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James Dean dies in car accident

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At 5:45 PM on this day in 1955, 24-year-old actor James Dean is killed in Cholame, California, when the Porsche he is driving hits a Ford Tudor sedan at an intersection. The driver of the other car, 23-year-old California Polytechnic State University student Donald Turnupseed, was dazed but mostly uninjured; Dean’s passenger, German Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich was badly injured but survived. Only one of Dean’s movies, “East of Eden,” had been released at the time of his death (“Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant” opened shortly afterward), but he was already on his way to superstardom–and the crash made him a legend.

James Dean loved racing cars, and in fact he and his brand-new, $7000 Porsche Spyder convertible were on their way to a race in Salinas, 90 miles south of San Francisco. Witnesses maintained that Dean hadn’t been speeding at the time of the accident–in fact, Turnupseed had made a left turn right into the Spyder’s path–but some people point out that he must have been driving awfully fast: He’d gotten a speeding ticket in Bakersfield, 150 miles from the crash site, at 3:30 p.m. and then had stopped at a diner for a Coke, which meant that he’d covered quite a distance in a relatively short period of time. Still, the gathering twilight and the glare from the setting sun would have made it impossible for Turnupseed to see the Porsche coming no matter how fast it was going.

Rumor has it that Dean’s car, which he’d nicknamed the Little Bastard, was cursed. After the accident, the car rolled off the back of a truck and crushed the legs of a mechanic standing nearby. Later, after a used-car dealer sold its parts to buyers all over the country, the strange incidents multiplied: The car’s engine, transmission and tires were all transplanted into cars that were subsequently involved in deadly crashes, and a truck carrying the Spyder’s chassis to a highway-safety exhibition skidded off the road, killing its driver. The remains of the car vanished from the scene of that accident and haven’t been seen since.

Wütherich, whose feelings of guilt after the car accident never abated, tried to commit suicide twice during the 1960s–and in 1967, he stabbed his wife 14 times with a kitchen knife in a failed murder/suicide–and he died in a drunk-driving accident in 1981. Turnupseed died of lung cancer in 1981.

– History.com Staff

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Camp Fire Red Ember has stunning debut

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This summer the plant trials have been riotous in their displays of colors in the recipe section.
One that caught my eye this year was Merry Go Round which was full of colors from the hot side of the color wheel. One featured plant was Campfire Red Ember.
Red Ember is one of the three in the Campfire series. Campfire Marshmallow, Campfire Flame and Campfire Red Ember. They are known botanically as Bidens and are native to Mexico and the Southwest.

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Make the pan bigger, not the grocery bill

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I don’t think any of us need the government to tell us groceries are expensive. We know it when we stand in the meat aisle and lower our standards real fast from 90% lean to 80% lean hamburger meat.
Still, the numbers are interesting.
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, grocery prices in July were 2.7% higher than they were a year ago. Beef is where things really hurt. Beef prices were up 9.4% from last July, and uncooked ground beef was up 9%.
Chicken, on the other hand, was actually down 2.7% over the same period, which makes it one of the better bargains in the meat case right now.
The BLS average-price survey puts a pound of ground chuck at $6.85 in July. Two years ago, in July 2024, that same national average was $5.47.
So maybe it is time to resurrect something our mothers and grandmothers understood very well.

Read the full On the Table feature in the Sept. 17 Bowie News.

Big-Pan Chicken Spaghetti

A pound of diced chicken can disappear beautifully through an entire pan of pasta.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless chicken, diced
  • 12 ounces spaghetti
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can Rotel-style tomatoes
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 cups shredded cheese, divided
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper

Cook spaghetti just until tender and drain.

Meanwhile, sauté diced chicken and onion until chicken is cooked through.

Mix spaghetti, chicken, soups, tomatoes, broth, garlic powder and 1 cup cheese. Spread into a greased 13×9 pan.

Top with remaining cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Have half a bag of frozen peas, broccoli or mixed vegetables lingering in the freezer? Throw them in. This is a forgiving recipe.

Serves 8 to 10.

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Sunglow brightens the landscape and containers

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Perfect Score, Director’s Select, Best of the Best and Leader of the Pack are just a few of the awards for Superlophus. I’m also reasonably sure you are thinking: What is a Superlophus?
Superlophus Sunglow is the official name botanically known as an Oenothera commonly called Texas Primrose. That’s right: This golden yellow flower that is a non-stop bloomer and tough-as-nails is a native selection and winner of 15 awards from Canada to Mississippi.

Read the full Garden Guy feature in the Thursday Bowie News.

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