Saturday, October 18, 2014

London's Great Beer Flood, 200 Years Later

Oktoberfest comes to Rotary Park - Mohave Daily News: News

Two centuries ago this week, London bore witness to one of history's most bizarre events: an explosion at a brewery that unleashed a tidal waveof beer, no less. According to The History Channel, one of three vats Meux's Brewery unexpectedly burst open on the afternoon of October 17, 1814. The container, which held some 1 million pints of beer, exploded in a hail of splinters around 5:30 pm, triggering a chain reaction that loosed "thousands of barrels of beer" in a nearby cask. All in all, nearly 600 tons of liquid spilled into the streets of the U.K.'s capital city, collapsing brick walls in its wake and sending citizens scrambling to save themselves from a torrent of alcohol. The incident, and its colorful anecdotes , has spawned a flood of cheeky headlines . However, at the time the disaster was certainly no laughing matter: The flood claimed the lives of 8 people, including several toddlers, according to The History Channel.



Souce http://www.cnbc.com/id/102099691?__source=yahoonews&par=yahoonews

Kalamazoo Oktobeerfest brings local and international craft beer fans together for afternoon of fun | MLive.com

Updated: Yesterday MOHAVE VALLEY Crosby Arias tallied two goals and Bree Hernandez and Sara Anbardan each added a goal and an assist to lead the Lady Dust Devils. Updated: Yesterday BULLHEAD CITY The inaugural Oktoberfest Beer Festival and the Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge will turn Bullhead Citys Rotary Park into a venue of aromas, sights and sounds today and Saturday. The combined events benefit the local Rotary Club and its contributions to local charities. Both the Oktoberfest and the Slab-O-Rama are unique and new to Bullhead City. The Oktoberfest will feature authentic German music performed by the Kalifornia Krauts at the ramada in Rotary Park. The Kalifornia Krauts will perform today from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 3 to 8 p.m. In addition to the live music, there will be authentic German-style food beer, brats and German potato salad - available for purchase. The Slab-O-Rama is a Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned event and will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Entrants will be competing for $16,000 in prize money and the opportunity to compete in the American Royal World Series BBQ next year in Kansas City, Mo. In addition to the BBQ competition covering the traditionals ribs, chicken, pork, brisket and sausage there will be competition for appetizers and desserts. Appetizers will be judged at 8 p.m. today with desserts judged at 9 p.m. On Saturday, the judging schedule is noon for chicken, 12:30 p.m. for ribs, 1 p.m. for pork, 1:30 p.m. for brisket and 2 p.m. for sausage. For more information and a complete schedule of activities, go to www.slaborama.com .



Souce http://www.mohavedailynews.com/news/oktoberfest-comes-to-rotary-park/article_81a3724e-5052-11e4-8db3-2f9bc9b2511b.html

Beer, food & fun! Check out craft beer brewers from around the country, but where? | FOX6Now.com

(Alana Semuels / Los Angeles Times) In Michigan, a stark contrast between Detroit and the well-to-do suburb Grosse Pointe Park Tensions are palpable between Grosse Pointe Park and the neighboring city of Detroit The border between Grosse Pointe Park and Detroit represents a huge dividing line separating the haves and have-nots: Detroit's median household income is $26,955. Grosse Pointe Park's is $101,094. The average response time for Grosse Pointe Park police was 3.4 minutes in 2012. In Detroit's Precinct 4, which borders Grosse Pointe Park, the average response time that year was 30 minutes. A drive down Alter Road sums up the challenges facing the well-to-do suburb and the former industrial powerhouse. On one side of the road the Detroit side there's block after block of dilapidated houses and vacant lots overflowing with weeds. On the Grosse Pointe Park side, a main street leads to yoga studios, beer gardens, antiques stores and even feel-good music being piped from the quaint lampposts. Detroit Alana Semuels / Los Angeles Times Stretches of Detroit contain block after block of unoccupied houses, many in dilapidated condition. Stretches of Detroit contain block after block of unoccupied houses, many in dilapidated condition. (Alana Semuels / Los Angeles Times) Tensions between the communities are palpable as one tries to remain one of the most desirable suburbs in the region, despite its border with a long-troubled city that declared the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Earlier this year, Grosse Pointe Park erected a barrier on Kercheval Road, one of the few streets that allow car access between Grosse Point Park's leafy streets and the blighted ones of Detroit. Grosse Pointe Park officials say the barrier, which resembles a barn, was erected for a farmers market. Last winter, Grosse Pointe Park was accused of plowing snow to create a barrier that blocked the street to Detroiters. "There's so much tension between the suburbs and the city in Wayne County. I think they're very determined to try and insulate themselves from the cost of the bankruptcy," said Kevin Boyle, a Detroit native who teaches history at Northwestern University. "The suburbs are terrified by the thought that they'd be caught up in Detroit's problems." 8 The disparities between city and suburb were created consciously after Detroit started becoming more diverse. In much of the 20th century in Grosse Pointe Park and other suburbs, real estate agents sized up desirable clients by awarding potential home buyers points based on race and religion. Civic associations prohibited selling homes to nonwhites, writes Ross Eisenbrey, a vice president at the Economic Policy Institute who grew up in Grosse Pointe. Racial tensions linger today. At the Pointes, as the five Grosse Pointe municipalities are called, residents must show an ID to enter public parks. As Detroit's fortunes flagged, black residents abandoned the city for the suburbs, often as renters. Equipped with new IDs, they began showing up at parks, prompting grumbling that out-of-towners were using the parks or inviting too many guests. Grosse Pointe Park, with about 11,000 residents, is 85% white. Detroit, population 688,000, is 82% black. In the last year or two, there have been complaints at the suburb's premier park, which resembles a country club, with yachts listing quietly in the lake, bubbling fountains and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. "I do sense it from some of the residents. If there's an African American picnic there, and people are hopping in the pool, I sense a bit of, 'What are you doing in my park?'" said Paul Wargo, who mans the gates at the park. But Grosse Pointers seem to be realizing that the cities' futures might be linked. After all, Detroit's financial woes were caused in part by the decline of the auto industry, which also affected the suburbs where executives once lived. The median sales price of homes in Grosse Pointe Park dropped 71% from a peak of $385,000 in 2007 to $111,000 in 2012. 0 Wayne County, which encompasses Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park and other suburbs, has been struggling financially since the housing crisis. The county sheriff's department has already cut its investigation and street enforcement programs and temporarily dropped narcotics enforcement. Grosse Pointe Park and other police departments have also lost staff as cities trim budgets. Moreover, some Detroit suburbs have seen an increase in crime. In Harper Woods, which borders both Detroit and the Pointes, a recent shooting at a shopping mall has kept visitors away. "My husband will kill me if he knows I'm here," said Susan Mulrenin, who lives in the wealthy suburb of St. Clair Shores, while standing in the parking lot of the Harper Woods mall after a quick trip to Target. There's so much tension between the suburbs and the city in Wayne County. I think they're very determined to try and insulate themselves from the cost of the bankruptcy. - Kevin Boyle, a Detroit native who teaches history at Northwestern University Few incidents highlight the tensions between the suburbs and the city more than the shooting of Renisha McBride, a Detroit resident who knocked on the Dearborn Heights home of a man in the middle of the night. Theodore Wafer fired shots out his front door, killing her. Wafer, who said he had feared for his life, was sentenced in September to 17 years in prison. But amid the tensions, there have also been some positive developments as Detroit winds its way out of bankruptcy. "This is a time of heightened awareness of the problems that many people have ignored," said Ron Omilian, a Grosse Pointe Park resident. For one thing, many of Detroit's problems were caused when wealthy residents moved farther out of the city, taking their tax dollars with them. But now, some are thinking about heading back. Grosse Pointers used to avoid going into the city for anything but sporting events. Now, Grosse Pointers are joining bike tours into Detroit and heading into the city and even buying real estate that's plentiful and cheap, said Randy Repicky, a Realtor in Grosse Pointe Farms. "We're seeing people buying second homes in a loft or something that they can use for weekend homes in the city," he said. Kathy Shannon, a Grosse Pointe resident, owns a company that repairs city trucks. Now that Detroit is trying to turn itself around, business is getting better, she said. "The bankruptcy has been a very positive thing," she said. Christine Stesney-Ridenour, chief operation officer of Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, says that a feeling has come over the area that she's never seen before in a lifetime of working in Detroit.



Souce http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-borders-detroit-20141019-story.html?track=rss

At Detroit's border, a barrier separates the haves from have-nots - LA Times

While unsure of exactly how many people the event was expected to attract, Schmitt said that she was expecting roughly 1,500 people to attend. "We weren't sure what to expect," she said. "We had close to 550 presale tickets. We have a great number out here so far.



Souce http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/10/kalamazoo_oktobeerfest_brings.html

200 Years Ago: The Great London Beer Flood Killed 8 People, 15-Foot Wave Of Booze Swept Town

The London Beer Flood may be one of the strangest disasters in history and, thanks to a local newspaper, all the details are still available two centuries later. Lets take a look back at the bizarre disaster that left London in shambles. History , the publication, provides in full detail what transpired that dreadful day in London. Around 4:30 p.m., storehouse clerk George Crick inspected one of the three-story-tall wooden vats girdled with heavy iron hoops in which the black beer fermented. As he looked down from his perch, the clerk suddenly noticed that a 700-pound hoop had slipped off an enormous cask that stored a 10-month-old batch of porter. Crick, who had been with the company for 17 years and watched it grow to become the citys fifth-largest producer of porter, knew that this happened two or three times a year and didnt think much of it. Even though porter filled all but the final 4 inches of the 22-foot-high vat and the pressure from the fermentation process was building inside, Cricks boss told him that no harm whatever would ensue from the broken hoop and that he should write a letter to another brewery employee who could fix it at a later date. Soon after he penned the note around 5:30 p.m., Crick heard a massive explosion from inside the storeroom. The compromised vat, which held the equivalent of 1 million pints of beer, had burst into splinters. The blast broke off the valve of an adjoining cask that also contained thousands of barrels of beer and set off a chain reaction as the weight of the 570 tons of liquid smashed other hogsheads of porter. The force of the beer exploding sent bricks spiraling through homes nearby. The weight of the bricks caused a brick wall to collapse on Eleanor Cooper, killing her instantly. As if the explosion of bricks wasnt bad enough, the dark brown porter that was once housed in the vat was now flowing into the streets and into homes nearby. Streets during that time did not have drainage systems; therefore, the beer had nowhere to go but down the street, causing further destruction. So much beer poured from the vat that it created a 15-foot tidal wave of booze. The wave, and resulting current, was so strong that it caused Mary Banfield and her 4-year-old daughter Hannah to be swept away during an evening tea. Both sadly perished, drowning in the massive wave of beer. After the initial wave passed, people could be seen wading in the streets in beer that was waist-deep. The Morning Post reported at the time that is was one of the most melancholy accidents we ever remember. Though Crick notes that the brewery was negligent in dealing with the issue once reported, a jury convened and found the incident had been an Act of God and that the victims had met their deaths casually, accidentally and by misfortune. Not only did the brewery escape paying damages to the destitute victims, it received a waiver from the British Parliament for excise taxes it had already paid on the thousands of barrels of beer it lost.



Souce http://www.inquisitr.com/1548219/200-years-ago-the-great-london-beer-flood-killed-8-people-15-foot-wave-of-booze-swept-town/

Saturday's local football scores - ContraCostaTimes.com

Check out craft beer brewers from around the country, butwhere? Posted 10:39 am, October 18, 2014, by Trisha Bee Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Email (required) (Address never made public) Name (required) You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( LogOut / Change ) You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( LogOut / Change ) You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( LogOut / Change ) You are commenting using your Google+ account. ( LogOut / Change )



Souce http://fox6now.com/2014/10/18/beer-food-fun-check-out-craft-beer-brewers-from-around-the-country-but-where/

Washington (2-4, 2-1), at Tak Fudenna, 7 p.m. TCAL-ROCK Salesian 30, St. Mary's 23, final Hercules (1-6, 0-3) vs. El Cerrito (2-4, 1-1), at De Anza HS, 7 p.m. WACC-SHORELINE Mt. Eden 49, Hayward 29, final Community college



Souce http://www.contracostatimes.com/high-school-sports/ci_26755271/saturdays-local-football-scores

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