Fireworks blast kills 21 A chain-reaction explosion ripped through the Aerlex Corporation fireworks factory southeast of Hallett on June 25, 1985. The blast killed 21 people, injured five, and left the eight-building complex in Pawnee County in ruins. The plant had contained several thousand pounds of flash powder, a highly volatile substance used in the manufacture of fireworks.
Among the dead was Harold Dean Harper, 18, stepson of Aerlex owner Alan Johnson, who was injured in the blast. Harper was a popular athlete at Cleveland High School and his funeral was attended by more than 500 mourners.
Gov. George Nigh, Lt. Gov. Spencer Bernard and other state officials toured the site of the explosion. “It’s a tragedy,” Nigh said. “That’s the only word to describe it.”
The cause of the blast was ruled accidental. It occurred as Harper and coworker Robert Osburn, 20, were unloading cans of marble-size explosives from a pickup, Pawnee County Sheriff Leroy Bryant said. It is believed that the two workers allowed the metal cans to scrape along the bottom of the truck, causing enough friction to ignite some loose flash power in the truck bed.
Liquor-by-the-drink arrives
Oklahoma’s long-awaited liquor-by-the-drink law cleared both houses of the Legislature on March 13, 1985, following a day of tough lobbying by Gov. George Nigh and members of the House leadership team. The House approval was 56-41 and the Senate passed the measure 28-15. The law permits bottle clubs in dry counties. Counties would be allowed to vote on whether to be “dry” or “wet.” The counties also would decide whether to allow liquor-by-the-drink establishments to operate on Sundays, election days during polling hours and certain holidays.
An emergency clause also passed that prevented anti-liquor forces in the state to circulate initiative petitions to stop the bill from becoming law. Nigh signed the bill into law the next day, March 14.
The liquor bill prompted both praise and criticism. While some legislators argued that the bill provided the state with an enforceable liquor law, others said the bill was counter to what voters approved in September, 1984. Reps. Ross Duckett and Jim Hamilton said when voters approved a countywide option on liquor-by-the-drink, they thought they were going to get to vote on whether to have liquor sales in their county and did not believe that bottle clubs would be allowed in dry counties.
Guards hurt, hostages taken in prison riot
At least three guards were stabbed and seven others taken hostage Dec. 17, 1985, when a riot erupted inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester. The hostages included a female.
More than 100 inmates were believed involved in the rioting that ended after a 17-hour standoff between the inmates and prison officials. None of the hostages were harmed. The most seriously wounded guard, Lt. Eddie Morgan, was stabbed six times. Guards Charlie Parker and Tommy Braxton were less seriously injured.
The inmates, led by James Clayton and Timothy Weinmeister, had a list of complaints and demands, including that negotiations be carried live by radio stations. The demand was met, leading to an hour-long recitation of inmate grievances ranging from inadequate job opportunites to dissatisfaction with a spaghetti dinner. High on the list of their demands was a request for a television satellite dish. The warden assured the inmates that a satellite dish had been ordered two weeks prior to the riot. The inmates held to their promise to release some of the hostages, then released the remainder midway through the talks.
The riot cost $376,000 in damage and had been planned for several weeks, it was later learned. The inmates had intended to draw state and national attention to their grievances.
String of bank closures ends Bank failures that dated back to 1982 continued, with the 13th bank failure in Oklahoma. The failures began with the closure of Penn Square Bank in Oklahoma City in July 1982 and ended this year with the closing of Bank of Newcastle on May 16, the day federal regulators declared the $29 million bank insolvent. The bank was to be reopened under the management of Allied Oklahoma Bank of Oklahoma City. Imprudent lending was cited as the reason for the failure.
Federal regulators said in November that the highest number of bank failures in the country were in Oklahoma and Kansas, followed by Texas, Nebraska and Iowa. However, Paul Heafy, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in Oklahoma City said that it was not fair to label the entire Oklahoma banking industry as problem-ridden. Besides Banks of Newcastle, other banks that closed in 1985 were First National Bank, Marlow on Jan. 24, Farmers National Bank, Erick on Feb. 7, and Bank of Hunter on April 4.
The FDIC in Washington said its figures showed nine bank closings each in Nebraska, Texas and Iowa. Missouri had five and Arkansas had one. Nationwide, 95 banks closed in 1985.
