The Rocky Mountain News reports:
The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma filed a claim Wednesday for 27 million acres given to the tribes in a 19th century treaty but said they would settle for 500 acres to build a casino in a symbolic return to Colorado.
The petition, filed with the Department of Interior, covers northeastern Colorado and about 40 percent of the state. The land claims include water rights on the Platte and Arkansas rivers that predate those of many water users today.
From the Late Show Top Ten Archive
10. This year he broke the home run record, last year he was a cellist.
9. Only signs autographs in exchange for clean urine sample.
8. Requests salary be paid in Balco gift certificates.
7. That guy who looks like the Phillie Phanatic is actually your shortstop.
6. Whenever team wins, dumps tub of Creatine on manager.
5. Exhibits erratic behavior like chewing on foul pole.
4. Can spit sunflower seeds 95 miles per hour.
3. Rush Limbaugh points at him and says, “That dude’s messed up.”
2. George Steinbrenner is scared of him.
1. Makes Schwarzenegger look like Carrot Top.
An income tax was first collected during the Civil War from 1862 to 1872. During the administration of President Grover Cleveland, the federal government again levied an income tax, enacted by Congress in 1894. However, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year. Supporters of an income tax were forced then to embark on the lengthy process of amending the Constitution. Not until the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913 was Congress given the power “to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.”
Source: Library of Congress
Three time Oscar-nominated actor Rod Steiger was born on this date in 1925. Steiger won for Best Actor for his portrayal of the sheriff in the movie In the Heat of the Night. He was nominated for best actor for The Pawnbroker and for best supporting actor for On the Waterfront. Steiger died in 2002.
The Pawnbroker (1964) was one of the first films to deal with the emotional aftermath of the Nazi concentration camps.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, a depressing story with a tragic ending.
1986: Lloyd Larson involved in crash where alcohol suspected. Hired by Bureau of Indian Affairs as civil engineer technician.
June 26, 1986: Arrested on DWI charge by Navajo police.
1987-88: Prohibited from using BIA vehicle because of driving history and suspended license.
June 10, 1990: Arrested on DWI charge by Navajo police. Convicted.
March 20, 1993: Arrested on DWI charge by Navajo police. Sentence deferred, sent to DWI school. Larson tells BIA supervisor.
April 3, 1993: Missing from work without excuse, or AWOL, four hours. Supervisors exchange memos.
Oct. 4-7, 1993: AWOL four days. Supervisor sends letter.
Nov. 13, 1993: AWOL 24 hours. Supervisors exchange notes.
Jan. 1, 1994: Arrested on DWI charge in McKinley County. Convicted.
Jan. 18, 1994: Supervisor reports seeing Larson drunk at Kachina Trading, sends memo.
Jan. 24, 1994: Larson sends letter to supervisor admitting alcohol problem, DWI, loss of driver’s license.
Feb. 15, 1994: Memo between supervisors asks Larson to seek help; Larson refuses.
Feb. 21, 1994: Arrested on DWI charge in McKinley County. Convicted. Driver’s license revoked one year.
March 11, 1994: Supervisor secures limited driver’s license for Larson, saying his services are needed.
March 28, 1994: Suspended from job five days for being AWOL in November 1993.
July 18-20, 1994: AWOL three days.
Aug. 1-4, 1994: AWOL four days.
Sept. 21, 1994: Suspended 14 days for various AWOLs.
March 20-21, 1995: AWOL two days.
March 22, 1995: Calls supervisor, says he is “recovering” and won’t be at work.
April 16, 1995: Rolls own pickup truck on I-40, leaves crash scene. Empty beer containers found at site.
April 20, 1995: Arrested on DWI charge and other charges for rollover. Notifies supervisors. Driver’s license revoked until May 1996.
May 29, 1995: Suspended from work 30 days because of AWOLs.
July 13, 1997: Arrested on DWI charge in Sanders, Ariz. Convicted. Larson notifies supervisor.
May 15-16, 2001: AWOL two days.
May 16, 2001: Arrested on DWI charge by Navajo police. Charges dismissed on technicality. Notifies supervisor.
May 24, 2001: Navajo Times reports Larson’s May 16 arrest.
May 31, 2001: Supervisor sees newspaper article, sends letter.
June 4, 2001: Larson responds to letter, saying his driver’s license is still valid.
Aug. 11, 2001: Arrested on DWI charge by Navajo police. Convicted, sentence deferred, ordered to DWI school. Supervisor notified.
Aug. 16, 2001: Navajo Times reports Aug. 11 DWI arrest.
Jan. 17, 2002: BIA check shows Larson driver’s license valid.
Jan. 25, 2002: Drives BIA truck wrong way on I-40, slams head-on into Cadillac, killing Nebraskans Edward and Alice Ramaekers and Larry and Rita Beller. Admits to drinking nine beers.
April 23, 2002: Pleads guilty to four counts of second-degree murder. Sentenced to 20 years.
Source: Testimony, court documents from both plaintiff and defendant [in current wrongful-death case being tried in Federal court].
Don’t miss Popcultablog* Where the Culture Goes Pop. Good stuff (and the source of the Mark Burnett and Apprentice lingerie links below).
Slate profiles Mark Burnett, producer of The Apprentice, Survivor, The Restaurant.
The Apprentice, which ends its run on NBC Thursday, is a celebration of one of America’s savviest tycoons. His name is Mark Burnett. Donald Trump plays the show’s playboy, but it’s Burnett, the executive producer and reality-TV mogul, who’s the real icon. Burnett emigrated from London at 22 and has assumed the role of Hollywood’s reigning Brit. He styles himself as the latest in a long line of his country’s gentleman adventurers—the Allan Quatermain of network television. Burnett sees reality TV not as a vehicle for sleaze and humiliation—à la Joe Millionaire or American Idol—but as something noble and heroic. He thinks he can save the world one reality show at a time.
The sun never sets on Burnett’s TV empire. Survivor, which debuted in 2000, still draws boffo ratings for CBS. The Apprentice finale this week will pull down even bigger numbers for NBC (and the reruns on CNBC). The Restaurant, Burnett’s series about the Manhattan dining scene, begins a second glorious season this month. All three shows went “straight to series,” which means they skipped the pilot stage and snagged multiepisode commitments from the networks—a deal reserved for top producers. Burnett claims Survivor draws $425,000 for a 30-second ad spot, the highest rate in series television.
Where’s Troy? Where’s Kwame?
From Reuters: Four of the contestants from the NBC reality television series ‘The Apprentice’ appear in the May issue of ‘FHM’ magazine. (L-R) are Kristi Frank, Katrina Campins, Amy Henry and Ereka Vetrini, who are featured in a seven-page portfolio in FHM shot by Luciana Pampalone. The women were reportedly offered $250,000 to pose nude for Playboy, but instead the women chose to be photographed by FHM wearing lingerie, and for no payment.
From AP via the San Francisco Chronicle:
Larry Ellison paddled out to McCovey Cove, not bothering to wear his Arnold Schwarzenegger disguise for his second straight catch of a milestone home run by Barry Bonds.
Ellison, a 53-year-old sales director for a computer company, retrieved both of the balls hit by Bonds this week. The first was on Monday when the slugger tied godfather Willie Mays for third on the career list; the next came 29-1/2 hours later when Bonds passed Mays with another sensational shot into the water.
From AP via CNN.com:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (AP) — The police department’s decision to test the DNA of hundreds of black men in their search for a serial rapist has angered community leaders who view it as racial profiling.
At a forum at the University of Virginia, city leaders, academics and residents criticized the practice during a presentation by city Police Chief Timothy J. Longo and other law enforcement personnel.
“Because the suspect is black, every black man is a suspect,” said University of Virginia graduate student Steven Turner, who has twice refused to be tested. “What are we going to do about this as a community?”
Longo said police question and test men for three reasons: Tips from the public, a potential suspect has a record of sex crimes or burglaries, or a 911 call alerts authorities about a man who resembles the drawing of the rapist.
As of Monday, Longo said, 690 men have been eliminated from the list of possible suspects and 10 have refused to submit to a swab test, in which DNA is collected from a potential suspect’s cheek.
Link via Political Animal.
From the environmental action group American Rivers, America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2004:
From the Arizona Republic:
When more than 8,000 people apply for 525 Wal-Mart jobs, it raises the question: What’s really happening in our economy?
The world’s largest retailer will open its newest Arizona Supercenter today in Glendale at 56th and Northern avenues with help from the lucky few who were able to snag one of the coveted positions. The applicant-to-new-hire ratio means one in 15 applicants will be soon be sporting a blue Wal-Mart vest.
Starting hourly pay: $6.75, which is on par with competitors Target Corp. and Kmart, say Wal-Mart Stores officials. When the store opens about 90 percent of those jobs will be full time, although that number will likely drop to 70 percent.
From The Bozeman Daily Chronicle:
It took a few years, but Squaw Creek finally has a new name.
The stream in the Gallatin Range south of Bozeman now bears the official moniker of Storm Castle Creek, according to Jackie Riley, cartographer for the Gallatin National Forest.
Two other features on the Gallatin, Squaw Peak and Squaw Gulch, both in the Absaroka Range, have also been renamed.
“Squaw Peak is now Morningstar Peak,” Riley said Monday. The gulch is now Travois Gulch.
A fourth feature, Squaw Pass in the Absarokas, hasn’t been renamed yet because a committee in Washington, D.C., couldn’t decide what to call it.
The new names are part of a pattern taking place around the country. The word “squaw” is considered by many Native Americans to be an insulting epithet for a woman’s private parts.
Dan Neil, recent Pulitizer prize winner for criticism, has a column this week on the new Lotus Elise, Catch me if you can.
Estimates are that the Bush campaign has spent $40-45 million so far on TV ads.
From Sideline Chatter:
Reds shortstop Barry Larkin is such a big fan of ballparks that his oldest daughter got her middle name that way.
Brielle D’Shea Larkin, we assume, is just thankful she came along before pops ever laid eyes on Petco.
[PETCO Park is the new ballpark in San Diego]
the coal miner’s daughter, is 69 today. She was born in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, on this date in 1935. Married at 14, Ms. Lynn had four children by the time she was 17.
Loretta will give you a nice country welcome and sing her autobiographical song for you at the Official Loretta Lynn Website.
opened his first retail store, called the Golden Rule Store, in the mining town of Kemmerer, Wyoming, on this date in 1902. In 1913, the chain incorporated as J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
The first store, as seen in 1904.
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on this date in 1865. Lincoln died the next morning.
On April 26, Booth and co-conspirator David Herold were surrounded while hiding in a tobacco shed in Port Royal, Virginia. Herold surrendered to Union troops, but Booth held out and was shot while the shed burned down around him.
Click on the image to see a larger version of the poster.
Read The New York Times story from the day after the assassination, headlined Awful Event.
Baseball Blogs: All Baseball, All Blogs, All The Time has a list of blogs by team. For example, there are 10 blogs listed for the Anaheim Angels. A couple are generic, such as Dominican Players, but Chronicles of the Lads and The Pearly Gates (to name just two) must be Angels specific.
Not that any Angels fans read NewMexiKen. Every MLB team has similar blogs.
Understanding USA is a web site devoted to graphic statistical analysis of the U.S. It’s very informative, but exceptionally difficult to use. For one, the images are two small and much of the information is undecipherable. It is the source, however, for the map in the post that preceded this one (below) and for what follows. (In turn, Understanding USA cites the Census Bureau as its source.)
Education
Employment
Marriage
Voting
Click to see a somewhat fascinating graphic of U.S. population distribution.
From the Billings Gazette:
In a ruling that could have far-reaching implications for sportsmen’s access, a Douglas [Wyoming] man has been acquitted of trespassing after he jumped from one corner of public land to another, crossing the space above adjoining private property.
“Corner jumping” is the term used to describe stepping from piece of property where four sections of land meet to reach an opposite corner without touching the other two parcels, like a diagonal move on a checkers board. …
The case began Sept. 23 when Kearney, while hunting, stepped from one parcel of public land to another that meet at a corner where two pieces of private land also meet.
Using a global positioning system device, Kearney found a surveyor’s pin that marks the intersection of the four parcels, and he did not step in or physically touch the private lands when he crossed the corner.
“I did this, and I was accosted by a landowner and a Game and Fish representative on public land,” Kearney said. “They asked how I got there, and I told them, and they told me that was against the law in Wyoming. … I couldn’t believe that was true because I never stepped on private land.”
Nearly a month later, Kearney was cited for trespassing.
“From my overall experience, it appeared to me that the Game and Fish was under a tremendous amount of pressure by this very wealthy hobby rancher to prosecute me for accessing thousands of acres of public land,” he said.
He decided to challenge the citation because he didn’t think he had broken the law. On March 24, after a nonjury trial, Castor found Kearney innocent.
“It’s unfortunate that I had to waste a couple of days of elk hunting and my own money to see this through, but it was a matter of principle,” he said.
Kearney’s attorney and the prosecutor, Deputy Albany County Attorney Torey Racines, could find no definitive answer in Wyoming case law to interpret whether corner jumping is prohibited.
“There’s case law from other states, and there’s arguments made on both sides as to what the law should be,” Racines said.
In court documents, Racines noted that Wyoming law specifically grants landowners sovereignty of the space above their lands – except for aircraft use – and even the U.S. Supreme Court grants landowners ownership of “at least as much of the space above the ground as they can occupy or use in connection with the land.”
On the other hand, a recent Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling stated there is “no place in the modern world” for the ancient civil trespass doctrine that “he who owns the soil owns upward unto heaven.”
According to various news reports, McDonalds will be offering wireless Internet at 3,000 of its restaurants by the end of the year — $2.95 for two hours. Still, McDonalds is pervasive and not everyone wants to go to Starbucks or Schlotsky’s.
