Down in the Gulf of Mexico about six months earlier, an explosion and fire had resulted in oil wells “blowing wild,” causing the worst offshore oil spill up to that time. About 35,000 gallons of oil per day had spewed into the Gulf before the final well was capped seven weeks later. Now, in late August of 1970, the U.S. District Court in New Orleans imposed a $1 million fine on the Chevron Oil Company. Interior Secretary Walter J. Hickel said he hoped that the judgment would “serve as an example that we must be responsible to the public.” Chevron had originally been charged with failing to install “storm chokes” in its wells. This safety device was designed to shut off the oil flow if the platform was damaged.

Broken Arrow School was reported to have “burst its straining seams” at the beginning of the school year. Sixty-three fifth and sixth graders were having their classes in South Junior High classrooms. They were having no interaction with the junior high students, and they were going back to Broken Arrow for meals and recess. Broken Arrow had opened in 1968 and had not been expected to reach capacity for three to four years, but a surprising rate of growth in the residential area south of Lawrence had caused the school to reach its maximum capacity almost immediately after opening.