Yearly Archives: 2014

A few highlights from my stay in New York City

                             Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back.  Where do you begin when you’re writing a story about New York City, one of the most complicated, diverse and exciting places on earth? With neighborhoods as different and interesting as Chinatown, SOHO, Little Italy, Greenwich Village and Tribeca it is impossible to capture all the energy of this amazing place.

To get to know the city better, I took a Skyline Bus Tour and these are just a few of the facts I learned along the way:

Two million people commute to work in Manhattan every day and most of them travel by train.

The Manhattan Post Office is the largest Post Office in the world.

St Paul’s Chapel in Trinity Church Parish is the oldest public building in continuous use in the city and it was consecrated in 1790.

There are two hundred and fifty theaters in the Broadway theater district.

The electronic billboards in Times Square cost $10,000 per day to rent.

The Woolworth Building was completed in 1913 for thirteen million dollars and the entire construction cost was paid in cash- all in nickels and dimes.

Wall Street got its name from the Dutch when they built a wall around a settlement in this area to protect themselves from Indians.

One million people work in the financial district and there is no parking at all in this area. All the workers take public transportation.

Twelve million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island. Each person was asked a series of 29 questions and given a health exam before he or she was allowed to enter the country.

Today residents of NYC come from100 different nations and speak 138 different languages and dialects. 37% of the total population of the city is foreign born.

Immigrants from Bangladesh are the fastest growing new group of immigrants.

Bellevue is the oldest hospital in the United States and established the country’s first ambulance which was a horse drawn buggy.

During the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the designer John Augustus Roebling died as the result of an accident. Before his death he appointed his son Washington Roebling to complete the project but shortly thereafter his son suffered a paralyzing injury which prevented him from leaving his home. His wife Emily spent the next eleven years helping her husband complete the project- a task which required her to study higher mathematics and engineering among other things. Mrs. Roebling supervised a team of engineers on the jobsite at a time when women did not even vote. The bridge was completed in 1883.

And last but not least, the Empire State Building is one of the most famous examples of art deco architecture in the world. It was also the tallest building in the world for forty years until the construction of the World Trade Center in 1971. The Empire State Building was completed in thirteen months and cost $40,948,900- approximately $500,000,000 in today’s dollars.

There are many other fascinating facts about New York City but I am out of space for now. Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road…

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I’ll be in New York City for the next few weeks, pursing contacts for a business project I’ve been working on the past six years. Stay tuned for my experiences in the big city.

Some local news that could be a hit anywhere…………

                  Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

Welcome back.  The Tulsa fairgrounds were hopping last Saturday with a big gun show, the weekly Saturday flea market, a couple of livestock shows and what was billed as “The Great Train Expo”. The line was 150 deep at the entrance to get into the gun show most of the day and once I got inside it seemed every dealer was busy, buying and selling every kind of firearm you can imagine. Because I was on a tight schedule, I only had time to make a quick pass and then it was on to the flea market but it definitely rates another visit. There are horse and cattle events in the livestock barns every weekend and I also come away with a great positive feeling after watching kids with their animals.

All of this was very interesting, but the real purpose of my visit was simple. I was looking to buy a model railroad cattle car and some miniature Black Angus cattle to fill it up as a gift for a friend. My friend’s hobby is model trains and the Great Train Expo seemed like the perfect place to find what I was looking for.

The Expo is the largest touring model train show in the country and had over 150 vendors displaying toy and model trains. There were elaborate train sets where the trains would pass through miniature cities and mountain villages complete with bridges and streetlights. There were sound effects and even smoke in many of the displays and I was amazed at the level of detail and the effort that went into building them. I am also happy to say that I found exactly the type of car I wanted and it even loads and unloads the cattle from an attached pen. This was a very fun event that I would recommend for next year and I suggest taking a kid along.

I have some more details about Youth & Family Services’ annual Celebrity Sing which will be held on March 28^th at the Bartlesville Community Center. The confirmed “celebrity” singers include Maria Swindell-Gus, Brian Lawrence, Claudia McCurry, Travis Whitaker, Larri Lindsay, Lona Ware, Rachelle Wilson with a group from ARVEST Bank, Robert McGuire, Jon Hargis, and Celeste Drowatzky. Tickets are $40 per person and include drinks and hors d’ouvres. From what I hear, they will be having a great spread with food from many different local eateries. Don’t miss the opportunity to support this great organization which helps over 600 children and families every year. For more information call (918) 335-1111 or stop by their offices at 2200 SE Washington Boulevard.

I also want to remind you once again about the big Beatles show on March 29^th. Also at the Bartlesville Community Center, the concert is a benefit for the Washington County SPCA and tickets are available at the Community Center box office.

Elder Care’s big party, The Big, The Bad and The Barbeque is coming up on May 10^th and I understand that they will be announcing some great auction items, including one that involves a private jet. The party is held at the historic Mullendore Cross Bell Ranch and just keeps getting bigger and better every year.

Spring in Oklahoma is always a good time to get out and enjoy a great event, a day trip to Woolaroc or maybe a drive to Tulsa or Oklahoma City, reminding us of all the great resources we have nearby. It is also a good time for a longer trip which I will soon be taking. Hopefully, I will be able to convey all the beautiful sights and experiences I encounter along the way. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more travels.

Till next time I’ll see ya down the road…………………..

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  I wrote this article in response to a recent story that appeared in The Oklahoman and was reprinted in the

                          Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back. Many people have asked me to comment on the recent newspaper article concerning Chub Anderson and the Mullendore murder. The following is my recollection of the time I spent with Chub, which I hope reflects my respect for all the parties involved in this tragedy.

It was July 5, 2006 when I had my first real visit with a man who had become a legendary figure in this part of the world. The wrinkles in his face showed he’d spent many a day outdoors in severe weather and his bowed legs spoke of hours on horseback. Several of his fingers were gnarled from various mishaps but he was still able to write. Captured with little but the clothes on his back and facing severe medical problems, much of his life was focused on sheer survival.

He first asked to meet with me after a chance encounter at his sentencing hearing in Sedan, Kansas and to this day I’m not sure why. There were plenty of reporters on hand who were willing to pay to gain his attention and his trust. His life experiences had taught him to read people through eye contact, facial expressions and body language. He could see right through people and understand their motives almost immediately. On many occasions I saw him quickly assess the people who came knocking on his door, some of whom were friends and some of whom were complete strangers. Regardless, they all called him Chub.  That’s how it was when we first met and that’s how it was when he died.

After several months spent getting to know one another while he was incarcerated, I eventually agreed to make a trip to Alder, Montana. This is the small mountain town where he had been living for most of the last sixteen years before his capture.

In the time just before his arrest Chub had been living in one seedy hotel after another in Helena, Montana keeping his few remaining possessions in an old travel trailer which was stored on a friend’s property high in the mountains outside of Alder, There were several boxes of handwritten notes and paperwork, old clothes and some home movies he had made of himself in better days. He’d bought the camera right after he went the run in 1990, fleeing the charges related to his most recent arrest for pot growing in Kansas. As a result he had also violated his probation for similar charges in Oklahoma.  He created a new life for himself as “Jack Everett” and managed to avoid capture for sixteen years.  This is when he purchased a top of the line (for the day) movie camera and tripod to film what he would later describe “as the best time in my life.”

Chub asked me to retrieve these films along with the boxes of paperwork and a few personals items. He kept a few clothes and left the rest with me to refer to while I was writing the story of his life.

Over time Chub told me about the most important things in his life; the good and the bad things he had done, his relationships with friends and lovers, his family and his enemies. In the months before his capture he hadn’t had much company and later when he was paroled in Kansas and eventually moved into a small apartment, things didn’t change much. I visited him several times a week to work on my project and I found there were a few people who were devoted to helping him but many others came to see him out of curiosity rather than genuine friendship. Chub could be charming to these people and would usually entertain them with well practiced stories from the past.

With all that said, its time for March Madness and with Oklahoma State beating Kansas on Saturday, I am ready for the playoffs! Although it was cold and blowing ice outside, those of us who were inside Gallagher-IBA Arena for the game didn’t care. The arena was sold out from the court side seats to the rafters and everyone was there; Big Country Bryant Reese, Eddie Sutton, Danny Manning and even the Oklahoma City Thunder including Kevin Durant. There were also a large number of Kansas alumni and fans all dressed in Kansas blue. With emotions running high I’m happy to report that good sportsmanship was practiced all the way around and everyone had a great time.

Till next week I’ll see ya down the road………………….

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 Check out the website for the Examiner-Enterprise (examiner-enterprise.com) to read their story from Thursday February 27th about the latest on the Mullenodre murder.

                         Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back. Eddie Sutton, Tubby Smith, Marcus Smart, along with the family ofthe late Bob Kurland. Gallagher-IBA Arena was the place and this was the seating for Saturday afternoon’s 12:30 tip-off between Oklahoma State University and Texas Tech.

For those of you who may not be basketball fans, Tubby Smith was the head coach at the University of Tulsa from 1991 through 1995. From there he went on to win a national championship at Kentucky in ’98, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2000 games. He’s in several halls of fame and has been to 23 NCAA tournaments. In addition to being a legend in basketball, he also has a reputation for being a true gentleman.

Eddie Sutton is another member of basketball royalty who needs no introduction. I’ve interviewed him several times and he’s very approachable and easy to talk to. Looking out over Gallagher-IBA Arena you have to wonder how many people have a basketball court named after them.

Saturday was also the first game back for Marcus Smart since his suspension and if you haven’t heard the Cowboys gave Texas Tech a solid thrashing. You can’t talk about basketball at Oklahoma State without mentioning Bob Kurland, the first seven footer in college basketball history. He holds more records than I even have room to write about. With all of his family in attendance, Kurland number was officially retired at half-time during the game.

It was a proud and emotional moment on several fronts and watching the Cowboys play I’d just have to say don’t count Oklahoma State out just yet! I’ll leave all the statistical analyzing to the real basketball junkies but I for one would recommend getting tickets to the Kansas game in Stillwater this Saturday. The college atmosphere is always fun, the arena is fantastic and tickets are cheap, cheap, cheap. You never know if you might be part of something special but for sure you’ll have a great time.

In my travels this past week I had the chance to meet with Janice Robertson Young, the director of the Bartlesville Chapter of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross is one of those organizations that tend to be overlooked until there is a crisis- then they are always there to help out. Their annual “Chili to the Rescue” luncheon is coming up on March 14^th and you can get carry out for a big party at the office or eat in at the Red Cross building on Keeler. I’ve been going for years and I can tell you from experience its good stuff.

I also recently had the opportunity to visit with Dawnette Brady about the British invasion that’s coming to town on March 29^th. The first British invasion took place in the 1960s when bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones took the states by storm. Now its about to happen again. I’ve seen this four piece Beatles tribute band several times in Branson and two years ago they almost caused a riot when they played at SUNFEST.

George Harrison’s sister put the band together and they look like the Beatles, sound like the Beatles and they make the crowds go nuts just like the Beatles. Dawnette is on the board of the Washington County SPCA and she is one of the organizers for this event which is a benefit for the SPCA. If you want to sit close you might think about getting those tickets now.

Another event I want to mention is a four part series called “Surviving the Elements: Land and Water Issues of the West” happening in Oklahoma City.  Every Friday in March from 9AM-2PM different experts will be speaking on topics such as land and pasture management, water usage and resource management and preservation. The series is hosted by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and it sure looks interesting to me. There is a $10 charge for each seminar and lunch is included. For all the details go to: www.survivingtheelements.org

Till next week when March Madness really sets in, I’ll see ya down the road….

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Like many others around the country, I’ve discovered that the event centers and clubs at the casinos are some of the best places around to hear live music.

                           Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back.  With a Little Help from My Friends is a song that was first performed by the Beatles and then became even more famous when Joe Cocker sang it at Woodstock. After that every garage band in the world began playing it. Saturday night at the Osage Event Center that must have been running through the heads of all available security officers as over 500 people went wild listening to Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

This band is a version of Creedence Clearwater Revival and includes original band members Stu Cook and Doug “Cosmo” Clifford and let me tell you from the first song the commotion started. Girls rushed the stage screaming wildly and a couple of them climbed on it, some people actually passed out and through it all the band played on driving the already worked up crowd into a frenzy  Suzie Q, Proud Mary, Down on The Corner, Who’ll Stop The Rain, the band played them all in a ninety minute set that was one of the best shows I’d seen for a long time.

The original Creedence Clearwater Revival band started in the 1960s in California and today they have sold 26 million albums, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is heard around the world on the radio. It’s a success story about four guys who gave a generation of young people music to dance to.

As for a report on the Osage Casino & Event Center, you’ve got to like this place even if you’re not a gambler. They bring these great musical groups to town, the food is fabulous and they put a lot of people to work. This show had started at 7 PM and when it was over I was hopped up for some more music. The night was still young and my next stop while in Tulsa would be to catch a band that plays the same sort of music and is coming to Bartlesville.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, the Creek Nation has recently begun a 335 million dollar expansion of their River Spirit Casino on south Riverside Drive and that was where I was heading. The Creeks say that Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Lounge is coming to town next year along with a 26 story tower with a 500 room hotel. They will be creating 800 new permanent jobs and have even told Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett that they’ll help pay for a new dam upriver so that water will always flow through Tulsa. If you haven’t been in that part of Tulsa lately its well worth the trip just to see the stuff that is going on. Restaurants have popped up all along the drive and construction is booming. I’m planning on coming back for a visit with the marketing people for both the Creeks and the Osage in the near future to discuss all their expansion projects and I’ll likely be bringing you an update.

Back to the reason I was going there. I was first introduced to the Fabulous Midlife Crisis Band back in 2000 when I was doing some volunteer work for the Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy was holding an annual fundraiser called Wild Brew in an airplane hangar at the Tulsa Airport and Midlife Crisis was the featured band. I could tell right away that these seven guys had some magic. They were playing 60s rock and roll with a sound so pure that you could close your eyes and picture the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and all the other great bands from that era.

On Saturday night they did it again as the happy crowd packed the dance floor and spilled out over the walkways at River Spirit Casino’s Mystic River Lounge bar. Like Creedence Clearwater Revisited, most the guys in Midlife Crisis are older but that sure doesn’t mean they can’t rock and roll. When I finally gave out around midnight the crowd was still dancing. I’ll have more on these fellows as their September 12^th show out at Woolaroc gets closer.

You may also be wondering about Youth & Family Services, the organization that’s benefiting from this dinner dance at Woolaroc. First off, after a little research I learned that they help a lot of kids throughout this area. They give temporary shelter to kids aged 7-17 and provide food and counseling services to these young people who are homeless and basically are lost in life. Many of these kids show up with nothing but the clothes on their backs. You wouldn’t think it could happen here but it does.

I’m about out of room but before I go I want to mention the R.K gun show which I also attended in Tulsa this past weekend. Their director told me he had rented over 500 vendor tables and there were lines of people waiting to get in throughout the day. While I was at the Tulsa fairgrounds where the show was held, I noticed a lot of improvements to the property. There are new exhibit buildings, animal barns and roads and there were events of some kind going on in all of them.

Till next week I’ll see ya down the road………………….

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Soon to be spending some time in an apartment in NYC, this is what I’ve learned so far about rentals there and in other major cities….

                           Down The Road with the Original Buffalo Dale

 Welcome back. As business will soon be taking me back to New York City I’ve been checking out apartment rentals and thought you might find rental rates there and around the country interesting. I’m also bringing you a profile of the new top cop in NYC who I find very interesting. I may try to interview him while I’m there.`

When I’m in the city time is always important so location is critical because long subway and bus rides are just too slow. Most of my business is in the Rockefeller Center and Times Square areas but there is a limit to one’s budget and I’m finding that rentals in these locations are just too expensive for me. As an example, one bedroom 1 bath units with mini kitchens in a nearby 58 story high rise building start at $3,495 a month. They are nice but I need something quite a bit cheaper. Rooms at hotels in Manhattan start at about $400 a night which might work out for a short stay but I need a better long term alternative. It turns out that there are a lot of rooms for rent in other people’s apartments and they are much more affordable. $800 a month will get you a 10’x 10’ room on the east side and for $1,200 a month you can also find a place that offers laundry privileges. You might be sharing a brownstone with several other working people or it could just be one other person in a two bedroom apartment.  Most of the locations I have looked at are just a short walk to the subway which is the most reasonable transportation I have found although as I said, travel on the subway can be time consuming if you have to change trains very often. Yes, Manhattan is an expensive place to hang your hat.

In Washington, D.C. you can rent a one bedroom luxury apartment just one block from the White House with views of the Washington Monument for $2,100 a month. In Santa Monica, California $1,500 a month gets you a unit just a block from the ocean right where Whitey Bulger was living when he was captured. Chicago’s Chestnut Tower offers studio apartments in a high rise with doormen and a pool for $1,500 a month and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is one of the most affordable places to rent, a one bedroom unit in a complex with a pool goes for $400 a month. I’m going to keep on looking for a place that’s available for those Tulsa prices until I get ready to leave but I’m not holding my breath.

With my recent visits to New York I’ve been asked several times about the crime rate and I’m happy to report that criminal activity has been steadily decreasing since 1994. Many people credit this decrease to the leadership of newly appointed NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton who is actually returning to the post he held in 1994 under former Mayor  Rudy Giuliani. Bratton is a top cop who has spent his career in law enforcement and has led several major departments including service as Superindent and Chief of Police in his home town of Boston where in 1993 he became the Police Commissioner. Bratton took over as Chief of Police in Los Angeles in 2002 and then just last month he was recruited for his current position by newly elected Mayor Bill DeBlasio. If you are a Tom Selleck fan, you probably know that Selleck plays a NYC Police Commissioner on the TV series Blue Bloods. As the top cop in a city with over 8 million residents which is also considered a target for overseas terrorists, Bill’s job ain’t for sissies.

Bratton’s accomplishments go beyond leading the nation’s sixth largest police force. In 1995 he established the Comp Stat real time police intelligence computer system which tracks crimes and is still in use today. This system is credited with helping to reduce the crime rate in New York City as well as other places. Bratton’s experiences also served as the inspiration for a television series called The District.

Vice Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Chief Executive Officer ofthe Bratton Group a security consulting firm with clients both in the U.S. and overseas; best selling author of “Turnaround”, the true story of how America’s top cop  reversed the crime epidemic and now once again Police Commissioner in the town I’m headed for. Well when people ask “do you feel safe in New York City?” You bet I do!

Till next week I’ll see ya down the road….

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Welcome back. With the legalization of the use of marijuana in Colorado this week, it seems like a good time to continue a story I promised you readers several years ago. I first became interested in this story after reading several front page accounts of the bust in a New Mexico paper eight years ago. Subsequent interviews with a wife, children and several former Bartlesville residents who were involved and later jailed have added more details to the story and my thanks goes to them. I hope you enjoy it. Please note that the names of the people in this story have been changed to spare their family members from embarrassment.

His days are spent staring at the concrete cell block walls that surround him, often counting each brick one by one. There is a wall on either side, one in the back and a large metal door in front of him. The cell is 8’ x 12’ with 12’ ceilings. It has been 8 years, going on 9, and with good behavior there’s a chance he’ll be out in 7 or 8 more. By then he’ll be in his late ‘70s. Although he tries not to, he thinks constantly of his ex-wife and their two children, wondering how everything had gone so terribly wrong. In the background he hears the sounds of the other inmates, many of whom are nut jobs and others who are hardened criminals with long rap sheets. Some are smart and quite cunning but none of them come from his background or have his education. How could this have happened to him?

The end of the road had come quickly. All of his business associates assumed he was successful based on his many legitimate investments including land in New Mexico, Arizona and New York along with homes in gated communities on both coasts. Fancy cars and motorcycles were hobbies supported by his aviation business and trucking company. He was also involved in buying and selling steel and had yards in several states. Yes, Jimmy MacDonald was certainly wealthy by anyone’s standards.

It was well known that he had been born in New York City to a banker’s daughter and a money manager father. Jimmy was their only child and was expected to take over management of the family fortune. He was driven to excel in both academics and sports both in private school and at the Ivy League college where he graduated with honors.  After graduation, he quickly became a successful businessman in his own right. Between his earnings and the trust funds his parents had established, by the time he was twenty-five Jimmy was worth well over 10 million dollars. He had safe deposit boxes full of cash and jewels, employees who catered to his every whim and plenty of women.

As a handsome member of New York society with wealthy and prominent parents, Jimmy’s success in life was virtually guaranteed. But that was in the 1960s, before his move to New Mexico. His parents were still alive then. After their deaths life changed for him. A business trip to Arizona led him to buy a house there which was followed by several land purchases. Soon he was spending more time in Arizona than in New York. He loved the high desert country and the change it provided from the hustle of the big city. He had lots of money, so much in fact that earning more money just seemed effortless.

Everything started with one of his new friends in Arizona who threw out the idea of Jim becoming the money man in a pot smuggling business. Nogales, Mexico just 70 miles from Tucson was perfect with all the open country side and as the two talked the plan just sounded like fun. The investment his friend needed was pocket change to Jim but he quickly found the thrill of being a smuggler was highly addictive.

This past life seemed closer late at night when the prison guards turned off the lights in his cell block. He could close his eyes and dream of the things he’d owned, the business deals he’d made with his father and the mother who had adored him. He could still feel the thrill of dropping off a dozen human mules loaded with weed. He had even made the 17 mile trip across the desert himself a few times, traveling at night to the meeting spot where waiting cars would take the tired men and their contraband to safe houses to rest before the return trip. Over the course of 15 years there was no telling just how many tons of pot had been moved across the border by his crew of planes, semi trucks and human smugglers. If by chance a group would get caught, Jim’s lawyers would usually get them released within a day or two.

His lawyers had hoped that he would get out of jail following an appeal but after all these years Jim realized that wasn’t likely. At the time of his arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s office had been conducting a secret two year investigation of his activities, even infiltrating his organization with a mole. On top of that when twenty one of his top associates were all arrested on the same day, several of them immediately began cooperating with investigators. They had revealed a huge multi state operation, extending from coast to coast. The government had confiscated all of property, including his planes, but keeping his eyes closed he could remember his favorite one. He had gotten his pilot’s license at a young age and had always liked this particular plane..

The Beechcraft King Air C-90 turbo prop was fast and Jim loved fast things. Years before he had asked his lawyer to use money from his trust fund to store and maintain the plane but he didn’t know if that was being done. He had owned other planes that were used for hauling weed across the border but the King Air had been the best. Now it was probably in government storage somewhere waiting for auction. Even though the U.S. Attorney had seized  over 49 million dollars in cash and assets they had not been able to touch his family money. Jim is still worth millions although it doesn’t do him much good in his present situation.

A good life filled with good restaurants, high dollar wines and nice soft beds. He is at peace as the jailer hits the lights to wake everyone for breakfast and his day starts just like the day before, and the day before that.

Till next week I’ll see ya down the road……………….

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