Bulletin reporter Lily Raff provides answers to life’s nagging questions. Curious about something? Submit questions – along with your name and residence – to lraff@bendbulletin.com or The Bulletin, Lily Raff, P.O. Box 6020, Bend, OR 97708-6020.

What is the genesis of ”market” in so many street names in the area? For example, did the Butler family hold a weekly market, so the road that went to their home became known as Butler Market Road?

– Kreg Lindberg, Bend

In 1921, Bend’s first-ever pavement hit five streets: Delaware Avenue, Congress Street, State Street, Bond Street and Wall Street.

”Everything else was just ruts and dirt,” said Pat Kliewer, an associate planner for Bend’s Community Development Department. ”Even (U.S. Highway) 97 – it was a big deal when it got graveled in the 1930s.”

Once people felt the smooth comfort of pavement, they wanted it everywhere. But how to pay for it?

To help, the state Legislature had passed the State Market Road Act, which provided state funds for the construction of a county road system connecting agricultural areas to commercial centers.

Beginning in 1920, county governments prioritized which roads would receive state funding for improvements like grading, gravel and pavement.

Deschutes County started by designating seven ”market” – or top priority – roads. By the late 1930s, the county had more than 51 paved routes, which were still collectively called market roads.

In many cases, the market designation was incorporated into the road’s name. The street called Reed Road, for example, became Reed Market Road.

Kliewer said she is asked about the origins of Bend’s market streets about once a month.

”It is a surprise when people realize that it’s the same old, same old – it’s all about prioritizing how to spend our public dollars,” she said.

Who invented those little plastic things on the ends of shoelaces? I’ll bet They’re making a fortune. – Jude Livaudais, Bend

The tips of shoelaces, called ”aglets,” are probably older than you think. They have been used since medieval times to keep the ends of strings from fraying and to ease the threading of strings through holes.

Because aglets have been around for so long, no one can patent them, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A patent – or the property right to an invention – can only be issued for a new idea.

Several people have, however, patented improvements to the humble aglet. Dana Dolan, an artist and inventor in East Hampton, N.Y., is one example.

She invented aglets made from a dense foam that can be molded into three-dimensional shapes, like Batman or a com-pany logo. The aglets are bound in a piece of plastic so they can fit through the holes in a shoe. Once the shoe is laced, the plastic binding is removed and the fancy shape pops out.

”Shoelaces are something that every kid with sneakers has, and so I thought, you know, what a cool way to decorate sneakers,” she said.

Alas, Dolan’s novelty aglets were never produced, so the 59-year-old said she hasn’t profited from them.

But at one point in history, aglets were considered more valuable than gold. Indigenous Cubans once wore the tiny metal trinkets as jewelry.

Marcos Martinon-Torres is an archaeologist at the University College London who recently studied some 15th century brass aglets found in a cemetery in Cuba.

Archaeologists find lots of aglets, Martinon-Torres said, but they don’t always recognize them because of their simple shape. The aglets found in Cuba, for example, were ”just some thin tubes,” he wrote in an e-mail.

The Cuban aglets were likely brought over from Europe by Columbus and subsequent explorers, according to Martinon-Torres’ research, which is published in this month’s Journal of Archaeological Science.

European explorers couldn’t have predicted the Cubans’ affinity for the smell and iridescence of brass, Martinon-Torres said. So when they discovered a population eager to trade gold for it, they scrounged up whatever they could find – including the cheap, plentiful tags on their clothes and laces.

Is it true that you can always reach 911 from a cell phone, even in places where you don’t have any service?

– K-Jay Vanderburg, Bend

No. But maybe you’re thinking of a new technology that cell phone companies and 911 call centers across the country are adopting. Soon, emergency operators will be able to automatically receive the phone number and location of a wireless 911 call.

So if a person needs help and is unsure of his or her exact location, emergency responders can still help.

That technology is just coming online in Central Oregon, said Rick Silbaugh, public safety systems coordinator for Deschutes County 911.

New cell phones have a built in satellite navigation capability called a Global Positioning System. So when a person calls 911, the cell phone tower that transmits the phone call can also detect and transmit the phone’s location. To find out if your cell phone is equipped with GPS, check your owner’s manual or call your cell phone carrier.

Deschutes County’s 911 call center was upgraded for this technology in May. Cell phone companies are now making necessary adjustments to their cell towers.

To call 911, a working cellular phone does not, however, need a subscription with a carrier. Cell phone carriers are companies like Sprint, Unicel and T-Mobile.

If you let your cell phone agreement lapse, for example, you won’t be allowed to call your pals. But if you have battery power and a signal, you can still connect to a 911 operator.

It’s important to remember that none of this technology works if you’re out of the range of a cell phone tower. In other words, 911 doesn’t have its own special receivers that reach inside remote caves and wilderness areas.

”If you’re outside of cell service, you’re outside of cell service,” Silbaugh said. ”If you have no connectivity through your phone, you have no connectivity to 911. It’s no different from any other call in that way.”