Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Wataru Misaka, first Asian American to play in the NBA

Wataru Misaka, born December 21, 1923 in Ogden, Utah, grew up poor and in a bad area of the city, but graduated from Ogden High School.  He led the basketball team to a state championship title in 1940, and a regional title in 1941. 

This was at a time when Japanese Americans were being forced into internment camps.  He attended Weber College and helped lead its basketball team to two championships and was named Most Valuable Player of 1942. 

He enrolled at the University of Utah and played during their 1943-1944 season.  He was drafted to serve in WWII and rose to the rank of staff sergeant.  He returned after two years and rejoined the team at the University of Utah. 

He was selected by the New York Knicks in the 1947 Basketball Association of American and played in three games and scored seven points in the 1947-1948 season.  He was cut from the team mid-season.  

He completed a degree in engineering from Utah.

He passed away in November 2019 in Salt Lake City.  

OSIRIS-REx returns to Earth with samples from asteroid Bennu

NASA's first asteroid retrieval mission has been successfully completed with the sample return capsule from OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security - Regolith Explorer), which landed in the Utah desert near Salt Lake City yesterday.

The craft returned about 250 g of asteroid material, collected from asteroid Bennu in October 2020.  The capsule and its contents have been secured in a cleanroom facility, awaiting analysis.  Although a small amount, it will provide material for years of research to come.

After releasing its sample capsule, OSIRIS-REx became OSIRIS-APEX (APophis Explorer) and will go on a mission to observe 99942 Apophis, a near-Earth asteroid and potentially dangerous object in April 2029, when the asteroid makes a very close pass to Earth on the 13th.

"Muscle Bound" is now available at Purple Sword Publishing!

Muscle Bound, the fourth novel in my Psionic Corps series is now available at Purple Sword Publishing!
 

Blurb:

Pryce Nolton, a good friend of Josh Chambers, Utah's Psionic Officer, is found holding a bloody knife next to three bodies, all of them stabbed to death. Pryce has no memory of the crime, and even Josh's powers cannot determine if he did or did not commit triple-homicide.

Salt Lake City police are convinced they have the right man and do not buy into the memory-loss excuse. They think Pryce experienced a roid rage incident and stabbed his friends to death.

Josh is not convinced that Pryce could murder his friends in cold blood, but all the evidence points to Pryce's guilt.

While Josh is dealing with the investigation, his efforts are impeded by a series of drug thefts from hospital pharmacies.

Josh must find out what happened that deadly evening or else his friend might be sentenced to death.

Happy birthday, astronaut and senator Jake Garn!

Edwin "Jake" Garn, born October 12, 1932 in Richfield, Utah, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) as payload specialist in April 1985.  

Garn asked to fly on the shuttle since he was head of the Senate appropriations committee that dealt with NASA.  He was a US Senator for Utah from December 1974 to January 1993.

Celebrating Pride Month: Jackie Biskupski, first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City

Jackie Biskupski is the first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, a Democratic politician, and the second female mayor of the city.  She served from 2016-2020.  was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1999-2011.  She lives in Salt Lake City with her wife Betty Iverson and their sons, Archie and Jack.

She did not seek a second term, citing a "serious and complex family situation".

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Don Lind!

Don Lind, born May 18, 1930 in Midvale, Utah, went into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger (STS-51-B) as mission specialist in April-May 1985.  One of the mission's objectives was the deployment of the Northern Utah Satellite (NUSAT).

He spent 7 days in space.

"Muscle Bound: A Psionic Corps mystery" is now available on Amazon!

My latest entry in my Psionic Corps mystery series, Muscle Bound, is now available on Amazon.com!

Blurb:

A triple homicide in a suburb of Salt Lake City seems to be an open-and-shut case, but the suspect is a close friend of Utah Psionic Officer Joshua Chambers. Although it appears obvious that personal trainer Pryce Nolton murdered three people in a fit of 'roid rage, Josh realizes not all is as it seems. Using his paranormal abilities, Josh finds discrepancies in the case against Pryce, but are they enough to exonerate his friend and keep him from the death penalty?

Discovery (STS-51-D) launched 1985

STS-51-D crew

Front row (L-R): Karol Bobko, Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey Hoffman

Last row (L-R): David Griggs, Charles Walker, Edwin Garn

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-D), launched April 12, 1985, was the fourth flight of Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, David Griggs, Jeffrey Hoffman, Charles Walker, and Senator Edwin Garn of Utah.

Hoffman and Griggs conducted an EVA on April 16 for just over 3 hours.  Griggs also performed tricks with a yo-yo to see how "Toys in Space" reacted to microgravity.  He successfully comppleted the flying saucer and around-the-moon, but the sleeper trick did not work without normal gravity.

The crew returned to Earth April 19 and a tire blew out upon landing, causing extensive damage to the brakes.

Stardust Sample Return Capsule lands 2006

The Sample Return Capsule from the Stardust space probe on January 15, 2006 and landed safely in Utah.  Stardust had made a flyby of the comet Wild 2 and taken samples of dust from the coma of the comet.

Among the many compounds discovered was glycine, an amino acid that scientists identify as a fundamental chemical building blocks of life.  Scientists at the University of Arizona confirmed the presence of liquid water in Wild 2.

Trump cancels protection for endangered wildlife and national parks

In the past few days, The Donald and his administration have gone ape-shit, hell-bent on destroying our natural resources, flora and fauna.  First, The Donald and the U.S. Forest Service are considering a proposal to allow Arch Coal, the country's second largest coal producer to mine 1700 acres of teh Gunnison National Forest in Colorado, pristine wilderness, for coal!  Environmental groups are already taking action to the destruction of public lands for the oil and gas industry.

If that wasn't enough, U.S. Dept of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke took the first official step yesterday to strip Utah's Bears Ears National Monument of its federal protection.  When President Obama first made Bears Ears a national monument, Utah Republicans were furious.  Why?  Because think of all the mining and fossil fuel drilling that can be done there!  The Donald does not care about the indigenous people who consider that land sacred to their tribes.  He wants their land so he can make more money.  

Also yesterday (The Donald was a busy boy Monday!), his administration threw out a new rule in place since 2016 proposed by the Pacific Fisher Management Council that sought to limit the numbers of endangered whales and sea turtles getting caught in fishing nets off the West Coast.  The rule applied to endangered fin, humpback and sperm whales, short-fin pilots whales, bottlenose dolphins, leatherback sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, olife-ridley sea turtles and green sea turtles.

Why, The Donald?  What have you against endangered species?

https://www.nrdc.org/trump-watch/trumps-epa-stages-sham-public-hearings-cover-roll-back-safeguards
https://www.nrdc.org/trump-watch/zinke-moves-shrink-and-strip-protection-bears-ears-national-monument?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=tweet&utm_content=socialmedia
https://www.nrdc.org/trump-watch/trump-administration-gunning-gunnison-national-forest?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=tweet&utm_content=socialmedia