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February 04 2014 Published by PTK Corp.
of the River Region
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“T” TOWNS by Kathy Wolfe This week, Tidbits cracks open the geography books to study several points across the globe that begin with the letter “T”. • Nestled on the shores of Puget Sound, with a stunning view of nearby Mount Rainier, sits Tacoma, Washington, nicknamed the “City of Destiny.” In 1792, Captain George Vancouver became the first European to see Mount Rainier, originally called Mount Tahoma, from the Native American word for “mother of waters.” Vancouver named the peak for his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. In 1911, Frank Mars and his wife Ethel began making and selling a variety of butter-cream candies from their Tacoma kitchen, a venture that would eventually become the Mars Candy Company, maker of the Milky Way. Another sweet treat, almond roca, also had its beginnings in Tacoma. • Florida’s state capital Tallahassee is the 128th largest city in the United States. Its name comes from an old Muskogean Indian word translated as “old fields.” The first European explorer to arrive there was Spaniard Hernando deSoto in 1539. Tallahassee became the capital in 1824, with a log cabin as the first Capitol Building. Out of Florida’s 497 verified species of birds, 372 of them can be seen in Tallahassee. • When Taipei 101 opened in 2004, this 101-floor skyscraper grabbed the title of world’s tallest building and remained so until 2010. It’s located in Taipei City, the largest city in Taiwan and capital of the Republic of China. The city was founded in the early 1700s and developed into an important overseas trade center over the next 100 years. It’s home to several ornate temples, including the Longshan Temple, constructed in 1738. In 1945, the temple was badly damaged when it was hit by American bombers who believed the Japanese were hiding armaments inside. • On the northwest shore of Lake Ontario lies Toronto, Canada’s largest city. The city takes its name from an Iroquois word meaning “place where trees stand in the water.” Toronto ranks high on the list of the world’s “most livable cities” based on quality of living. turn the page for more!
Vol 3 Issue 5 paul@riverregiontidbits.com
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Tidbits® of the River Region “T” TOWNS (continued): Its low crime rate also makes it one of the safest major cities in North America. The homicide rate there is about 3.3 per 100,000 people, compared with Atlanta, Georgia at 19.7. Covering an area of 243 sq. miles (630 sq. km), Toronto has about 2.6 million residents, 49% of whom were born outside Canada. It’s obvious the city’s residents enjoy ice sports, as there are 52 outdoor ice skating rinks in the city. • Canada isn’t the only place where you’ll find Toronto. There are five U.S. states with a community by that name – Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, and South Dakota. • Five U.S. states and a Canadian province have also honored the Native American leader of the Shawnee by naming a community Tecumseh. Born in Ohio, Tecumseh (“Shooting Star” or “Panther Across the Sky”) grew up to be a key figure in the War of 1812. He is quoted with these words of wisdom: “Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.” • Back in 1950, NBC radio was home to a popular radio quiz show known as Truth or Consequences. Looking for a creative way to celebrate the program’s tenth anniversary, the host Ralph Edwards announced that he would air the program from the first American town to rename itself after the show. Hot Springs, New Mexico jumped at the chance, and on March 31 of that year, the residents voted in favor of the switch, and the very next day, Ralph Edwards and the crew flew in for the anniversary broadcast. For the next 50 years, Edwards visited the town each May for their annual fiesta. Every April 1, Truth or Consequences, or “T or C” as the locals call it, celebrates Ralph Edwards Day. • A small Japanese fishing village named Edo founded around the year 1200 has grown to the world’s most populous metropolitan area with 8,949,447 residents. Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868, when it became the imperial capital. Tokyo’s entire urban area has a population of 35,623,327. The city had already reached 1,000,000 people back in the 1720s. It’s not only the most populous city in the world, it’s also the most expensive, with the highest cost of living worldwide. • Texas is home to the towns of Telephone and Telegraph. Telephone, Texas was named because the only telephone in the area was in the community’s general store. About 210 people live there these days. Telegraph’s name was based on all the telegraph poles cut to build communication lines to the U.S. Army forts just east of town. Today, it’s pretty much a ghost town, population, 3. • If you like fireworks, you’ll love the city of Tondabayashi, Japan, home to the largest annual fireworks display in the world. Several displays are held every August, with the main display consisting of 120,000 shells fired in less than an hour. • The Native Americans gave Ten Sleep, Wyoming its unusual name. This Indian rest stop was 10 days’ travel, or “10 sleeps” from Fort Laramie to the southeast and Montana’s Indian Agency to the northwest. Today this little community boasts 260 residents. • Mahatma Gandhi called Thiruvananthapuram, India, that country’s “Evergreen City.” This ancient city has been a busy trade center since 1000 B.C. It is home to the temple of Vishnu, the richest temple in the world, with its monumental items and assets valued in the $15 billion range. • Edgar Rice Burroughs was 35, nearly broke, and selling pencil sharpeners when he wrote the first Tarzan book. Beginning in 1912, Burroughs published 26 novels about our favorite jungle hero. His success allowed him to purchase a 550-acre ranch north of Los Angeles, which he appropriately named Tarzana. Within in a few years, the city had grown to surround the ranch, and Burroughs sold off part of his property for new homesites. This small community, incorporated in 1917, is still known as Tarzana, California, with a population of around 35,000.
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Tidbits® of the River Region
* On Feb. 21, 1885, the Washington Monument, built in honor of America’s revolutionary hero and first president, is dedicated in Washington, D.C. The 555-foot-high marble obelisk was the tallest structure in the world when completed, and it remains today, by District of Columbia law, the tallest building in the nation’s capital.
Angela Nicole Dabney Black/Female 5’1” 130 lbs Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown
* On Feb. 20, 1902, the famous Western photographer Ansel Adams is born in San Francisco. Adams’ dramatic black and white images of Yosemite and the West are some of the most widely recognized and admired photographs of the 20th century. Adams was dedicated to the use of “straight” images free from darkroom trickery. * On Feb. 18, 1929, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the winners of the first Academy Awards: The first award recipients’ names were printed on the back page of the academy’s newsletter. * On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, initiating a controversial World War II policy with lasting consequences for Japanese Americans. The document ordered the removal of resident enemy aliens from parts of the West vaguely identified as military areas and into detention camps. * On Feb. 23, 1954, a group of children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh receive the first injections of the new polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. After mass inoculations began in 1954, everyone marveled at the high success rate -- some 60 percent to 70 percent * On Feb. 17, 1972, the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle comes off the assembly line, breaking a world car production record held for more than four decades by the Ford Motor Company’s iconic Model T, which was in production from 1908 and 1927. The history of the VW Beetle dates back to 1930s Germany.
Ambroshia Heard DOB: 9/21/1988 Black/Female 5’5” 200 lbs Hair: Black Eyes: Brown Outstanding Warrants: Failure to Appear Obstruction of Justice False ID Failure to Appear Identity Theft
* On Feb. 22, 1980, in one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeats the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. (c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
Outstanding Warrants: Failure to appear on Driving while revoked
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“Be known before you’re needed” Advertise with Tidbits (334) 202-7285 IT’S VAL- DAY Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but this week Tidbits is switching the focus to other words that begin with Val-. • According to ancient Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic hall where the souls of heroes slain in battle are received. The Valkyries are the maidens of the god Odin who choose which soldiers will die and then escort them to the afterlife. According to legend, the helmeted Valkyries descend from the heavens in bolts of lightning wearing waist-length armor carrying brightly-shining spears. In 1870, composer Richard Wagner wrote his well-known opera “The Valkyries,” containing the famous piece “Ride of the Valkyries,” in which the mythological creatures greet each other and sing their battle-cry. Fans of the animated Elmer Fudd might know that he frequently sings, “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit” to this tune as he stalks Bugs Bunny. • The adventures of another mythical Norse figure are chronicled each week in the Sunday newspaper’s comics section. Artist Hal Foster introduced Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur in 1937, and the story has continued for more than 3,900 strips. Prince Valiant is a Nordic prince from the Norwegian west coast who, in sixth-century England, journeyed to Camelot, where he became friends with Sir Gawain, Sir Tristram, and Merlin. King Arthur respected Valiant enough to dub him a Knight of the Round Table. The Prince owns a magical singing sword named Flamberge, crafted by the creator of Arthur’s powerful Excalibur. Valiant met his lady love Aleta, Queen of the Misty Isles on a Mediterranean island. He married her in a 1946 comic, and they had children in 1947, 1951, 1962, and 1982, and a grandchild in 1987. The tale was made into a movie by 20th-Century Fox in 1954, starring Robert Wagner as Valiant. • Northeastern Italy is home to a wine-producing region that is the source for one of the most famous red wines in the world, Valpolicella. Only Chianti ranks higher in total Italian wine production. Three varietals of grapes give this dry table wine its light fragrant flavor and aroma, the Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara. • Many people who suffer from insomnia opt to use an herbal supplement taken from the root of the valerian plant. Since ancient times, this medicinal herb has been used as a remedy for sleep disorders. Even Hippocrates was aware of its sedative properties. Some followers of alternative medicine also swear by valerian’s abilities to treat nervous tension, excitability, stress, intestinal cramps, and as a muscle relaxant. • There are two major varieties of oranges, navels and Valencias. So what’s the difference? Navels are available from November through May, while Valencias are in season from February through October. Navels are the ones with the button formation on the end and are seedless. Valencias are thin-skinned with seeds, and have a very high juice content. • Most folks know that the valedictorian is the student with the highest rank in a graduating class. But how many know that a valetudinarian is a person with a weak or sickly constitution, who is always concerned about becoming a chronic invalid? Another val- word, valediction, refers to the act of bidding farewell.
Kim Evans
Tommy Count ______ This week’s winner receives a $25 Gift Certificate from Gary’s Barbershop Register to win at www.riverregiontidbits.com and click on “Tommy Tidbits” or click the QRCode above. Fill out the registration information and tell us how many times Tommy appears in ads in the paper for this week. From the correct entries, a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $50 each week. Entries must be received at the website by midnight each Saturday evening or at PTK Corp, PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092.
Last Week’s Ads where Tommy was hiding: 1. Cousin’s Insurance Agency, p. 2 2. Heidi’s Fine Jewelry, p. 3 3. River Region Ballroom Dance, p. 3 4. Dave the Bugman Thompson, p. 7
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Janice Jenkins won a $25 Gift Certificate Issue 1/7/2014
Nick Bailey won a $25 Gift Certificate Issue 1/14/2014
Dena Luce won a $25 Gift Certificate Issue 1/21/2014
Kim Evans won a Round of Golf for 2 Issue 1/28/2014
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Tidbits® of the River Region
1. Who was the only pitcher in major-league history to strike out at least half of the batters he faced in a season (minimum 50 innings pitched)? 2. Two seasons in a row (1974-75), a Chicago White Sox pitcher led the American League in saves for a season. Name either pitcher. 3. Emmitt Smith holds the mark for most career rushing touchdowns in NFL history (164). Who is No. 2? 4. When was the last time before the 2012-13 campaign that the Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team won the Big Ten regular-season title outright? 5. Jaromir Jagr has played in more than 1,400 NHL games, with the most being for Pittsburgh (806). Which teams are second and third on the list? 6. When was the last time before 2013 that soccer’s MLS Cup winner was decided by penalty kicks? 7. Who was the last undisputed heavyweight boxing champion?
1. Is the book of Miriam in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. What Moabite widow left her homeland to follow her mother-in-law to Bethlehem? Lydia, Jahab, Ruth, Jezebel 3. In Joshua 7, what Israelite’s goods were burned after he had been stoned to death? Zerah, Edom, Kerioth, Achan 4. Where is Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the longest word found in the Bible? Ezra 2:7, Isaiah 8:1, Joel 3:4, Amos 9:15 5. In Judges 18, what Canaanite city was burned down by the men of Dan? Laish, Philippi, Hebron, Jericho 6. How many times is the word “trinity” mentioned in the Bible (KJV)? Zero, 1, 7, 49
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by Samantha Weaver * It was writer and cartoonist James Thurber who made the following sage observation: “Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.” * You might not be familiar with the National Chicken Council, but it’s making predictions about you nonetheless. If you ate wings while watching the Super Bowl, you contributed to the 1.25 billion wings that the council’s 2014 Wing Report projected to be consumed during that event. * Those who study such things say that if you happen to find lint in your belly button, it’s more likely to be blue than any other color. * The name of the state of Alabama comes from the Choctaw word “albah,” which means “plant-cutters.” * Accident or not? At an evening event in 1989, a bottle of wine once owned by Thomas Jefferson was up for sale. The asking price? $500,000. It seems nobody was willing to pony up the cash, and at the end of the night there was no sale. At that point, a waiter (inadvertently?) dropped the bottle, destroying the unprofitable item. The bottle was insured, however, and the merchant did end up with $250,000. * The White House was not designed by an American. It was Irish architect James Hoban who won the competition to create the architectural plans for the home of the political leader of the United States. * Before he became president, George H.W. Bush was, for a time, the youngest aviator in the history of the U.S. Navy, getting his wings just three days before he turned 19. *** Thought for the Day: “When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.” -- Buckminster Fuller (c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:
1) Neither; 2) Ruth; 3) Achan; 4) Isaiah 8:1; 5) Laish; 6) Zero
1. Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel struck out 50.2 percent of the batters he faced in 2012. 2. Terry Forster in 1974 (24 saves) and Rich Gossage in 1975 (26). 3. LaDainian Tomlinson, with 145. 4. The 1992-93 season. 5. He played 277 games with the New York Rangers, and 190 with the Washington Capitals. 6. It was 2009, when Real Salt Lake beat the Los Angeles Galaxy, 5-4, in a penalty shootout. 7. Lennox Lewis, in 2000.
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Tidbits® of the River Region By Samantha Mazzotta
Space Heater Safety Tips Q: In my neck of the woods we don’t usually have cold winters, but this one has been a doozy. My mother hauled out her ancient space heater in December. A couple weeks ago I was visiting her and noticed that some laundry had fallen out of the basket and was lying atop the heater! Fortunately it was not turned on, but I’m terrified of what could happen. Can you remind your readers to keep the area around space heaters clear at all times? -- Lacy S., Valdosta, Ga. A: You just did, and I thank you for it. Regardless of the type of portable electric heater you have, it must be set up so that there is 3 feet of clearance around it, and placed on a heat-resistant surface (bare floor, for example, not carpet). Additionally, make sure that the outlet being used can handle the amount of electricity the space heater will draw. Don’t plug anything else into that outlet. Consider replacing older space heaters. While I’ve seen many models built as long ago as the 1950s that are very sturdy, they often do not meet current electrical standards and can use a lot more power than newer models, meaning higher electric bills. What’s the best space heater to purchase? I’m not a fan of the classic open-coil model, and there are alternatives. For example, an enclosed oil heater, which looks like a radiator on wheels, circulates heated oil through each section and provides indirect heat and a greater measure of safety. There are heaters that fit inside a kitchen’s kickspace, oscillating tower heaters, and heaters disguised as fireplaces or standing vases. Portable heaters range in price from about $50 to several hundred dollars, so take a look at several options both in the home-improvement store and online. Make sure any heater you consider has the UL (Underwriters Laboratory) label. Heaters with thermostat control can provide greater energy savings. And it’s important to make sure you purchase a heater that can handle the size of the room where you’ll use it the most. (Check the sizing chart on the heater’s packaging.) HOME TIP: Plug your space heater directly into a wall outlet, not a power strip; if an extension cord is needed, choose a heavy-duty cord of 14 gauge or larger. Send your questions or home tips to ask@thisisahammer.com. (c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.