Norman Scanner Report: Liveblogging Storms In Cleveland County, Okla.

Just got home after a long day at work, but I beat it home before the storms moved through Cleveland County. A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for Cleveland County, Okla., among many others until 9:45 p.m. Storms are moving across Oklahoma mostly from northwest to southeast, and it's part of a pattern that will stay with the Sooner State the next several days.

Given that The Norman Files is fairly new, I decided I would liveblog the storm and let you know in as real-time a fashion as possible what's happening in Norman and surrounding areas as we get pounded with storms. That is, I presume we're about to get pounded.

There IS a severe thunderstorm warning, ya' know.

So, if you stumble upon this post and it's still Thursday night, make it a point to refresh and refresh for the latest. I'll post info related to the weather below.

If you stumble upon this in the year 2082, just know I had a good time. Enjoy.

9:21 p.m. Possible residential fire reported at 2312 Augusta Drive in Norman. Caller advises that lightning might have struck the residence.

9:24 p.m. Nothing showing at the residence. Man, the fire department here is fast!

9:27 p.m. According to the Interactive Radar at KOCO.com, storms are moving from NW to SE and should be in Norman any minute now.

9:28 p.m. Report of wires arcing (she said "arching," is that right?) at NE 27th and North Eastern.

9:30 p.m. Report of a transformer blown at 308 Orr Drive in Norman.

9:47 p.m. Drivers stuck in water along or near I-35 at about SE 66th Street.

9:54 p.m. Thunder pretty steady, but -- again -- no big whoop. Report of "line trouble," although I'm not sure what that is at 4405 Katie Ridge Drive, which I believe is in Moore.

9:55 p.m. Dispatcher says they've had power problems for a bit tonight. I could make my usual rude comment about our electricity provider, but I'll keep my comments to myself. Of course until my power goes off, which should happen any minute given that it's raining.

10 p.m. Now THAT was some legitimate Thunder! This is still kind of a p**** storm.

This is terrible video, at least the lighting part for sure, but it's a look out my front door tonight as it rains. I'm working on getting my video ready for such an occasion as this. Bear with me!

10:03 p.m. Police advise that roads near the westside Wal-Mart in Norman be barricaded. Probably an area prone to flooding.

10:05 p.m. Report of a commercial fire alarm at 2020 Industrial Blvd. in Norman. This would be the Oklahoma Geological Survey warehouse. It's hard to say whether this is a legitimate fire, caused perhaps by lightning, or a lightning-induced alarm. Stay tuned.

10:09 p.m. Car wreck with injury at I-35 and Newcastle exit, which I do believe is at the Riverwind Casino. I also believe I heard an officer say "rollover" in connection with this crash. Almost certainly weather-related.

10:13 p.m. Call for a water rescue at Tecumseh and 36th Ave. NW. Folks drive into this stuff, water too high for them to see bottom. But in defense, it can be hard to see at night, particularly in poorly lit areas.

11:18 p.m. The storm is over here in Norman for tonight, but my Web connection pooted out right at about 10:15 p.m. Cox Communications is typically pretty good, but just as soon as I said something nasty about the ol' electricity provider, my cable modem decides to quit serving pages.

Alas, here's what you missed in the last hour of the storm:

• 10:18 p.m. Commercial fire alarm at Lowe's Home Improvement, 1501 S. Service Road.


• 10:22 p.m. OUPD got to the scene of what, I think, was the fire alarm at the Oklahoma Geological Survey and determined it was a malfunctioning alarm.


• 10:44 p.m. Car hits building at 1723 Lancaster Circle in Norman. I swear it sounded like the responding officer said the driver was trying to get out of a lease, but surely I misheard that.


• 11:10 p.m. Road signs blown over in the 1800 block of Imhoff.

OK, that's all for the ol' storm edition of scanner blogging tonight. If you stumble upon this and it entertained you and/or you'd like me to do this during more exciting storms (barring power/cable problems), then please subscribe at the top of the home page and post a comment below.

My thought process with regard to this blog is for folks who don't have access to detailed, specific Norman information during storms. Because of my day job, I wouldn't be able to do this all the time, particularly during the day. However, I know that we look to the Web for immediacy, and I hope I can provide that immediacy with a focus on hyperlocal information.

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Norman Scanner Report: Aug. 13, 2008

Calling state lawmaker Paul Wesselhoft! It was "vicious animal" night in Norman, Okla., on Wednesday.

It started with a call to Jackson Drive at 9 p.m., where authorities were investigating an animal that had bitten a child. And, do you know what breed it was?

That's right. It was a Shar Pei!

For those of you not familiar with the breed, here is one in action.

Cutest. Thing. Ever.

I am told, however, that adult Shar Peis can be mean little bastards. Nevertheless, I love all of God's children, animals that is.

But that wasn't our only "vicious animal" call of the night. Police got a call from a local hotel reporting a vicious Chow. If I heard the call right, a patron would not enter the establishment because of the presence of the dog. Chows are actually fairly aggressive dogs from what I've read, although I think I found the extent of this random YouTube Chow vid a bit over the top.

In other scanner fun and yucks from Norman, Okla., on a summer's night, two days before the skies are supposed to open up on us with massive amounts of rain ...

Police investigated a pair of drivers in a local trailer park off of Lexington Drive, which brings to mind this random fact: I did not know we had trailer parks in Norman.

Call came in at about 10:11 p.m. of a white construction truck running people off the road along Interstate 35 and Indian Hills Road.

In a pair of non-Norman calls: A black cow was reportedly lounging in the roadway at about 10:35 p.m. along 240th Street and Western Avenue in far southwestern Oklahoma City. Wasn't "Black Cow" a Steely Dan tune?

Also, a 40-year-old man overdosed on morphine and Xanax and was found lying in the street along West Seventh Street, presumably in OKC, but I couldn't say for sure. However, there has been a lot of lying in the middle of the street recently. Doesn't seem like it would be that comfortable, not without the morphine and Xanax that is.

Back in Norman, a woman in a blue Sunbird called police from an apartment complex along 24th Street SW after 11 p.m. to tell officers that her "baby daddy wouldn't give her her baby back." This brings up another random fact about Norman: I did not know anybody still drove a Sunbird here.

Finally, the line of the night goes to the Norman dispatcher who apologized to officers in joking fashion for her tardiness in getting back to them with information because she was watching TV.

"Sorry, I'm caught up in the Olympics," she said.

Aren't we all, honey. Aren't we all.

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Customer Appreciation Day At 'Native Roots Market'

For a town of 105,550, does it surprise you that Norman has three sustainable health food stores?

Would it surprise you more to know that each one has something a bit unique to offer the Norman community? It's true, but perhaps that's a subject for another time. What I wanted to do tonight is profile Native Roots Market, a cool, hip-looking market on Main Street in Norman.

Love Main Street in Norman. Steadily, it's becoming one of the coolest parts of town. Perhaps I should walk to The Diner in the morning for breakfast. Perhaps I should have bought some groceries at Native Roots, and I wouldn't be so hungry right now!

When I visited there last week, I talked with a guy who worked at the store, and he was super eager to tell the Native Roots story. I particularly appreciated this aspect of it: They exist at least in part to promote Oklahoma-raised and produced products.

In fact, this Saturday, Native Roots will be hosting a "customer appreciation" day. Part of that event will be to explain to patrons just how much money they have helped to keep in the Sooner State.

Unfortunately, I am not a big fruit person. Native Roots had fresh blackberries and grapes, and that just isn't my bag. I'm a veggies guy, and I would have liked to have seen more in the way of fresh vegetables. Native Roots did have its fair share of organic beef and poultry, too.

Again, that's not my thing, really. I like chemicals and hate salmonella.

Nevertheless, I really appreciate the go-Oklahoma concept behind this store. Furthermore, they had a pretty fair selection of gluten-free product and a really impressive collection of spices. For example, $2 would buy you some ready-to-go homemade taco seasoning.

They had homemade soap and cloths made from hemp and all sorts of vitamins and herbs, fare that both Dodson's and The Earth have. While Dodson's is uber-corporate looking and The Earth is very much kind of a hippie shack, Native Roots' building comes straight out of coolville.

Totally reminded me of something out of Dallas, particularly appealing to young adults living in the Norman area.

Now, I was going to suggest a coffee/tea bar to get folks to hang out a bit, but I think they had one. It was 137 degrees last week, and I seem to recall having no urge for a hot drink. This leaves my only suggestion for these folks to work on getting more fresh veggies there, salad material that is, and to update their blog.

No worries there. I'll dedicate a post to stuff they could write about, a public service from this blogger to our local, Oklahoma-friendly grocer.

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Tuesday Night Scanner Report

Didn't have as much time to keep an ear on things tonight as I would have liked, but I am working on a couple of interesting features. So, be sure to hit the subscribe button up top, to your right.

The evening started fairly innocently with a pursuit in southwest Oklahoma City, reminding me why I live in Norman. However, the quiet upon the scanner ended abruptly with a seizure at Louie's on Campus Corner.

It ain't a party until somebody breaks out in a seizure.

***

Fire crews were called to the University Commons apartments about 9:15 p.m., and this had all the makings of a big deal. An alert neighbor heard the smoke detector go off in an adjacent apartment and smelled smoke, so this person called 911.

Yay, smoke detector!

Turns out, thankfully, that it was just a pot of beans burning on the grill, which I thought was not supposed to happen via the wise words of George and Weezy Jefferson.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.

***

About 30 minutes later, emergency crews were called to Main and University where a man was spotted lying on the ground and clutching his head, yelling out "Help me!"

A bicycle was spotted in the area, which might explain things. Perhaps somebody does not understand that bicyclists have just as much of a right to the road as anybody else. Or perhaps our headache-riddled bicyclist was drunk, unaware of objects ahead of him.

***

An odd call after midnight, relative to a dog vs. human fight of some sort. I couldn't make out what was happening, but it did not sound like a "dogfight," a la Michael Vick. This sounded like a dog and a human in a fight along Carter Avenue.

***

Finally, I caught two of three Oklahoma City APBs that went out after 12:30 a.m., and this first one sounds serious. Authorities are looking for a pair of Mexican men in a blue Peterbilt with produce in the front of the trailer and 5,000 or 6,000 kilos of 10-75 in the back.

I'm guessing that "10-75" or "1075" might be cocaine. However, according to this list of Okla. police codes, 10-75 refers to intoxicated drivers. So, maybe they are carting almost 6,000 kilos of drunks across the country, doing their families a public service by not allowing them to drive.

Kidding. In all seriousness, this truck was last seen on Aug. 11 in the Oklahoma City area, heading east on Interstate 40.

In the second APB, police are on the lookout for a 67-year-old woman from Lucas, Texas, whose debit card was recently used in Atoka. They are looking for a 2003 Pontiac in this case, and I suspect they are concerned for her safety, not looking for her in connection with, let's say, a string of beheadings.

Like I've noted before, these Norman, Okla., scanner reports harm no police, fire or emergency officials and are posted well after they happen, meaning that active pursuits, situations, etc., are never threatened. They are posted to give Normanites and those who love Norman a behind-the-scenes look at what happened outside the walls of their homes and apartments as they watched television or slept.

Or as they partied, should they have run into a blue Peterbilt.

I am so gonna dream about the movie Duel tonight.

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Monday Night Scanner Report

A pretty quiet night on Norman's streets, at least for the mid-evening.

Kind of a sad story, somebody was found lying in the parking lot of what was described as Wal-Mart on 12th and Main streets but what turned out, I think, to be a little closer to somewhere near 12th and Alameda.

He was breathing but nobody could get him to wake up, and if I followed the call correctly, emergency first-responders determined he had taken a massive amount of pills. They were citing drugs I had never heard of.

I do believe he was described as a black male wearing a white shirt and jeans. Hope it all works out for the guy.

***

Mom and son fighting at a local apartment complex with the mom saying the son was "out of control." Perhaps he was merely espousing the possibility he would attend OSU.

***

Glass broken at Tornado Alley on Elm Street. I had never heard of such a place, Tornado Alley, that is.

*** If you like the daily news, commentary and perspective from the greatest college town in America -- Norman, Okla., -- why not subscribe to my posts at the top of the home page. That way, the news from Norman, Okla., can come right to you!

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Explosive! Loaded Grenades Found At Norman Rent House

Crap. There are some days when you think you can't possibly get to it all, all the news happening in Norman, that is.

In a case of all's well that ends well, police took two grenades into custody after the owner of a rent house on E. Frank Street spotted them under the house. The guy was cleaning up the place for the next renter, when he spotted these military-issue devices.

According to police, whoever owned these grenades took steps to turn them into ready-made explosive devices, lethal enough potentially to do as much damage as a pipe bomb. Given that there were two of them ...

Alas, our fair landlord takes these puppies and tosses them in the back of his pickup and DRIVES them to the police station. In a potentially Darwin Award-worthy performance, the landlord walks into the police station and informs those who protect and serve that there are a couple of grenades outside.

Talk about a "how-do-you-do."

Long story short, the Norman bomb squad was called out, and they secured the devices and returned to the rent house to look for more. That renter was forthcoming, allowing officers to look inside his new house on East Eufaula Street. Police are pretty sure this guy (or gal, I suppose) had nothing to do with anything.

However, it does make me wonder just how wise it is that grenades, even "training grenades," are available commercially. Sorry, and forgive me if I'm not up to speed on the latest sportsman techniques, but are grenades now used for hunting?

I'm being facetious.

But I ask you, what might your landlord find under your house?

Links:

Norman Transcript

NewsOK.com

*** If you like the daily news, commentary and perspective from the greatest college town in America -- Norman, Okla., -- why not subscribe to my posts at the top of the home page. That way, the news from Norman, Okla., can come right to you!

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New Parking Rules For Oklahoma Sooners' Game Days

Big local story over the weekend was the announcement that parking for University of Oklahoma football games would be different this season. So, Sooners' fans take note:

No longer will both-sides-of-the-street parking be allowed, particularly on streets near the stadium. Why? Makes it too tough for emergency vehicles to get through. Now, if we were all driving hybrids instead of Hummers, this wouldn't be a problem. But don't dare suggest an Okie give up his truck.

Kidding.

It reminds me though of when I was back in college, on my fifth or sixth Hudepohl Gold by the second quarter, leading a vehicular charge through masses of people at Lindsey and Jenkins, hoping to take a few out in the process. The goal was to get to Thunderbird Liquor in time for second-half kickoff without dying or tearing any more stuffing from the roof of my 1983 Chevrolet Celebrity, the piece of crap that was.

Back then I was able to navigate the streets near what used to be Parkview Apartments just fine. Then again, Gary Gibbs was coach, and we weren't that good. So, perhaps demand has a bit to do with the supply seen along George Street.

There will be a parking lot where those apartments used to be, and that will hold about 700 cars. Officials estimate that between 800 and 1,200 cars in all will have to find somewhere else to park for game days. So, before you freak out, I have a couple tips for you.

Instead of paying $20 to park so danged close to the stadium, why not get some exercise and enjoy a walk? Norman is one of the most walkable cities in the country, and if you map a walk that includes several stops and some shade, you'll have a primo spot, get your workout in and have a great time in the process.

Why not park along West Lindsey somewhere? I don't know. Pick a spot. I once parked at the Homeland at West Lindsey and McGee and walked the whole thing, and nobody knew the difference. And, the length of the walk is deceiving; it's not as far as you think.

First, you stop at the Donut Shop for a coffee and a fritter. The sidewalks along Lindsey, past Berry Road, are chock-full of shade, particularly in the area of the former university president's home. Believe it or not, a ton of OU fans take this route, and there are parking spots to spare along West Lindsey.

But, be warned. You'll want to be creative and discreet or else risk towing.

Toss out that coffee and donut and JJ's Pizza near campus, and pick up a slice and a beer for about $3. You'll be full and buzzing in no time. But, the two mile or so walk will have killed off a ton of calories.

Another good walking route is from Main Street. The trick to this route is to realize your path to the stadium is diagonal. Cut across the police station, over the train tracks, past McFarlin Memorial Methodist Church, and you'll be at Owen Field before you can say, "DeMarco Murray touchdown!"

Those are two routes I've walked before, and I'm a lazy bastard. But perhaps you have a better one? Post it to our comments below.

Side note: You can also park for free at the Lloyd Noble Center and ride the trolley up to campus. If you've got older folks, kids, lazy people or hungover buddies in your group, that might be your best bet.

More info:

NewsOK.com

NormanTranscript.com

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Weekend Scanner Report

It was a pretty boring weekend on the scanner front here in Norman on Friday and Saturday, but it got interesting Sunday night. Some of the highlights include:

Police investigated an ex-University of Oklahoma employee who was spotted inside an OU building late Sunday night making a rather large amount of copies. An ex-professor? Nope. A power plant employee, according to scanner traffic.

Authorities said they would investigate further but noted that making those copies on university property without having any business there technically constituted theft. Do you think he was photocopying his resume?

***

At the same time, a 31-year-old called in a medical emergency from the Physical Sciences building, saying that he had abdominal pains. The call came in at 10:30 p.m., making me wonder what in the heck he was doing there that late on a Sunday. Perhaps he's a prof, and the thought of another school year already has him in distress.

***

Moments later -- and this is all on Sunday night -- marijuana smoke from the parking lot of a Norman apartment complex was reported. OK, this likely happens often in Norman. This is a college town, mind you. However, the kicker here is that the 911 caller reported that the "security guard at the complex was partying" with whoever was in the parking lot at this complex.

Good times.

***

Earlier this weekend, from the Blog Party porch, we heard an odd call for police to come investigate an odor. At first, we chuckled thinking some hygenic student had finally had enough of his engineering roommate. Alas, this call was to report the odor of gasoline, which can often indicate a meth lab.

No word as to what happened here. We either didn't hear or just got disinterested.

Periodically, I'll note things I hear on the scanner, stuff that will never make the paper but that is still available for the public record. My standard caveat is this, however: At no time would I post anything I hear on the scanner that could endanger anybody physically, period, particularly police or emergency workers. Anyway, I'm a pro at this, been doin' it awhile.

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