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Posted: 4:40 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011

KRMG Morning News "Stack of Stuff" and Notes 1/25/11 

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By Joe Kelley, Host of the KRMG Morning News

  1. KOTV - For many Oklahomans it has been a while since they mailed a letter. The U.S. Postal Service is falling deeper and deeper into the red. In March, the agency will start the process of closing as many as 2,000 post offices. The news comes after they announced the 491 it said would close starting at the end of last year. The postal service is also reviewing another 16,000 post offices that are operating at a deficit.
  2. KOTV - TULSA, Oklahoma -- The superintendents of four Tulsa-area school districts said Monday they will sue Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt over House Bill 3393. The new law requires districts to pay tuition scholarships for special education students whose parents choose to send them to private schools. Jenks, Union, Broken Arrow and Liberty voted last fall to ignore the law.  They said it was unconstitutional because it uses public dollars to pay for private school. Last week, Attorney General Scott Pruitt threatened them with legal action if they didn't comply. Now the schools say they will follow it and accept the applications they have already received, but say they will sue Pruitt to force Oklahoma's Supreme Court to rule on the law's constitutionality.
  3. AP - After targeting drivers who paid more attention to their phone calls and text messages than the road, lawmakers in Arkansas and New York are now looking to crack down on pedestrians equally distracted by their own electronic gadgets. Lawmakers in both states have proposed restrictions on using cell phones and music players such as iPods by people running and walking on the street or sidewalk. The apparent message: Distracted pedestrians are dangerous. "It's not just distracted drivers. We focus a lot on distracted drivers, but we also need to focus on distracted walkers and joggers," said Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nonprofit organization representing state highway safety offices. The proposal in Arkansas would ban pedestrians from wearing headphones in both ears while on, parallel or adjacent to a street, road, intersection or highway. The measure also applies to runners and cyclists and would allow pedestrians to wear headphones in one ear.
  4. NY DAILY NEWS - Actor Alec Baldwin has joined a list of elite New Yorkers targeted by tax collectors who think they're fibbing about where they really live to dodge New York City income taxes. In recent years, auditors have confronted hundreds of super-wealthy New Yorkers over the residency rules - including star Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter. Facing shrinking revenues, the state has ramped up its pursuit of suspected tax dodgers, hiring 189 new auditors and - for the first time - making filers swear under oath on tax forms as to how many days they "spend in New York City." If it's more than 183 days and the filer has a residence in the city, the tax bill goes up. Baldwin, star of NBC's "30 Rock," owns a three-bedroom co-op on Central Park West, a house in the Hamptons and a pad near his daughter in Los Angeles. He spends lots of time in the city doing the show, but claims the Hamptons as home base. That made him one of hundreds of people slapped with an audit in 2009. "The moment you start working regularly [in the city], the city finance people come after you," Baldwin recently told an audience at City College.
  5. (CNSNews.com) - Three local chapters of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), whose political action committee spent $27 million supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, have received temporary waivers from a provision in the Obamacare law. The three SEIU chapters include the Local 25 in Obama's hometown of Chicago. The waivers allow health insurance plans to limit how much they will spend on a policy holder's medical coverage for a given year. Under the new health care law, however, such annual limits are phased out by the year 2014. (Under HHS regulations, annual limits can be no less than $750,000 for 2011, no less than $1.25 million in 2012 and no less than $2 million in 2013.) The SEIU, with more than 2 million members nationally, includes health care workers, janitors, security guards, and state and local government workers.
  6. BARACK OBAMA op/ed in USA TODAY - Ronald Wilson Reagan was a believer. As a husband, a father, an entertainer, a governor and a president, he recognized that each of us has the power -- as individuals and as a nation -- to shape our own destiny. He had faith in the American promise; in the importance of reaffirming values like hard work and personal responsibility; and in his own unique ability to inspire others to greatness. No matter what political disagreements you may have had with President Reagan-- and I certainly had my share -- there is no denying his leadership in the world, or his gift for communicating his vision for America.
  7. FOX NEWS - Just one day before President Obama's State of the Union address, it's still not clear whether Chief Justice John Roberts will attend or, like high court colleague Justice Samuel Alito, skip the event. The recent uptick in collegiality from lawmakers on Capitol Hill in the run-up to Tuesday's speech contrasts sharply with the lingering controversy from last year's speech in which President Obama rebuked the justices over a campaign finance decision. If Roberts decides not to attend, it would be his first absence at a State the Union Speech since joining the court in 2005. Roberts's decision -- or that of any other justice for that matter -- wouldn't normally be an issue but for the instant uproar that resulted from last year's address and the observations he and some of his colleagues have made over the last 12 months about the celebrated but often hyper-partisan evening. An official with the University of Hawaii Law School confirms to FOX News that Alito, who was a significant part of the controversy last year, will be with students in Honolulu all week and therefore will not attend Tuesday night's speech. It will be the first time he will not show.
  8. Orange County Register - What's inside that Taco Bell beef taco you just ate? A class-action lawsuit filed by an Alabama law firm alleges that only 36 percent of the substance Taco Bell markets as "seasoned beef" or "seasoned ground beef" actually contains meat. The rest of the "filling," according to the complaint, is made up of "substances other than beef." "Rather than beef, these food items are actually made with a substance known as 'taco meat filling.' Taco meat filling mostly consists of  'extenders' and other non-meat substances. Taco meat filling is not beef. "Taco Bell's 'seasoned beef' actually contains among other ingredients, water, 'Isolated Oat Product,' wheat oats, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent, autolyzed yeast extract, modified corn starch and sodium phosphate, as well as beef and seasonings." The complaint also helpfully quotes Merriam-Webster, which defines "beef" as "the flesh of an adult domestic bovine (as steer or cow) used as food."
  9. KTLA - LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. -- A mother of 3 has died a week after the car her 12-year-old son was operating during a driving lesson crashed into a canal, injuring her and two other children. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says Martha Camarillo died on Saturday. Deputies say Camarillo's 12-year-old son had just switched seats with his father to learn how to drive when the family's Isuzu Rodeo plunged into a canal in Loxahatchee. The father and son were able to get out unhurt. But Camarillo, and two children, ages 1 and 6, were trapped in the vehicle. The sheriff's office says it took 30 minutes to extricate Camarillo.
  10. HuffPo - U.S. military investigators have been unable to find a direct link between jailed Army PFC Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks, reports NBC News. However, the alleged source of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables did download files illegally, maintain military investigators. Reports NBC: The officials say that while investigators have determined that Manning had allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands of documents onto his own computer and passed them to an unauthorized person, there is apparently no evidence he passed the files directly to Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure. WikiLeaks founder Assange has repeatedly stated that he had no contact with Manning prior to "reading his name in a magazine." WikiLeaks has, however, provided $15,000 towards Manning's legal fees, and Assange has referred to him as a "political prisoner." Manning has been in the media spotlight recently as stories of his prison conditions have emerged. He is currently being held at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, in solitary confinement. The military has strongly denied that Manning's detention conditions are punitive or "torture," as has been alleged.
  11. HuffPo - 'Golden voiced' internet sensation Ted Williams, who rocketed to stardom after being discovered homeless and panhandling roadside in Columbus, Ohio, has checked out of rehab early according to a report by TMZ. The gossip site writes: Our sources say Ted -- who decided to go to rehab earlier this month after a taping of the Dr. Phil show -- left the Origins Recovery Center in South Texas moments ago and is on his way to the airport. Days after entering the public spotlight, Williams was involved in a highly publicized domestic dispute in Los Angeles which resulted in his detention by the LAPD. Shortly thereafter, Williams checked into rehab at the urging of Dr. Phil McGraw. CNN reports that McGraw released the following statement Monday: "We certainly hope that he continues his commitment to sobriety, and we will continue to help and support him in any way that we can..."
  12. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Witnesses say they saw a woman throw herself from the 23rd story of a Buenos Aires hotel Monday and survive. The woman landed in a sitting position on the roof of a taxi whose driver got out just before the impact deeply dented his roof and shattered the windshield. The woman, a 30-year-old Argentine, was rushed to the nearby Hospital Argerich, where she was being operated on for injuries including internal bleeding and broken hips and ribs, Alberto Crescenti, director of Argentina's Emergency Medical System, told the government news agency Telam. He estimated that she fell nearly 100 meters (330 feet). The taxi driver, Miguel Cajal, told the C5N television station that he jumped out of the car because he saw a policeman stopping traffic and looking up. Moments later, the driver's side of the car was smashed by the woman's body.
  13. The address will begin Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, 6 p.m. Pacific Time. The speech, which is entitled "Winning the Future," should last for about one hour. The President will be addressing a joint session of Congress from the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol. The address will air on television as well as online, of course; but online viewing might give you a more interesting and informative experience than TV viewing alone. For example, there's the White House's official portal, which delivers a unique and media-rich experience. With WhiteHouse.gov's official "enhanced viewing experience," you'll be able to see data displayed on charts and graphs as the President speaks.
  14. THEBLAZE.COM - ABC News's Jake Tapper is a known as a fair, and tough, questioner. He's also, apparently, trying to secure the comedian tag. During a segment Monday morning about the president's State of the Union speech, Tapper took a lighthearted approach regarding plans for Democrats and Republicans to use mixed seating. Treating it more like a prom dance, Tapper gave names to "couples" such as "Southwest Soulmates," "The Partisan Pals," and even "Cutest Couple."
  15. Janet Huckabee, wife of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, appeared in Pulaski County District Court last week and received a "reserve judgment," an agreement that previous charges of careless and prohibited driving would be dismissed if Huckabee doesn't get into any more vehicular trouble for at least six months. The charges stem from a September 20, 2010 accident in which an Arkansas State Trooper charged Huckabee for merging into the lane of another car, causing a three-vehicle accident. Witnesses in the accident claimed Huckabee had been talking on a cell phone at the time -- a charge she forcefully contested. Newly released video obtained by the Arkansas Times captured Huckabee's heated exchange with the police officer just after being issued a ticket for accident:
  16. It turns out that George Soros' Media Matters may not be totally useless. Without them, after all, I might never have found out that Fox News' Special Report host Bret Baier spent the weekend participating in the 52nd annual Bob Hope Classic, a charity golf tournament held in La Quinta, Calif. On Friday, Baier took to the stage to perform the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" for what I can only assume was the talent portion of the competition. "Don't tell anybody I did that. Don't tell anybody," Baier concluded.
  17. (Newser) - New England has been hit with a blast of winter cold from Canada so severe that at least two people have died, including one woman whose frozen body was found in a driveway in Connecticut, the AP reports. She apparently fell Saturday night and froze while temperatures were near zero; her body was found yesterday morning when neighbors called the police. Things are expected to get even worse today, with the wind chill in some areas of New England was expected to make it feel as cold as 50 degrees below zero. Schools in parts of Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire closed their doors or delayed openings to protect students from temperatures as low as 25 degrees below zero or even colder. "This is the coldest air we've had in about two years," said one Caribou, Maine meteorologist. In Philadelphia, the city has extended an emergency alert allowing authorities to round up homeless people and bring them to shelters to escape the hazardous cold.
  18. Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration on Monday (January 24th), charging that full-body scans and pat-downs at airport checkpoints violate his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The suit contends the searches are, quote, "unwarranted and unreasonable intrusions on Governor Ventura's personal privacy and dignity and are a justifiable cause for him to be concerned for his personal health and well-being."  The suit says that since Venture got a hip replacement in 2008, the implant has set off metal detectors at airport security checkpoints. Before last November, a hand-held wand was used to scan his body as a secondary security measure. But in November, the suit said Ventura was subjected to a body pat-down and was not given the option of a scan with a hand-held wand or an exemption for being a frequent traveler. The pat-down was described as having, quote, "exposed him to humiliation and degradation through unwanted touching, gripping and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body." The suit also said that Ventura will always have to either go through a full-body scanner or submit to a pat-down when he travels because he'll always set off the metal detector.
  19. POLL: COMPANY HIRING PLANS UP: A new survey from the National Association for Business Economics holds some good news for the economy, with industry economists saying the recovery is gaining strength and more companies are planning to hire employees. The survey of 84 economists who work for private companies and trade groups found that 42 percent saw hiring by their firms increasing over the next six months, compared to seven percent who expected worker layoffs. The positive gap between those two percentages was the highest in the 12 years that the question's been asked. Looking at growth, 82 percent said they expect the U.S. economy to grow by two to four percent in 2011, up from 54 percent in October.
  20. GM SALES IN CHINA PASS THOSE IN U.S. FOR FIRST TIME: General Motors sold more cars and trucks in China last year than it did in the U.S. for the first time in the company's 102-year history. The company sold 2.35 million vehicles in China in 2010, up 29 percent from the year before and about 136,000 more vehicles than it sold in the U.S. China has become the world's largest car market due to its expanding middle class. GM's global sales figures for 2010 were up a substantial 12 percent from 2009, a year in which it closed factories and was forced to take U.S. government aid to survive, and the carmaker said it had double-digit jumps in sales in five of its top 10 markets.
  21. CONAN O'BRIEN SIGNS DEAL WITH CBS: Conan O'Brien is headed to CBS -- kind of. Deadline.com reported that the network green lighted the comedy pilot Vince Uncensored, which was executive produced by Conan and penned by veteran sitcom writer Phoef Sutton. It's the first project to come out of the deal between O'Brien's Conaco Prods. and Warner Bros. TV, which was signed last spring after Conan left NBC. Vince Uncensored centers on a man who, "after a life-changing experience, decides to take a more honest approach to his life, work and family."
  22. KEITH OLBERMANN REPORTEDLY HAS LUCRATIVE EXIT DEAL: Keith Olbermann will reportedly pocket "well in excess" of $7 million as part of his departure deal with MSNBC. TMZ.com reports that Olbermann was due for two salary increases in the last two years of his contract, which would have made him just over $17 million, so the network has to pony up a lot of money to square things away. The deal reportedly also means he can't appear on TV for about four months.
  23. COUPLES DON'T AGREE TO BE MONOGAMOUS: A lot of couples actually don't agree on monogamy. Jocelyn Warren and Marie Harvey of Oregon State University say a study that involved 434 young heterosexual couples ages 18-25 found in 40 percent of couples -- both married and unmarried -- only one partner says the couple agreed to be sexually exclusive, while the other partner said there was no agreement. Even among the couples who agreed they had an explicit agreement to be monogamous, almost 30 percent say at least one partner had sex outside the relationship. Interestingly, couples with children were less likely to have a monogamy agreement in place, while married couples were no more likely to have an explicit monogamy agreement than unmarried couples. (UPI)
  24. SPOUSES ARE TOO CLOSE TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER: A study says that spouses might not understand each other because they are too close. Psychologists believe that when two people know each other too well they assume too much shared knowledge and their language becomes dangerously ambiguous. This "closeness communication bias" can lead to long term misunderstandings, fights and even relationship problems. The research by University of Chicago and Williams College in Massachusetts found that often couples and good friends communicate with each other no better than they do with strangers. Sometimes they are clearer with strangers because they assume no common knowledge. (Telegraph)
  25. FACEBOOK MAKES US 'LESS HUMAN'? We've heard that Facebook and Twitter might be making us anti-social, but now a leading academic claims the sites are threatening to dominate our lives, making us more isolated and 'less human.' Professor Sherry Turkle even suggests social networking can make us mad, citing 'pathological behavior' she has witnessed, such as mourners at funerals checking their iPhones. (Daily Mail)
  26. KARMA VISITS ALLEGED ROBBERS: Three alleged car thieves in Kansas City who prey on cars stuck in the snow were apprehended when their own car became stuck. The robbers allegedly held a preacher, who got stuck in the snow last week, at gunpoint before taking off with his car. While in pursuit of the thieves, police came across a car matching the description of a car stolen earlier that day and found the alleged thieves in the stolen car -- stuck in the snow. Michael Wilson Jr., 17, Darion Page, 18, and a juvenile were arrested and charged with robbery and armed criminal action. (Upi.com)
  27. MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS GETTING POT SOFT DRINK: An entrepreneur form Soquel, California plans to supply medical marijuana dispensaries with his new pot soda, which contains the psychoactive ingredient THC. Clay Butler says he'll have other flavors of the soda including a Dr. Pepper-like "Doc Weed," lemon-lime "Sour Diesel," grape-flavored "Grape Ape" and orange-flavored "Orange Kush." One 12-ounce bottle will retail between $10 and $15. Butler claims that he does not do drugs nor does he use medical marijuana for any ailments. (Philly.com)
  28. EVEN WOLVES DON'T LIKE CREED: A 13-year-old boy in Norway was able to scare away a pack of wolves by playing music on his cell phone speakers. While walking home from school, Walter Eikrem found himself surrounded by a pack of wolves. The quick thinking teen knew that running was a bad idea so he pulled out his cell phone and blasted the song "Saviour" by the band Creed. The wolves reportedly trotted away. (Dailymail.co.uk)
  29. A new Rasmussen Reports phone poll of likely 2012 Republican presidential primary voters gives former MA Gov and presidential candidate MITT ROMNEY a five-point lead over SARAH PALIN, and a seven-point lead over MIKE HUCKABEE. Romney pulls 24-percent support, with Palin at 19-percent and Huckabee at 17-percent. Looking deeper into the numbers, Romney, Palin and Huckabee are essentially in a three-way tie with voters who call themselves as very conservative. But when that field is broadened to somewhat conservative, or moderate/liberal, their preference swings to Romney.
  30. As Congress prepares to do battle over spending cuts in the federal budget, a NY Times / CBS News poll finds that Americans overwhelming favor spending cuts by the government rather than higher taxes. But, as usual, the support starts to fade when specific programs such as Medicare and Social Security come into the picture, and these two programs are the biggest drivers of the country's debt. Nearly two-thirds of Americans chose higher payroll taxes for Medicaid and Social Security over reduced benefits in either program. Perhaps most shockingly, when asked whether they wanted to cut Medicare, Social Security, or the military --the three most expensive items on the budget-- an overwhelming majority said the Pentagon should absorb the cuts.
  31. Massachusetts has the smartest kids in the country, if you define "smart" as "really good at taking standardized tests." According to the Daily Beast, the Bay State's students have the nation's best scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test, which is administered annually to test fourth- and eighth-graders on math and reading. Joining Massachusetts in the top five were Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Minnesota. Everyone in Mississippi, Washington, D-C, West Virginia, New Mexico and Louisiana needs to stay after class; those states' students had the lowest scores.  Probably not coincidentally, the list of "smartest" states tracks pretty closely with the list of richest states, and the worst test-takers tend to live in the most impoverished areas. Oklahoma ranks fourth from the bottom of the list. Only Louisiana, New Mexico and West Virginia rank worse.
 
 
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