Evolution caught in the act: Lizard species transitioning from laying eggs to live birth

The yellow-bellied, three-toed skink (which sounds like a good insult) is demonstrating evolution in action, scientists say.

Along one area of Australia, the reptile is doing what it has always done – laying eggs to reproduce.

But another population of the same species, isolated from the first population, is transitioning to actually giving birth to its young instead of laying eggs.

Read more here.

Filed under: Science

New iTunes social network won’t integrate with Facebook over privacy concerns

Apple chairman Steve Jobs told tech writer Kara Swisher of All Things D that Apple’s new iTunes social network Ping won’t integrate with Facebook because Facebook wanted to impose “onerous” demands, including some related to privacy concerns, that Apple couldn’t agree to.

He wouldn’t elaborate more.

Filed under: Internet, National

Good grades could get students a Mustang

Jack Hodge of James Hodge Ford in Muskogee is offering an academic incentive program to Muskogee High School Seniors. 

The program “As to Wheels,” provides the opportunity for a lucky senior at MHS to win either a 2010 Ford Mustang or a 2010 Ford Focus.  

Seniors that sign up for the program will have the opportunity to register for an end-of-the-year drawing for the automobile based on the number of As they earn in core area subjects only. 

Students’ As will be calculated on three-week progress report cards, certified by MHS and taken to the dealership, where cards will be filled out and put into a hopper for each A. 

The more As a student earns during the year the greater chance they have of being the winner. 

If 60 percent of the Senior Class registers for the program the dealership will give away a Mustang, if less than 60 percent register it will be a Ford Focus. 

Deadline for students to register for the program is Saturday. 

Forms must be turned in at MHS (parent signature required) or they can be filled out and returned to James Hodge Ford on Saturday.  A member of the dealership will be on site all day to register students. 

Filed under: Good news, Local

Police report online

The Muskogee Police report is online now, with more arrests from Operation Papa Smurf.

Filed under: Local, MuskogeeNOW

Blood drive set for Muskogee High School

MHS Family Career and Community Leaders of America and Red Cross are partnering in a blood drive project at Muskogee High School. 

The first drive is Sept. 8 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium. 

Any community member who would like to donate must sign in at the front office. 

There will be four blood drives at MHS during this project. 

FCCLA members will compete for scholarships with other 6A schools in our area based on the number of donors. 

Donors must be 17 or older and weigh at least 110 pounds.  Donors should also bring a photo ID verifying date of birth.

Filed under: Good news, Local

Track hopes accident-free streak continues

(This story was submitted by BobBranan) The abilities of those who drive race cars at Outlaw Motor Speedway are often overlooked when races – especially the features – are plagued with accidents.

That wasn’t the case last week when for the first time in track history, back-to-back features went from flag-to-flag without interruption. That had drivers in all classes buzzing about the feat, and, looking forward to duplicating things on tonight’s program at the oval south of Muskogee.

Racing starts at 7 p.m. with hot laps.

“We have some excellent drivers in all classes, and the cream certainly came to the top last week,” said Muskogee’s Matt Burnett, who won the Factory Stock race, the second of the two perfectly-ran features. “It wasn’t as if the drivers were letting up, to the contrary; in our race, it was a hard-charge event all the way.”

“That just goes to show you, if you drive smart and don’t take chances, you can compete in a race and save damage to your equipment,”said 360 feature winner Patrick Goodnight, who set the tone in the evening’s first wire-to-wire race. “It’s no secret, some of the drivers in our division have had problems staying out of trouble, but they are all capable of driving the kind of race they drove last week.

“I for one am looking forward to Friday. I can’t wait to get back out there.”

From his perch high above the clay track, veteran flagman Phil Branan says he often gets frustrated with drivers who take unnecessary chances, get hung up in a wreck because they do, causing a race to be stopped or delayed.

“I know a lot of fans come here wanting to see wrecks and cars torn-up, that’s just human nature, but that’s not racing,” Branan said. “I had fun flagging the first two features (last week) and I want to challenge the drivers this week to duplicate what they did. I’d also like to see the other divisions have some clean races for a change.”

With two of the scheduled eight NASCAR-style race to the point championship in the books, Joe Duvall is the only defending champion leading a division. The Chelsea racer leads the Modifieds by 25 points over Locust Grove’s Jeremy Ross (292-267).

Gary Andrews, who counts three OMS championships among his 27 he has won in his racing career, is third with 265. Andrews is back in a race car after retiring two seasons ago.

Goodnight, from Braggs, is the 360 defending champion, but currently is in third behind Justin Shoemaker, Inola, and Muskogee’s Shannon Reheard (288-273-270).

Two Mustang drivers, Wes Swafford, Salina, and Lee McLain, Chouteau, lead Factory Stock in the close race. Swafford has 295 points, three more than McLain.

In Grand Nationals, Randy Moses, Muskogee, is the leader over Muskogee buddy Dale Richardson, 292-261. In Pure Stock, Hulbert’s Chris Jenkins leads Broken Arrow’s Richard Foster, 287-274.

Filed under: Local, Sports

EXCLUSIVE: “Operation Papa Smurf” nets 99 warrants, 18 arrests so far

The Muskogee Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit started executing “Operation Papa Smurf” yesterday, netting 18 arrests, 99 warrants and a lot of methamphetamine precursors off the streets, said Lt. Andy Simmons, Special Investigations Unit supervisor. “‘Smurf’ is street slang for someone who buys pseudoephedrine and takes it to meth cooks.”

The investigation lasted several months, he said, ending up with District Attorney Larry Moore issuing 99 arrest warrants, 33 or 34 of which were served yesterday. Some of the suspects on the warrants were already in jail on other charges.

“The reason we did this is we are seeing a dramatic rise in meth labs,” Simmons said. “We have recovered 88 labs so far this year. Last year, there were only in the mid-30s. County (sheriff’s office) has gotten half that. There have been five structure fires related to meth labs and two trash trucks caught on fire.”

The city has also seen one meth-cooking death, David Fine, who was burned up as a result of a suspected meth lab accident, Simmons said.

The city’s most recent homicide is meth-related as well, Simmons said.

The upswing in meth production is due to an advance in the chemistry. Ten years ago, it took a “chemistry lab” to cook meth, but today, “it’s a Gatorade bottle with pseudoephedrine and a few more ingredients.”

Police are continuing to work to serve the warrants in the operation, and because of its success, “we will definitely be doing it again.”

The Sheriff’s Department and several state and national agencies also participated in the effort.

Filed under: Crime, Good news, Local

How many were at Glenn Beck rally?

An ugly fight is breaking out between news sources over how many people were at the Glenn Beck Rally last weekend on the Mall in Washington. A professional crowd counter says 87,000 people showed up, while some conservatives say there were no less than a million people.

So why the wide variance? Beck himself estimates between 300,000 and 500,000 people showed up, but Stephen Doig of Arizona State University sticks by his estimate of 87,000 people. Ironically, conservatives were quick to hang on his estimate of 800,000 people for the Obama inauguration, even though other sources had that rally at 1.8 million people. Conservatives cited Doig’s estimate as the more accurate one, given his credentials as an independent and scientific estimator.

Now, however, those same conservatives are accusing him of being biased and inaccurate in his count of 87,000 people for the Beck rally.

“The frothing underscores the problem with hyped predictions of crowd size,” Doig remarks. “Organizers and supporters are forced to insist loudly that the actual crowd met or exceeded their expectations, for fear that the realistic estimate will be painted as a disappointment. The time-honored way to dismiss scientific estimates that don’t reflect the pre-event hype is to claim political bias on the part of those doing the estimate. I am amused to see that those who embraced my Obama inauguration estimate as soberly realistic are now attacking the Beck rally estimate, produced using exactly the same methods, as deliberately biased.”

Read more here.

Filed under: Bizarre, National

Police checkpoints set for this weekend

Muskogee police are set to crack down on drunk driving this weekend, and that means checkpoints for vehicle safety throughout town.

“We don’t have set locations for the checkpoints,” said Muskogee Police Cpl. Pedro Zardeneta. “It’s more of an ad hoc kind of thing.”

Patrol units will set up several vehicle safety checkpoints starting on Friday and continuing through Monday, Zardeneta said.

Filed under: Crime, Local

Freedom Walk 2010 slated for Sept. 11

Downtown Muskogee, Inc. is sponsoring Freedom Walk 2010 on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 8 a.m. The Walk will begin in front of the Civic Center parking and then cover two miles along the South Loop of Centennial Trail. The Freedom Walk is intended to call Americans to reflect upon the lives lost on 9-11-01 and remember their families and those who responded on that fateful day in American history.

The event is part of a national tradition called “America Supports You Freedom Walk” created by Pentagon employees in 2005 to pay tribute to the heroes of 9-11 and show support for veterans and active duty military personnel. Since then, other communities across the country have joined in the Freedom Walk.

The Freedom Walk will begin with a brief opening ceremony near the flag pole at the Civic Center. Then participants will walk from the Civic Center to Centennial Trail on South Fifth Street. Walk participants will have an opportunity to sign a Declaration of Support for our troops which will be given to the Blue Star Mothers to be sent to an active duty regiment.

The Freedom Walk is free to all participants. Downtown Muskogee would welcome anyone who would like to volunteer to help with this event or future events. To volunteer, call the Downtown Muskogee office at 918-683-2400.

Filed under: Good news, Local