Sierra Countis of Chico News & Review interviews Jack Mallory, the Navy dentist who in 1946 made a new set of dentures for General Hideki Tojo, the notorious Japanese prime minister who ordered the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Mallory made the imprisoned general a nice set of upper dentures, with the phrase "Remember Pearl Harbor" etched upon them in Morse Code. Mallory's superior officer got wind of the prank and said, "That's funny as hell, but we could get our asses kicked for doing it."
Our City Weekly of Clarksville, Tenn., twice an applicant for AAN membership, has fallen victim to the "War on Terrorism," which has emptied this military town of a third of its population, says Publisher Jan Massey. In its seven-year history, Our City survived a direct hit by an F-4 tornado, embezzlement by an employee, and aggressive competition from a Gannett-owned daily newspaper. Its last issue was Aug. 28.
John Anderson's Amtrak odyssey started with a dream of seeing America "from the rolling level of a train car, solidly planted on earth," he writes in Miami New Times. The Sunset Limited Orlando to Los Angeles dream unravels in packed train stations, derailments, mysterious delays, moving backward, prefab muffins, broken air conditioning and finally a two-day forced layover in San Antonio with Julie the computer.
Portland's "club-crawl" music festival rebounded this year from 2001, when terrorism dampened national spirits, The Oregonian reports. Richard Meeker, publisher of Willamette Week, MusicfestNW's main sponsor, estimates that attendance and revenue rose 20 percent to 25 percent. "I think it's a great thing that we've been able to grow this event this much, even in this economy," Meeker tells the daily. The bulk of the proceeds go to First Octave, a non-profit music education program.
