The Ledger/LCJ blog 5-18-2022

By CRAIG HALL

Welcome to the Ledger/LCJ blog for today. Today is May 18, 2022. The 138th day of 2022. There are 227 days left in the year.

Thanks to everybody for joining us. If you like this, please share it with anybody you think might be interested. If you don’t care for it, let’s keep that between us and tell me why. We will try to do better next time.

Watch our news update:

And listen to today’s podcast.

This week is our graduation issue. It will be printed today and available as an e-edition today at heavenerledger.com so give it a look.

The Heavener American Legion kids’ fishing derby is June 4 at Blues Park in Heavener.

Fishing starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 1 p.m. The derby is open to everybody 16-and-under.

There will be prizes, hot dogs, chips and drinks, all free. Bait will be provided. Everybody is encouraged to bring your fishing poll, tackle and chair.

In today’s weather forecast, Partly cloudy skies with near-record high temperatures for Wednesday in the LeFlore County weather forecast.

The high will be 88 degrees with a low of 70 degrees.

Sunrise is 6:12 a.m. Sunset is 8:18 p.m.

A private funeral service for Linda Kay Grayson, 73 of Mount Vernon, Illinois will be held at a later date. Services under the direction of Evans & Miller Funeral Home

She was born Feb. 15, 1949 in California. to Rosie Lee (Upton) Thomas and Carl Dusty Thomas and passed away May 13, 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri. 

In other news, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.

The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to NATO, set a security clock ticking. Russia, whose war on Ukraine spurred them to join the military organization, has warned that it wouldn’t welcome such a move, and could respond.

While Europeans bask in the warmth of spring, governments are in a race against winter.

Europe is trying to cut use of Russian natural gas because of the war in Ukraine, but still find enough fuel to keep the lights on and homes warm before it gets cold again.

New Mexico’s governor said Tuesday that given the ferocity and swift movements of a record-setting wildfire burning in the northeastern part of the state, the damage will be significant with estimates of burned homes and other structures likely to range between 1,000 and 1,500.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stressed that was only a rough estimate but likely not an exaggeration, saying it’s clear to state and federal officials that there are many victims who have lost their homes and have had their businesses affected.

Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday underscored the Federal Reserve’s determination to keep raising interest rates until there is clear evidence inflation is steadily falling — a high-stakes effort that carries the risk of causing an eventual recession.

The Fed’s increases in its benchmark short-term rate typically lead, in turn, to higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, including for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.

In Oklahoma news, Republican leaders in the Oklahoma House and Senate announced an agreement Tuesday on a $9.8 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest in state history.

Unlike previous years, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt was not included in a statement announcing the agreement, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposal.

On this date in history, in 1980, the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state exploded, leaving 57 people dead or missing.

In 1652, Rhode Island became the first American colony to pass a law abolishing African slavery; however, the law was apparently never enforced.

In 1863, the Siege of Vicksburg began during the Civil War, ending July 4 with a Union victory.

In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, endorsed “separate but equal” racial segregation, a concept renounced 58 years later by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

In 1910, Halley’s Comet passed by earth, brushing it with its tail.

In 1927, in America’s deadliest school attack, part of a schoolhouse in Bath Township, Michigan, was blown up with explosives planted by local farmer 

In 1934, Congress approved, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed, the so-called “Lindbergh Act,” providing for the death penalty in cases of interstate kidnapping.

n 1981, the New York Native, a gay newspaper, carried a story concerning rumors of “an exotic new disease” among homosexuals; it was the first published report about what came to be known as AIDS.

In sports, Jimmy Butler scored 27 of his 41 points in the second half, and a huge third quarter by the Miami Heat carried them to a 118-107 win over the short-handed Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

The Orlando Magic won the NBA lottery Tuesday night and landed the top overall pick for the first time since they got Dwight Howard in 2004. Oklahoma City got the second pick, followed by Houston and Sacramento. The Kings moved up from the No. 7 spot entering the lottery.

Detroit picks fifth, with Indiana, Portland, New Orleans, San Antonio and Washington rounding out the top 10. The rest of the lottery results are: New York, Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Cleveland.

In major league baseball scores Tuesday, White Sox 3, Kansas City 0 in the first game while the Royals took game 2, 2-1; Dodgers 7, Arizona 6 in the first game of another doubleheader. The Dodgers completed the sweep with a 12-3 victory in the second game; Mets 3, Cardinals 1 in another doubleheader with the Cardinals winning the second contest, 4-3; Cincinnati 5, Cleveland 4; Tampa Bay 8, Detroit 1; Miami 5, Washington 1; San Diego 3, Philadelphia 0; Yankees 5, Baltimore 4; Toronto 3, Seattle 0; Houston 13, Boston 4; Cubs 7, Pittsburgh 0; Atlanta 3, Milwaukee 0; Texas 10, Angels 5; San Francisco 10, Colorado 7; and Oakland 5, Minnesota 2.

Today’s celebrity birthdays include Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson is 84; Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson is 76; Country singer George Strait is 70; Comedian-writer Tina Fey is 52.

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