Index 8/28/64

• Wow. Plane lands on FM 920. Looks like some high tone college administrators from Colorado. (Hey, where is Mr. Fred Glass in that photo!!!)
• Shootin' Blind takes a shot at a local business guy, Decatur, and the courthouse workers.
• A strike? We had unions here? Five men beaten? The Rangers called in? District judge restraining order? 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• House Republicans are filing a silly lawsuit against President Obama and have hired a lawyer who bills $500 an hour to do it. And the taxpayer foots the bill.
• The female vampire on the ATT Uverse commercial who asks, "Is it the biting? I can stop!", makes me laugh. And I've seen it a ton of times.
• The Sixth Grader In The House went to her first softball team meeting the other day. "What'd ya think?" I asked her once she got back. Her response: "I think this team is going to be wheels off."
• A 28 year old first grade teacher in Arlington was allegedly drunk during an in-service day on Friday. KXAS reported last night that "concerned co-workers called the police."  I'm not sure the co-workers motivation was out of "concern". There would be other ways to handle that. 
• “There are so many different ways to consume TV. People don’t necessarily watch them when they air anymore. The most DVRed show of the past season was The Blacklist. Game of Thrones was the most pirated show. And Duck Dynasty was the most VCR-taped.” - Seth Meyers hosting the Emmy's last night. 
• The Wise County Courthouse elevator needs $70,000 in repairs. Riding it is like going back in time. The elevator doors shut and then this old metal gate slides over the doors. Everyone who rides it momentarily thinks, "I'll never get out of this thing." I'm not sure I've ridden it in the past decade. 
• I bet I've watched more DPS Trooper videos of them interacting with stopped motorists than anyone in Wise County -- even their bosses or prosecutors. And I could be a heck of an evaluator of ability. By and large, they are incredibly professional, but there are a couple who look like they are one comment away from drawing down on someone. I've seen some do some Christian witnessing on the way to jail. I've seem some be borderline inappropriate flirting with a cute arrestee. Every now and then, one will casually mention on tape that he's working his shift simply due to a grant and/or overtime. But mostly they play it by the book. And they are all aware of the book. 
• Sports Notes: (1) Hey, I'm having a hard time defending Ahmad Dixon these days -- I'm not sure he shouldn't be suspended for this, (2) Shin-Soo Choo having season ending surgery makes the Rangers season beyond ridiculous, (3) The Tickets's annual "Fight Night" was scheduled on the same night as aTm/South Carolina? (4) A star USC cornerback has injured both ankles after jumping off a balcony to save his drowning nephew.
• Learned from the radio yesterday: Wilford Brimley was only 49 years old when he starred as an elderly man in Cocoon. That's insane. 
• After reading through the political opinions in the early 1960 Indexes, I'm stunned about how little things have changed. 
• My lawn doesn't look as good as usual despite watering it the same amount. I think what I did wrong was I forgot to raise the blade on the lawnmower back in June like I normally do, so it wasn't as allowed to grow as high as it has in the past to protect itself from the sun. (I think that would be Neil Sperry's diagnosis. I know you were concerned.)

The Most Violent ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Ever

Shut it down. Let's go home. (But assuming she's ok, that was some top notch comedy right there.)

Wise County Police Work: 1964

Officer Pennartz was a real life Sheriff Andy Taylor.  And I love how the police chief's home is referenced in the story.  (I tried to find the ending because I really want to know what happened to Raymond Stutt of Paradise, but I couldn't. Sounds like the Decatur police had him in "Vineyard" -- wherever that is -- but we may never know.)

Edit: Pennartz left the force the next year.

Random 1964 Wise County History

Saw this ad in the Index archives.  Chico had a roller rink? And that new $20,000 rink was never built was it? (There has to be some Chico historian out there.)

Bridgeport Bull Hype Video

Has this been going on for long? With this type of production value? They've come a long way from "the newspaper is here boys, gather over here and line for your picture."

If there is one for Decatur or any other Wise County school, let me know.

Teacher vs. Lion

Mirror- This is the moment a teacher cheated death in front of her pupils after being attacked by a lion when she entered its cage as a volunteer. The animal leapt on Roxana Guevara and tossed her around like a rag doll at a circus in the Peruvian city of Cuzco. Miraculously, she managed to get up and stagger to safety after it freed her from its jaws as the lion tamer chased it around the cage, trying to beat it with a stick. Roxana, who had taken her pupils along to watch the show, suffered severe scratches to her neck and chest. Speaking from her hospital bed, Roxana relived her terrifying ordeal. Ironically, she said volunteered to demonstrate the lion wasn’t aggressive.

Man, even though she's fine, that's hard to watch.  At least the kids will learn to respect and fear wild animals.

Forney Woman With Kids Wrongly Stopped By Police

Story and video. Edit: Updated link.

Cops can stop and detain someone when they have a "reasonable suspicion" that some type of criminal activity is afoot. This is what happen when the cops know that the courts, with a wink, have obliterated that standard which for all practical purposes lets them get away with detaining someone based upon a "guess" or a "hunch".

Once again, the aspect of "big government" no one seems to care about.

And I'm a little worried about the exercise of their Freedom of the Press right by Channel 8 here. "Accidentally"?

We've Got A Decatur Puppy Dog Alert

I don't have it but I know who does. They are looking for the owner so I thought I'd help out. It was found this morning.

Bridgeport Index 3/20/64

I'm giving up the chronological order and will just jump around on posting future issues.

• Check out the expressions on the faces of those girls. It's like they were taken from a concentration camp and told to pose for the photo. Fantastic.  Take note of the cute girl in the scarf and the one with the glasses. And I love the one on the far left who is sending some message with here eyes. 
• What is that "Big Wind from California" reference in connection with Jack Ruby at the end of Shootin' Blind?
• Polio Serum. Wow. 
• Burglars take money from funeral home but return it and leave it in the hearse. 
• Bridgeport's track meet will include Lewisville, Frisco and Plano. And I bet those "towns" had just one high school back then.
• I  never knew there was an "old Chevrolet building on Halsell street."

"Shapely"

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I live in a subdivision not far from a creek.  About two weeks ago I started noticing a ton -- and I do mean a ton -- of birds everywhere and this weekend it dawned on me: Doves. 
• I watched the first episode of The Knick over the weekend. It's a medical drama set in 1900 New York starring Clive Owen as a cocaine addicted doctor. It was intense. It was fantastic. It was like House on acid. 
• Texas Police Chief shot dead. 
• One thing I noticed about the 1960s Bridgeport Indexes I've been going through is that there was a poll tax imposed at the time. In fact, there was a local vote on the issue and it was supported by a 2 to 1 margin. (Those issues are like a snapshot in time, and I'm posting quite a few of them this week.)
• Most of adult life I didn't have kids in the house but paid a fortune in school taxes. Socialism! And, you know, I didn't mind paying it one bit if I were helping contribute to the greater good.
• Texas Monthly's latest issue has a great article on the state of UT's athletic program. Let me tell you something, the Empire better keep an eye on new AD Steve Patterson and give him a very short leash.  (And doesn't he resemble the stuttering lawyer from my cousin Vinny?)
• Patterson defended players not being paid saying saying that, in essence, the school is doing them a favor. After all, "No corporations are going to be lining up to pay them money out of high school." Sheesh, buddy. That's because the slowly dying NCAA won't let them get paid by a corporation. Get ready, these times they are a changing. You don't think a corporation wouldn't sponsor players on Rivals.com Top 100 of 2014 list if they could? Patterson, by the way, earns $1.4 million a year.
• Texas Monthly, by the way, is my favorite magazine of all time.
• Up until 1989, only a metal rail separated those being subjected to a Texas execution and those who were there from the public to observe it. (Source: Texas Monthly.) More death penalty trivia: The first man in the U.S. ever executed by lethal injection was a Fort Worth man, Charlie Brooks. His last words will make some of you crazy.
• Football: (1) Denver receiver Wes Welker had his third concussion in less than a year, and Sam Bradford tore his ACL for the second time in a year.  The NFL won't survive fifty years from now --- Too big. Too fast. (2)  Michael Sams (the guy who just happens to be gay) sacked Johnny Football on Saturday and flashed the money sign. I'm surprised ESPN didn't go 24/7 coverage on that event alone. (3) I watched some of Sam Houston State play Eastern Washington on Saturday and almost had my eyes burned due to the red field. (Photo.) (4) I think Tony Romo has a tiny, tiny limp. That back isn't going to make it through the season. (5) Ticket reference: Michael Irvin was in the booth for the Cowboys game on Saturday and every time he spoke I could only hear, "Allen ISD, Closed! Alvord ISD, Closed!"
• More mothers are crying this morning than at any other time of the year. 
• The Junior in the House has four minutes between classes. 
• Journalist James Foley was executed by a 23 year old British rapper who joined ISIS?
• I woke up in the middle of Friday night and watched two episodes of The Simpsons -- part of an FXX marathon. I really hadn't watched that show in years but I had heard that the first part of this weekend would have shows from its "golden years". Verdict: I had forgotten how incredibly clever and funny that thing was. 
• If Jon Stewart doesn't target Fox News coverage of yesterday's earthquake, he's missing out on a goldmine. Case in point, reporter Claudia Cowan, showing a shot of several broken wine bottles on a convenience store floor, said, "As you can see, guys, there is just total devastation here."
• I mentioned that my high school class had somewhat spare Dallas Cowboy Scott Laidlaw speak at our Bridgeport All Sports Banquet. I learned the 1974 class had Lee Roy Jordan speak.
• Double motorcycle death in Grapevine over the weekend.
• There's an ad for a diet pill on The Ticket and it says it is "only for people who are overweight by thirty pounds" and to "discontinue to take this product if you lose too much weight too quickly."  I yell at the radio every time. What lies. 
• Fascinating story of a guy accused of shooting a drunk driver who killed two of his young sons in Alvin, Texas. Even more fascinating in that his defense is not "I'm sorry, I lost my mind. Give me probation" or "I was temporarily insane -- find me not guilty". Nope, his defense is, "I didn't shoot him."
• Holy crap: Official Liberally Lean baseball player Chris Davis is batting .191!
• Someone mentioned that there are people dying all over the world because of a lack of clean water and people in the U.S. are dumping it over their heads. 

(Edit: Moved to Top) Wise County Random Thought Girl From 50 Years Ago

From the front page of a 1964 Bridgeport Index. Read that caption. She was 19 at the time.

Edit: Look what I found!!!!

Last Place Team. 100 Degrees. Day Before School.

My god it's come to this for the Rangers. Looks like a 1982 crowd. pic.twitter.com/PzVvAV1dVw
— Corby Davidson (@corbydavidson) August 24, 2014

This is what you get.

(Although I have thought about searching Stubhub for a ticket right behind time plate during the final days. They have to be dirt cheap.)

Gold Has Been Found In The Bridgeport Index Archives!!!

Check out that kid, second row, second photo.  Handsome. Obvious great sense of humor. Classy dresser. Looks just like me. Wait!!! That is me!!!!

To quote Raising Arizona:

H.I. (as he looks at their new baby): He's a scandal in't he, he's a little outlaw.
His wife (concerned): Naw, he-he-he's a good boy.
H.I. (still looking straight ahead): He ain't too good, you can tell by that twinkle in his eye.

But what's up with the kid with the phone that he is using as a prop? No one told me I could have tricked up my photo and do a bit!

Random Golf Volunteer Biting It

Just hypnotic. The way both legs hit the ground after the faceplant made me think for a second he was hit by a sniper.

I Wonder If Everyone Knew His Name

DFR, DPD on scene, vehicle vs building in the 1700 block of Greenville Ave. No major injuries. Pic: Dallas PD pic.twitter.com/Hbcy88O7u7
— DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner) August 23, 2014

Norm Peterson: [Sam has raised the price of beer] I'm gonna have to figure out how much I can drink and still stay within my suds allowance. 
Sam Malone: [Norm punches figures into his calculator] What do you got? 
Norm Peterson: I'm gonna have to cut back 8.7%. It comes out to, uh... 
[Norm calculates more numbers] 
Norm Peterson: ...one beer every half hour. Guess I'm gonna have to drink a little more slowly. 
[Norm downs his beer in one gulp] 
Norm Peterson: [brief pause] Slowing down isn't so bad. 

Above The Fold