pavement. Workers moved the barricades that reopened the eastbound lanes of the Inner Dispersal Loop. It's the first time in almost two years that the loop connecting 5 highways was open in all directions. It was a massive job, at $75 million, the single most expensive project ever for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.  The rebuild used 70,000 yards of concrete and more than 5 million pounds of steel.
  4. TULSAWORLD -  Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian wants to build a satellite church campus on 69 acres they own along U.S. 75 in Jenks. The city of Jenks wants to preserve its prime commercial land for tax-generating development. Those conflicting desires have put the two at loggerheads. Similar conflicts between churches and municipalities are turning up across the nation. Jenks councilors voted unanimously Feb. 7 to deny the church's request to amend the city's comprehensive plan to allow for construction of a church and commercial development on the plot that lies along the west side of U.S. 75 between 111th and 121st streets. About 30 acres of the property are designated medium intensity commercial in the Jenks 2006 comprehensive plan, a designation that requires a special use permit for churches.
  5. YAHOO - Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Angel Taveras is sending layoff warnings to all 1,926 of the city's teachers. They won't all be dismissed, but state law requires the city to notify teachers by March 1 whether the district could lay them off before the start of the next school year. School officials say warning every teacher gives them the freedom to let go many of them later without having to single any of them out now. Providence's school district is facing a $40 million budget shortfall next year.
  6. (AP) The Wisconsin Assembly early Friday passed a bill that would strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights - the first significant action on the new Republican governor's plan. The vote put an end to three straight days of punishing debate, but the political standoff over the bill is far from over. The measure now goes to the Senate, where minority Democrats have been missing for a week, preventing a vote in that chamber. No one knows when - or if - the Senate Democrats will return from their hideout in Illinois. Republicans who control the chamber sent state troopers out looking for them at their homes on Thursday, but they turned up nothing.
  7. YAHOO - Warner Bros. is in the midst of remake fever, with the 1992 hit The Bodyguard the latest to get a retread. In the remake, the story would be updated so that the man would be a former Iraqi war vet trying to protect his client against an Internet world, in which stalkers can track stars on Twitter, Gawker Stalker, Google Maps and countless other sites. Warner Bros.' Sarah Schechter is overseeing. It's too early in the process for actors to be announced.
  8. DEADLINE.COM - As Two And A Half Men star Charlie Sheen's erratic behavior escalated today in a series of verbal assaults on the show's creator-executive producer Chuck Lorre, the sitcom's network and studio did the only thing they could in the situation: pull the plug.  But they only did it for this season. (Two and a Half Men was scheduled to resume production on Monday for 4 more episodes). So the door is left open for a possible ninth season. "Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros TV have decided to discontinue production of Two and a Half Men for the remainder of the season," the two companies said in a statement. The question now is should Two And A Half Men continue? Could the damage done over the past few weeks ever be repaired. And most importantly, will Sheen come back from the brink? Things escalated in the afternoon when Sheen, currently vacationing in the Bahamas with a girlfriend, ex-wife and a porn star, reached out to TMZ. "I violently hate Chaim Levine," Sheen said. "He's a stupid, stupid little man and a p**sy punk that I'd never want to be like. That's me being polite."
  9. Sheen's letter to TMZ: What does this say about Haim Levine [Chuck Lorre] after he tried to use his words to judge and attempt to degrade me. I gracefully ignored this folly for 177 shows ... I fire back once and this contaminated little maggot can't handle my power and can't handle the truth. I wish him nothing but pain in his silly travels especially if they wind up in my octagon. Clearly I have defeated this earthworm with my words -- imagine what I would have done with my fire breathing fists. I urge all my beautiful and loyal fans who embraced this show for almost a decade to walk with me side-by-side as we march up the steps of justice to right this unconscionable wrong.  Remember these are my people ... not yours...we will continue on together... Charlie Sheen
  10. WASHTIMES - With the clock ticking to a March 4 government shutdown, you might imagine the Capitol would be buzzing with lawmakers seeking to cut deals, make impassioned speeches and do everything they could to strike a deal on spending. You'd be wrong. House lawmakers stayed until 4:41 a.m. Saturday to finish up a spending bill to keep the government open, and sent it over to the Senate -- only to be met with an empty chamber. Senators had closed up shop two days before and went home for a 10-day break to honor George Washington's birthday.
  11. POLITICO.COM - The Democratic National Committee wanted to honor Nancy Pelosi Thursday -- but its praise wasn't good enough for the House minority leader. When the DNC's Resolutions Committee brought up a resolution commemorating Pelosi's years as speaker of the House, Pelosi's daughter sought to alter the proposal at her mother's behest, adding some of the accomplishments that the elder Pelosi felt the committee had overlooked. "I have some friendly amendments," said Christine Pelosi, a political strategist, at the committee's session during the DNC Winter Meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel Thursday afternoon. She is a member of the committee. "You think I'm kidding," Christine Pelosi added, to surprised laughter from the room. The proposed changes, she indicated, came out of a discussion with her mother.
  12. BLOOMBERG - General Motors Co. fell to the lowest since its initial public offering in November as rising oil prices dimmed the outlook for truck sales after the largest U.S. automaker's most profitable year since 1999. GM slid $1.57, or 4.5 percent, to $33.02 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares earlier fell as low as $32.05, less than the $33 initial offering price in November.
  13. The Pentagon awarded a $35 billion contract to build new air refueling tankers to Boeing Co. The winner beat EADS, which proposed assembling the craft in Mobile. The decision left Alabama officials shocked and disappointed, and Boeing backers jubilant. Replacing the Air Force's aging KC-135 tanker took many years and never lacked for drama.
  14. U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said today that Boeing Co. won a $35 billion contract to build an air refueling tanker due to "Chicago politics." Chicago-based Boeing defeated the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. for the contract.  EADS planned to assemble the tanker in Mobile. "I'm disappointed but not surprised," Shelby said.  "Only Chicago politics could tip the scales in favor of Boeing's inferior plane.  EADS clearly offers the more capable aircraft.  If this decision stands, our warfighters will not get the superior equipment they deserve."
  15. Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late yesterday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential U.S. targets. The arrest and the criminal complaint, which was unsealed in the Northern District of Texas, were announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; James T. Jacks, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas; and Robert E. Casey Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Dallas Field Division. Aldawsari is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Lubbock at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning.  Aldawsari, who was lawfully admitted into the United States in 2008 on a student visa and is enrolled at South Plains College near Lubbock, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
  16. ABC - Tens of millions flock to the Smithsonian museums in Washington each year to see Americana -- everything from Abraham Lincoln's top hat to Archie Bunker's chair. But one thing you'll have a hard time finding is something American in the gift shop. Take the miniature sculptures of presidents sold at the National Museum of American History, located right on the Mall in the nation's capital. From the busts of George Washington to Barack Obama, they were made in China. Last month Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, was so outraged by the situation that he fired off a letter demanding that the museum sell products made in the USA.
  17. PRESIDENT OBAMA is being backed into a bit of a corner over a quote that he made while on the campaign trail. White House spokesman JAY CARNEY told reporters yesterday that the president has no plans to go to Wisconsin and join unionized teachers on the picket line in their current dispute with Gov SCOTT WALKER. But Slate has highlighted a quote that then-candidate Barack Obama uttered in Spartanburg, SC, in November of 2007. He said, "(I)f American workers are being denied their right to organize when I'm in the White House, I will put on a comfortable pair of shoes and I will walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States." When reminded of the quote, Carney said, "I think what we have made pretty clear is that the president thinks, and we think, that, obviously a lot of states in the union are dealing with fiscal issues, big problems in their state budgets... they need to act responsibly, tighten their belts, live within their means just as we in Washington, the executive branch, congress, need to do with our federal situation."
  18. A group of Northeast House Democrats is calling on PRESIDENT OBAMA to tap into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try and blunt rising gas prices attributed to the current turmoil in the Middle East. Reps. ED MARKEY of Massachusetts, ROSA DeLAURO of Connecticut and PETER WELCH of Vermont want to open those spigots to try and ease any additional gas spike that could occur during the upcoming spring and summer driving seasons.  The nation's stored reserves currently total 726-million-barrels of crude oil, about a two-month supply for the whole U-S, based on daily use.
  19. A British court has ordered that WikiLeaks boss JULIAN ASSANGE be extradited back to Sweden to face sex crimes charges. He faces charges from two different women --charges that his supporters say were trumpted-up because of his ongoing of thousands of pages of classified diplomatic cables.   Sweden has not formally charged Assange with a specific crime just yet, but authorities there still want to question him. Assange has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said he will appeal the court's decision.
  20. Another twist in the standoff between unionized Wisconsin teachers and GOP Gov SCOTT WALKER on Thursday. State troopers were reportedly dispatched to the homes of missing Democratic state senators to try and find at least one of them to haul back to the State Capitol. Just one more Senate member is needed to allow a vote on a measure that would curb the power of public-employee unions in Wisconsin.   The Wisconsin Senate Republican leader ordered troopers to go to those homes after rumors surfaces that some senators were scrambling home in the middle of the night to get money, food and clothes before heading back across the border to Illinois.   At press time, there was no word on whether any of those missing senate members were found.
  21. Federal officials yesterday announced the arrest of 20-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen KHALID ALI-M ALDASWARI on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Aldaswari --a Lubbock, TX resident-- was nabbed late Wednesday in connection with an alleged recent purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make improvised explosive devices.    He's due in a Lubbock courtroom this morning. Aldawsari is in the U-S on a 2008 on a student visa and is currently enrolled at South Plains College near Lubbock. He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
  22. The world's most-traveled spaceship lifted-off from Cape Canaveral, FL, yesterday on its final mission. The Space Shuttle Discovery headed for the International Space Station on its 39th launch, and NASA's 133rd overall shuttle mission. Two more shuttle missions are left before the program is ended. One more flight each for the Atlantis and Endeavour will bring an end to the 30-year program.
  23. No winner in Wednesday night's drawing for the Powerball Lottery. That means Saturday night's drawing is valued at $184 million ($90.1 million cash value). Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington DC and the U-S Virgin Islands. Chances of winning the grand prize (all five numbers plus the powerball) are 1 in 195.2 million.
  24. It's happening again: Yesterday, Toyota announced that it will recall 2.17 million cars because of problems with carpet and floor mats, namely that they could potentially get jammed in gas pedals.    This latest recall expands on an issue the company had previously identified, adding additional models to a list of vehicles susceptible to problems. In August 2009, four people were killed after a floormat got stuck in an accelerator, leading to Toyota's first recall of 3.5 million cars. Soon after, another recall was issued for sticky accelerator pedals, bringing the grand total of recalled cars up to 8 million.   The news comes in the wake of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration review, which examined "more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of its recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient."
  25. It will mean jobs in Kansas and the Pacific Northwest, but not in Alabama. The Pentagon awarded Boeing a massive contract to build aerial refueling tankers, closing a high-stakes bidding contest between rivals Boeing and EADS.   EADS, the Eureopean firm that would've built the tanker in Alabama, won the contract in 2008 but it was rescinded after government auditors found flaws in that process.
  26. CBS pulled the plug on "Two and a Half Men" after CHARLIE SHEEN called in to a syndicated radio show and trashed his co-workers, critics, Alcoholics Anonymous and anybody who doesn't like his lifestyle.  But the thing that likely caused CBS to pull the plug was when he called "Two and a Half Men" co-creator CHUCK LORRE a "clown," a "stupid, stupid little man" and said he "violently hates" the producer, then challenged him to a cage fight. Charlie also said "That's me being polite."  The network said, "Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of Two and a Half Men for the remainder of the season."
  27. There's already a teaser plug for "The Hangover, Part II" out on the internet, showing BRADLEY COOPER, ED HELMS and ZACH GALIFIANAKIS walking through Thailand, but without JUSTIN BARTHA, who played Doug in the original film. Instead, there's a monkey walking along with 'em. In addition, Alan's hair has been shaved off and Stu seems to have gotten a tattoo in honor of the first movie's guest star Mike Tyson. It just gets better. The movie is due out over the Memorial Day weekend.
  28. This Sunday, the 86th Academy Awards, co-hosted by ANNE HATHAWAY and JAMES FRANCO (who's also nominated for Best Actor in"127 Hours."  The telecast begins at 8pm Eastern on ABC
  29. Police in Bradenton, FL, busted a 20-year-old Texan named JOSHUA LEE JOEHLIN for engaging in a "lewd and lascivious act" with a minor.   At his booking, police asked him his religion. On the police report, they wrote down exactly what he said: "Redneck."   Joshua Lee remains in jail in lieu of $10-thousand bond.
 
 
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