<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>The City Desk &#187; friday facts</title>
	<atom:link href="http://thecitydesk.net/category/friday-facts/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://thecitydesk.net</link>
	<description>Fictional urbanism.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:30:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Narnia, Math, Linguistics, Lascivious Radios</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/11/20/friday-facts-narnia-math-linguistics-lascivious-radios/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/11/20/friday-facts-narnia-math-linguistics-lascivious-radios/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:19:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[David Andrews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ordinances]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=746</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Median age of mathematics texts used in city public schools:  18 years :: Median tenure of mathematics teachers in city schools:  4.5 years :: Median SAT mathematics score, city schools (2008):  485 :: Percentage of 12th graders in city schools who know how ‘median’ differs from ‘average’:  38% :: A city ordinance passed in 1931 prohibited the hiring by city hospitals of any registered nurse “younger than nine years of age, regardless of experience or education.” State medical laws, which supersede municipal doctrine, mandate a minimum age of 21. :: The city’s official “Fictional Sister City” is Narnia, according to a 2001 mayoral edict. Prior to that, it had been Atlantis. :: Languages which have been banned within city limits over the years include, but are not limited to: French, Portuguese, Java, Tagalog, Mandarin, “variants of Basque,” English and “Anything even remotely Irish.” :: A Baltimore and Ohio Railroad “fight special” bearing more than a hundred boxing fans to the city for a series of welterweight title matches was met by special police at Central Depot on this day in 1927, to respond to complaints of illegal drink-mixing and gun sales on the Common Rate car. :: A short-lived [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/11/20/friday-facts-narnia-math-linguistics-lascivious-radios/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: The Honorable Harold Ramis, No Batmobiles</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/07/24/friday-facts-the-honorable-harold-ramis-no-batmobiles/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/07/24/friday-facts-the-honorable-harold-ramis-no-batmobiles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:43:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Count Film-Ula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[museums]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ray Ingraham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[violence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=624</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: On this day in 1889, boxer John Lawrence Sullivan punched Mayor John Overholt&#8217;s wife directly in the face, knocking her out instantly. No reason was ever given for the assault, and neither the mayor nor Sullivan ever chose to speak of it again. :: A 1971 city ordinance prohibits the display of the Batmobile (from the famously campy 1960s Batman television show) at any promotional event within city limits. :: Chief City Health and Hygiene Inspector “Guy” Fenimore celebrates his 57th birthday this week, making him the oldest individual to ever hold that office and, in fact, the only sitting Chief Inspector to ever reach fifty-seven. :: Other birthdays this week include television meteorologist Howard Tidleiver (43), outspoken former city ombudsperson Claire Dolan (57) and former late-night television host Count Film-Ula (age estimated at either 93 or 97). :: In a local poll conducted earlier this week, sixteen percent of respondents admitted to participating in physical conflicts stemming from disagreements over the best local pizza restaurant. :: The Doig Museum of Natural Science was forced to cancel its upcoming exhibit &#8220;The Beauty Inside the Human Body,&#8221; which was to feature the plasticized remains of actual cadavers, posed artfully to [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/07/24/friday-facts-the-honorable-harold-ramis-no-batmobiles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Charlie&#8217;s Angels Lunchboxes, Roadside Cabbage, Fake Squid</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/06/12/friday-facts-charlies-angels-lunchboxes-roadside-cabbage-fake-squid/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/06/12/friday-facts-charlies-angels-lunchboxes-roadside-cabbage-fake-squid/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[museums]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ordinances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=574</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: A City Council ordinance passed on this date in 1975 expressly prohibited the “display of images of a licentious, erotic, salient or pornographic nature, or which otherwise arouse the prurient interest for the sole purpose of titillation” on children’s metal lunchboxes. :: The Seventh of the Eight Great Zoo Hoaxes was committed on this day in 1968. :: Number of regular weekly Farmer&#8217;s Markets (regulated) within city limits: 12 :: Number of regular weekly Farmer&#8217;s Markets (regulated) within city limits three years ago: 4 :: Number of stands where it&#8217;s just guys selling produce streetside: At least 47 (according to a story this week by the Clarion-Journal) :: Number of these out of a station wagon: 10 :: Number of these out of a van: 22 :: Number of these out of an old ice cream truck: 1 :: Number of vacant lots/properties being used for farming, under the city&#8217;s new UrbanFarm program: 18 :: When First Amendment activists blocked a 1979 attempt by the City Council to pass an ordinance against the sale and display of shirts bearing the legend “FBI: Federal Breast Inspector,” the City Council successfully retaliated by passing a different ordinance requiring three-hundred hours of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/06/12/friday-facts-charlies-angels-lunchboxes-roadside-cabbage-fake-squid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Abe Beats Chuck, Budget Fun, The Old Condor</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/02/13/friday-facts-abe-beats-chuck-budget-fun-the-old-condor/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/02/13/friday-facts-abe-beats-chuck-budget-fun-the-old-condor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=544</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: 565-acre Pratt Park disappeared into a sinkhole on this day in 1905. ::  Number of people who showed up for the ceremony and forum commemorating Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s 200th birthday at Bowman House (the city&#8217;s longstanding Republican club): 470 :: Number of people who showed up for the ceremony and symposium commemorating Charles Darwin&#8217;s 200th birthday at Watson University&#8217;s Liechner Hall (NatSci building): 75 :: Number of times Abraham Lincoln visited our city: 3 while alive, 1 while no longer alive :: Number of times Charles Darwin visited our city: 1, lecturing to the Gentleman&#8217;s Philosophical Society at Bowman House in 1871 :: Due to budgetary issues, trash collection will only be done every other week, effective March 1. Recycling will still be done on a weekly basis, due to the terms of various grants funding the program. :: Percentage cut Mayor Cosgrove and her deputy mayors have taken in their salaries for FY 2009 and 2010: 20% :: Percentage by which all city departments will be forced to cut their budgets across the board, by June 1: 15% :: Mayor Cosgrove has asked the library system to explore the possibility of auctioning off or selling certain  rare books and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/02/13/friday-facts-abe-beats-chuck-budget-fun-the-old-condor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Impes, &#8220;Leapin&#8217; Lepean,&#8221; Debtors Prison</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/23/friday-facts-impes-leapin-lepean-debtors-prison/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/23/friday-facts-impes-leapin-lepean-debtors-prison/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:42:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[city council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Craig Gaines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Downtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=521</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Mayor Cosgrove is expected to deliver to City Council on Monday her administration&#8217;s plan to make up the city&#8217;s now $728 million five-year deficit. :: Expected remedies: Rec Center  and library cutbacks, trash collection, city vehicle usage cuts, wage rollbacks, hiring freeze. :: The plaque on the Trade and Securities Building (43rd Ave and Roosevelt) remembers investor Tom Lepean, who on October 28, 1929, had made the decision to sell his sizable portfolio of stock and retire to a secluded wooded area. Although Lepean had been inspired by the book Walden, several scorned investors the following day – suspicious of Lepean’s timing &#8211; accused him of either benefitting from inside information of the coming stock market crash, or possibly engineering it. The legend of Lepean’s perspicacity exceeded public temperament, and the once-lucky investor was pushed out a 16th story window by a stenographic pool secretary whose father had been ruined in the Crash. :: Fast-Cash Plus, a national chain specializing in your-auto-title-for-easy-cash swaps, has opened an outlet in the Crestmoor Shopping Plaza, at 35th and Wallace Streets. That plot of land was the location of Munson Prison until 1938, which contained a sizable debtors prison wing. :: Alfred Garret, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/23/friday-facts-impes-leapin-lepean-debtors-prison/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Budget Woes, FDR, Himmler Bay</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/09/friday-facts-budget-woes-fdr-himmler-bay/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/09/friday-facts-budget-woes-fdr-himmler-bay/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:11:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Count Film-Ula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mabel Tripp Gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[police]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=503</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Estimated five-year city budget deficit awaiting Maribeth Cosgrove when she is sworn in as mayor on Monday: Over $650 million :: Portion of the city budget in ten years that will have to be paid for pension and benefits, according to current union contracts : 61% :: City union contracts up for renewal this year: Police, fire, administrative staff :: When asked during an informal poll, more than twenty percent of respondents believed that the most physically powerful American president was either Teddy Roosevelt or George Washington. Physically weakest American presidents selected by the majority of respondents included Martin van Buren, John Quincy Adams or George H.W. Bush (though, surprisingly, not Franklin Delano Roosevelt) :: The so-called “Gipsie Murals” were sand-blasted into obscurity on this day in 1960. :: Memorial services for Laura Bonnie Tripp will be held this Tuesday at the viewing promenade at Mabel Tripp Gardens, the public parks facility named after her great-grandmother. The 70-year-old was better known as a former Playboy pin-up girl and third wife of local late night horror show host Count Film-Ula. :: Until popular opinion forced the change in 1944, Mean Harbor had been originally known as ‘Himmler Bay.’ (It was [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/09/friday-facts-budget-woes-fdr-himmler-bay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Politics, Plumber, Pancakes</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/10/24/friday-facts-politics-plumber-pancakes/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/10/24/friday-facts-politics-plumber-pancakes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:38:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[David Andrews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Election 2008]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[halloween]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=376</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Republican City Councilwoman Maribeth Cosgrove currently has a nine point lead over Democratic incumbent Joseph Wilders in polls released this morning in advance of the mayoral election. :: City Treasurer Donald Munro reports that Mayor Wilders has spent $1,192 of his own funds on clothing during his current re-election campaign. An additional $29.95 in campaign clothing expenses was reported, purchased by an anonymous donor. :: If you think showing up to a Halloween party this year as &#8220;Joe the Plumber&#8221; will show off your creativity and topicality, perhaps you&#8217;d better think twice. Local costume shop Alter Ego reports the ubiquitous everyman has been so popular as a costume, that they&#8217;ve been forced to back order &#8220;prop plungers, bald caps and prosthetic ass-cracks.&#8221; :: This October 29 marks the 120th anniversary of Industry Island, an experimental community founded by the virulently anti-Catholic Rev.Callum Fry in 1888. The original community was disbanded in 1891, but the many parks and trails crafted by the Reverend&#8217;s community remains a popular destination for day-trippers. :: City Marathon winners (men’s open division) by nationality since 2001: 3 Kenyans, 2 Mexicans, 1 Ethiopian, 1 Eritrean and 1 U.S citizen (Orlando, FL) :: City Symphony guest conductors [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/10/24/friday-facts-politics-plumber-pancakes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Hope, Change and/or Straight Talk</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/09/26/friday-facts-hope-change-andor-straight-talk/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/09/26/friday-facts-hope-change-andor-straight-talk/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:42:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Election 2008]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mayoral race]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=331</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: The voter registration deadline for the November 4 election is October 6. Once again, your mayoral candidates- - Democratic: Joseph Wilders, current mayor - Republican: Maribeth Cosgrove, longtime City Councilwoman - Libertarian: Lewis Armstrong, local businessman - Green: Louis M. Armstrong, Watson University humanities professor - Independent: Leonard Pierce, former Fifth Ward Democratic party leader (Mr. Pierce is also a sometime contributor to The City Desk) :: Mayor Wilders currently has a three point lead in the polls over Councilwoman Cosgrove. :: Of more than five hundred city residents asked in an informal poll, only three percent indicated that they would be willing to vote for a transvestite presidential candidate. :: Number of local businesses with &#8220;Hope&#8221; in their name: 7 (Including &#8220;Hope&#8217;s Erotic Bakery,&#8221; &#8220;Never Give Up (Hope)&#8221; resale and thrift store benfiting St.Katherine&#8217;s Childrens Hospital, and &#8220;Hope Floats&#8221; movie-themed ice cream parlor) :: Number of local businesses with &#8220;Change&#8221; in their name: 43 (mostly car service stations ending with &#8220;-Change,&#8221; but also including &#8220;Loose Change&#8221; used clothing store and &#8220;Change-a-lot&#8221; diaper laundry service) :: Number of local businesses with &#8220;Straight Talk&#8221; in their name: 0 (Although Community Radio 790 AM has a 15-minute niche news broadcast three [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/09/26/friday-facts-hope-change-andor-straight-talk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Peelers, It&#8217;s the Humidity, Blood</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/08/08/friday-facts-peelers-its-the-humidity-blood/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/08/08/friday-facts-peelers-its-the-humidity-blood/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:41:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[aviation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Craig Gaines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dancing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hospitals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ray Ingraham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=288</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: When the new Southside High School opens at the end of the month, it will be the first high school in the city built without an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 46 years, after the school district was finally able to override the requirements of Elanor Jean Hapsworth&#8217;s will. :: Number of days (so far) this summer in which the temperature has reached 90 degrees or more: 23 :: Ecdysiast clubs out near the airport with aviation-themed names: The Landing Strip, Propellerz, The Cargo Hold, Lindy&#8217;s, Flyboys, The Landing Strip Too :: More than 500 units of blood were transfused in the Nilsson-Presbyterian South Hospital emergency room during the month of July. Below is a percentage breakdown, listed by causes provided in accident/police reports: 32.5% Car/truck accidents 22.8% Miscellaneous/Not specified 14.4% Gunshot, stab, and/or assault wounds 10.7% ATV/motorcycle accidents 9.9% Aneurysm/hemorrhage 4.3% Firework mishaps 3.1% Injuries from falls (2.8% falls from objects, 0.3% crushed by falling objects) 1.6% Household/landscaping/construction equipment accident 0.5% Domestic animal attacks 0.2% Wild animal attacks :: New events for Citywide Field Day XV, to be held at various elementary schools across the city during the second week in September: Four-square (individual and pairs), tennis-ball fling, spitting, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/08/08/friday-facts-peelers-its-the-humidity-blood/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: Discount Pork Credit Rebate A.M.</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/05/09/friday-facts-discount-pork-credit-rebate-am/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/05/09/friday-facts-discount-pork-credit-rebate-am/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 May 2008 12:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[David Andrews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[laws]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[museums]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shek Baker]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=248</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Mayor Wilders&#8217; recent initiative to &#8220;clean up&#8221; the city&#8217;s catalog of archaic, outdated, obtuse or redundant ordinances begins in earnest next Wednesday when he plans to unveil his self-authored C.O.M.B. (Consolidate Our Municipal Bylaws) Initiative. Among the ordinances targeted by the measure are a 1988 ban on prostitution services for pets, last year&#8217;s activist &#8220;pro-smoking&#8221; initiative, and a late 17th-century punishment which calls for &#8220;stabbing centrely amidst the fleshie organs&#8221; for anyone caught &#8220;dealyng with goods of a gypsie nature.&#8221; :: In addition to police officers, emergency response and medical personnel, it is technically illegal in the city to pose as a practitioner of the following professions: Plumber, baker, cobbler, milliner, grocer, asphalt-mixer. :: Number of local coyote attacks sparking the &#8220;Coyotes: This Summer&#8217;s Sharks?&#8221; three-day investigative series on Channel 8&#8242;s newscast next week: 0 :: The Woodbridge District of the city boasts more hair salons, Thai restaurants and British import shops than any other district in the city (124, 70 and 17 respectively). :: Tourism in the city is down 15% over the same period last year. The Valley Regional Tourism Bureau attributes the decline to budget cuts, leading to a lack of presence for the city in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/05/09/friday-facts-discount-pork-credit-rebate-am/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

