BatesLine

There's a great letter in today's Whirled from someone named L. D. Young who is tired of the whiny expressions of boredom emanating from some young professional types:

At a recent meeting on the proposed river development plan, I was irritated by comments from the Young Tulsa Professionals that, "There's nothing to do in Tulsa."

Are they in the same Tulsa area as me? A town that offers the breadth of cultural and social opportunities as Tulsa can hardly be termed "nothing to do." Let me direct their short attention spans to a few things to do.

The writer goes on to list museums, festivals, theater groups, art galleries, nightclubs, live music venues, coffeehouses, and places to see and be seen and then concludes:

Filling the river bed with water will just be another short-term fix for the mini-me entitlement generation who visualize life as an episode of "Sex in the City." Sorry, but that is not the real world. Quit your whining and find something to do.

The funny thing is that none of what's proposed in the river tax plan is going to produce the kind of excitement that these TYpros types say they're after.

Any parent knows that you can't cure kid boredom with more stuff. If you cave in when they complain of boredom and give them something new, in less than a day they'll be bored once more. The better path is to reintroduce them to something cool that they've forgotten or overlooked.

And that's what the grownups ought to be doing in this situation. The Tulsa Metro Chamber ought to be introducing these discontented youngsters to all the opportunities for fun around town, all the excitement being generated by private enterprise, aka "commerce," a word that used to be in that organization's name.

Instead, those with a vested interest in relieving taxpayers of their money are cynically exploiting the ennui of these young adults by telling them that it's not their fault that they're bored. No, Tulsa voters are the scapegoats, and if only those selfish naysayers would pay higher taxes, Tulsa would be transformed into a young single adults' paradise. Just like Surf City there'd be "two girls for every boy," but also vice versa!

Four years ago we listened to the tax proponents tell us how lousy Tulsa was -- stagnant, boring, dying. They told us if we gave them half a billion dollars they'd make it all better. Voters bought what they were selling. So how can they keep claiming that Tulsa is stagnant, boring, dying? Isn't that an admission that the package they sold us in 2003 -- Vision 2025 -- didn't work as promised? Or wasn't even what we needed?

A few months ago I linked to this wonderful testimonial to the free and inexpensive fun that Tulsa offers, and how you can find out about it in the events pages of Urban Tulsa Weekly. Tasha Does Tulsa has the same theme.

It would be nice if what was once known as the Chamber of Commerce and their affiliated young professional group (TYpros) would do more to talk up Tulsa instead of running it down.

Tiger Woods has shot a 63 in today's second round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club. He just missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole which looped around the rim and back out toward him. Had he made the putt, that would have been the lowest round ever in major championship history.

His seven under par gives him a combined 6 under after two rounds and puts him in first place, two strokes ahead of Scott Verplank.

You can see the complete PGA Championship leaderboard here.

UPDATE: John Daly's training regimen of casino slots, cigarettes, and Diet Coke didn't serve him as well today. (Reminds me of "Decathlon Champion" John Belushi's commercial for Little Chocolate Donuts.) He shot 3 over par, putting him at par after two rounds, dropping him from 2nd place to a seven-way tie for 8th place.

Today MSNBC had a very thorough front-page report on its website about Tulsa and illegal immigration. The story, "Tulsa in Turmoil: The Illegal Immigration Wreck," originated with an email from Rogers State University political science professor Gary Rutledge, an east Tulsa resident who wrote msnbc.com about a traffic accident involving an apparent illegal immigrant and about the massive changes in his part of town:

For Rutledge, a car accident personalized the issue. He and his wife were waiting in their pickup at a traffic light one evening when they were hit from behind by a vehicle traveling about 30 miles an hour. They were not badly hurt, only stunned.

More shocking, though, was what they heard from the police officer who responded to the accident: The other driver, a young Hispanic man, did not speak English, did not have a driver’s license or insurance. The officer suspected the man was an illegal immigrant, Rutledge said, but he did not check his immigration status because such inquiries weren’t allowed in misdemeanor cases.

Before taking the other driver to jail, Rutledge said, the officer told him he should just go home and forget about it.

“He said, ‘We do a lot of this kind of thing and we can tell you that there's not much to be done about it,’” Rutledge recalled.

It’s not clear what happened to the suspect after that. Tulsa police were not able to locate an accident report on the incident.

But officers said that the maximum penalty the man could have faced for driving without a license, a misdemeanor, would be 30 days in jail. Driving without insurance is only a ticketable offense.

Rutledge said he was floored by the experience. Not only would his own insurance company have to absorb the cost for repairing his truck, but the other driver was soon going to be back on the streets.

“It was … a feeling of helplessness,” he said. “There's no recourse, there's nothing to do.”

The MSNBC.com report also covers the passage of HB 1804, the application by the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office to participate in the Federal "287(g)" program allowing local law enforcement agencies to place immigration detainers on suspected illegals, the efforts of U. S. Rep. John Sullivan to boost immigration enforcement in Tulsa, and the City Council's resolution demanding immigration status checks on those arrested by Tulsa Police officers:

Sullivan, among the Republicans strongly opposed to President Bush’s immigration reform bill as too lenient, also was behind the city’s move to crack down on illegal immigrants.

At his urging, Tulsa’s City Council passed a resolution in May that requires police officers to determine immigration status of “all suspected illegal aliens'' encountered in the course of their regular duties — a significant hardening of the current policy under which only those arrested on felony charges are checked.

The police chief is opposed to the measure, as is Tulsa’s Democratic Mayor Kathy Taylor, who is engaged in a bitter political battle with Sullivan.

Sullivan charges that Tulsa has become a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants under Taylor’s watch because they are usually not reported to the federal immigration officials when they commit minor crimes.

He also argues that by getting police involved in reporting immigration violations, the city will be able to demonstrate the need for an ICE office in Tulsa....

Taylor has refused to sign the council’s resolution and instead issued a “policy clarification” stating that police need only ask about immigration status for felony cases or misdemeanors that result in a trip to jail.

By the way, the Sheriff's Office learned today that they have been accepted into the 287(g) program. Deputies and detention officers will be undergoing training beginning at the end of August. The program will be fully in place by the end of September.

Toward the end of the story, there was this about the Cinco de Mayo protests:

Already, when some 1,500 mostly Hispanic demonstrators marched in East Tulsa on May 5 to protest HB 1804, they encountered an unexpected counterdemonstration, including members of Outraged Patriots and the Tulsa Minuteman Project, one of four organizations in Oklahoma listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “nativist extremist" organizations that target immigrants with their anger, not just immigration policy.

Police were watching the march and counterdemonstration and managed to keep the two sides apart. Only epithets and few eggs were hurled.

The counterdemonstration was widely publicized, announced on radio, and press-released to local media. It was scheduled to begin four hours before and end one hour before the start of the the pro-illegal-immigration demonstration. This is the first I have heard about eggs being thrown by either side.

I've met several members of the Tulsa Minuteman Project and have been to one of their meetings. I haven't seen or heard anything nativist, anti-legal-immigrant, or anti-Hispanic. The only anger I heard -- very mild anger at that -- was directed at the public officials who refuse to enforce immigration laws.

For the second year in a row, the Memorial Veterans Association is holding an Independence Day barbecue for U. S. military veterans. Here is the invitation with all the details.

INVITATION

From: WW II veteran Bob Powell, President of Memorial Veterans Association

WHO: All Tulsa area veterans -- any service, any war -- ESPECIALLY Iraq, Afghanistan or other current conflict.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 4th, 10:00 AM

WHAT: Free Independence Day BARBECUE LUNCH. Menu: Choice of five (5) meats, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, rolls -- and Ice-Cold LEMONADE.

NO HARD LIQUOR, DRUGS, OR ROUGH STUFF. TPD will be present - EMSA will be there.

WHY: "WELCOME HOME" to veterans who have returned, or are scheduled to return from the Middle East conflicts. Tulsa's way to say "THANK YOU" for your Service -- to SALUTE YOU for a "JOB WELL DONE!"

WHERE: Chandler Park, 6500 West 21st Street, Shelter Area #2, west end.

HOW: Drive west on W. 21st Street to Avery Drive, turn short at the hillside sign: "CHANDLER PARK", drive up the steep hill and proceed to the gate -- just follow the signs.

Assembly starts at 1000 hours -- There will be a program with flag detail, firing squad and speaker -- entertainment -- then lunch is served at 1100 hours.

THIS IS A PICNIC, Troops -- so, bring your own chairs, plenty of nice green grass to sit on.

HANDICAPPED? Boy Scouts Troop #1 and #19 will be there to assist you.

As last year, Councilor John Eagleton and his barbecue team will be up all night tending the smoker. If you're a veteran and will be in town on July 4, you'll want to be here -- Eagleton Bros. Barbecue is a special treat.

Oops. KOTV's satellite truck tripped up its newscopter, while trying to capture dramatic footage for a promo:

The News On 6 helicopter, SKYNEWS 6, is damaged during an accident at Sand Springs' Pogue airport. Luckily, both of our colleagues onboard the aircraft walked away from the accident. The News On 6’s Ashli Sims reports both men are now home recuperating.

Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances scrambled to the scene of the accident at Sand Springs' Pogue Airport Wednesday afternoon. Our crew had been shooting video of SKYNEWS 6 when it went down, with two employees on board....

SKYNEWS 6 was flying low over our satellite truck and clipped the satellite dish. The helicopter went down about 100 yards away, breaking into several pieces.

News on 6 was first on the scene, but not first with live helicopter footage:

Ranger 8 was over the scene shortly after it happened and you could see the chopper in three large pieces on the ground.

We're told the Bell 206B owned by KOTV owner Griffin Capital Corp. crashed on the south end of the runway. The helicopter was being used during a promotional shoot when the rotors struck the dish of the KOTV satellite truck, sending the helicopter spinning out of control and crashing to the ground.

Next time, use the optical zoom, maybe.

(Via Tulsa Now Forum.)

The Altarnet Film Society presents a monthly program of independent short-subject films at Agora coffee house in the Fontana Center at 51st & Memorial here in Tulsa. (Agora is northeast of the Center Fountain.) The films are presented in an environment that encourages discussion and interaction.

Here are the details and synopses of the films to be presented this Saturday night, June 23, starting at 7:30 p.m.:

"Wentworth," drama, 16:41, directed by R. Stephen Suettinger: How do you choose between the girl of your dreams and the girl in your dreams?

"She," experimental, 1:00, directed by Jimmy Calhoun: A 60 second monologue that tells how one man's love for a woman affects his spiritual journey.

"20 Minutes," drama, 20:00, directed by Monica Huntington. "Twenty Minutes" is an eternal love story with a super-natural twist. "Sometimes forever is just a few minutes."

"Mutual Love Life," comedy, 10:49, directed by Robert Peters. If only we could have breakup insurance that would help us recover from a crushed heart, we would have no fear of jumping into love.

Just another example of the opportunities Tulsa offers for intelligent and fun interaction.

I'm working on my column (early deadline this week) at one of my favorite places to work, the Coffee House on Cherry Street, listening to folk singer Terry Aziere. Terry has a very pleasant voice and guitar style, and although my writing doesn't allow me to give him my full attention, his clever lyrics catch my ear from time to time. It's nice to have coffee house music that you can choose to listen actively to or put in the background -- not so loud that it interferes with conversations. Terry is hear each Wednesday at noon and the 2nd and 4th Tuesday evenings.

Speaking of which, Natasha Ball recently wrote a nice tribute to Coffee House on Cherry Street and its "completely awesome" owner, Cheri Asher. (She is, you know.) Tasha links to a Journal Record story about what was involved in setting up the store and getting it ready to open.

MORE: Pilgrim Ramblings salutes CHCS:

Before I get into today’s material, I would just like to plug a special place here in Tulsa. Today, I am writing from The Coffee House on Cherry Street, probably my favorite place to hang out and write. There is always a great feel to the place, people conversing about whatever, using wi-fi, drinking their vanilla bullsh**s (as Larry David describes it). It’s a wonderful environment or aspiring writers, and for those who have writer’s block! I am currently eating the best cheesecake I have had in my life!

Mark your calendars. There are a couple of wonderful opportunities to hear beautiful music performed by some very talented young Tulsans.

This coming Thursday, May 24, at 6 p.m., is the spring concert for the Barthelmes Conservatory Music School. Students are admitted to the music school based on musical aptitude, and they receive twice-weekly one-on-one lessons on an instrument and attend twice-weekly classes in music theory. It is a very rigorous program, and this Thursday night is an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the students' hard work, as selected students each play a short classical piece. The concert is in the Great Hall on the fourth floor of the Bernsen Center, northwest of 8th and Boston in downtown Tulsa.

Then next week, on Friday, June 1, and Saturday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m., the Tulsa Boy Singers will present their spring concert of sacred choral music at Trinity Episcopal Church, 5th and Cincinnati in downtown Tulsa. The concert is entitled "Journey through the Ages." The concert will feature many different styles of music including English Choral Music, spirituals, and contemporary hymn settings. Admission is free, and there will be refreshments following the concert. (Donations would be gratefully received and will help defray the costs of the choir's upcoming performance tour of Great Britain, TBS's first international tour in many years.)

Tulsa Boy Singers and some musicians from Barthelmes will also be performing at OK Mozart in Bartlesville on June 15.

From this morning's Tulsa Police Department activity report (emphasis added):

At 0543 hours on 05-17-07 an armed robbery occurred at the Kum N Go at 11268 E. 71st Street. A white male with a handgun and a black male entered the store and robbed the store attendant; they then fled with the cash. The suspects left in a brown older Chevrolet. Officer B. Disney spotted a vehicle matching that description heading west on 81st from Garnett.

A traffic stop was initiated at 6600 S. Mingo Rd. The driver was Reginald Simienand
and in the back seat was Allen Mcghe and Preston Williams. All three suspects were
taken into custody. On the back seat was all the cash from the robbery and on the
passenger floor was a handgun. Two of the suspects were positively identified as the
two individuals who entered the store. One suspect had a DOC monitor ankle bracelet
on, which should provide GPS location and time. All three suspects were booked for
Armed Robbery with a firearm.

A new blogger is out to debunk the old palindrome: "Tulsa night life: filth, gin, a slut."

Tasha Does Tulsa is a delightful new blog aimed at challenging Tulsans to stop whining about nothing to do, to get out of the house, and to discover all the fun this city has to offer.

The opening entry introduces Natasha and her co-bloggers Chester (a goldfish) and Party Brenda. Natasha describes herself as:

...a fifth-generation Tulsan, a new downtown resident, and a girl who is willing to pay out-of-pocket to prove Tulsa is more than the sum of its histories, the “there’s nothing to do here” rhetoric, and art deco architecture....

As to the future contents of the blog:

You folks have nothing to look forward to here except proof that there is tons to do in Tulsa.

The most recent post (the only other one so far, published today) is an essay on "How You, Too, Can Do Tulsa." Natasha has nine pieces of sage advice on how to discover what the city has to offer, including getting involved in community service, a church, and (if you're young and professional) one of the young professional groups. She recommends avoiding highways and just driving around. She links to local news outlets, including a merged feed of Tulsa blogs (which includes this one). Several times she recommends reading Urban Tulsa Weekly, which she says is "by far the most definitive source on cool stuff to do in Tulsa."

I especially liked what Natasha had to say about local news -- don't watch it. With all due respect to the good people at 2, 6, 8, and 23, she has a point:

I'm pretty sure the local evening news is tailored to shock and/or scare you out of doing anything in your town, ever. It’s not that they get their thrills from scaring you. If the local evening news couldn’t tell you anything shocking or scary about your city, how would you convince advertisers to buy into those broadcasts instead of The Simpson’s and Seinfeld re-runs?

For that matter, scaring the snot out of you about going downtown is more likely to make you want to curl up on the sofa and watch Simpsons and Seinfeld reruns.

Contrary to what the evening news has to tell you to get you to watch their stations enough to attract advertisers, downtown is not a heathen hide-away. Innocent people are not getting shot all over the place, and cops aren’t hiding out in the construction zones and neighborhoods to pull you over on camera.

Tulsa is a peaceful place. There are lots of fun things to do in safe places. Consult the Urban Tulsa. Live a little.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this blog. There's a place to focus on problems, but it's good to have blogs like Tasha Does Tulsa and (the slightly more established) Indie Tulsa to highlight the good and unique and interesting things that we might overlook.

I just came across a Tulsa blog that is nearly a year old. Haec Est Domus Domini is an account by Mike Malcom of the process of restoring downtown Tulsa's Holy Family Cathedral, the ninety-three-year-old seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Eastern Oklahoma. The blog features photos and videos of the restoration work, visibilium (carpets, walls, windows) et invisibilium (plumbing, wiring). It's a great use for the medium of the blog. (I found it via the blog God Spede ye Plough, which belongs to a newly arrived resident of Oklahoma.)

The blog title is from the words engraved above the east doors to the church, which translate to "This is the house of the Lord."

(Come to think of it, Holy Family has an odd orientation for a cathedral, with the altar at the west end. So when the priest is celebrating mass ad orientem, he's actually facing ad occidentalem.)

Although Someone keeps hurling lightning bolts at it, the cathedral is an important part of downtown's architectural fabric. In many cities, the oldest and largest churches have abandoned downtown for greener suburban pastures. Tulsa is blessed that our oldest and largest churches have stayed put and kept their facilities in excellent condition.

We'd be even more blessed if the downtown churches would work with business and government to find a parking solution that doesn't involve tearing down more buildings. And perhaps, after the cathedral is restored, the Diocese will fulfill a promise made when they purchased and demolished the Tulsa Apartments and Cathey's Furniture (8th to 9th on Main) in 1998. That won't be surface parking -- I was assured at the time -- we're going to build a diocesan chancery and a plaza there.

This week's column in Urban Tulsa Weekly is a farewell salute to KFAQ's Michael DelGiorno, who wrapped up his 17 years in Tulsa media last Friday and is now holding court on Nashville's WWTN:

Many readers' brains may explode as they read the following sentence, but it's true nevertheless: Politics and public dialogue in Tulsa are better off for Michael DelGiorno's tenure here.

Here's a bit of newspaper trivia you may find interesting. Writers don't write the headlines or cutlines for their stories. Those tasks are performed by a copy editor. At times the copy editor also adds text to provide a smoother transition between paragraphs or to provide some explanation that he feels the reader may need. Deadlines being what they are, I don't get a chance to see those changes before I see them in the paper. Those kind of edits don't happen often, but there was one this week. Here's what I submitted:

There was a niche to be filled, and DelGiorno, a conservative Republican and Southern Baptist, persuaded Journal Broadcast Group to let him step in and fill it.

Here's what's in the paper:

Until DelGiorno began to exploit the obvious. Just like some transplanted Tulsans discover fertile, virgin soil in untapped treasures (much as coffee table book author Michael Wallis discovered as he began cultivating interest in Route 66 with his "Mother Road,") there was a niche to be filled, and DelGiorno, a conservative Republican and Southern Baptist, persuaded Journal Broadcast Group to let him step in and fill it.

The phrase "began to exploit the obvious" reminds me of Roger Clemens's record-breaking 20 strikeouts in a game against the Seattle Mariners. Some baseball fans dismissed the accomplishment because Clemens did it against the worst team in the American League. But every other pitcher on every other team had faced Seattle. If it was so easy, why hadn't anyone done it yet?

As for Michael Wallis, I'm a fan, and as someone who loves Route 66, I'm glad he traveled the road and gathered stories and photos when he did -- so many of the people and places are gone now.

MORE: Here are my earlier thoughts, and the comments of other bloggers, about the changes at KFAQ. And Tennessee political blogger Bill Hobbs has taken note of DelGiorno's arrival in Nashville. (Also, Hobbs is looking for center-right political bloggers in Oklahoma. Drop your recommendations in his comment box. I've already sent along my list.)

(Also, fixed the number of Clemens's strikeouts. 19 in a nine-inning game was the record he beat, held by Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, and Nolan Ryan.)

FOR NOW at least, you can still download the podcasts of Michael's farewell show, which included replays of many of the best radio cartoons from the show:

Preshow, Hour 1, Hour 2, and Hour 3

The song with which he ended the final broadcast, "Build It Anyway," by Martina McBride, was an appropriate and touching ending.

He made a very brief announcement at the end of Tuesday's show -- Friday will be Michael DelGiorno's last day on KFAQ. He's landed a job in Nashville, and Journal Broadcast Group, owners of KFAQ, let him out of his contract early to pursue it.

I'm happy for Michael. The change will do him good, and Nashville is a big step up in market size.

Details should be released during Wednesday's show, but it's my understanding that the mission and direction of KFAQ and its morning show will remain unchanged. That's good news for Tulsa.

A longer tribute will have to wait until I'm not worn out from finishing my taxes and fighting a cold, but I'll say this much now:

We're approaching the 5th anniversary of KFAQ's launch. The station's format started as Michael DelGiorno's vision, a vision that was embraced and implemented by Journal Broadcast Group.

When other stations were becoming more automated and homogenized, DelGiorno gave Tulsa talk radio about local issues. When other news-talk stations were cramming local content into ever tinier segments, DelGiorno provided time to cover an issue in depth.

DelGiorno provided a bypass around local media dominated by a few narrow interests. He gave politicians and activists the chance to get their side of the story out to the public.

Michael gave me a platform that I wouldn't otherwise have had. The exposure I got on his show brought more readers to this blog and ultimately led to the opportunity to write for Urban Tulsa Weekly.

DelGiorno brought concerned Tulsans, who otherwise wouldn't have met, together as allies. He helped them see the big picture, bigger than the specific problems that awakened their interest in local government.

Michael often expressed frustration that the same old issues kept recurring, and it seemed as if no progress was made. But as someone who has lived here most of my life and who has been involved politically for twenty years, I know that things are much different, and much better, for his work at KFAQ. Important issues that used to be under the radar are now front and center in the public dialogue.

We have a City Council that wasn't handpicked by the Tulsa Whirled. That wouldn't have happened before KFAQ.

Michael could be frustrating. He would let passion get ahead of precision. It could be tough at times to get a word in edgewise. He and I were never going to see eye-to-eye on the importance of a healthy urban core.

But it's been a blessing and a privilege to get to work with Michael these last three and a half years, and I am thankful for the difference he's made here. I wish him and his family all the best in their new city.

UPDATE: Michael spoke at length this morning, paying tribute to his listeners for taking what they heard on the show and acting on it and to Journal Broadcast Group management in Milwaukee and here in Tulsa for sticking with the station's vision and with Michael, despite a lot of pressure from advertisers and other influential folks to shut him down.

Through it all, GM Randy Bush and program manager Brian Gann embodied the spirit of their long-ago KVOO predecessor Bill Way. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel had successfully intimidated managers at several stations in several cities to keep Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys off the air, but Way refused to cave in to O'Daniel's threats or enticements.

You can hear what Michael had to say in the 6:00 hour about the station management and the listeners here (MP3).

Gwen Freeman will move from the sidekick's seat into the host's chair, with Chris Medlock as her sidekick. Gwen is smart, talented, and has a voice I could listen to all day long, and I'm happy to see her coming into her own.

I'm happy for my friend Chris, too. It had to have been a challenge for him to stifle his laughter at the leaflet that was circulated at the Republican state convention on Saturday, claiming that DelGiorno had been fired and that Medlock's (and my) "public platform has been significantly reduced as of Monday April 16, 2007." Not quite.

(If you were wondering, that leaflet (PDF) is what Michael and I were discussing on Tuesday.)

UPDATE: Comments on DelGiorno's departure from Tyson Wynn and Dan Paden.

UPDATE(2): Michael will be taking the 9 am to 1 pm slot on WWTN in Nashville, which is the highest-rated news/talk station in the market. I saw the schedule on their website before they modified it today -- he is replacing G. Gordon Liddy's syndicated show and an hour of the Bill O'Reilly show. He'll yield 15 minutes each day to Paul Harvey's noon broadcast.

For his first two hours, Michael will be up against another local show, hosted by a conservative lawyer named Steve Gill. The second two hours he'll be head-to-head with Rush Limbaugh.

After reading the bios of the other two local talkers on the station, I think Michael will be right at home. The afternoon drive host on WWTN is Phil Valentine, who is legendary for leading the 2002 Tennessee taxpayer revolt. When a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor were about to institute a state income tax for the first time ever, Phil brought listeners to the State Capitol where they successfully turned enough votes to stop the tax from passing.

MORE: MeeCiteeWurkor testifies to DelGiorno's impact on his political involvement:

I started listening to MDG a couple of years ago when LaFortune was mayor. Before then, I didn’t even care for politics or anything remotely related to talk radio. MDG got me interested in the inner workings of Tulsa and surrounding communities.

A couple of years later, and having actually been on-air with MDG, I can say this for fact: No one has done more to create awareness about local issues in Tulsa than this man. I am thankful for that awareness and the fact that he’s the only local media outlet that ever organized rallies and gatherings of what was called the “Q” Nation. Can you think of anybody else that did that? I can’t.

In a day and age when the vast majority of radio programming is a satellite feed of national issues (which we do need), it was nice to turn on the radio and hear a local guy who cared about local issues talk about things we locals care about. It was nice to hear him broadcast from a vacant lot that somehow managed to vote in an election. It was nice to hear him rant and rave about things that, when we’re really honest with ourselves, make us all rant and rave, too. And I have heard many detractors over the last few year who hate MDG for various reasons. In one case in particuler, I know of one violently vociferous MDG critic who launched a series of anonymous online attacks against MDG simply because MDG refused to accept this person’s worldview and counsel. It was shameful and self-serving, but the safety and anonymity of online forums made him feel brave and unaccountable for his comments.

We had dinner tonight at Desi Wok, a wonderful Asian restaurant on Hudson, just north of 41st Street, specializing in dishes of the Indian Subcontinent. This time we were there with the whole family. We watched World Cup Cricket on the big screen TV while enjoying chicken tikka masala and a shrimp, garlic, and ginger dish. My older son had sweet and sour chicken, which featured a much subtler and tastier sauce than the usual fluorescent red stuff you see at Chinese takeaways. The six-year-old had a chicken nuggets kids meal and proclaimed it very tasty. She shared some with little brother, who also enjoyed the naan bread.

We were fascinated by the cricket match. I tried to remember what I could of the rules, and I think I got them mostly right. A young cricket fan sitting near us gently and politely corrected some of my mistakes. (My knowledge of cricket has its roots in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, in which cricket equipment plays a key role.)

He told us that the restaurant is showing all the World Cup matches. The manager heard him talking about the likely India vs. Pakistan match and said with a smile that she might have to divide the room down the middle. (To get a sense of the rivalry, imagine OU-Texas, if OU and Texas had nuclear weapons aimed at each other across the Red River.)

The match was in St. Kitts South Africa vs. the Netherlands, a 40-overs Group A match. (Here's the box score.)

The current round involves four groups of four teams. The top two in each group advance to the second round, a near-round-robin, except that a team won't play the other "Super 8" team from its own group. The top four in the standings at the end of the second round advance to a single-elimination bracket -- two semifinal matches and a final on April 28.

You can read about our first visit to Desi Wok here.

Nursing student "Bro," who has a new blog called Dubious Hubris, invited State Rep. Pam Peterson to speak to the Student Nurses Association and was pleased with the outcome:

She is on the Human Services committee and addressed student RNs on what they can do about health care legislation. I was impressed with her because she answered her phone calls the first time and responded to me promptly about her willingness to speak. She appeared honest when she talked about her desire to improve government.

Tom Gray, pastor of Kirk of the Hills, has a laugh at the claim by the Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery of the PCUSA that he used intimidation to persuade members of the church to withdraw from the presbytery and the denomination, and he corrects the EOP's version of a 20-year-old story of a confrontation with a divisive elder which the EOP used to back up its characterization:

Let me tell you the story as it actually happened. It was in 1987 (not 2006 some might think with a casual reading of the report) and the Kirk was in crisis thanks to a couple of very serious problems. Tulsa’s economic crisis at the time meant that hundreds of our members had lost their jobs or were in danger of losing their jobs. On top of that, the Kirk was still reeling from the shock of the pastor previous to me leaving the Kirk over a serious moral failure.

In the midst of these crises, one elder began to be quite divisive in the Kirk. This person was (prepare for a big irony here) trying to talk people into having the Kirk leave the PCUSA. Additionally, he was advocating issues that, while possibly in line with the Kirk’s ethos, were presented in a divisive manner, setting member against member and members against the session.

The incident cited in the AC was not after a meeting, as they say. This elder walked into my office on a weekday and said, “This church isn’t big enough for the two of us—one of us has to go.” Obviously, he meant that I should be the one to go.

I’m surprised to this day by my own response, but am equally sure that it was the right one. I asked him what church he would rather be in. He didn’t, as the AC report asserts, say that things weren’t that bad. What he did say was that he was going to make sure that I would be the one to go. That’s when I reiterated my statement. He suddenly seemed deflated, and then gave me the name of another large church in Tulsa. That’s when I wrote the letter of transfer.

I agree that this situation was not typical. I’ve never experienced something like this before or since. I did not come out of that encounter feeling good. I was shaky, upset, and even fearful for my future. Thanks be to God, it was the right decision for me, the Kirk, and that elder.

Jeff Shaw has an interesting idea: a city market for the East Village, East End, whatever:

Actually its not my idea, its been around for a long time, but I think with the right mix of retail and food and grocery merchants, it could solve a number of problems in the downtown area, as well as being a boost to the downtown economy. The idea is a Tulsa City Market. No, not the tarps and tents visual you may have just gotten. A city market like the 100+ year old Indianapolis City Market....

The location would be the entire block that contains the Bill White Chevrolet Building. In fact, I was thinking that building could be retrofitted and expanded to cover the entire west half of the block on between 4th and 5th streets / Elgin & Detroit avenues.

The City Market I have in mind is a combination of local and regional food vendors, grocery and other retail, in a mix that would benefit not only tourists but local people as well.

Jeff has more in the way of maps and descriptions, and a video of the market in Indianapolis.

Dan Paden has too much good stuff to describe on No Blog of Significance, including an essential piece on liberty and the need to use politics and, sometimes, force, to defend that liberty. And here's another essential post: A reading list for the young voter.

David Schuttler wants to know when the city plans to do something about problem nightclubs, the venues that night after night require the attention of the police to deal with violence. For example, Fusion at 15th and Sheridan:

This is one of those clubs that if the City would have a nuisance policy on problem clubs would deserve the first closing. There is not a weekend that goes by that I don't hear calls going out for trouble at this club. Saturday earned two calls that I heard. The first was someone treatning people in the parking lot and that he had a gun and the next came in under 2 hours from the previous call. This last call was the result of a fight that as the caller put it, Involved almost everyone that was still at the club. EMSA treated multiple people, which could be seen as one person would exit the ambulance another would be helped in. One person was put on a stretcher and taken to the second ambulance that arrived a few minutes later.

Finally, as Paul Harvey says, "Wash your ears out with this." Emily, the Red Fork Hippie Chick, tells us of two Tulsa-area families with businesses on Route 66, forced by circumstances to throw a going away party for their dreams, yet unshaken in their faith in God's provision for all their needs:

They work hard, they go out of their way to support the community, and they deserve better than to have the rug jerked out from under them with an unexpected health crisis. But through her disappointment, Susan — like Bill — remains calm in the knowledge that God is taking care of her family and will continue to take care of them regardless of the fate of the restaurant. She’s taking all the practical human steps she can think of to make the situation manageable, but at the end of the day, she places her future squarely in God’s hands and trusts that His plan for her family is the right one, even if it doesn’t seem to make much sense at the moment.

Tune in to KFAQ 1170 tomorrow morning at 6:10. I'll be doing my usual Tuesday spot, with Gwen Freeman who'll be filling in for Michael DelGiorno, and Chris Medlock who will be filling in for Gwen.

The Cinnabar Companies, which encompassed Cinnabar Environmental Services and Cinnabar Service Company, are apparently no longer under common ownership and no longer under a common name.

Cinnabar Service Company, which handles property acquisition for government and which once was the contractor for the Tulsa International Airport's noise abatement program, is still under the same management team, including chairman Bill Bacon and president Bob Parmele. Bacon and Parmele are partners with homebuilder Howard Kelsey in Infrastructure Ventures, Inc., the company which had a sweetheart deal with Tulsa County and now has one with the City of Jenks for the franchise to a toll bridge across the Arkansas River at Yale Ave. Parmele is also a former member of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, better known as the Fair Board.

Cinnabar Environmental Services is now owned by Derek Blackshare and is now called Blackshare Environmental Solutions. BES should benefit from no longer carrying the luggage of the name Cinnabar, which is associated with shoddy and overpriced work on the noise abatement program and the insider deal to lease a governmental body's power of eminent domain in order to generate hundreds of millions in revenues by means of a toll bridge.

Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group and Vanguard Car Rental, both Tulsa-based companies, are talking merger according to the New York Times:

A deal to combine four of the nation’s largest car rental brands — National, Alamo, Thrifty and Dollar — is being discussed as the industry continues to consolidate.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is in early talks to merge with Vanguard Car Rental, of Tulsa, Okla., which owns National and Alamo, in a deal valued at more than $3 billion, according to people involved in the discussions.

The negotiations, which have been taking place on and off for several months, are at a particularly delicate stage, these people said, and may still collapse.

If completed, a deal would create the third-largest rental car company in the United States behind leaders Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Hertz Global Holdings, but outpacing Avis Budget Group in terms of revenue.

Both companies have ties to Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and her husband, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, resident Bill Lobeck. Taylor and Lobeck met when both were working for DTAG. Lobeck later was involved in the deal to create Vanguard, which he heads. Vanguard is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, which also owns Albertsons LLC, the company that owns Albertson's stores in Oklahoma and most of the southwest.

The NYT story says digs some interesting information out of Vanguard's IPO filing:

A deal with Vanguard would most likely be a reverse merger, so that Vanguard would be the controlling shareholder.

Vanguard has tried to go public before. Last year it filed for an initial public offering, saying that it had earned $105.3 million in income from $2.89 billion in revenue in 2005. It said that it held a 20.5 percent market share in the top 125 airport markets where it operated, behind the Avis Budget Group, then controlled by Cendant, and Hertz. Vanguard paid a $122.6 million special dividend last June.

In that same filing, Vanguard said it had about 3,800 locations in 82 countries as of last June. Its fleet numbered about 300,000, the filing said. The company said it buys its fleet from General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, and had agreements with other manufacturers like Toyota and Kia.

Cerberus Capital Management acquired Vanguard out of bankruptcy for $240.1 million in cash when it was called the ANC Rental Corporation.

(Vanguard's initial S-1 and amended S-1 filings give a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a privately-held company, such as executive compensation and aircraft leasing.)

Emily, the Red Fork Hippie Chick, has recently launched a new blog called Indie Tulsa, featuring reports on locally-owned small businesses, some old, some new.

In her introductory post, she writes:

Through this site, I hope to make the public aware of some of the little guys, whose life’s work has helped give Tulsa some of the unique vibrance that prompted my husband and me to pack up our dogs and our computers, quit our jobs in Illinois, and move to Oklahoma almost three years ago. It’s a move we’ve never regretted, and we’re happier with our decision every time we wander into another quirky little business full of history, one-of-a-kind products, and helpful employees who don’t mind going and getting the widget you need instead of dismissing you with a vague wave in the direction of aisle 37.

We hope you’ll take the time to read our reviews, explore our city, and discover the fascinating finds tucked into out-of-the-way businesses all over Tulsa. If you’re not in Tulsa, we hope you’ll be inspired to venture into the mom-and-pop businesses in your own area, throw a few dollars their way, and perhaps even share your experiences with folks in your area.

The big guys are convenient, but it’s the little guys who keep life interesting.

So far, Emily has visited and reviewed Steve's Sundries and Books, Karlene's Dollhouses, the Union Street Cafe, Booster Feed Mill, Hank's Hamburgers, Under the Mooch, and S&S Market.

What a great idea.

Route 66 News is reporting that the Country Store, on the southside of 11th Street just west of Memorial (a site that was once on the very edge of town), may close soon:

Four decades of urban sprawl later, the Country Store’s location on historic Route 66 is considered part of midtown Tulsa. Farmers are an endangered species, and most of the city’s gardeners are out in the suburbs: Jenks, Bixby, Broken Arrow.

A perfect storm of big-box stores, urban sprawl, heavy debt, and crop-scorching drought is bearing down on the longtime Tulsa institution and its third-generation owner, Bill Sivadon, and barring any last-minute miracles, it looks as if the business may close for good.

If you aren't looking for the store, you may not notice it, as it sits up a rise and back a bit from the road, but it's been there for 40 years, selling plants, seeds, and animal feed.

There's a chance the business could be saved, but only if folks act now:

Sivadon and his wife, Kathey... reported Tuesday that the store is set to close any day. If they can sell off their remaining stock at retail prices, they may be able to raise enough to pay off their debt and save the business — but time is of the essence. Their creditors have been poised to pull the plug for the past week or so. Wait a day — or even a few hours — and it may be too late to buy one last souvenir and make one last effort to help keep a Route 66 institution alive.

My column in this week's Urban Tulsa Weekly is about TulsaNow -- how it came into being and what it aims to accomplish. I describe the group as a kind of "See You at the Pole" -- a gathering point for people who might have wondered if anyone else cared about Tulsa's direction and future:

Perhaps you've felt lonely in your concerns about Tulsa. Doesn't anyone else care that we're turning downtown into a big parking lot? Isn't anyone worried about the impact of more ugly sprawling development on our city's livability? Shouldn't we be encouraging development of a more diverse assortment of businesses, instead of putting all our economic hopes in oil or aerospace or telecommunications?

There must be other Tulsans who share your concerns, but how do you find them? What's the equivalent of the flagpole for Tulsans concerned about our city's future growth and development?

It's an organization called TulsaNow, and instead of meeting around a pole, we'll be meeting around a pint next Monday, Jan. 29, at McNellie's Public House, 409 E. 1st St., from 6 to 8pm.

That's the annual meeting for TulsaNow. Here's the official announcement:

If you’d like to learn more about TulsaNow, or find out what you can do to get involved, don’t miss our annual meeting on Monday, January 29.

This year, we hope to engage our membership like never before, and we’ll be asking YOU to help us set our strategic priorities for ‘07. What’s important to you? What should TulsaNow focus on in the coming year? We know you’ve got opinions, and we want to hear your thoughts and ideas. See you there!

Read the linked article above, and if you share those concerns, come and join us tomorrow night.

... who believes the garbage truck is coming tomorrow morning. No one else has put out their trash cans.

School will be out again in and around Tulsa for the fourth day in a row, not counting the early dismissal Friday. Although the arterial streets in Tulsa have at least one clear lane, turn lanes and outside lines still have refrozen slush atop solid ice. I dared to take the Broken Arrow expressway this morning and found that what had been a clear lane for almost a mile suddenly wasn't, right on the bend just west of the I-44 interchange.

Side streets and parking lots are still nasty. There is no plowing through an inch of ice. Someone tried to use a front end loader to clear part of our lot on Tuesday, and the best they could do was scrape a bit off the top. They put some sand down, so it's not as much of an ice rink, but I still need my ice cleats to walk on it. (I thought they were silly when my wife bought them, but they sure have come in handy this week.) The traction control system and anti-lock braking system in our minivan has worked like a champ.

The kids have enjoyed their unexpected vacation and have spent some time sledding on the ice. They even tried to get on our goldfish pond, which is only partially frozen over, but Mom caught them before the ice began to crack. (And yes, I told them about the little girl that the fire department had to rescue because she walked out on the ice over a creek. Evidently the lesson didn't sink in.)

We had a short burst of flurries today, and more snow is expected over the weekend.

UPDATE in response to questions: My cleats are Weissenfels Snow Spikes, but it appears that Weissenfels no longer makes traction products for anything as small as a foot.

Congratulations to Cain's Ballroom, which is once again is one of the top ticket-selling concert venues in the world. According to Pollstar, Cain's was 38th in ticket sales among venues with a capacity under 3,000, selling 84,746 tickets in 2006.

The numbers tell me that Tulsans will get out and support live entertainment, and the people at Cain's are doing a great job of booking the wide variety of acts that Tulsans want to see. (Me, I'm looking forward to the Bob Wills Birthday Bash on March 2nd and 3rd, featuring Leon Rausch, Tommy Allsup and the Texas Playboys.)

To give you an idea of what kinds of places are included in this category, nine of the top 25 small venues are House of Blues outlets, including the flagship in Chicago. The Chicago House of Blues sold 219,083 tickets in '06. Cain's ranks just below The Avalon in Hollywood and just ahead of Metropolis in Montreal, Hard Rock Live in Orlando, and House of Blues in San Diego.

Cain's capacity is only about 1400, which means they must fill the place pretty often to generate those kinds of ticket sales.

Today I attended the funeral of Doris Oler, in the Rose Chapel at Boston Avenue Methodist Church. Doris passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76. Doris was an alto and a charter member of Coventry Chorale, and my wife and I sang with her in that group for many years. She always had a smile and a friendly word for us. Doris also sang in Boston Avenue's choir, taught vocal music in the Tulsa Public Schools, and was very active in Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity. (Here's a link to the obituary that appeared in the Tulsa World yesterday.)

The presiding minister, Bill Tankersley, shared a funny anecdote. Doris grew up in Inola in the '30s and '40s. She learned to play piano at an early age and was good enough that she wound up playing at a few of the churches in town. The churches staggered their service times so that she could play the opening hymns at one church, slip out the door, walk to the next church, play their opening hymns, and so on, until it was time to play the closing hymn at the first church and start over with the rotation.

As part of the service, we read the 23rd Psalm responsively, but sitting there with nine other members of Coventry Chorale, there to honor a departed member of the Chorale, it seemed wrong not to be singing Thomas Matthews' setting of the psalm. (To hear a lo-fi version of it, scroll down to the bottom of that page and click the link with the text "The Lord Is My Shepherd.") I'm sure the others felt the pull, too.

This is beside the point, but... the first hymn we sang was "Praise My Soul the King of Heaven." We sang out of the current edition of the Methodist Hymnal, and it was hard not to laugh out loud at the lengths to which the editors went to avoid any use of the masculine pronoun in this version of the hymn. Most of the time it was a simple substitution of "God" for "him" and "God's" for "his." But "to his feet thy tribute bring" becomes "to the throne thy tribute bring." "In his hand he gently bears us," becomes "Motherlike, God gently bears us," to balance out the word "Fatherlike" at the beginning of the third verse. (Here are Henry Lyte's original lyrics, and here is the inclusified version.) There was nothing on the page to indicate an alteration. I don't like it any better when the Trinity Hymnal editors monkey with the lyrics to eliminate a suspected Arminian overtone, and I will stubbornly sing the original lyrics anyway*, but at least they note when a verse was altered by the editors.

I tried to stick to the lyrics as printed, but I found myself singing the familiar original lyrics instead. Knowing Doris, I think she would have understood, and probably even approved.

* I don't do this when I'm leading singing, however.

KFAQ is now offering a podcast of the Michael DelGiorno show. You can download an hour at a time in MP3 format, and it looks like they plan to have several days' worth of show available for download.

The KFAQ Windows Media Player stream is still available as well, with a live feed of DelGiorno's show, repeating until the next show begins.

The podcast format will make it easier to grab a particular interview or segment. Thanks to Brian Gann and KFAQ for setting this up.

Six months after Brian Franklin's reply, Starbucks has backed off its threats of trademark litigation against Tulsa's DoubleShot Coffee Company:

I write to follow up on our prior communications concerning your client's use of the "Doubleshot" mark. It is Starbucks' understanding that your client uses this mark only as the name of his coffee shop and, specifically, not as the name of a prepared beverage or other ready-to-drink beverage. Based upon the foregoing, we will close our file on this matter.

As if Brian Franklin would ever serve a "ready-to-drink" beverage!

In fact, it appears that Franklin's quest for perfection has made it difficult to find baristas that meet his high standards, so he has cut hours to 7 am to 5 pm weekdays, 9 am to 3 pm weekends, and says he is working on increasing the wholesale and online retail side of the business. "If you buy a drink at my store," he said in an e-mail from last week, "it will have been sourced, roasted, blended, ground, and brewed by only me. No one knows my coffee better than I do."

Elsewhere on his blog, Franklin has an interesting take on a certain river development proposal:

Let's talk about the River for a minute. Economic development? That's what downtown is for. What? We've finally decided that buiding, constructing, changing, re-changing, re-zoning, re-positioning, re... we can't make downtown a viable economic center? So now we'll go try it on the River. I live on Riverside Drive. Down on the quiet part, where people slow down. I sit on my front porch and relax. I watch people jog by or ride their bikes or take a stroll. There are big, old trees and foxes at night. And sometimes I think about the "economic development" they want to start on the River. Is that improvement?...

But I imagine... they wouldn't cut down ALL the trees, just the ones that were in the way. We'd make parking lots and build an island (an island? I'm sorry, but that's retarded) so rich people could have their condos paid for by my tax dollars and we can move Utica Square out there in the middle of the Arkansas River. Maybe they'll make it a gated community. Or maybe because one group of jackasses can get taxpayer dollars to build their money-making project, someone else will decide they want an island too. And then we can just dam up the River altogether and make it into a waterpark. They'll build tall buildings where there used to be trees outside my window. And what we really need on the River is a Starbucks. This town won't even be put on the map until there's a Starbucks in the middle of the Arkansas River. Isn't that what they're talking about when they say "economic development?"

I have an idea. Let's let Jenks ruin the river. Tulsa can use downtown for businesses (what a novel idea) and keep the River for its natural resources.

As a fellow recipient of a "scary lawyer letter" (who has yet to see a retraction like the one linked above), I send hearty congratulations to Brian and DoubleShot Coffee Company.

TU communications professor John Coward has set up a blog called Tulsa Street Stories as an experimental journalism project for his news gathering course.

In the coming weeks, the site will publish reporting and personal journalism by members of the Fall 2006 News Gathering class at TU. These stories will provide glimspes into the lives of interesting people in and around Route 66 and give TU journalism students an opportunity to share their writing and reporting with others interested in this 'grassroots' journalism project.

His students began by writing about restaurants and other places around Tulsa -- Claud's Hamburgers, Mario's Pizzeria, Tie-Dyes of Tulsa, Greenwood Avenue, the Tulsa Rose Garden, and (alas) Starbucks.

The mood is unique at Starbucks—it can’t be compared to any other coffee shop that I have ever been to. I believe that every time I go to Starbucks I get the entire coffee shop experience. Maybe it’s just by watching the people that work there, or maybe it's watching the customers enjoy their time, or maybe it’s just the time I spend talking to the people that I with. No matter what the reason is, I always leave Starbucks satisfied and anticipating my next visit.

Someone get that young lady directions to Shades of Brown, stat!

The latest assignment is to write about a colorful character from Tulsa. Since many of the students are out-of-towners, it should be interesting to see what they learn about our city that we townies have overlooked.

Someone is calling Tulsa residents to solicit funds for a memorial for Tulsa Police Officer Jared Shoemaker, who was killed in Iraq while serving there with the U. S. Marine Corps. The Tulsa Police Department wants you to know that neither they nor the TPD's FOP lodge are making those calls:

We have received several calls asking about donations being solicited for a memorial in honor of Officer Jared Shoemaker. The Tulsa Police Department and the FOP does not solicit funds. The family has set up an endowment fund for a scholarship to a summer camp the Jared was involved with. This is the only fund endorsed by the family of Officer Shoemaker.

Here are more details about the camp fund that Shoemaker's family has designated as a memorial to him:

The Jared Shoemaker Memorial Fund
(Endowing local H.S. students to a Young Life summer camp)

It is the desire of Jared’s wife, parents and family to establish an ongoing fund to help send high schoolers to Young Life camp. Young Life is a ministry that pursues teenagers on their turf –“earning the right to be heard”. 100% of the money received will be placed in an endowment. Only the interest gained each year will be used for these scholarships.

If you wish to contribute make your check payable to:
Young Life
(please note in the memo field Jared Shoemaker Fund)
And mail to:
Young Life
Jared Shoemaker Fund
P.O. Box 33176
Tulsa, OK 74153

If you have any questions, please direct them to
Jay Robinson, 918-665-8525 JRobinson@ok22.younglife.org
or Brad Camp 918 693-9740 brad@hicorpinc.com

MeeCiteeWurkor has announced a number of improvements he has added to The Voice of Tulsa, an Internet discussion forum about our fair city which he established back in March.

I'm pleased to see a page where you can view the most recent 35 posts. And along with a feed for the whole site, he's offering an individual RSS feed for each thread, each category, and each forum, making it easy to keep track of what interests you.

Mostly he's offering a place where it's possible to hold a vigorous but respectful discussion on issues that matter. It is possible to disagree strongly with someone, even on something as contentious as politics, without being abusive or hostile. MeeCiteeWurkor is determined to uphold a high standard of conduct and keep the place friendly:

You should feel comfortable in this forum. The site admin and moderators will ensure that you feel comfortable at all times during your visit. If you ever feel uncomfortable at all, please email me immediately, and the issue will be addressed promptly and corrective action taken, if needed.

Never feel like you cannot express your opinion on matters. ESPECIALLY if it differs from another opinion. Your different take on issues will be allowed, and abuse from others because of your opinion will NOT be tolerated.

While I'll continue to post comments here, The Voice of Tulsa forum is better suited to an ongoing group discussion. I encourage you to click through, sign up, and join in.

Why is it that so many Tulsa parks don't have swings? What good is a park without swings?

Now this is what a city park should be. Swings, slides, and things that bounce and spin.

My correspondent who attended the Jenks City Council meeting also said that this item was on the agenda: "Request to approve Resolution No. 427 approving and adopting the second amended agreement creating the Indian Nations Council of Governments, providing for membership for the Cherokee, Creek and Osage Indian Nations."

When the agenda item came up, Councilor Vic Vreeland said that the tribes are spending so much money in the area they should have a seat at the table. Despite the name, the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) is actually a regional council of city and county governments, created in response to the federal requirement for regional planning as a condition for federal transportation funding.

While I wouldn't reject the idea out of hand, the tribes, which are organized and governed directly under the federal law, are a different class of entity than cities and counties, which are creatures of the Oklahoma constitution and statutes. If anything, INCOG could be a focal point for cities and counties to lobby Congress about problems arising from tribal sovereignty laws.

It may surprise you to learn, as it surprised me, that most of the powers and rights that tribal governments have are not built into the treaties they signed with the United States, but are matters of federal law, laws that can be changed. Tribal commercial activities can have a significant effect on land use regulation (they're exempted from zoning), transportation planning, crime (the impact of casinos, cross-deputization issues), and sales tax revenues, an impact that will only grow as the tribes grow wealthier and take more land into trust. INCOG could be a forum for cities and counties to coordinate their response to these challenges.

Wednesday night it was just my wife, the baby, and I -- big brother was at choir camp, big sister was staying with Grandma -- so we decided to try dinner at Desi Wok, the Indian/Chinese restaurant on Hudson just north of 41st.

The food was very good. We had the chicken tikka masala and the shrimp Thai pepper stir fry.

The service was friendly, too. The baby got restless after a while in his high chair, so I took him out and tried to hold him on my lap while I continued eating while not letting him within grabbing reach of my plate. One of the waitress/order-takers, who had been flirting with him earlier, asked if she could hold him for a while. We said sure, and for the next 10 minutes or so, she or one of her coworkers held him behind the cash register. It was like being at a big family dinner and a cousin offers to hold the baby while you finish eating.

We wouldn't ordinarily pass our baby off to a stranger, but we were at the nearest table to the register, so I could (and did) keep a close eye, and there were enough people around that there would have been plenty of witnesses if anything bad had happened. And I think we felt more comfortable because it seemed to be a restaurant that, like a number of Asian places around town, was owned and operated by an extended family. At this sort of restaurant, it's not unusual to see aunts and cousins, older folks and small children around the restaurant, sometimes helping, sometimes just visiting.

Friendly place, good food, reasonable prices, and, as far as I know, the only place you can get Indian food around town without going to south Tulsa.

The big kids are with the grandparents tonight, so it's just me, my wife, and the baby. After dinner out, we enjoyed a romantic evening of...

...shopping the going-out-of-business sale at the 31st and Garnett Albertson's.

They close on July 31. The back half of the store is cleaned out and blocked with yellow tape. All the fresh stuff is gone, as are most of the cosmetics, toiletries, and over-the-counter meds. They have grocery items at 50% off, spices at 70% off, and general merchandise at 80% off.

Most of what was left was non-perishable. They had a lot of spices, condiments, ethnic food (e.g., curry mixes, flavored soy sauce), coffee and tea, exotic canned veggies like artichoke hearts and hearts of palm, some canned fruits and vegetables. There were some frozen goods -- ice cream, vegetables, seafood.

We filled a cart, and because we were buying unusual items, the "cost density" was higher than normal. It was a bit frightening to watch the "amount due" number on the screen climb and climb and climb, stopping at $493.51. When the cashier hit the subtotal button, the total started to drop as each item was individually discounted. It took a couple of minutes for all the discounts to be credited. The final total for the 124 items we bought was $199.20, including tax.

I'm just amazed we could get nearly $500 worth of merchandise in one standard-sized shopping cart.

The 21st and Memorial location is also going out of business, and I think there is one more, but I can't remember which one. If memory serves, these stores opened as Skaggs Alpha Beta some time around 1974.

We had dinner tonight at The Flying Roll restaurant near 51st and Memorial. We were driving past it on our way to a restaurant further south when I thought of it and remembered that the almost-10-year-old had been wanting to eat there.

Everyone enjoyed the food, the kids especially. You get all you care to eat of the side items -- green salad, mashed potatoes and cream gravy, green beans, creamed corn. It's all served family style. The main dish is the only thing that isn't served family style -- everyone picks their own from a list of eight or nine. We had catfish, smoked chicken, pot roast, and chicken tenders. During the meal they also brought by some fried okra and blackeyed peas.

As parents, we always appreciate it when our kids don't have to wait too long for their food. It reduces the chance that they'll fill up on crackers or milk and won't have any appetite left when their meal arrives. At The Flying Roll, they brought out a bowl of salad within a couple of minutes of our being seated; we started eating before we placed our orders.

The gimmick of the place is that they bring hot rolls fresh from the oven and toss them to the diners. The almost-10-year-old loved this concept; he was our designated roll fielder.

We brought some baby food with us, but it wasn't enough to keep the little one happy, so I gave him some of the mashed potatoes. He didn't love them, but he did eat them, and they stayed eaten. So he has now eaten his first non-baby-food.

Joe Momma's Pizza, that is, at 61st and US 169. The blog is a mixture of oddities around the web (funny videos, games) plus what's happening at the restaurant, like this strange little game the employees play. The earlier Blogger incarnation of Joe Momma's blog tells the story of Blake Ewing's pursuit of his dream to own a one-of-a-kind pizzeria downtown. Taking over and redoing an existing Simple Simon's pizza place is a step toward that dream.

A blog entry from a few months ago has some funny lines from the late comedian Mitch Hedberg:

I�m against picketing, but I don�t know how to show it.

I was walking down the street with my friend and he said "I hear music." As if there�s any other way to take it in.

I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shish kabobs.

(Found more Hedberg material on Wikiquote -- funny stuff, reminds me of Steven Wright, but Hedberg was rather free with gratuitous vulgarities. "A Lot of Death Metal bands have intense names like Rigor Mortis or Mortuary or Obituary. We weren't that intense. We just went with 'Injured.' And later we changed it to 'A Cappella'... as we were walkin' out of the pawn shop." "I had a stick of Carefree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor, I was back to pondering my mortality.")

Anyway, best wishes for future success to Joe Momma's Pizza. (Here's a link to Katherine Kelly's review from Urban Tulsa Weekly. She gave it high marks.)

This draft was started a couple of days after Father's Day, but I never got around to finishing it. In lieu of something more substantive tonight, here it is:

We celebrated Father's Day by taking my dad and mom to lunch at Mexicali Border Café at Main and Brady downtown. It's one of our favorite Mexican places; Mom and Dad had never been there. Great salsa (sort of halfway in texture and heat between Chimi's salsa fresca and salsa picante) and some delicious non-traditional Mexican dishes.

My wife and I had the Stuffed Carne Asada. At $13.95, it's one of the most expensive things on the menu, and we always consider getting something else (the Shrimp Acapulco is very tasty too), but we can't stand not to have this: "Fajita Steak stuffed with Melted Jack Cheese, Mushrooms, and Onions. Topped with Sautéed Pico de Gallo, Bacon and Mushrooms. Served with Rice, Borracho Beans and Saut�ed Vegetables." It's big enough and rich enough we always have enough to bring home for another meal. The sautéed vegetables (carrots, yellow squash, and zucchini) were nicely spicy and just crisp enough.

The waitress, Heather, deserves special praise. She managed to be both attentive and inobtrusive. Instead of interrupting conversation every five minutes to ask, "Everything OK?" she passed by regularly, noticed if anything needed refilling, and just took care of it. When she noticed one of us dabbing at a bit of salsa that had landed on a shirt, she brought out some club soda and some extra napkins.

I gave my dad a new sports shirt and a Johnny Cash CD. My Mother's Hymnbook is a collection of traditional hymns and gospel songs, sung with only a guitar for accompaniment. Cash recorded it in the few months between his wife's death and his own. I had come across it in the CD return shelf in the library, checked it out, and loved it. These are songs that we sang in the little Southern Baptist church I grew up in, but don't hear much in our PCA congregation: I'm Bound For The Promised Land, Softly and Tenderly, Just As I Am, When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder.

(I've found all sorts of gems on the library's CD return shelf, things I probably wouldn't have sought out on purpose: Spike Jones' Greatest Hits; Sam Cooke: The Man Who Invented Soul, a four-disc set; a two-disc set of everything Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded together.)

The kids gave me a Louis Armstrong CD, a Patsy Cline CD, and the original version of Asleep at the Wheel's first Bob Wills tribute CD, along with a new clock radio that synchronizes itself to the atomic clock via shortwave.

I already had a version of this disc -- the "dance remix", which has a black cover. I bought it as motivation/reward when I refinished the kids' wood floors last summer, and I liked it, but some of the tracks (five of them, to be precise) seemed unnecessarily tarted up -- as if some producer didn't think classic Western Swing was good enough to get people out on the dance floor. On "Big Ball's in Cowtown," the dance version is almost double the length of the original, padded out with backup singers singing "Cowtown, Cowtown, we're all goin' to Cowtown" over and over and over again. Then there's the bizarre addition of the same two measures of "Yearning," digitally transposed into three different keys for the intro to the song -- somehow that made it a dance version. Similar weirdness is inflicted upon "Hubbin' It," "Corrine, Corrina," and "Old Fashioned Love." At least they left 13 of the songs alone.

I had heard the unadulterated versions of a couple of the tracks from the white-covered original edition, and put it on my wish list, a wish my wife and kids were kind enough to fulfill.

The album features famous modern country artists (e.g., George Strait, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks -- Huey Lewis, too) singing or playing Bob Wills tunes alongside Asleep at the Wheel and some of the original Texas Playboys -- Eldon Shamblin, Johnny Gimble, and Herb Remington.

"Yearning," sung on this album by Vince Gill, has become a favorite of mine. It was a Tin Pan Alley tune, published in 1925 by Benny Davis and Joe Burke. (Davis and Burke also wrote "Carolina Moon." Burke also wrote "Tiptoe through the Tulips" and "Rambling Rose." Davis also wrote "Baby Face.") Somehow this sweet little tune found its way into both the standards and Western Swing repertoires -- Nat King Cole, Tommy Dorsey, and Frank Sinatra, Spade Cooley and Bob Wills all recorded it. Merle Haggard sang it on the final album with Bob Wills (For the Last Time), but I like Gill's version a little better, if only because it includes both verses.

The songbird yearns to sing a love song.
The roses yearn just for the dew.
The whole world's yearning for the sunshine.
I have a yearning too.

Yearning just for you,
That's all I do, my dear.
Learning why I'm blue,
I wish that you were here.
Smiles have turned to tears,
Days have turned to years.
Yearning just for you,
I hope that you yearn, too.

When shadows fall and stars are beaming,
'Tis then I miss you most of all.
I fall asleep and start a-dreaming.
It seems I hear you call:

Yearning just for you,
That's all I do, my dear.
Learning why I'm blue,
I wish that you were here.
Smiles have turned to tears,
Days have turned to years.
Yearning just for you,
I hope that you yearn, too.

I've enjoyed the gifts from my children, but the greatest Father's Day gifts of all are the children themselves.

About 250 veterans, veterans' widows, and friends and supporters attended today's Memorial Veterans Association barbecue in honor of those who have served our country in the military. It was a good day for it -- sunny, but not too hot. The tall oak trees of Memorial High School's picnic area kept the guests cool as they enjoyed heaping plates of smoked meat and listened to a band playing '60s favorites.

After everyone ate, Col. Bob Powell (USAF Ret.) led us in the pledge, the National Anthem was sung, and Col. Powell made a few remarks. He said that veterans are well-cared for on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, but they ought to be acknowledged on Independence Day, as they all fought for our nation's freedom.

The Memorial Veterans Association maintains an exhibit of military memorabilia in a conference room at the high school, but they hope someday to build a free-standing museum nearby. They also have plans to erect a bronze statue in front of the school. The bronze by Talala sculptor Sandra Van Zandt shows an old soldier passing the flag to a young soldier. A limited edition of small replicas of the sculpture are being sold to raise money to build the real thing.

At the heart of the effort is the desire to make Memorial High School the memorial it was intended to be when it was dedicated in 1962. When Mason High School closed its doors, the victim of the Baby Bust, there was talk of attaching the name of the long-time Tulsa superintendent to Memorial High School, making it Mason Memorial High School. The idea was quickly shot down -- for one thing, Charles Mason was still living, making a memorial premature. More importantly, the school was already dedicated as a memorial to thousands of Tulsans:

Memorial Senior High School

Dedicated to Tulsa students and teachers who served in World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam conflicts

I am dedicated in memory of all Tulsa students and teachers who, in complete devotion, determined that those ideals which built our republic shall remain forever secure.

My high purpose is to teach an abiding love for America which shall serve her at all times -- and, should destiny so determine, a love which will courageously serve her to "the last full measure of devotion" that the dignity of man may be always held in high esteem.

I am a perpetual light to all who cherish freedom.

As long as youth shall devote themselves to serious endeavour in my classrooms and fill my corridors with laughter, I stand as a living symbol of all who seek a better life through education.

My small part in all this was as a member of the Eagleton Brothers' Barbecue team. There were five of us who gathered at Councilor John Eagleton's home at 4 a.m. this morning to load the meat, tools, and supplies on the truck. (Dave Webster, Larry Benzel, Steve Overturf, John, and myself.) By 4:30 the smoker was in place and the fire was lit.

John puts on several barbecues each year for his neighborhood, his church, the local chapter of his college fraternity, the Tulsa County Republican Party. I've been a crew member on four or five of the feeds over the last few years; I'm still a relative novice.

The process involves bursts of intense activity as each kind of meat is seasoned and loaded into the smoker, interspersed with waiting while the smoke does its work. During one of those waiting periods, Col. Powell gave several early arrivers a guided tour of the museum. (That's County Assessor Ken Yazel in the back right of this photo. Ken came early to offer his help.) Col. Powell was a glider pilot in World War II.

We started serving at 11. The BBQ team was reinforced by several politicians. I worked one of the cutting stations, handling hot links and ribs. Mayor Kathy Taylor stood to my left, cutting racks of ribs. Clay Bird, former City Councilor and Deputy Mayor and candidate for County Commission, stood to my right, cutting up chickens and slicing bologna. There were the three of us, all armed with very sharp knives, and despite our differences, no mayhem ensued. Mayor Taylor earned a lot of respect for pitching in and staying with the task until nearly everyone was through the line, which was continuous for over an hour. DA Tim Harris, State Sen. Brian Crain, and County Assessor Ken Yazel helped carry and fill plates for veterans who were using walkers or wheelchairs.

By the time cleanup was done and all the equipment was offloaded at John's house, I was sunburned and overheated. I made it home by about 2 -- 10 hours after I started. It was a privilege to do my little bit in honor of those who endured so much more in the defense of our liberty.

BONUS LINK: The title of this entry comes from the seldom-sung final stanza of the National Anthem. In 1991, prolific sci-fi novelist Isaac Asimov wrote a tribute to "The Star-Spangled Banner," explaining why he's "crazy about it" and all four of its stanzas.

If you're a Tulsa area military veteran, you're invited to an Independence Day barbecue at Memorial High School, 5840 S. Hudson, 11:30a.m.-1:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by VFW Post 577, Memorial Veterans Association, Inc., American Legion Post 308, Military Vehicles Club, 8th Air Force Association Tulsa RSVP, Air Force Association, MHS JROTC, Air Force Sergeants Assoc., Spirit Bank, Albertsons, Walmart, Fadlers Market, Port-A-Johns, Ryan�s Family Restaurant, Cimarron Tires, Ehrles Party Supply, and Publishing Resources, Inc., and by City Councilor John Eagleton, who is donating 400 lbs. of meat and his barbecuing skills.

One more thing -- my usual weekly slot on KFAQ has been postponed until Wednesday because of the holiday.

City Councilor John Eagleton is putting on a free Independence Day veterans barbecue lunch at Memorial High School: "All Tulsa area veterans, any Service, any War, any Theater of Operation." Visit his website for details. I plan to be there to help cook and serve. If you're a veteran, you won't want to miss this event in your honor.

Jane Jacobs, the urban observer who helped blow away the cobwebs of urban planning dogma so that we could see what really makes a city work, passed away in April. My Urban Tulsa Weekly column last week was a salute to Jane Jacobs, highlighting three lessons from her landmark 1960 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, one of my favorite books.

Also of note last week: Jamie Pierson's first column for UTW, in which she recalls a suburban Tulsa upbringing, gives thanks for her midtown-based young adulthood, and gives a tongue-in-cheek call for deannexing everything south of I-44.

At the end of last September, Tulsa's Casa Bonita closed its doors, but only because the space was to be leased to the founder of Casa Bonita, Bill Waugh, for a new Casa Viva restaurant. Same concept, same decor, and the original ownership.

The restaurant reopened this Monday, and tonight, as a belated end-of-the-school-year treat, our family had dinner there.

Everything had a bright new coat of paint, but otherwise it is the same place, with the same basic menu. The system is slightly different; you pay when order, as you come in, which makes putting a tip on a credit card, a bit awkward, and makes it impossible to add something later (e.g. deciding you want a soda in mid-meal).

They are still working out some kinks with the system. They forgot to put guacamole on my all-you-can-eat dinner. There was some confusion at the order pickup window. We got hold of some sticky silverware, which was promptly replaced. When there were problems the staff were prompt and polite in fixing them. Everyone enjoyed their food.

After dinner, we walked around to look at the other rooms. It looks like they may have reopened some eating areas that had been closed, including the old jail. Here are my two big kids in front of the Treasure Room.

We played some arcade games, then went back to the old cantina for the magic show. We finished up at the arcade. My five-year-old liked the alligator-slapping game and the dragon-stomping game. (I helped on the alligator game, and we set the high score.) The nine-year-old played the Star Wars podracer game a couple of times. I played Centipede, and my wife had a try at Skee-Ball.

All told, we were there about two-and-a-half hours, and it was a fun evening for the whole family.

A friend of mine seems to be a magnet for political survey calls, and she makes a point of e-mailing me when a new one comes in. This one is fascinating. Here's her verbatim account of the call:

Call early this evening, which I cut short after 15 minutes, and told we were only half-way through. He said he wasn't allowed to tell from where he was calling (I asked), yet chuckled somewhat knowingly to some answers. But then, maybe he called other KFAQ listeners...

First 3 questions dealt with approval or not of 1-City Council 2-County Commission 3-mayor

Next several dealt with city heading in right direction, view of city (small regional like Wichita, Springfield, etc.), large regional (KC, San Antonio, JAX !!!), large national (Dallas, NYC, Seattle), international (Paris, etc.) Unbelievable...Then asked if Tulsa was any of the aforementioned in its glorious past.

Should Tulsa be known for something i.e.. energy rather than oil OR something like an Eiffel Tower, St. Louis arch, Golden Gate Bridge (I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!)

Then it got into pushing the need for younger residents, higher-paying jobs, downtown dev. to fight crime, things to do in Tulsa, city center more imp. than the burbs, utilizing the river...

RIVER-the main point of the call-need for development to combat all the problems of the city.

Vision of restaurants, parks, recreation...making a lake with an island in the middle with housing for 10k residents, sailing, concerts. A very large canopy (LANDMARK LIKE THE EIFFEL TOWER-NOT MAKING THIS UP!!) Great detail on the canopy over the island which would keep temp to 80 in the summer, warm in the winter, put Tulsa on the tourist map...

TAXES-how much would I be willing to pay? Another penny on the salestax or $140 (not sure may have been $114) on each 100k of assessed value of property.

At this point he lost me & I was late leaving, so thanked him and said good-bye. Hope someone tapes the whole interview for you. There were voices in the background going over the same questions.

Caller ID: out of area

So -- whoever is behind the call was testing the water for higher taxes to pay for doing something dramatic with the river.

Here's an idea -- stop work on the arena, use that money to pay for river development infrastructure (low water dams, bank stabilization, etc.), and leave the skeleton of the arena as a monument to politicians and special interests who pushed their own vision and pushed the people's vision off into the distant future.

(By the way, if ever you get a survey call on political subjects, write down all the details you can and e-mail them to me at blog at batesline dot com. It's a good way to get an early warning of the trends that are headed our way.)

About a week ago, it caught my eye as I was headed east on 11th, just east of Harvard: A portable sign with just three words on it: BEEF ON WECK. It was in front of The Right Wing, a restaurant that specializes in Buffalo-style hot wings.

Those three words won't mean much to most Tulsans, but I took a number of lengthy trips to Erie County, New York, a couple of years ago, where beef on weck is the true local specialty, more so than spicy chicken wings.

Beef on weck is thin-sliced roast beef, served on a kummelweck roll -- a bun encrusted with coarse salt and caraway seeds, with a bit of a glaze to it -- with a bit of juice either on the sandwich or on the side. In a fine Buffalo-area tavern (like the Bar-Bill Tavern in East Aurora) you'll find a pot of prepared horseradish at the table for your sandwich.

I had seen beef on weck on only one other Tulsa menu: that of the ultra-elegant, whiter-than-white Table Ten in Brookside. It was $10, if I recall correctly. (It no longer seems to be on the menu.)

This Monday I saw the doctor for the bronchitis that had been dogging me for several days. His office was near 11th and Utica, just a couple of miles from The Right Wing. It was a perfect opportunity and a perfect reason to have my first beef on weck in two long years -- nothing like a sandwich piled high with horseradish to cut through all the gunk.

It took a while, but it was worth the wait. My only complaint -- I was given a very small cup of horseradish -- nowhere near enough to get some with every bite. I'll remember to ask for more next time.

There is something about the blending of the flavors and textures. I think that coarse salt on the bun is the key.

Here's a recipe for converting kaiser rolls to kummelweck. And here's a paean I wrote to beef on weck back in February '04.

Starbucks' frivolous claim of trademark infringement against Tulsa's DoubleShot Coffee Company is getting attention around the blogosphere.

See-Dubya, blogging at Patterico's Pontifications:

I bring this up both to tweak Starbucks for being humorless pronks and also to point out that lawyers sometimes sit around with nothing to do and decide to make trouble to prove that they�re worth the salaries they pull down. With intellectual property stuff like this, they have a semi-legitimate concern that they could lose the exclusive rights to their property if they don�t enforce it (this is assuming that they actually owned it in the first place, which in this case I�m pretty sure they didn�t.) But in any big company, Legal ought to always sit down with Marketing and explain exactly what they�re going to do and why they want to do it. Hopefully some of the Creative types could have explained to them that their suit was counterproductive and would tend to make the Corporation look like bullies, and just invite more infringement along with the ridicule.

At Overlawyered:

A Tulsa, Oklahoma, coffeeshop, Doubleshot Coffee, however, has received a scary-lawyer letter from Starbucks, claiming that Starbucks has an exclusive right to use the term "double shot" in relation to coffee.

I like the phrase "scary-lawyer letter."

At blogcritics:

Wal-Mart started as a small mom and pop; Kmart and Starbucks did, too.

But when these companies grow and start to use their strength to crush competition and threaten the very institution of small business that drives this country, then something has to be done.

Stores like Wal-Mart threaten small business through their ultra-low prices and selection, but Starbucks is a great example of a true corporate bully. The way many people view Starbucks as a bully is through it's use of litigation or threat of litigation against its competition....

Fortunately for Star Bock, HaidaBucks, and Charbucks, Starbucks did not win. But that did not stop them from incurring legal fees that nearly bankrupted them.

A small privately owned company with half a dozen employees does not have the money that a company like Starbucks has at its disposal for legal and court costs. Sometimes just the threat of a lawsuit can wield results.

From Begging to Differ:

Common sense dictates Starbucks should not be able to monopolize use of a name that is commonly used in an industry to describe a product or service. That would sort of defeat the purpose of trademark law. Starbucks should not be able to do that. But what they can do is throw their legal firepower and resources at smaller regional shops to drain the resources of the smaller shops. That's exactly what they are doing.

In this instance I�m not sure how successful Starbucks�s efforts have been. It seems (from looking at DoubleShot�s blog) that DoubleShot is enjoying the attention generated by this dispute. Especially with a company like Starbucks, alternatives are likely to be started by and patronized by people with anti chain (and �anti corporate�) streaks. Not the type of people likely to back down. Maybe even the type of people who come up with creative ways to fight the battle.

From Stay Free! Daily, the blog of a Brooklyn-based magazine:

This isn't the first time Starbucks has tried to trademark a common phrase and bully smaller members of the industry out of using it. For example, Starbucks didn't invent Christmas but they attempted to stop the monks of the All-Merciful Savior Monastery from selling a Christmas blend of their Monastery Blend Coffee. I'm glad to see that the DoubleShot folks intend to fight back; I hope it doesn't cost them too much money.

Meanwhile, our doughty entrepreneur has some serious thinking to do:

Time is drawing short and some critical decisions need to be made. Many people have recommended that I just submit to Starbucks and change the name of my business. They have too much money and could squeeze me out of business, right? Maybe I'm an idealist, but in my mind this isn't just about a little caf� in Tulsa Oklahoma. This is about what is right and wrong. This is about a corporation trying to live above the rules, and lay claim to words that have been in the coffee industry for a century. I'm not the kind of guy to lay down and let the schoolyard bully push me around.

The response to the attorneys will happen this week. Should I press the issue and take a chance of being sued? If I am sued, where will I get the money for a lawyer? Will someone trustworthy of this case work pro bono? If I cannot find a lawyer, can I stand up for myself in court? I know I am right; and I know that I can clearly state the case. If I must have a lawyer for a lawsuit and do not have one, should I play it safe and negotiate backward? There is much to consider.

As someone who was threatened with an intellectual property lawsuit, I can empathize with Brian Franklin, proprietor of Tulsa's DoubleShot Coffee Company:

I sense there has been some confusion. At least, that's what the letter says that I received from Starbucks' attorneys.

It's true. I received a letter last week informing me that I am infringing on a trademark that Starbucks has had since 2001, "Starbuck's Doubleshot." The lawyers advised me to cease using the DoubleShot Coffee Company name, to shut down my website (http://www.DoubleShotCoffee.com), and to destroy everything I have which bears the "DoubleShot" name. Come read the letter yourself-- it's framed and hanging on the wall, over the garbage can.

At first I frowned, then I smiled, then I laughed, then I experienced a little anger and fear, and then I went back to vengeance and irritable laughter. As you know, I don't take kindly to people telling me what to do. After briefly discussing the matter with my lawyer, and a gaggle of other lawyers who regularly patronize DoubleShot (my DoubleShot, not the can at the gas station), I don't think Starbucks has a leg to stand on. Doubleshot is a generic industry term for two shots of espresso. They have no exclusive rights to it. But they will try to scare me and lawyer me out of business if we give them the opportunity.

So today, as a legal clarification, I would like everyone to know that we are not Starbuck's Doubleshot. If we tricked you into coming in here, thinking you could get a can of Starbuck's DoubleShot here, please let me know.

And if you thought that $2 Tuesday was a sale on Starbuck's Doubleshot, I vehemently apologize for the confusion and ask you to please not come in here anymore because stupid people annoy me.

On the other hand, if you are brilliant enough to seek out a pound of fresh-roasted DoubleShot coffee, you will be rewarded today. Come in anytime today for $2 Tuesday, and receive a $2 discount on every pound of oh-so-tasty-coffee you purchase.

We don't have any cans of Starbuck's Doubleshot here, but we do have the freshest coffee on the planet!

Please tell as many people as you can about this outrageous Starbucks chicanery. We figure that the more publicity and public indignation we stir up, the better chance we will have at standing up against this evil corporate empire.

Find out more information about this on the latest episode of AA Cafe (and learn how to get a 15% discount on web orders):
http://www.DoubleShotCoffee.com/aacafe or on iTunes (search for "AA Cafe" in the music store).

I'd be interested to know what Ron Coleman, IP attorney and blawger extraordinaire, thinks about this. Actually, based on this recent item about Marvel and DC Comics trying to trademark the word "super-hero," I can guess. (As general counsel for the Media Bloggers Association, Ron responded on my behalf to the Tulsa World's legal threats.)

I'd think the Swinging Medallions would have a better infringement claim than Starbucks.

If you're a blogger, help spread the word about Starbucks' bullying. If you're a coffee drinker, stop by DoubleShot at 18th and Boston and buy a cup of great coffee to show your support. And stay tuned to DoubleShot's brand new blog for updates on the situation.

This is going to be a departure from BatesLine's usual content, the sort of thing that Mister Snitch calls a long-tail post. Google seems to treat this blog pretty favorably, so I'm hopeful that this entry will be found by Cowsills fans as they search the net.

In the linkblog a few days ago, I made mention of the woes that have recently befallen The Cowsills, a the late '60s pop band that also happened to be a family. The band consisted of four brothers, their mom, and their little sister Susan.

(Hollywood saw the TV potential of the group, but after the fashion of the time that potential was translated into a situation comedy based on their story, featuring professional actors miming to music. Nowadays, the Cowsills would have been made the stars of their own reality series.)

The Cowsill family has lost a lot in the last few months, starting with Hurricane Katrina. Barry Cowsill, in New Orleans when the storm hit, was missing until January, when his body was identified.

Susan Cowsill and her husband made it out of New Orleans in time, but with nothing but their pets and the clothes on their back. Their priceless family archives were lost to the storm.

Then, a week ago, as family and friends gathered in the family's hometown of Newport, R.I., to remember Barry, they learned that oldest brother Billy had died at his home in Calgary.

Susan Cowsill has a connection to Tulsa. Susan sang backup and harmony vocals with Dwight Twilley's band, going back to the '80s, and she lived in Tulsa for a time. She was here last August performing with Twilley, not long before Katrina hit.

(YouTube has a music video, "Some Good Years," a song the regrouped Cowsills recorded in the early '90s. The video was part of a tribute to Barry, and it features clips from the Cowsills' American Dairy Association commercial, a 1967 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and TV appearances with Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, Buddy Ebsen, and Mike Douglas. Even if you aren't a fan, if you fondly remember variety shows of the era, you'll enjoy the trip down Memory Lane. Hat tip to the Dawn Patrol.)

Susan Cowsill could use your help in a couple of ways. She and her husband lost everything to Katrina. Back in September Dwight and Jan Twilley began collecting funds to help with basic needs, and in an e-mail a couple of days ago, Jan Twilley confirmed to me that there is still a need and they are still accepting donations. You can send donations to:

Susan Cowsill
c/o Jan Twilley
4306 S. Peoria Suite 642
Tulsa, OK. 74105-3924

The Cowsill family also hopes to replace some of the memorabilia that was lost to the storm. Through the Cowsills Archive Project, the family is asking for fans to share their Cowsills memorabilia by uploading photos and scans. They would also welcome any memorabilia you can bear to part with to help rebuild the family's collection.

I only learned about The Cowsills in the last year or so, so I can't claim to be a longtime fan, but I was touched by this story of loss upon loss -- and its contrast to the happy innocence you'll see in that video -- and I wanted to let people know how they can help. I'm hopeful that Cowsills fans will come across this entry, spread the word, and help in any way they can.

According to La Semana del Sur, Casa Laredo is closing its long-time location at 41st and Peoria. From other sources I've heard the move is to make way for the expansion of Wild Oats Market. The cool news is that they plan to build a new location next to the Hotel Savoy near 6th and Peoria (recently redubbed the Pearl District), near the Village at Central Park. It's a real vote of confidence for the 6th Street corridor and could encourage more new businesses to spring up in the area. (I seem to recall that Chimi's original location on 15th Street -- where Kilkenny's is now -- was a catalyst for new business activity on Cherry Street in the early '90s.)

One of my Urban Tulsa Weekly columns was about the idea of the new downtown sports arena as an "icon", and what it means for a building to be iconic:

An icon is a symbol. In the computer world, it�s a small image that has enough detail to help you remember what program that will be launched when you click on it. In religious terms, it�s an image of a saint, depicting details of the saint�s ministry or martyrdom which identify the saint and remind the viewer of his or her story. For both meanings of the word, an icon is supposed to bring to mind the thing or person being iconified.

When you see an �iconic� structure, you immediately know its location. Think of the U. S. Capitol; the domes of the Kremlin; Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament; the Colosseum; the Parthenon; the Statue of Liberty; the Eiffel Tower; the Gateway Arch; the Leaning Tower; the Pyramids.

Television shows and movies use iconic structures to set the scene without a single word. An iconic structure works because it is distinctive and it connects with a famous location. The less famous the place, the more distinctive the structure needs to be to work as an icon. Like it or not, Tulsa�s most iconic structure is the Golden Driller. It works because people still associate Tulsa with oil. The American, if it�s ever built, could be an icon for our state because people associate Oklahoma with American Indians.

Proving my point unintentionally, the Tulsa Whirled's website has been running an online poll, asking readers to pick their top four Tulsa scenes out of 16. The winning scene will be used on the box of a Monopoly-type game called Tulsa on Board, which is being developed by Leadership Tulsa. The text of the poll reads:

As a sponsor, the Tulsa World will provide artwork, but we need your help. The box should visually reflect what it means to live in Tulsa; and we thought who would know better than Tulsans themselves?

As I write this, the top vote-getter among the photos is the Golden Driller (816 votes), followed by the Cain's Ballroom (673 votes), an aerial photo of downtown, with the refineries, the river, and the setting sun in the background (619 votes), and Art Deco (529 votes -- the photo is of the Boston Avenue Church tower). The "iconic" arena is in 6th place, but well back of the leaders, with only 341 votes. (The Philtower was 5th, with 445 votes.)

Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune has mentioned this paper time and time again, and here it is on the web: the 2006 Oklahoma Economic Outlook for the Tulsa MSA, by Ed Price, Associate Professor of Economics.

The paper states that the Tulsa metro area is "poised to regain much of what it has lost and to have a significant, positive impact on the state's economy." It projects a 2.9% growth of the gross metropolitan output in real terms, the "best real growth in a decade." Scattered throughout the three pages of text are specific percentages for projected growth for different sectors of the metro area economy.

What isn't there is any statement of the basis for the projected 2006 numbers, what forces are at work in the Tulsa metro area or the broader national and global economy to produce a specific level of job growth here. Assumptions had to be made to generate these numbers, but the reader is not given the opportunity to examine and evaluate those assumptions.

This was very interesting: The last page of the report shows historic employment data overall and in various categories, with real numbers from 1999 through 2004, an estimate for 2005, and a projection for 2006. Note the "Information" category -- between 2001 and 2004 information technology employment in the Tulsa metro area dropped by 23%, and is nowhere near recovering. Employment in Natural Resources and Mining, which I assume would include the oil industry, is projected to continue to drop, although not as steeply.

Something to keep in mind, as you consider this report in light of local politics: The report covers the entire Tulsa MSA, which includes all of Tulsa County, not just the City of Tulsa, plus Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Pawnee, Rogers, and Wagoner Counties.

You'll find links to the economic outlook for the entire state and the OKC metro area here.

A couple of good recent meals out:

My wife and I ate tonight at the Golden Saddle Barbecue and Steakhouse, on Admiral east of Sheridan. My wife had the filet, I had a three-meat BBQ plate -- pork ribs, pork loin, and pulled pork. It was all very good, but the pulled pork was especially good. You can tell good barbecue when it's tender and flavorful enough to eat without sauce. Good coleslaw and tabouli, too. The owner and the waitstaff were very attentive and very concerned to make sure we enjoyed our meal. The prices were very good for the quantity and quality of the food, and the restaurant was clean and bright. We'll visit again.

For lunch, I tried a little Indian restaurant just south of the Taco Bueno at 61st and Garnett. They had a small but tasty buffet for $5.99 for lunch, but the best part of lunch was watching part of a Bollywood comedy/melodrama/tragedy/musical called "Ishq", in Hindi with English subtitles. Rich boy loves poor girl, poor boy loves rich girl, wealthy dads try to interfere. Way too many musical "stings" to add drama. The actors playing the dads were both good at eye-popping, vein-bulging rage. No one said "Curses! Foiled again!" but it wouldn't have been amiss. A musical number featuring the four young lovers includes an attack by a bumbling assassin; the song and dance continues without missing a beat. Another killer for hire looks quite menacing, but when he speaks, the subtitles have him saying, "You will bling a vely high plice," followed by the young people repeating the phrase and mocking the thug's accent. (Reminds me of the translation of Lysistrata which had the Spartans speaking like the Joads, to correspond to the less-sophisticated manner of speaking ascribed to the Spartans in the original Greek.) It was all wonderfully and unintentionally over the top, at least for American sensibilities.

Jim Heskett, a blogger now residing in Boulder, Colo., recently came back to Tulsa and elsewhere in Oklahoma for a visit and is posting photos. You'll find them in his October and November archives. I especially liked the shot of the River Parks fountain in this entry -- you will, too.

Bobby of Tulsa Topics also runs his neighborhood's blog -- Lewis Crest News -- and he's got some good news up about the I-44 widening. After worries that 51st Street between Lewis and Harvard would be turned into an eastbound-only service road, ODOT's latest plan, unveiled at a public meeting to night, has 51st remaining as two-way street, but with an additional turn lane. Good news for the homeowners and businesses on the south side of 51st. Businesses on the north side of 51st will still be wiped out when I-44 is widened, and there's still no timeline for when that will happen.

Bobby promises video and more details from the meeting later on Tulsa Topics.

I understand the desire to complete six-laning this stretch of road, but I don't understand why it should take priority over an even more heavily-loaded, dangerous stretch of I-44 -- the four miles in east Tulsa between the junction with I-244 west of 145th East Ave and the junction with Oklahoma 66 east of 193rd East Ave. Through traffic can easily bypass the section of I-44 in midtown Tulsa by taking I-244, which is wider, newer by about 20 years, and much less heavily loaded. But the east Tulsa segment, the most heavily traveled highway segment in Oklahoma, is almost unavoidable. (The Creek Turnpike is an alternate route, albeit a circuitous and expensive one.) Six lanes of westbound traffic from OK 66, I-44, and US 412 funnel down to two. From the other direction, four lanes from I-44 and I-244 merge into two. A traffic accident can paralyze the road for hours. Traffic coming from the west on I-244 can't spot a backup until it's too late to exit

If it were up to me, I'd make an upgrade of the east Tulsa segment top priority, and swap signs between I-44 and I-244. Make the newer, wider, better road the designated route for through traffic.

Did you know you can hail a pedicab in Jenks? Golzern Pedicabs will take you from the Jenks Riverwalk to nearby Jenks locations -- you name the price. How do they make money? Apparently from special events and selling advertising on the attention-getting vehicle. (Found via Tulsa Indy Gazetteer.)

The newly reborn and expanded Mayo Meadow Neighborhood Association -- bounded by 21st Street, Pittsburg, the Broken Arrow Expressway, and Yale -- now has an online presence at tulsamayomeadow.blogspot.com. It's a blog, as you might have guessed from the URL, and that's a quick way to establish a web presence and begin to build content. David Hamby did a great job of getting it up and running.

The most recent entry is about the association's next general meeting on November 15.

Speaking of great food in out of the way places, roadfood.com's Michael Stern was in Tulsa earlier this week and stopped in at the White River Fish Market at 1708 N. Sheridan in Tulsa. Here's his review.

The gumbo there is a favorite of ours. My wife and I first had it at the store's booth at the Tulsa State Fair years ago. It was especially chilly and damp that day, their booth was outside on the midway then, and a big cup of gumbo really warmed us up. The restaurant is just a mile west and a few blocks south of the Tulsa International Airport terminal, so it's a convenient place for a good meal going to or from the airport. (Take Virgin St. from the airport to Sheridan, and keep an eye out for J. Paul Getty's little house on the south side of the street as you get close to Sheridan.)

White River is the 12th Oklahoma restaurant reviewed by the Sterns, and the first one in Tulsa.

Oh, and fish from White River were used on "Wheel of Fish," one of the innovative local programs in Weird Al's movie "UHF".

First up is a blog that isn't new, but is new to me. Eddie Huff, whom I know from the Executive Committee of the Tulsa County Republican Party, has a blog of political commentary called New Black Thought, which has been up and running for about a year. His latest entry takes aim at critics of President Bush's nomination of Harriett Miers to the U. S. Supreme Court. Eddie is also part of a group blog called the New Underground Railroad, with the slogan, "Leading Blacks to freedom from the bondage of psychological slavery."

Brian C. Biggs, son of Tulsa Beacon publisher Charlie Biggs, has a shiny new WordPress blog.

Ramblings from a Born and Bred Okie is another newly-minted blog. Blogger Michelle had some nice things to say about this site and some thoughts on local politics.

And via Steve Roemerman, I've learned about a two-day old blog devoted to capturing Tulsa's distinctive signage -- Signs of Tulsa. If you love classic neon signs (calling Dwayne!) you'll find this site exciting.

Visit these bloggers, and give them some encouragement.

Ron W., a frequent commenter here, has now started his own blog: Route 66 News, which he describes as a "clearinghouse of news and events pertaining to historic Route 66, the Mother Road." He's been up less than a week, but already has a lot of great content, including a list of links to 239 Route 66 attractions and websites.

There's an important breaking news item: Western Swing band Cow Bop will be performing at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame Thursday at 7.

If you like good barbecue, you can try some of the best I've ever had and help a good cause this afternoon.

It's a fundraiser for the Tulsa County Republican Party at Brush Creek Farm, 10900 S. Louisville Ave., in Tulsa. The event is from 2 pm to 6 pm. The cost is $25 per family, or $10 per adult, $5 per child, six and under free.

The food alone -- Eagleton Bros. Barbecue -- will be worth the price of admission. John Eagleton, who is running for City Council District 7, is an excellent barbecue chef. I'll be one of several honorary Eagleton Bros. for the day, assisting John at the smoker.

Besides great food, you'll have the chance to meet many Republican elected officials and lots of rank-and-file Republicans who share a passion for politics.

Come join us, and if you see me, be sure to come up and introduce yourself.

I'm down at Shades of Brown, working on my Urban Tulsa Weekly column, and from the next table I'm hearing a lot about nuns assimilating, but by the context they're not talking about the acculturation of immigrant Catholic religious women. It's a couple of ORU grad students trying to get their brains around Hebrew orthography.

Shades has a full house tonight, and it's gratifying to see a lot of the patrons perusing the latest issue of UTW as they sip their coffee.

In that new UTW issue, you'll find my latest column, on infill development in Brookside, and some encouraging steps toward accommodating new development without sacrificing the neighborhood's character. G. W. Schulz has the cover story -- it's about the challenges faced by EMSA, Tulsa's ambulance service. As a former Austin resident, G. W.'s also a part of a symposium on the OU-Texas rivalry. The discussion goes beyond football to the differences in attitude between north and south of the Red River. Way down Texas way, they don't mind rowdy politicians:

When Tulsa City Councilors Chris Medlock and Jim Mautino began raising hell at City Hall, the city recoiled with shame and horror as if someone had farted at a funeral. We're generally timid and quiet; we don't like anyone making too much noise.

But Mautino and Medlock's antics hardly would have made the pages of the Austin American-Statesman. The only time Texans blink is when someone isn't screaming and yelling at the capitol building.

Pick up a copy and read the whole thing.

I spotted a sign on a CITGO station today: "Celebrating our 40th Anniversary." 40 years ago? I knew Cities Service Oil Co. was much older than that, going back to the Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Co in the first years of the 20th century. CITGO as an independent entity was much younger than that -- mid '80s, following the takeover of Cities Service by Occidental Petroleum.

40 years ago, on May 16th, 1965, was when Cities Service began to market its gasoline under the CITGO brand, featuring the equilateral triangle, colored in three shades of red for a three-dimensional appearance.

It was right about that time, plus or minus a few weeks, that our family moved from Lawrence, Kansas, to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for Dad to start work for Cities Service. Whether or not the brand rollout made an impression on the general public, it made a deep impression on my 18-month-old brain, or so I'm told, and though I didn't say much else at that age, I could say, "Cities Service is CITGO NOW!" We could see the Cities Service sign atop their downtown building from the little house on Delaware that we rented from the company.

Cities Service didn't stay in Bartlesville much longer. Bartlesville belonged to Phillips Petroleum. As the rhyme went:

Cities Service makes me nervous. Phillips gives you better service.

In 1968, Cities Service announced it would locate its HQ in Tulsa, consolidating offices from New York, Philadelphia, Bartlesville, and elsewhere. We moved in the summer of 1969.

Cities Service followed me to college -- a $3,000 a year National Merit scholarship. (It helped MIT, but didn't help me -- at the time, MIT simply deducted outside scholarships from their grant amount.) And there was that CITGO sign over Kenmore Square -- it was restored and relit about halfway through my time there.

It was right about that time that T. Boone Pickens tried and failed to take over Cities Service, Armand Hammer (the old Commie) succeeded, CITGO was spun off and sold to the 7-Eleven people. And it was about that time that Dad got his 20-year watch and a few months later, his pink slip. Funny that Dad's career with the company corresponds so closely to the span from the birth of CITGO as a marketing name to the birth of CITGO as a separate entity.

Funny, too, that 20 years after Dad faced life apart from the company he'd served for nearly his entire adult life to that point, I'm facing my own career crossroads.

Anyway, click here if you want to see what a Cities Service station looked like before the switch to CITGO.

Rita is fizzling out in southern Arkansas, but another hurricane, a Golden Hurricane, hit Tulsa's Skelly Stadium tonight. The University of Tulsa won their first game in Conference USA over the Memphis Tigers, 37-31, in overtime. Despite a 200-yard, three touchdown performance by Memphis star running back DeAngelo Williams, TU led at half-time and through most of the game.

It was homecoming, and the crowd -- about 25,000 is my guess -- was into the game, interfering with Memphis' no huddle offense. The loud crowd seemed to be responsible for Memphis' false start on 4th and 3 during their overtime possession. Williams was run out of bounds for a gain of seven on the subsequent 4th and 8 final play of the game.

My son and I were there with a group of friends. It was his first TU game ever, my first in over 10 years. It was an exciting game, and we had a great time.

UPDATE (9/26/2005): I was amazed at how much my nine-year-old absorbed. He wasn't saying much during the game, although he was smiling a lot, and someone in our group asked what I had him on that he was so well behaved. Sunday afternoon over lunch, he was giving his mom highlights of the game in great detail -- the missed PAT, the PAT that hit the scissor lift and the one that bounced onto the bus, the fluffed handoff. Of course, one of the highlights for him was sliding down the south end zone slope on a piece of cardboard after the game.

Our group was greatly amused every time the referee announced a call. The ref had a rasp to his voice that reminded us of City Council Chairman Roscoe Turner. I half-expected him to begin each penalty call with, "I have a problem with that."

The Tulsa Free WiFi website now has a Google map showing all the hotspots in its directory. Click on a point and get a popup showing the name and phone number of the location, plus a link to a review, if there is one.

In increasing numbers, people are making decisions about where to have lunch, get a cup of coffee, or get new tires based on whether there's a free WiFi connection. I am, anyway. Recently I was scheduled to attend a meeting at Espresso Milano on Cherry Street. I was in the area an hour or so before the meeting, so I thought I'd get there early, get something to drink, and get caught up on e-mail. Before I placed my order, I asked the barista if they had free WiFi. He admitted, in an apologetic tone, that they did not. I thanked him politely then walked over to WiFi-enabled Cafe Cubana and got my coffee there.

Somewhat related: Tulsa TV Memories has a page about Tulsa coffee houses, past and present. There's a recently updated and hotlinked list of current coffee houses, followed by reminiscences about Tulsa coffee houses and the folk music scene of the '60s and '70s. On the list of today's coffee houses, I see two listed as having free WiFi that I hadn't heard about before: Tulsa Sips at 3701 S Peoria and Sumatra at 4244 S Peoria.

Just in case you hadn't heard, there's a hurricane headed Tulsa's way. Rita is expected to reach southeastern Oklahoma by early Monday morning, and has the potential to reach Tulsa. It will be a tropical depression by then, but we could still be in for an incredible amount of rain and stormy weather. Keep an eye on it at the National Hurricane Center's website.

Traditionally, economic development aid in the Third World has involved western banks lending massive sums of money to Third World governments for massive public works projects. That approach has been very effective at lining the Swiss bank accounts of despots and putting these countries deep into debt, but it hasn't been very effective at raising the standard of living.

The idea seemed to be: Western nations have dams and airports and factories and towering buildings and they are prosperous. If we build dams and airports and factories and towering buildings we will become prosperous, too. It's a classic case of post hoc, propter hoc reasoning, and it makes about as much sense as, say, seeing a vibrant downtown with a new arena and thinking that if we build a new arena our downtown will be vibrant, too.

It's come to be understood that there are factors in the wealth of nations which aren't as noticeable as factories or dams or arenas, but which are essential to prosperity. This social capital evolved over millenia in the West, but they haven't had as long to take root elsewhere.

One of these factors is a system of banking accessible to everyone -- the ability for someone to take out a small loan, at a reasonable rate of interest, to start a business. Think about it: Western economies didn't begin with people going down to the unemployment office looking for someone else to hire them. Individuals found something they could make or do which was valuable enough to exchange for food, clothing, or shelter.

It may not take much to get started in a small venture that could provide for one's family, but sometimes that "not much" is far more than one has hope of acquiring. It's a bootstrapping problem, and I appreciate anti-poverty organizations that focus on providing the "not much" to allow someone to get going on his own.

One such organization is FINCA International. FINCA works in 23 countries, mainly in Central America, central Africa, and the nations of the former Soviet Union. FINCA establishes village banking groups made up of 10 to 50 individuals who not only lend money to members, but also provide accountability and support. Small amounts of money can make a huge difference to these budding entrepreneurs:

FINCA borrowers receive working capital so that their efforts can become more productive. For instance, they can buy rice in bulk at wholesale prices, and resell at retail prices. They can buy a used refrigerator to keep produce fresh. They can purchase a sewing machine instead of stitching by hand. As village bankers become more productive, they increase their income and are able to accumulate savings for other investments and for emergencies.

This Saturday in the Blue Dome District, Tulsans have an opportunity to support FINCA's microfinance work and have some fun at the same time. It's the first One Village Festival and Pub Crawl. The festival runs from noon to 6 pm and will feature folk dance troupes, drum circles, a petting zoo, and poetry readings. The pub crawl starts at 9 pm, and a ticket ($10 advance, $13 at the event) will get you into seven Blue Dome District nightspots to hear live music -- e.g., Irish music at Arnie's, reggae at 1974, jazz at Tsunami Sushi, blues at McNellie's. The proceeds will go to establish a FINCA-sponsored bank in a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).

For contact info and more information about the event, click on the link for the One Village Festival.

I had the same reaction as Dave Schuttler when I saw the new News Talk 740 KRMG billboard. Are these three notorious figures endorsing KRMG's news coverage?

Or are they going to be the new afternoon drive-time team? Osama bin Ladin news and comment: "Hello, Americans, this is Osama bin Ladin. Stand by... to die!". Kim Jong-Il with traffic and weather on the 7s: "Forecast for tonight: The Democratic Republic of Korea will rain death and destruction on you capitalist running dogs. Right now -- it's sunny and a remarkable 74 degrees."* Saddam "Scoop" Hussein with sports: "The Sooners are regrouping after their opening loss to Texas Tech. If it were up to me, I'd have them all shot."

It's a strange way to market the station, especially since none of these three are at the forefront of the news at the moment. In a way, it's commendable that the station would do this -- we could all use a reminder that there are evildoers who seek to destroy our way of life.

Still, from a marketing perspective, it might have been better to use photos of Joe, Denver, and Rick.

(* In the days before digital radio tuners, KRMG was not "740" but "74," as in "KRMG -- 74 Karat Gold!" There was a particular phrase they used when the temperature was 74. I think it was, "It's a remarkable 74 degrees," but that doesn't sound quite right. Anyone else remember?)

Some articles you shouldn't miss:

G. W. Schulz looks into allegations of racial discrimination at Clear Channel's Tulsa operation.

Claudette Lancaster has more about the rerelease of "The Outsiders" on DVD, about how the movie came to be made in the first place, and about some of the locations used in the movie.

Katharine Kelly writes on end-of-life ethics, with perspectives from Rabbi Charles Sherman of Temple Israel, Kevin Donovan from OU's Bioethics Center, Msgr. Patrick Gaalaas, Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Sister Julie Manternach, a chaplain at Saint John Medical Center, and Ron Nofziger, Chaplain at Hillcrest Medical Center.

A press release from the group that has been trying to moderate AEP's aggressive tree-trimming policy. Apparently there have been some changes in AEP's practices and polices:

There will be a public meeting at beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 9/13/2005, at Wright Elementary School, 1110 E. 45th Pl. (1 block west of Peoria). The purpose of this meetingis to discuss AEP's "vegetation management" program. Homeowners will be advised about their rights and responsibilities and informed about recent changes in AEP's practices and policies regarding vegetation management.

All citizens who live in AEP's Oklahoma service area are cordially invited and encouraged to attend.

For information please call Valerie Vonhartitzsch at 749-2848, Shannon Hall at 520-2258, or Herb Beattie at 749-4586.

There was a Readers' Forum op-ed in today's Whirled written in opposition to Intelligent Design. You can't read that online, but you can read the thorough rebuttal by Dan Paden at No Blog of Significance, specifically dealing with the question of the fossil record. Dan's concluding paragraph:

Evolutionists frequently amaze me. To sum up their public position, they say: We don't agree on whether evolution happened gradually, in tiny steps, or rapidly, in great, big jumps. We don't agree on mechanisms for driving evolution. We don't agree on the implications of the fossil record. We don't have a workable scenario for the origin of life other than spontaneous generation, which, embarrassingly, Louis Pasteur disproved more than a hundred years ago. We can't even agree on the value of the Hubble Constant. But by gum and by golly, we expect you, the public--great unwashed mass of idiots that you are--not only to kowtow to us and believe that this same body of evidence that doesn't even produce agreement amongst ourselves somehow establishes evolution as a fact, but to pony up the funds to indoctrinate your own children with this idea. Once again, I kid thee not. That's what they say.

Another Reader's Forum op-ed in today's Whirled dealt with the proposed display of Genesis 1 at the Tulsa Zoo. John Sieler, who volunteers at the zoo and at the Oklahoma Aquarium, says that the reason it's appropriate to display a Hindu idol, a pantheistic slogan, and Maasai theology at the zoo is because all of those have to do with the cultural context in which animals are encountered, while the proposed creation exhibit was for the purpose of making converts to Christianity:

The question is not what symbols are displayed, but why. It is necessary to talk about cultures; it is illegal to use public property to advocate one religious viewpoint. Conservative Christians are evangelical -- they want to talk about their faith in order to promote it and gain converts. But they incorrectly assume that any mention of another faith is for the same purpose. No Inuit or Maasai ever asked the zoo to put up an exhibit in order to recruit new members.

This comment is either ignorant or disingenuous. Here is the proposed creation display. It is simply the text of Genesis 1:1-2:3, from the King James Version, with a photo illustrating an aspect of each day of creation. A disclaimer was to accompany the display: "Accounts of creation are contained in the literature of many cultures. This display is an example of one widely held view of origins."

The display is not a copy of the Four Spiritual Laws or any other gospel tract. It does exactly what Mr. Seiler claims the other religious zoo displays do -- provides a cultural context for understanding how some people regard our relationship to and responsibilities with respect to animals and to the natural world. For centuries, the Judeo-Christian understanding of creation, with its emphasis on man as the pinnacle of God's creation, made in His image and placed by Him over the rest of creation, have shaped the way western cultures treated animals.

The man whose efforts succeeded in getting approval for the display at the zoo -- for a month, anyway, until opponents regrouped and successfully pressed for a reversal of the decision -- is Dan Hicks. Last month Tulsa Chiggers posted an item about Dan Hicks, whom Red Bug (the blogger at Tulsa Chiggers) knows through school and kids' sports. His evaluation of Dan matches what I know of him -- certainly enthusiastic and persistent for his cause, but never rude or arrogant

Bits and pieces about oil, Tulsa, and Oklahoma, mostly:

The Greater Tulsa Reporter is doing a series on the history of the oil industry in Tulsa and the surrounding region. All three articles to date are online.

Is it just me, or would anyone else like to see Bob Gregory's "Oil in Oklahoma" series back on television? That series was my first in-depth introduction to Oklahoma history.

OU Professor Danney Goble has made a list of great books about Oklahoma.

The Whirled reported today that Congressman John Sullivan wants to see a "megarefinery" built at Cushing. Cushing is the pipeline crossroads of America and is "a major crude oil marketing hub in the United States," according to an FTC report. The report also says:

A substantial portion of the crude oil trade in Cushing consists of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, which arrives from pipelines originating in Texas and New Mexico, and imported crude, which is offloaded from tankers on the Gulf Coast and transported to Cushing by another pipeline. WTI crude oil delivered at Cushing is the world's most actively traded futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Prices for WTI crude traded in Cushing serve as a benchmark for the pricing of many other crude oils around the world and for crude oil futures trading on NYMEX.

According to the FTC, efficient and competitive functioning of the pipeline and oil storage facilities in and around Cushing is critical to the fluid operation of both the trading activities in Cushing and the trading of crude oil futures contracts on the NYMEX. Restriction of pipeline or storage capacity can affect the deliverable supply of crude oil in Cushing, and consequently affect both WTI cash prices and NYMEX futures prices.

It sounds like a logical place for one or more major refineries. And I must say I feel a bit of Oklahoma pride reading that a town in our state still is, in one respect, the hub of the oil industry.

There was an item on Dustbury last week about refineries post-Katrina, linking to Hatless in Hattiesburg's suggestion to replace refineries which were destroyed or disabled by Katrina with new refineries on military bases slated for being "realigned," and to Engine of the Future's suggestion to lift for three years the EPA regulations requiring different fuel blends for different regions, so that gasoline can be shipped wherever it's needed, avoiding artificial shortages.

Engine of the Future is an Oklahoma-based blog that was started in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. Blogger Mel said that US refineries had no excess capacity before Hurricane Katrina, and we lost 11% of capacity as a result of the hurricane. The remaining refineries have to crank out at least 17 different blends of gasoline -- including a special one for Tulsa, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Memphis, Nashville, Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, southern Maine, southern Louisiana, and several cities in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Be sure to read his inaugural rant.

Tulsa Topics has a new look.

Roemerman on Record has a new look.

MedBlogged has a new look.

Fistful of Fortnights won a 2005 Okie Blogger award for best design and has a new look and a new URL.

Did I miss anyone?

The new looks seem to have inspired a lot of new content. Check it out.

I guess I'm a real celeb now. I'm at Shades of Brown tonight to work on a writing project, and when I ordered my coffee I learned that there is a bit of rivalry between this coffeehouse and Double Shot over which media types frequent which coffeehouse. Jamie, the blogging barista at SoB, had boasted to a friend who works at Double Shot that I frequented the cozy caffeine station in Brookside. She said that he sent her a taunting text message to notify her that I had just walked into Double Shot.

All I want to know is, when do I start getting free coffee to buy my loyalty to one place or another?

I've been playing around with the Live365 online music service. In exchange for free registration, you get access to hundreds of individually programmed stations. There are some stations available only to paying premium customers. I've sampled traditional country, '80s New Wave (the soundtrack of my high school and college years), '60s oldies, among others.

Live365 now offers a weekly podcast, spotlighting an independent music label. This week's "SPOTcast" consists of three tracks from artists on Digital Musicworks International. The first single is "Better Watch Out," lead track from Tulsa power-pop artist Dwight Twilley's new album, 47 Moons. I wrote last week about Twilley's two free concerts in Tulsa, this coming Friday and Saturday. If you want to get a sense of the Twilley sound, you can download this "rockabilly-fueled romp," plus songs by DMI artists Redlightmusic and Headrush, via this link (15MB MP3 file).

There's a bit on the podcast, about 10 minutes in, about what makes DMI special: They don't manufacture and ship CDs. All their sales are through online music stores. The customer saves money -- an album costs $10 instead of $16 or more -- and the artist gets paid more than in a normal record deal.

UPDATED 8/20/2005 with contact information for Jason Aamodt, the attorney in the class-action lawsuit against AEP/PSO.

Tonight's meeting regarding AEP/PSO's "vegetation management" policy drew about 200 homeowners to the Whiteside Park gym. There was a little personal irony in the locale -- two years ago, in the midst of a two-day-long power outage, we held my son's seventh birthday party in that same gym, a welcome relief from the lack of air conditioning at home.

We heard from some of the homeowners who organized the meeting, the attorney representing homeowners in a class action lawsuit regarding AEP/PSO's tree-trimming policy, Mayor Bill LaFortune, AEP/PSO's local distribution manager, a spokesman for the Corporation Commission, and AEP/PSO's local forestry supervisor.

That last speaker seems to be the key person to contact if you're having a problem with tree-trimming crews overstepping their bounds, doing damage to your property, refusing to clean up, or causing other problems. Here is his contact info:

Richard Bewley
Certified Arborist
Forestry Supervisor
Public Service Company of Oklahoma
212 E 6th St
Tulsa OK 74119-1295

work: 918-599-2636
fax: 918-599-2300
cell: 918-231-0039
rdbewley@aep.com

There seem to be two factors contributing to the wanton removal and improper cutting back of trees by AEP/PSO -- AEP/PSO's interpretation of a Corporation Commission rule, and AEP/PSO's management of their tree-removal subcontractor, Asplundh.

(1) The Corporation Commission proposed and the Legislature approved a rule requiring vegetation management on a four-year cycle, meaning that at least once every four years, every wire would be checked and kept clear from vegetation. AEP/PSO has taken that rule and decided to trim every tree so that it will be at least four years until it could grow back into the lines. In most cases, that means removal if it's in the utility's easement. Everyone besides AEP/PSO thinks the utility has misinterpreted the rule in a way that reduces its costs.

(2) Asplundh, AEP/PSO's tree-trimming contractor, has 145 work crews operating in the Tulsa area. These are supervised by 8 AEP/PSO foresters (5 of whom are certified arborists) -- these 8 foresters audit the work done by the 145 crews. The Mayor said that he observed trees trimmed carefully on one block then butchered the next block over. Quality seems to vary widely from crew to crew, and with only eight overseers, it would be hard to catch a crew that is doing a poor job. Now that we know who is in charge of vegetation management, homeowners can call Mr. Bewley to report any problems with tree-trimming crews.

(There were complaints that in some of Asplundh's crews, none of the workers spoke English, making it impossible for homeowners to communicate their concerns to the crew, and there was some speculation about the legal status of many of the workers.)

Know your rights regarding tree removal, and if the work crew isn't respecting your rights, call Mr. Bewley and let him know.

Meanwhile, there is a class-action lawsuit pending against AEP/PSO. The attorney, Jason Aamodt, said that they would seek an agreement with AEP/PSO for a 30-day moratorium on tree removal to prevent further destruction of our urban forest while these issues are worked out.

Mr. Aamodt is collecting complaints about AEP/PSO's tree trimming and removal. His contact information:

Jason Aamodt
Miller Keffer Bullock Pedigo
222 South Kenosha Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120
(918) 584-2001
(918) 743-6689
jaamodt@mkblaw.net

There was some discussion of burying the lines. AEP/PSO has a pilot program in east Tulsa, using directional boring to minimize disturbance of the surface. They're spending about $1 million on it. It's estimated to cost $600,000 per mile to put a power line underground. AEP/PSO has proposed to the Corporation Commission that they bury the lines, but of course they've also proposed the corresponding rate hikes to cover the cost.

We've already had an Asplundh crew in our backyard, last year, and I think we had one of the better ones. They were careful in their trimming, only removed trees that really needed to go, and they were kind enough to trim some branches around the drop to our house, even though they aren't required to do that. We were sorry to lose the shade -- even more sorry this year, as the weeds love the extra sunlight -- but the trees we lost were fast-growing volunteers: an elm and a couple of hackberry trees. If AEP/PSO had enough arborists to keep a closer eye on the subcontractor, and if it were easier for customers to register complaints, it would go a long way toward reducing ill-will.

AEP/PSO, our local electric company, is seeking Corporation Commission approval for a new policy that would allow them to remove any tree within 15 feet of the centerline of their easement. Reports are that they've already begun implementing this in some midtown Tulsa neighborhoods.

Oakview Estates Neighborhood Association (that's 38th Street between Delaware and Lewis) has organized a public meeting on the plan this Tuesday night, August 16th, at 6 p.m., at the Whiteside Park recreation center on Pittsburg Avenue north of 41st Street. Representatives from AEP-PSO and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, members of the Tulsa City Council, and state legislators are expected to be in attendance. You'll have an opportunity to learn the details of the plan, ask questions, and voice your opinion. For more information, contact Lloyd Prueitt of the Oakview Estates Neighborhood Association at 747-9596.

One of Tulsa's finest attributes is our canopy of mature trees, particularly in the older neighborhoods of Midtown Tulsa. It immediately strikes the eye when you see the city from the air. Unfortunately, we're also a city with above-ground wires for electric, phone, and cable, and those beautiful trees threaten continuity of service, especially when the wind blows the way it did this afternoon. A power outage is a mild inconvenience for most of us, but a deadly threat to some, particularly during extreme temperatures. AEP/PSO naturally wants to reduce the number of outages and the cost of restoring service, and they don't want to have to keep going back to trim the same trees. Neither do they want the expense of burying lines.

(Anyone else remember that one of the big selling points of the new Gilcrease Hills development, when it opened in '69 or '70, was that all utilities were underground? And if you need a reminder about how ugly overhead lines are, take a look at the new Arvest Bank building at 15th and Utica -- the lines run right in front of the new building, about halfway up.)

These trees help clear the air and keep the city cooler than it would otherwise be. AEP/PSO's interests have to be balanced against the need to maintain this important civic asset.

AEP/PSO does have the right to remove trees within its easement, but the typical easement is 7.5 feet either side of the line. As a homeowner, you have the right to have a tree outside that easement, and AEP/PSO can't remove it without your permission. Back in March, I published notes from a meeting about your rights regarding AEP/PSO and tree removal.

If you love Tulsa's urban forest, I hope you'll show up Tuesday night to learn about AEP/PSO's proposal and voice your opinion on it.

Robby Bell, third-generation owner of Bell's Amusement Park, was on KFAQ with Michael DelGiorno yesterday morning discussing the probable move of the 54-year-old park from the Tulsa County Fairgrounds to about fifty acres on the west bank of the Arkansas River in Jenks, just south of the Oklahoma Aquarium and the Creek Turnpike. I think this is a positive development for Bell's and nearby neighborhoods, and the only negative is that apparently Zingo, their 60-foot-high wooden roller coaster, won't be moved to the new location.

Bell's is currently on about 10 acres, which they lease from the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority (also known as the Fair Board) for a percentage of their revenues. About 7 years ago, Bell's began to seek an expansion to take in 10 more acres to the west, all the way to Louisville Avenue, an area that is currently parking for Bell's and the Fairgrounds and provides a buffer for the neighborhood. Bell's wanted to add a new 100-foot-high roller coaster, sitting parallel west of Zingo. Neighboring homeowners objected, and proposed that the Fair Board allow Bell's to expand into the interior of the Fairgrounds, north of the IPE Building, rather than toward the neighborhood. The County never gave that idea serious consideration, as it conflicted with their plans for the fairgrounds. (Rather than encourage passive uses around the perimeter of the Fairgrounds as a buffer to the surrounding neighborhoods, the County's master plan puts greenspace in the interior of the Fairgrounds, and pushes more intensive uses to the perimeter.

Bell's ultimately did receive the go-ahead from the Fair Board and received a special exception from the Tulsa County Board of Adjustment to build the coaster. That decision was overturned in district court in 2003 in a summary judgment for the neighboring plaintiffs by Judge David Peterson, on the grounds that the County BOA exceeded its authority by granting a special exception not in accord with the Comprehensive Plan for the area, which called for low-intensity development. Last year, the Court of Civil Appeals reversed Peterson's decision, saying the BOA had the authority to grant a special exception contrary to the comprehensive plan, and the case was remanded back to district court.

Even if Bell's were ultimately to expand all the way to Louisville Avenue, at twenty acres they still wouldn't have enough space to become the kind of regional attraction they aspire to be. For comparison, here are the sizes of some other amusement and theme parks:

Joyland Amusement Park, Wichita, 50 acres
Frontier City, 55 acres
Silver Dollar City, 61 acres
Canobie Lake Park (New Hampshire), 65 acres
Disneyland, 85 acres
Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, 107 acres
Worlds of Fun, 175 acres
Six Flags over Texas, 212 acres
Sea World San Antonio, 250 acres

Bell's started out in 1951 as a modest collection of kiddie rides. Zingo was its first major ride, opened in 1968, but with a court order (still in effect) prohibiting operation past 9 p.m. Over the course of the '70s, the log ride, a dark ride called Phantasmagoria, and Himalaya were added transforming the park to something approaching its current configuration. While neighbors had reconciled themselves to the existence of the park under its current constraints, they regarded the expansion plan, particularly the creation of a new, taller coaster, as a violation of promise inherent in the Comprehensive Plan amendment, adopted in 1984 and still on the books, which set aside the west section of the Fairgrounds for low-intensity development. That Comprehensive Plan amendment was an attempt at striking a balance between the interests of neighboring property owners and the County's desire to maximize its revenues with ever more intensive uses, and it was reasonable for homeowners to expect that it would be followed.

Bell's move to Jenks won't be a revenue loss to the City of Tulsa -- the Fairgrounds are unincorporated territory and not subject to city sales tax. It is a shame that we can't find a place for Bell's on Tulsa's stretch of the river. I seem to recall that at one point, south of 71st Street on the east side of the river was a possibility. If they make the move, I hope the park will be designed to connect with the river and nearby attractions. It would be nice if the park were set up somewhat like the boardwalk amusement parks you find along the East Coast, with a public promenade along the river, connecting to the aquarium and the Jenks Riverwalk. Someone might have dinner at the Riverwalk, stroll down to Bell's, then decide to ride a couple of rides. It would be a wasted opportunity if they fenced the place off completely, made it accessible only from an inland parking lot, and made the admission fee so high that dropping in to ride just a couple of rides would be impractical. The Jenks Riverwalk is a good example of what good riverfront development should look like; hopefully other developers will follow its lead.

During my absence, the rest of Tulsa's budding local-news-blogging community has been busy, and there are some exciting developments. The local blogger segment that KFAQ's Michael DelGiorno did a week ago has stimulated an effort to work together in a more formal way. Bobby of Tulsa Topics has set up a Tulsa Bloggers aggregation page, presenting excerpts from the latest five entries from eight blogs that focus on local news. This gives you a quick way to see what's new around Tulsa. There is also a BlogDigger group page and XML feed that combines all eight blogs into a single feed.

One of those blogs is brand new. David Schuttler, who has written and posted video and images about the airport noise abatement program and other local issues on his Our Tulsa World website, now has a blog on the site.

If you're someone who blogs about Tulsa news and wants to be included in the aggregator, email MeeCiteeWurkor at gmail dot com.

That's the promise, for an area that will eventually cover 72 square miles. G. W. Schulz has the scoop on for-profit wide-area WiFi for Tulsa in this week's Urban Tulsa Weekly.

That could be a good deal, if some sort of roaming privileges come with it. With SBC DSL, you have access to the dialup network as a backup, or when traveling, and for an extra $2 a month, you can connect at WiFi-equipped McDonald's, Barnes and Noble bookstores, and UPS Stores. If you're tethered to the home area, you're losing one of the advantages of wireless computing.

This morning KFAQ's Michael DelGiorno hosted a roundtable of bloggers who blog about Tulsa politics. Here are links to help you find the three gentlemen who joined me on the air this morning:

Steve Roemerman blogs at Roemerman on Record.

Paul Romine (Mad Okie) blogs at Living on Tulsa Time.

David Schuttler has a website called Our Tulsa World, subtitled "Not the Lortons' World."

Go check them out, and encourage them to keep up the good work.

The replacement as KRMG's morning host is a relatively young guy named Joe Kelley, who was most recently at WBAP in Fort Worth. He has his own website, and his own Movable Type-based blog, The Sake of Argument, which started back in May 2003. (Up until the last couple of months, he seems to have posted pretty frequently.) His blogroll is a pretty good assortment of the top right-leaning bloggers. I've only started to glance through the blog archives, but it doesn't appear that he dealt with local DFW issues much.

He appears to be a conservative, but the more interesting question is where he'll wind up on local issues, about which he is not likely to know much. No doubt the Cockroach Caucus will wine and dine him, but I feel sure that a blogging conservative talk show host will be able to see through their self-serving rhetoric.

Although I'm proud to be a weekly fixture on the Michael DelGiorno show on 1170 KFAQ, nevertheless, as a Tulsan, I'd like to welcome Mr. Kelley to town. If I can be of service in helping him puzzle through local politics, I'd be happy to help.

Wouldn't it be nice to have morning talk show hosts on two different stations shining the light of truth on City Hall and the County Courthouse?

Today, I'm told, was John Erling's long-overdue final broadcast on KRMG radio. I haven't listened to his show in years, and once I got out of the habit of listening to Erling in the morning, I rarely bothered to tune in the rest of the day. We would have abandoned KRMG as morning listening many years before, but my wife needed someone saying the time at regular intervals to help her pace getting ready for work.

I grew up listening to KRMG -- Fred Campbell, then Watson Jelks, then Erling in the morning, Jerry Vaughn in the afternoons (later, Commander Ken Rank), Sportsline with Bob Carpenter, Nightline with David Stanford, and the great Johnny Martin, playing big band music every night. As much as I enjoy some of KRMG's nationally-syndicated talk show hosts, I was sorry to see the station cease to be a full-service local station over the course of the 1990s.

Over that same period, maybe starting even earlier, Erling became crankier and crankier. I remember a brief period of improvement, following major back surgery, when he broadcast from home, surrounded by his beloved dogs. He was actually pleasant to listen to, briefly. But he reverted to type.

Erling grew less and less tolerant of conservatives, particularly religious conservatives, despite (or perhaps because of) their growing dominance in Tulsa. He became the voice of the city's establishment, Radio Cockroach Caucus, while his wife used his stage name (rather than his and her legal last name, Frette) to help along her career as a lobbyist. Many people remarked on the interesting coincidences between the causes and candidates he espoused on air and the causes and candidates his wife was hired to support. The question was often asked: Were her clients buying her skills or were they paying for access to his microphone? Margaret Erling worked for the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Board and lobbied at the State Capitol for Great Plains Airlines, in which she was a stockholder. Can you guess where John stood with regard to those subjects?

Erling was adept at baiting callers who disagreed with him. He would pick, pick, pick at a caller until the caller lost his cool. One of his most effective needling techniques was to mischaracterize the caller's point and begin tearing down the straw man he had just built, to the caller's consternation.

If he couldn't get you to blow your cool, he'd just take what you said out of context, once you were off the phone and didn't have the opportunity to rebut. (I wrote an account of one such encounter with Erling, during the Vision 2025 campaign.)

Lost credibility and lost respect led to falling ratings, and the end finally came this year. I have heard that he asked to stay on until after the recall election, wanting to be there to gloat when Chris Medlock was turned out of office. Medlock, as a part of the airport investigative committee, had a hand in exposing Erling's ties to Great Plains Airlines. There was a running gag that they were holding the KRMG morning show job open for Chris should he lose the recall election. Instead, I'm told, around 7:30 on election night, Erling called the KRMG newsroom to learn the results, heard that Mautino was winning with over 70% and Medlock with over 60%. He is said to have responded with a burst of unprintables.

San Diego-based Kevin at the Primary Main Objective made a trip back to Tulsa to see his folks and visited the Jenks Riverwalk. And he was up early enough to hear me on the radio Monday morning, which is pretty impressive for a West-Coaster whose body clock must have been saying it's 4:40 AM.

Sorry for the lack of posting today, but real life has been fast and furious.

I find interesting things when I look through the searches that lead people to this site. Someone got to BatesLine via the search string "old oil money Tulsa," and that search also led to a website called TurnLeft.com and an entry for Tulsa on their list of "Liberal Unfriendly Places."

Now, I would have thought that Tulsa wouldn't make such a list, as it's a rather conservative place and also a pretty friendly place, but I think I should assume that there should be a hyphen between "Liberal" and "Unfriendly" -- meaning that this may not be the kind of place the Creative Class will find to their liking. The page includes comments from conservative Tulsans who say that Tulsa may not be liberal but it isn't hostile to liberals, and liberal Tulsans who advise going beyond first impressions.

Among nearby cities, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Joplin, and Springdale are all listed as liberal-unfriendly. The nearest liberal-friendly city? Fayetteville, Arkansas, which will come as no surprise to Matt.

The South Tulsa Citizens Coalition had an independent firm look at the revenue projections for the Bixby private toll bridge, and found that over the 75-year life of the agreement between Infrastructure Ventures, Inc. (IVI) and the Tulsa County Board of Commissioners, IVI will net $658 million in profit, while Tulsa County will see only $133 million as their share. Here's a Download link to the analysis (PDF file, Adobe Reader required), which was performed by George K. Baum & Company, Inc., and below is the accompanying press release from the South Tulsa Citizens Coalition:

The South Tulsa Citizens Coalition (�STCC�) requested a detailed financial analysis of the Toll Bridge Agreement made between Tulsa County and Infrastructure Venture I, L.L.C. (�IVI�). The financial analysis was prepared by George K. Baum & Company, Inc. (�GKB�), a leading investment banking firm in the area of transportation finance.

The analysis concludes that IVI will net $658 Million in profit with the County only receiving $133 Million over the life of the agreement. If the County had chosen to �publicly finance� this bridge, over 75 years the total net revenue to the County would have been $800 Million. If the County chose to stop collecting tolls on the bridge once it was paid for, the bridge would be free after 30 years at a total cost of only $35 Million plus financing costs.

STCC spokesperson, Michael Covey, said �This is an outrage. Is there no leadership at the County level looking out for the interests of the taxpayers? The 75 year IVI agreement soaks the citizens of Tulsa County out of over half a billion dollars more than is needed to build this bridge, and of that money the County Commissioners gave away $658 Million to their buddies. I am calling for an investigation into the Tulsa County Commissioners handling of this bridge. We either have an abuse of power, or financial incompetence, and neither is good for the taxpayers, or toll payers of Tulsa!�

A meeting for citizens concerned about the bridge will be held next Monday night, July 25th at 7 p.m. at St. James United Methodist Church, 111th and Yale.

Mad Okie has some useful thoughts on aspects of Tulsa that might attract tourists, but we seem to be embarrassed by them:

God, Oil, Route 66 & Native Americans

What do all of these things have in common? They are what Tulsa is known for. Of those, what does Tulsa promote? Until recently, none.

Way back in 1999, I was part of the Research Committee of the City and Chamber's Convention and Tourism Task Force. At the time, we thought they genuinely wanted research into the economic impact of conventions and tourism and how best to move forward, but in fact the process was predetermined to put the downtown arena back on the ballot. We had some interesting discussions, at any rate, and one discussion was about niche interests that would bring tourists to the Tulsa area. In addition to the above list, add Western Swing music (which Mad Okie mentions later in his entry), cowboys, and tornadoes. About 10 years ago, I had a conversation in a woolen shop in Ardara, Co. Donegal, Ireland, with a German tourist who very much wanted to come to Oklahoma for storm chasing.

Here's something I wrote following the Mayor's Vision Summit in 2002, in response to the question, "What are the 10 most important considerations that must be faced in planning for Tulsa's future?":

Tulsa's unique qualities -- call them distinctives or idiosyncracies -- how can we raise awareness and pride locally and use this as an asset in our dealings with the rest of the world? I get the impression than some civic leaders are embarassed by our oil heritage, our Cowboy and Indian roots, and the strength of religious belief here -- so our tourist brochures trumpet the ballet and Philbrook and Utica Square, and downplay things like western swing music, the gun museum in Claremore, and ORU. When a German tourist comes to Oklahoma, he doesn't want to see the opera, he wants to see oil wells, tipis, old Route 66 motels, and tornadoes. Some adolescents go through a phase when their greatest longing is to be just like everyone else. If we're going to set ourselves apart, we have to stop trying to blend in as a modern city like every other, stop treating our quirky folkways as things to be suppressed and hidden, and celebrate them instead. It's nice to have the same cultural amenities as every other large city, but it's the unique qualities that will win the affections of our own people and capture the imaginations of the rest of the world.

At least once or twice a summer, when I was a kid, we'd make it out to Skelly Stadium for the Tuesday night Starlight Concert. Some weeks we'd hear Big Band music, other weeks it'd be Sousa marches or Strauss polkas.

The Starlight Concert series continues its Tuesday evening performances at the River West Festival Amphitheatre tonight at 8:00 p.m. Tonight the music will be accompanying a movie: "Easy Street," starring Charlie Chaplin. The performance is cosponsored by Circle Cinema. Click here for a map.

(Next Tuesday, July 26, is the last concert of the summer.)

The Downtown Guy has taken note of last week's news that three Tulsa families -- Oliphant, Mayo, and Sharp -- have joined together to invest $1 million in "The American", the giant bronze statue of an Indian planned for Holmes Peak in Osage County. The statue project needs $40 million to go forward, and it's claimed that $30 million has already been raised.

What I found interesting -- and I think OKC's Downtown Guy will, too -- is that three families mentioned are said to own a considerable amount of property in Brady Village. That's the area of downtown within the Inner Dispersal Loop, north of the Frisco tracks, and east of Denver Avenue. A few years ago, an acquaintance who had lived in a couple of loft apartments in Brady Village mentioned those three names as significant property owners. He told me that one of the hindrances to renovation and development in the area is that much of the land was in family trusts, and the family members concerned are scattered across the country.

Can anyone shed further light on the property situation in Brady Village, and what the connection might be with "The American"? Does this signal a plan to move the statue to downtown or nearby?

Not that it's any of my business, but I think it would accomplish more for Tulsa's economy and convention and tourism business if the families invested that money into accelerating the revival of Brady Village.

One of the pleasures of my new job is that I can get my work done anywhere there's an Internet connection, and that's given me a chance to visit many of the local hotspots -- Wi-Fi hotspots, I mean. Recently, for instance, I met a friend for lunch at the Chimi's at Lincoln Plaza, and, when duty called as we were leaving the restaurant, I just took my laptop across the parking lot to Cafe Cubana, bought something to drink, and got back to work.

Hanging out in coffee houses is a good way to learn about new things that are going on around town. I met someone for coffee at Shades of Brown, then stayed around to finish a project. The barista, hearing that I was a blogger, told me about an effort to kick-start some excitement around Tulsa, and she handed me a flyer:

make your own cool!

Will a convention center bring your favorite band to town? Can an expert identify just what it is that makes your neighborhood pub unique? Do you want your downtown to be dead after five? Or worse, do you want to see a 20 screen megaplex and a Banana Republic on Archer and Cincinnati?

Tulsa is our town. Brookside, Cherry Street, Brady District, Tulsans made them what they are. This town is not dead, and it's us who are responsible for keeping it alive. So get out there! Make some noise! Write letters, sing loud, pay attention, get involved! Support those already in the trenches for Tulsa and get out there and do it for yourself. If this town will ever be a creative mecca, it will be because Tulsans took the risks and made the effort. Grab a guitar, a ballot, a hammer, a newspaper, a book, and let's make something of this town.

This message brought to you by:

The Tulsa Kick Ass Initiative

If you can overlook the minor vulgarity at the end, that's good stuff. Instead of whining about how boring Tulsa is for young people, instead of hoping that a new arena will transform Tulsa into an urban mecca, instead of waiting for the city government to do something (as if government could create cool), instead of praying for high-end, national retailers to appear magically downtown, young Tulsans can make things happen themselves, just as Tulsans made Cherry Street and Brookside happen when few people could see the potential. That's what ypTULSA has been trying to do, with its efforts with Nelson's Buffeteria, Greenwood Jazz Festival, and the East Village.

This new group, the TKAI, seems to be geared more toward late teens and early twenties. The group's ringleader is 20-year-old Jamie Pierson, the aforementioned barista and an aspiring entrepreneur. (Jamie has been blogging a year longer than I have, and her blog is interesting reading.)

If you're interested in the Initiative, there's a meeting at Hodgepodge Books, 11th & Detroit, Monday, starting 8 p.m.-ish. Or you can visit their place on Myspace.com. You can reach Jamie by email at jamie.pierson@gmail.com.

I'm sorry I haven't been giving the Bixby Bridge issue the attention it deserves. There have been a lot of developments in the last couple of weeks, and more will be happening today:

The Tulsa County Commission will meet to discuss the Bixby toll bridge at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Room 315 of the County Courthouse, 500 S Denver Ave, downtown.

The Tulsa City Council last week agreed on a consensus to ask, pretty-please-with-sugar-on-it, City Attorney Alan Jackere to issue an opinion on whether Tulsa County has the power to condemn land owned by the City of Tulsa and turn it over to the private developers building the Bixby toll bridge. (You would think that the City Attorney would be aggressively defending the City's prerogatives against encroachment from the County. You would think that the City Attorney -- appointed and unaccountable to the voters -- would eagerly cooperate with the City Council -- the people we elect to represent us -- but you would be mistaken.)

Last week, south Tulsa State Representatives Fred Perry and Pam Peterson submitted similar questions to the Attorney General:

May a county condemn (or acquire by the use of eminent domain) real property that is owned by municipality for the public good?

May a municipality condemn (or acquire by the use of eminent domain) real property that is owned by a county for the public good?

A municipality owns real property and has dedicated and set apart that real property to be used for the good of the public as a park. The county in which the municipality is located believes that such real property should be used for the good of the public as a road. Given the competing public interests of the municipality and county for the same piece of real property and the fact that the municipality owns such real property, can the county condemn (or acquire by the use of eminent domain) said real property from the municipality?

It will be interesting to see the AG's response, as it will pretty much make moot anything Alan Jackere has to say about the matter.

This week, the City Council will vote on a resolution opposing the Bixby bridge, and you are urged to show up and voice your support. Meeting is at City Hall (south of 4th between Denver and Houston Avenues) at 6 p.m.

Michael Covey, spokesman for the South Tulsa Citizens Coalition, which is fighting the bridge, will be on 1170 KFAQ this morning at 7:40. Last week, the South Tulsa Citizens Coalition filed suit against the County Commission. The suit alleges that the County Commission violated 19 O.S. 381 by entering into an agreement with Infrastructure Ventures, Inc., (IVI) without putting the matter to a vote of the people. The suit further alleges that the County Commission's agreement with IVI violates the Public Competitive Bidding Act of 1974 (61 O.S. 101 through 138). And because the commissioners exceeded their authority in so acting, they are being sued individually as well.

At last week's Council meeting, Covey pointed out that there is a deed restriction on the city park land which the County wants for the bridge. If it won't be used for a park, it must be used for some other charitable purpose, which presumably wouldn't include a for-profit toll bridge.

Got a call tonight from the Tarrance Group, a national polling firm headed by native Oklahoman Ed Goeas. It was a long survey asking about Tulsa politics. Here, roughly, are the questions that were asked:

• City going in the right direction or the wrong direction? Strongly or somewhat?
• Favorable or unfavorable opinion of Dewey Bartlett, Jr.? Strongly or somewhat?
• Favorable or unfavorable opinion of Bill LaFortune? Strongly or somewhat?
• Approve or disapprove of the way Bill LaFortune is handling his job as Mayor?
• Does LaFortune deserve to be reelected, or is it time to give someone else a chance?
• If the 2006 Republican primary election were today, would you vote for Dewey Bartlett, Jr., or Bill LaFortune? Definitely or probably?
• What's your age?
• Do you consider yourself very liberal, liberal, conservative, very conservative?
• Pro-life, pro-choice? Strongly or somewhat?
• Employed outside the home, homemaker, or retired?
• For verification purposes, what is your name?
• Is this phone number listed?

It would appear that Republican former City Councilor Dewey Bartlett, Jr., who fell short in his race for State Senate last fall and made an unsuccessful run for Mayor in the 1992 special election (others in the race, including former Mayor Dick Crawford, split the GOP vote), is looking at a primary challenge to Mayor LaFortune. Had it been LaFortune testing his own re-electability, the questionnaire would have included names of other potential rivals.

Von, a commenter and diarist on RedState.org, is visiting Tulsa in July on business and has some questions about things to do, places to eat, and how to get around town. You Tulsa folks, drop by and give him some advice.

MeeCiteeWurkor visited Tulsa's Central Library today and was amazed and appalled to find that the main display area, just opposite the children's section, was given over to a "Gay Pride" display. He has posted descriptions, photos, videos, and PDFs of what he saw. He was especially disturbed by the display of the Openarms Youth Project, which encourages sexually confused ("Questioning" is the approved term nowadays) children as young as 14 to mingle with homosexual young adults.

He links to an item I wrote in December about the defeat of the library bond issue, in which I mentioned a controversy some years ago about the same sort of display. For some reason I thought the library had decided at the time not to allow the exhibit any longer, but apparently not.

MeeCiteeWurkor went on a quest to find out how one gets the privilege of using the library's display cases, but the person who could answer his questions was out. In his wanderings around the library, on a rack near a checkout counter, he came across a brochure from the Tulsa Chapter of the National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ -- now the reminted and independent OCCJ) encouraging inclusive prayer -- i.e., don't pray in public in Jesus' name.

Back to the gay display: It's one thing for the library to offer controversial books on controversial subjects, often with opposing viewpoints shoulder-to-shoulder on the shelves. It's another to offer prominent display space to such a controversial cause, particularly in a place so close to the children's section, and on behalf of a cause contrary to the sensibilities of most of the people who are paying for the library.

There are so many better and less controversial uses of that prominent public space, and not least among them would be more shelves for books that are now relegated to storage.

A hat tip to MeeCiteeWurkor for the thorough documentation of what he saw. If you're a Tulsan, his blog should be one of your daily reads.

Oklahoma City's Downtown Guy has posted the last installment in his series on a recent visit Tulsa, which features a photo of the demolition of the Skelly Building. He says it's been years since a significant historic building has been demolished in downtown OKC, and he mentions one badly-damaged building that the owner chose to restore because, like the Skelly Building, it sat on a prominent corner. About the Skelly, he writes:

Protests were held, much like those for the Gold Dome in OKC. But they weren�t victorious (the Gold Dome, on the other hand, was a big win for preservationists here).

Saving the Gold Dome was a hard-fought victory, but OKC preservationists had some tools at their disposal that are missing in Tulsa. The building is in an urban design review district, and the owner of the building had to seek a certificate of appropriateness to demolish the building and build the new Walgreens and bank branch to replace it. The Urban Design Commission denied all three applications, and ultimately a buyer was found to restore and reuse the landmark.

Here in Tulsa, we have nothing in our ordinances to stop or even slow the demolition of historic commercial buildings or to prevent the continued erosion of what remains of our urban streetscape. If there were a consensus among the powerful that preservation is a good thing, such laws wouldn't be needed, but the fact that we don't have such laws is a clear indication that the folks who really run this town don't get it yet. They see a new arena and a new convention center in Oklahoma City, and they think that's all we need to achieve the same sort of revitalization. What they don't notice are all the old buildings that weren't knocked down in the '60s for urban renewal or in the decades since for parking. These old buildings were available when people were ready to take risks and start businesses in Bricktown. Tulsa is starting off well behind Oklahoma City in the old buildings department. If we expect great things to happen in downtown Tulsa, one of the first steps is to stop tearing down buildings. A private effort to rescue endangered buildings, paralleled by public policy decisions to encourage preservation, are the first steps.

It's always interesting to see your city through other eyes. OKC-based blogger The Downtown Guy spent some time in Tulsa recently as a tourist and has a few thoughts to share on what we have going for us, and where we fall short.

Part 1 is actually an Urban Tulsa article from the latest issue on why downtown Tulsa doesn't work.

In Part 2, he notes Tulsa's high ranking in salary value, and tells us we ought to cherish and celebrate Cain's Ballroom. (By the way, I love the evocative Flash intro to Cain's website, but I want to hear the whole song!)

In Part 2 1/2, he passes along some exciting news about plans for the East Village area -- mixed-use development including a $500 million production facility. (TulsaNow forums has a discussion thread on the topic here.)

Part 3 is about where Vision 2025 went wrong. He observes Bricktown-type synergy occurring, but it's happening on the riverfront in Jenks.

He promises more commentary tomorrow.

A couple of comments:

He's right about Cain's Ballroom, and I don't think enough of Tulsa's civic leaders fully appreciate what we have in Cain's and in the heritage of Western Swing music. It's almost as if the Chamber Pots are embarrassed by the grubby, gritty blue-collar and barely-tamed side of Tulsa. I see that attitude reflected in the way the two cities promote themselves to tourists.

The tourism brochure that the Chamber puts out (the one you'll find at hotel tourist brochure racks all over this region) paints Tulsa as a high-class, high-culture cosmopolitan city. The brochure highlights our world-class art museums and our opera and our ballet and shopping at Utica Square, all wonderful and worthy of attention. Even the tiny font of the Tulsa brochure suggests that Tulsa is an acquired taste for the discriminating palate. Next time you see a rack of tourism brochures, contrast Tulsa's with Oklahoma City's. OKC's has big type, big pictures of horses, cowboys, and Indians, and a big map showing at a glance where all the good stuff is. It's the sort of brochure that says "We're proud of who we are," not, "We're East Coast wannabes." And OKC's brochure is designed to grab a kid's attention -- "This looks cool! Can we stop there, please?"

Getting back to Western Swing, Tulsa ought to make it easy for visitors to find Cain's, maybe work with ownership to allow tours when there aren't any events, be sure that Western Swing has a place at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, and help Western Swing fans visiting Tulsa find that kind of music. Coming to Tulsa as a Western Swing fan and not being able to find it performed anywhere would be like going to Vienna and being unable to find anyone playing Strauss waltzes. And while we're at it, let's make north Main Street a link between downtown, Brady Village, and OSU-Tulsa, which owns the land just on the other side of I-244 from Cain's. OSU-Tulsa ought to be encouraged, pressured even (since the city gave the school the land), to build out their campus in an urban fashion, not more of the suburban mall approach they've used so far.

Regarding Jenks and the river -- some of the development Downtown Guy mentions is actually on the east bank in Tulsa, like the Creek Casino. But his main point is that this development is off the beaten path, not easy for out-of-towners to find, and far from downtown. He says Tulsa had twice attempted to pass a MAPS-type program, but that's really not so. Tulsa's plans were always focused on the arena and convention center, while MAPS involved a variety of projects, still mostly downtown, but MAPS also included the Bricktown canal, the art museum, the library, and the music hall. There's a synergy in Bricktown which will be difficult to achieve in downtown Tulsa. I'll be interested to read his next installment and would love to know what he thinks about the arena's location relative to other downtown activity centers, the impact of the Inner Dispersal Loop, and ongoing downtown demolition.

In the latest Urban Tulsa Weekly, G. W. Schulz has a fascinating profile of Bill Bartmann, one of the more colorful characters in Tulsa's business community over the last decade or so -- where he came from, what happened with CFS, and where he's headed.

Time to catch up with the Tulsa bloggers on my blogroll. It's a diverse bunch.

Don Singleton is tracking blog commentary on treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo.

MeeCiteeWurkor has figured out how to use built-in features and the Adblock extension of Mozilla's Firefox browser ("the Internet, your way") to block most of the annoying, slow-loading features of the KOTV website, but he's still stumped by the Javascript ad ticker.

(Here are my Firefox puzzlers. 1. How can I get back the right-click "Send Page" option that I had in Mozilla? Firefox only gives me "Send Link", and then I have to attach the page manually to the e-mail message. 2. I can put my blogroll in my sidebar in Firefox, but if I click on a link, Firefox tries to open it in a frame in the sidebar, not in the main window, which is how it works in Mozilla. What's up with that?)

Ladies and gentlemen, Voyager 1 has left the solar system. (HT: Steve Roemerman.)

Steve has also been writing about parenting, along with a number of other Tulsa bloggers. Steve has set up a magnetic "responsibility chart" for his two-year-old.

Bowden McElroy writes about the goal of parenting: "The goal, when raising children, is NOT to have a precious 2-year-old, or a precocious fifth-grader, or a model teenager. The end goal is to raise independent, fully functioning, adults who love Christ with all their heart, soul, and mind." The previous two entries are also about parenting and discipline, and if you go back even further you'll find some insights on being a father of three daughters.

Marsupial Mom is expecting baby number four and says she looks farther along than she is.

Her husband Swamphopper asks if we're trying to raise good kids or redeemed kids:

It sounds so simple, but I must keep reminding myself that my first priority in parenting is not helping my children be good but helping them understand the gospel. Of course I have a responsibility to educate, instruct, and protect. But first and foremost I must rehearse, explain, model, demonstrate, and reiterate their need and my need to trust in Jesus Christ.

First of all, we do our children a disservice if we point them to truth (or to Jesus for that matter) to primarily safeguard them from the pitfalls of life. History is replete with examples of good, moral people who respected Jesus but rejected His Lordship. Learning about Jesus is more than just learning about his life and teachings. We do well to take our children to church, to protect them from negative influences, and to encourage good behavior; however, our hope really rests on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Swamphopper and Marsupial Mom have a joint blog about family life called Little House, where they go by Pa and Ma and they call their girls Mary, Laura, and Carrie. The blog features lovely, funny slices of home life.

Something I meant to blog about at the time, but never finished, so here's the link anyway: Marsupial Mom had an excellent entry a couple of months ago about the dangers in the idea that everyone has a soulmate or One True Love -- one perfect match among billions, and if you don't find your soulmate, you're doomed to a life of misery. She writes about the approach she took to making the decision about who to marry. Her entry was inspired by a longer article on the topic by Jollyblogger. (My headline for the entry: "Happily ever after is not a beshert thing." Beshert is Yiddish for destined one, soulmate, and you have to Americanize the pronunciation of the second "e" for the pun to work.)

Bobby of Tulsa Topics has been visited by the utility company's Angel of Tree Death. (Update here.)

Don Danz wonders if the Strawberry Nirvana from Jamba Juice isn't a bit too good.

Dan Paden writes of a friend who wants to go back to school to get an education. Dan says his friend is better educated than most college graduates he encounters -- particularly when it comes to basic logic.

Doug Smith reflects on a day of prayer, laying hands on the walls of the Tulsa County Jail. (Yes, the post is a month old, but worth reading.)

Over on the LiveJournal community "Tulsa Time", we learn that the Parks Department has installed a labyrinth at Hunter Park, and that Backwoods in The Farm Shopping Center has maps of the Illinois River, Robbers' Cave and other such places printed on bandanas.

Bitweever has a job and will be staying in Tulsa.

Joel Blain has built a very, very big tire swing. And he discovers just how unpleasant it can be to be sitting next to the last empty seat in the theatre. (The soundtrack for the latter entry should be Weird Al singing "Another One Rides the Bus.") He's also got a cool link blog in his sidebar, powered by del.icio.us.

Linda Carlton is on a mission trip to Guatemala, but should be back posting in the next day or two. In earlier entries, she writes about an adventurous three-year-old who got into the toy-grabbing crane game at Wal-Mart, and she reflects on how God has used her children's genetic medical condition and her husband's computer skills to minister to other families in the same situation, helping to answer questions and save lives.

Linda's husband Danny responds to an ESPN writer's nasty jab at homeschooled kids.

Update your links: Greta "Hooah Wife" Perry has joined a group blog called Elephant in My Coffee. Her blog-partners are also her partners in a business called We Surf for You -- they do personalized Internet research, blog setup, transfer, and customization, website design and critique, and they have a large collection of favorite family-friendly web links.

Did I miss anyone?

Kristen, an 18-year-old young woman from Maine who is a fan of the band Hanson, flew to Tulsa to see the band perform during Mayfest. Her journal of her visit to Our Fair City is a fun read -- she had "an AWESOME time in Tulsa."

Hats off to Tim Williston, webmaster of www.tulsafreewifi.com, who has set out to document the free Wi-Fi hotspots available in the Tulsa area. He's got a list of 27 so far, including reviews of 4, and he's looking for Wi-Fi users to help expand his list and provide reviews and other content for the site. Most of the sites on his list are coffee houses like Java Dave's, Kaffe Bona, and Cafe Cubana, plus various Panera locations, and (this surprised me) three Mazzio's locations. If you have free Wi-Fi at your business, visit Tim's site and have him add you to the list.

I'm working out of the house now, but once in a while I need more quiet than I can get there, or at least a change of scenery, and it's nice to be able to grab the laptop and find some place a little different to set up camp and work.

Slightly off-topic: In answer to someone who emailed a while back with this question -- I don't know if there are any places around town where you can make a free wired connection to the Internet. Anyone? Wi-Fi cards for your laptop are pretty cheap these days, so I'm not sure there would be much demand for wired access.

One more Wi-Fi related item: This isn't free access, but if you're an SBC DSL subscriber, you can use the FreedomLink network for a nominal monthly charge. (I think it's $2 a month, but I need to verify that.) FreedomLink has hotspots at Barnes and Noble stores, UPS Store and Mailbox Etc. locations, and Wi-Fi-equipped McDonald's.

Just found this today: Guffey's Journal, which reports significant real estate transactions around Tulsa, has a web presence.

Guffey's website has a page of headlines about major transactions (the current issue announces that AMF has sold and leased back Sheridan Lanes bowling alley), a list of lots sold, a list of leases, and a list of "executive homes" sales. (In Tulsa, anything over $200,000 is an executive home. That buys, what, a garage apartment timeshare in Palo Alto?)

You can learn a lot about what's going to be happening around by following real estate transactions. If you're concerned about a rezoning in your area, watching for nearby sales may give you early warning of changes to come.

You can also learn who's moving up in the world and who's moving down. I remember the first time I glanced through Guffey's in the library and spotted the name of our plant's general manager, along with where his new house was and how much he paid for it. (In Oklahoma, you can calculate the sale price of a home from the value of the revenue stamps, which cost $1.50 for each $1,000 of value. The amount of the revenue stamps is in the county clerk's records.)

This is one I'll make a regular read.

Guffey's Journal is published by Neighbor Newspapers, which owns 19 Tulsa area publications, including the Catoosa Times and the Broken Arrow Daily Ledger. You'll find Neighbor Newspapers, with links to each of their titles and a few articles from each, on the web at www.neighbor-newspapers.com.

UPDATE: Well, fooey. Commenter Rob points out that the content on the web is months old, so either they got lazy and stopped updating, or they only intended to provide a sample of what's in the paper each week. You can still find the paper at the library, and I haven't checked, but I'll bet you can buy it at Steve's Sundry.

He's got a rebuttal to David Averill's call for at-large councilors, comments on Channel 2's story about city workers who are convicted criminals (in which he praises one of the other Michael Bateses in Tulsa, the City's HR director), and asks his readers to translate a Pakistani friend's comment about Mayor LaFortune.

I especially liked this from his rebuttal to Averill:

Here is the problem with the current council, Mr. Averill. Finally, some councilors get elected that are immune to the good ol� boy network that has been in place for many years. These heroes of truth set forth to clean up the mess that already existed, and the good ol� boys are scrambling to save themselves. The problem is not the �Medlock bloc�. The problem is writers like you that do not give the public the truth. The problem is that the good ol� boys in Tulsa have teamed up with power and money, biased media reporting, and lies just to keep their little world of privilege in place.

Good wurk!

Mee Citee Wurkor is back online so go catch up! He's got commentary on local politics, he's got a cheesecake review, and he's discovered a St. Louis blogger and finds interesting parallels to Tulsa's situation. Site proprietor Goober sings the praises of backups and of Bluehost, the hosting provider that had him transferred and up and running in less than a day.

Neighborhoods along south Yale on the approach to the proposed private Yale Avenue toll bridge are having another meeting tonight, and Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune, County Commissioner Bob Dick, and City Councilor Bill Christiansen are all supposed to be in attendance. The meeting is tonight at 7 p.m., at St. James Methodist Church, 111th and Yale. Tulsa Topics has the details, and you can learn more at the Move That Bridge website.

Tulsa neighborhoods along the far south Yale Avenue corridor have set up a web page about the proposed private toll bridge across the Arkansas River at Yale. There are maps showing the planned location and alternative proposals, a page of comments, and e-mail addresses of public officials serving the area.

From my contact with the neighbors involved is that they aren't NIMBYs or anti-progress, but they do want public officials to understand the costs that will be imposed on local governments to handle the impact of this private investment.

If you've got concerns or an interest in the proposed private bridge across the Arkansas River near 121st Street and Yale Avenue, there's a meeting tonight at 7, at St. James Church, 111th and Yale. Some area residents are concerned about the additional traffic the bridge will bring to the two-lane, asphalt country roads that serve the growing area. There's an alternative proposal that would connect the bridge with the south end of Riverside Drive (aka Delaware Ave) at 121st, fixing a dangerous curve at the same time. Although this will be a privately-funded bridge, city and county resources will be required to make it happen, including the power of eminent domain, which gives public officials both the leverage and the responsibility to ensure that the bridge is designed in a way that serves the public interest.

CNN is reporting that the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division is investigating the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors (GTAR) for anticompetitive practices designed to eliminate price competition for real estate services:

MONEY has learned that Justice's Antitrust Division is gathering information on the bully tactics that full-commission brokers in Tulsa allegedly use against their discount rivals to discourage commission-cutting. The probe follows other recent efforts to spur competition in the real estate industry.

According to a copy of a Justice Department subpoena obtained by MONEY, federal investigators are seeking information on "possible anticompetitive conduct in the provision of real estate services in the Tulsa area" as well as "documents related to refusal to cooperate on real estate transactions."

MONEY has learned that Justice's Antitrust Division is gathering information on the bully tactics that full-commission brokers in Tulsa allegedly use against their discount rivals to discourage commission-cutting. The probe follows other recent efforts to spur competition in the real estate industry.

According to a copy of a Justice Department subpoena obtained by MONEY, federal investigators are seeking information on "possible anticompetitive conduct in the provision of real estate services in the Tulsa area" as well as "documents related to refusal to cooperate on real estate transactions."

GTAR has endorsed and is supporting the effort to recall Councilors Jim Mautino and Chris Medlock.

No wonder the Cockroach Caucus doesn't like people asking questions. We appear to have another cozy arrangement that benefits a favored few at the expense of the rest of us.

A reader writes, taking exception to the way I've characterized the two recently-formed young professionals groups in Tulsa:

You often right [sic] w/ blind hatred about the Chamber, etc. Recently you commented on the "real" young professionals group and the Chamber's yp group. being somewhat familiar w/ these groups, I think you're being extremely misleading. If you look at http://calendar.yptulsa.org/?id=28 you'll see that yptulsa actually LISTS on their calendar the Chamber's yp event this thursday. I'm not seeing all the animosity and group-competition you claim exists.

Obviously you won't comment on this or anything of the sort. You cut it real black and white on your site. I enjoy your postings though for the most part. But as someone who likes to see the good in both sides of an issue, I rarely agree with you. you got blinders on.

If you'll reread what I wrote more carefully, you'll notice I didn't say there was any animosity between the people involved in ypTULSA and those involved in the Tulsa Metro Chamber's copycat group, TYpros. ypTULSA did indeed list TYpros' inaugural event on their calendar, and the ypTULSA leadership is committed to working with TYpros and any other organization that shares their aims. (I note that TYpros has not reciprocated with a link to ypTULSA.)

It's not "blind hatred" to notice that once again, the Tulsa Metro Chamber bureaucracy is more interested in power and control than in cooperation for the greater good of the city. I stand by the story I reported last October, long before the existence of TYpros was announced. TYpros is the fulfillment of the Chamber's threat to set up a rival organization, after ypTULSA refused its overture to bring them under the Chamber umbrella. People who have been active in the community far longer than I have can affirm that the Chamber's MO is to kill what it cannot control.

It may be the case that the young professionals who have joined TYpros don't see themselves as rivals to ypTULSA, but that was the intention of those who created the group. Perhaps in time, TYpros will develop a mission that differentiates it from what ypTULSA is trying to accomplish. But for now, TYpros appears to be a cynical attempt by the Chamber to direct energetic young professionals away from an independent group that might take things in a direction the Chamber doesn't like.

Which is not to say that I'm going to like every direction that ypTULSA takes, but I respect the group for lighting a candle instead of cursing the darkness. They're already involved in reviving the Greenwood Jazz Festival, trying to reopen Nelson's Buffeteria somewhere downtown, and trying to make something of the East Village concept. You can read Urban Tulsa's coverage of ypTULSA's kickoff here. I'm glad to see that their concept for the east downtown area focuses on bringing in homegrown businesses in an incremental approach, rather than one massive development for the whole area, controlled by a single developer. The incremental, locally-driven approach has worked well in places like Savannah, Georgia, and it's proven itself along Cherry Street and Brookside here in Tulsa.

Only one comment so far in response to Downtown Guy's request for what's best in downtown Tulsa. My dad writes:

What is best in Downtown Tulsa?? ---- For a price, there are lots of lots for parking!!!!!

He's right. Downtown has a tremendous collection of surface parking lots, many encompassing an entire city block. Mikki and I once went on a helicopter ride over downtown, and we were awestruck by the vast expanses of asphalt, and there's more of it every year.

Downtown was not always like that -- take a look at downtown, viewed from the south, in 1952. Nearly every building less than five stories in the foreground of that photo, along with many taller buildings, have been flattened, mainly to provide surface parking for Tulsa Community College and nearby churches.

When I first ran for City Council in 1998, I talked about city leaders bringing together building owners, church leaders, and TCC to find a way to meet the need for parking without continuing the process of flattening downtown. Shortly after that election, the Catholic Diocese of Eastern Oklahoma demolished the Tulsa Apartments at 9th and Main. The sturdy apartments were built in the '20s and would have had great potential for renovation as apartments or condos. The diocese claimed that they would replace the apartments with a plaza and a new chancery, but in fact they wanted it for more convenient parking for Sunday morning, just like all the other downtown churches.

Seven years later, the leveling of downtown continues, most recently with the Tulsa Whirled's demolition of the Skelly Building for a dozen parking spots. City leaders are so convinced that the arena (if it is ever built) will bring downtown back to life that they haven't noticed that there isn't much downtown left to revive.

Anyone else think this is a problem?

Downtown Guy from Oklahoma City wants to know from Tulsans what's best about our downtown:

So, what are your suggestions for getting the most out of a visit to downtown Tulsa? Best hotel? Best restaurants? Best attractions? Best hidden architecture? Best clubs? Best list of events for weekends in April?

What do you think?

Mikki and I had a great time last night at KFAQ's third birthday party at the Mabee Center. It was an honor to have seats in the VIP section, and it was a pleasant surprise to be recognized by Michael DelGiorno as he introduced the dignitaries. (I've always considered myself more of an indignantary.)

Nationally-syndicated talk show host Glenn Beck delivered a wide-ranging hour-long monologue. The first half was like a political stand-up comedy act that had everyone cackling. He began with a salute to the Oklahoma state senator who came up with the idea of putting boxing gloves on roosters, but he said that what really makes America great is that some manufacturer in California said he could make those rooster boxing gloves. He went on to talk about parental responsibility, with a riff on the skanky clothes young girls are allowed to wear. Beck calls them "prostitots."

I was surprised that there were a number of younger kids in the audience. We left ours with a sitter, partly so we could enjoy an evening out on our own, partly because of the kind of subject matter talk show hosts deal with. When Beck started talking about the rising number of junior high school students engaging in oral sex or began using the vulgar past participle for micturition as a synonym for "angry," the presence of a seven-year-old girl in the front row didn't seem to deter him. (Mel Brooks fans will understand why I half-expected him to shift his vocabulary and start talking about "number one" and "pe-pe envy.")

Things turned serious as he talked about the Terri Schiavo case, which he's been covering for more than five years, and he was honored to be invited to sit with the Schindler family at Terri's funeral. Beck read from a chilling article, which he said was in a New York paper a couple of days ago, concerned with the cost to Medicaid programs of long-term care for the severely disabled. The unspoken question in the story -- which I haven't been able to find -- was, "Wouldn't it be better for everyone to put these disabled people out of their misery, so we can spend the money on others?"

Thanks again to the folks at KFAQ for the chance to be a part of the event and for the opportunity to talk over their airwaves every Monday morning. By the way, DelGiorno should be airing excerpts from Beck's speech on Friday morning's show.

Elsewhere:

Bobby of Tulsa Topics has photos of today's hailstorm, a link to what he uses to do streaming audio on his website, and he has a collection of springtime photos of Tulsa in bloom and has them in a screensaver that you can download.

Don Singleton has news of an experiment in citizen journalism being launched in Bluffton, South Carolina -- a tabloid paper combined with a website: "Every reader will be invited to log onto the Web site and comment about stories, as well as start their own blog, upload pictures and even contribute recipes."

Mee Citee Wurkor will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about water meter replacement.

The Homeowners for Fair Zoning newslog explains F&M Bank's lawsuit against individual city councilors over the 71st and Harvard property. And we learn about the connection between Tulsa Whirled, F&M Bank, and steaming piles of cow dung.

And, yes, you heard right: John Erling is retiring after 28 years as morning show host on KRMG.

Last October, I gave you an anecdote illustrating how the Tulsa Metro Chamber works to throttle innovation:

There's a new group called Young Professionals of Tulsa, whose aims include rediscovering and promoting the "people, places and things that make Tulsa original" -- to that end they're working to raise the money to reopen Nelson's Buffeteria and to revive the Greenwood Jazz Festival. The Tulsa Metro Chamber bureaucrats pushed to make YPT a branch of the Chamber, and when rebuffed, threatened to set up a rival young professionals group and to spread the word that it would be very unwise to join YPT instead of the Chamber's knockoff group.

The Chamber has followed through on its threat, creating a group called TYPROS, which is headed up by Andrea Myers, who works for (surprise, surprise) the PR firm of choice for the Cockroach Coalition, Schnake, Turnbo & Frank. The Tulsa Whirled is doing its part to promote the Chamber puppet group, most recently with a puff piece by Ken Neal in Sunday's paper.

The real, independent group, Young Professionals of Tulsa (ypTULSA) got some good press in August and mid-October of last year, but once the Chamber began to promote its bogus group, the Whirled has had a blackout on the genuine organization.

What's funding the Chamber's effort to crowd out an independent organization? City tax dollars, since this is under the umbrella of the Chamber's economic development department, which is funded by City of Tulsa hotel/motel tax. I hope the Council will keep this kind of wasteful duplication in mind when they consider whether to renew the Chamber's economic development contract for the next fiscal year. If the Chamber can't cooperate with existing groups, the Chamber doesn't need the City's money.

ypTULSA (that's the real group) has its official kickoff event this Friday, April 8, at 4 p.m. Visit their website for details and to RSVP.

Herb Beattie (herb.beattie AT sbcglobal.net) sent along a summary of Tuesday night's meeting about the rights property owners have when AEP/PSO (our local electric company) comes onto the property to cut back or remove trees:

THINGS HOMEOWNERS SHOULD KNOW WHEN AEP/PSO ENTERS YOUR YARD:

1. The homeowner owns land within easement, subject to utilities� rights to use the easement for the delivery of services.
2. Within an easement, AEP/PSO has an obligation to act reasonably.
3. Within an easement, owner and AEP/PSO have an obligation to accommodate each other.
4. AEP/PSO have a right to access an easement to trim trees by traveling across owners land to get to the easement, but they shouldn�t injure your property when the cross or when they are working.
5. Outside the easement, the homeowner owns the land completely, and has a right to reasonably eject trespassers (including AEP/PSO). The homeowner has a right to be free from encroachment on her lands.
6. AEP/PSO�s representatives will tell you they can cut out to 15 or 20 feet or more from the power lines.
7. AEP/PSO does not have a property right that allows them to cut beyond their easement - most residential easements in Tulsa are 7.5 feet on a single property.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. Know where your easement is and how big it is.
2. Take photos before, during and after the cutting.
3. When you get a card indicating that AEP/PSO will cut your trees talk to the AEP/PSO forester about where your easement is and where your trees are.
4. Demand to be on site when the tree trimming is done. You have a right to be there.
5. Be firm � don�t let them cut outside the easement just because they want to.
6. If AEP/PSO persists, inform them you will call the police and press charges for criminal trespass.
7. If AEP/PSO still encroaches over your objections, do call the police, and call your lawyer.

WHAT ABOUT THE LOGS THAT LITTER MY YARD?

1. Ask AEP/PSO to clean up the litter they create.
2. If they don�t clean up, call your lawyer.

Thanks, Herb, for passing along the information.

Tonight on KJRH's 10 p.m. newscast, they'll air a story by reporter Glenn McIntyre on last year's audit of the Tulsa County Industrial Authority (TCIA) and what's being done to correct the problems that the audit uncovered. (KJRH is on channel 2 over the air, on channel 9 on Cox Cable.) Glenn interviewed me and at least one of the county commissioners for this story.

The TCIA is a trust created under Title 60 of the Oklahoma statutes, and among other activities, it issues revenue bonds to pay for county capital improvements. For example, TCIA issued bonds to be repaid by the Vision 2025 sales tax, to allow work on projects to proceed before the 13-year sales tax had generated sufficient dollars. The TCIA is governed by a board consisting of the three county commissioners. Hundreds of millions of dollars pass through the TCIA.

I'll withhold further comment until the story has aired. I appreciate KJRH's initiative in looking into this issue. I've often complained that local TV news departments ignore local government stories in favor of redundant coverage of national stories or local stories that have visual appeal. I give KJRH great credit for pursuing this story and showing the same kind of initiative on a number of other stories recently -- for example, looking at F&M Bank board member contributions to city councilors who were considering the bank's rezoning application.

UPDATE: The audit, which was issued last summer by a local CPA firm, said there isn't any fraud, but there are checks and balances and safeguards missing that leave the system vulnerable to fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. County Commissioner Wilbert Collins said that there's nothing for people to worry about, that plans are in the works to fix the deficiencies, and said (more or less) that we can trust the commissioners to do the right thing.

They used one brief quote from me, that even some proponents of Vision 2025 expressed concerns about putting this much money in the hands of county government. In a part of the interview they didn't use, I pointed out that opponents to Vision 2025 expressed concern about the lack of safeguards, and that Oklahoma county government, which is one-size-fits-all, was designed for paving rural roads and keeping land records, not for handling half a billion dollars.

Glenn McEntyre put together an excellent report, and I appreciate his efforts and the efforts of KJRH to put this issue in the public eye.

It's not every day I get a big hug from a County Commissioner, and I wouldn't necessarily welcome a hug from any old County Commissioner. But I was proud to receive one from Tulsa County Commissioner Randi Miller as thanks for my part in shining the light of public scrutiny on the competition for a nearly $100 million five-year contract to operate Tulsa County's jail. On Friday, the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority (TCCJA) awarded the contract to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department.

Shortly after the vote, Miller and Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune spoke at the Tulsa County Republican Men's Club's monthly luncheon. They were exultant that control over the jail had been returned to a public official who is accountable to the voters for law enforcement and public safety, not to corporate shareholders. The Commissioner was kind enough to acknowledge me from the podium as she spoke to the club; after her speech she came over to deliver the hug.

When she first contacted me a week and a half ago about the issue, Miller felt that deals were being worked to give the contract once again to Correctional Corporation of America (CCA), the company that has run the jail for the last five years. This time, CCA was over $2 million per year more expensive than the low bidder, but they were allowed to submit a second, lower bid, which excluded the cost of utilities, courthouse transportation, and certain medical expenses, cost shifting that would be borne by the county. It was a low bid in name only, but the sense was that CCA would have the support of five of the TCCJA commissioners. (The TCCJA includes the three Tulsa County Commissioners, the mayor of Tulsa, and one suburban mayor from each of the County Commission districts -- currently Broken Arrow, Collinsville, and Glenpool.) Miller felt she could support either the GEO Group, the low-bidder, or the Sheriff's Office, only a few hundred thousand dollars higher than the GEO Group. LaFortune was committed to the Sheriff's Office.

I'm at the Lacy Park rec center, on Virgin St. west of Peoria for a reception honoring former U. S. Sen. Don Nickles. The event has been organized by the 2100 N. Owasso Block club, in gratitude for Nickles' help in resolving environmental problems caused by inadequate sewage infrastructure in the area. The reception will be underway shortly and continue until 3 - a chance for you to express your own thanks to Sen. Nickles for his quarter-century of public service. It's also a chance to meet dedicated neighborhood activists like James & Bernice Alexander and Sam Berry, staunch allies in the struggle to make city government work for all Tulsans, not just a favored few.

Also, they're serving food, and it smells really good.

UPDATE: That good-smelling food was homemade smoked beef brisket and turkey, of which I ate way too much. There was some sort of security issue that delayed the senator and in the end prevented him from attending, but the tributes from neighborhood leaders were videotaped to be sent to him later, and it was still a good time.

I should mention for out-of-town readers that Lacy Park is in a predominantly black and predominantly Democratic part of Tulsa, so it might seem remarkable that a conservative Republican senator would be honored here, but it reflects Don Nickles' dedication to fair treatment for all his constituents, whether they voted for him or not. The area had terrible problems with aging infrastructure -- raw sewage backing up into the park, homes, and schools, and brown-tinged tap water. City Hall, then under Democrat Mayor Susan Savage, wasn't doing anything at all to help, so neighborhood leaders went to Sen. Nickles' office.

As Bernice Alexander tells the story, the senator couldn't believe things could be as bad as they were described to him, but they had documentation ready for him, and his response was that no one should have to live with such a mess. He put his staff to work, and the result was Federal oversight to ensure that the City dealt with this environmental hazard -- new interceptor lines, a new sewage treatment plant, new water lines. The determination of the neighborhood leaders and the diligence of Nickles' staff under his leadership saved the neighborhood.

In the absence of the Senator, I was asked, as an officer in the county Republican Party, to speak on his behalf. For all of his well-known accomplishments -- his years in the Senate leadership and his work on landmark legislation -- I know he'd be pleased to know that his work and his staff's work on this neighborhood issue was remembered and appreciated. While I'd rather see local issues handled by local government, this was a case where local government neglect was endangering the health of citizens of this city, and I'm glad that the Senator stepped in.

I'm glad I came. This event is another example of how the walls of suspicion between parties and races and different parts of town are coming down. People are realizing the root problem is bigger than whatever neighborhood issue that first brought them to City Hall in search of help. Democrats and Republicans are coming together to seek for fairness, integrity, and accountability in government. The people who have been using city government for their own ends ought to be very nervous.

I found a treasure trove of photos of homes and interiors in the Lortondale neighborhood, a subdivision of mid-century modern homes near 26th & Yale in Tulsa. The collection also has some great neon photos, including what's left of the Mayo Meadow sign and the Sheridan Lanes sign.

The home interior photos show that the neighborhood is attracting the interest of fans of mid-century architecture, who are decorating the interior in the same spirit.

While I'm always happy to have your comments here on BatesLine, if you want to be part of a more interactive conversation about all things Tulsa, visit the TulsaNow Forums.

One of the forums has several active mouthwatering topics about eats in Tulsa:

• Where do you like to eat in Tulsa?
• Hole in the wall Tulsa restaurants
• Questions for BBQ hounds

There's a whole world of great food beyond the chain restaurants on 71st Street. Stop by those topics, contribute your own favorites, and learn about some places you haven't tried yet.

One more added to the blogroll:

No Blog of Significance: Dan Paden says it's mostly a place to post notes from his Sunday School class at Sheridan Road Baptist Church, but so far it's about everything else, including some sort of tangle with Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom about Kid Rock playing at a presidential inaugural ball.

Note to my single, female Tulsa readers: On a comment on this site, Mr. Paden claims to have knowledge of a "wide variety" of "excellent matrimonial prospects" who "have the advantage in looks." If you're wondering if all the good men are taken, Dan seems to think not and claims to know where to find them. Better hurry, though; he was hawking these prospects to an out-of-town blogger.

Everyone had the day off, so Grandma picked up the kids early, and Mikki and I had some time on our own. We had lunch at the Bangkok Restaurant, a very good Thai buffet near 31st and Harvard -- only $8 each, not including beverage, and plenty of spicy dishes, which we both enjoy. They had a lot of variety for a relatively small restaurant.

The weather was lovely. We drove up to Cherry Street, parked the van, and walked along, window-shopping. There's a specialty food store, LaDonna's Fancy Foods, at the northwest corner of 15th and St. Louis that had an amazing variety of pastas and cheeses. Have you ever seen sombrerini pasta? Me neither. Can you guess what they look like from the name? We walked from Troost to Peoria on the north side of 15th, back to St. Louis on the south side, then down to Swan Lake and back.

Katherine spotted our first two daffodils in bloom on Sunday, and a bunch more are close to popping. The pear trees have already put out their fuzzy buds, and the phlox is starting to bloom.

We'll have a few more cold nights, and probably in a couple of weeks, we'll get a freak 12-inch snow storm which will all melt the next day. But spring is really here.

UPDATE: A reader mailed in the name of the specialty food shop, LaDonna's Fancy Foods, which I've added above, and linked it to LaDonna's very fine website.

Here's an MP3 of my visit with Michael DelGiorno and Gwen Freeman from this last Monday morning. We talked about the GOP press conference in opposition to the City Council recall, "Tulsa Talks," upcoming school board elections, a City Charter amendment proposal, and blogging -- including mentions of some of my personal favorite news-oriented blogs (the ones I could think of on the spur of the moment).

Oklahoma school board elections are a week from tomorrow, February 8.

Here's what you need to do:

Enter your address and find your precinct and school board district here.

Now that you know what district you're in, go here to look at sample ballots (or see the direct links below) and see who's running and what issues are on the ballot in your district.

Here are the school board seats:

Bixby, Office 5
Berryhill, Office 5
Liberty, Office 5
Tulsa, Office 2
Tulsa, Office 3
Union, Office 5

Everyone in Union district also has a bond issue to vote on. Here's that ballot.

In addition to the races for common school board seats, there's a race for a seat on the board that governs Tulsa Technology Center. The district is mainly south and west of the Arkansas River and I-244, plus far south Tulsa and north Bixby -- you can see a map here and you can see a profile of the incumbent board members here.

Tulsa Vo-Tech, Office 7

If you're a candidate for one of these offices, write me at blog at batesline dot com, supply me with your contact information and a brief summary of why you're running, and what you'd change about your school system, and I will post your information on this site.

It was nice to see the lovely neon sign belonging to Argie Lewis Flowers installed and lit up at the florist's new location on the southside of 41st east of Sheridan.

Argie Lewis was, until last fall, our neighborhood florist -- the photo above was taken at dusk in February 2003, when the store was still at Mayo Meadow Shopping Center. It was one of four interesting neon signs at the center -- the Center's own sign, the Better Price Store (neon and running incandescent lights), and Huey's Shoes. The end is apparently near for Mayo Meadow -- the center's neon sign, once scrupulously maintained in working order, has been allowed to go dark one element at a time.

Mayo Meadow Shopping Center, designed by architect John Duncan Forsythe, may just reach its golden anniversary. A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is slated to replace the center, with an outbuilding to house Yale Cleaners, the only current tenant that will remain. Huey's Shoes has closed forever, the shoe repairman is moving, Better Price has reopened as Marc's All-Mart in the old Woodcraft Furniture location at 51st and Sheridan, Ming Palace is now Ming's at 73rd and Memorial, in an old McDonald's store.

By the way, you can now listen to KFAQ online. (Hooray!) You have to be running Internet Explorer to install the application that lets you listen. (Booo!) It's a proprietary system called SurferNetwork, which is a bit disappointing; if it were RealAudio, I could use various means to record it to disk. Still, I can listen when I travel, which hasn't been possible before. I think that SurferNetwork addresses some rights and advertising issues that might have prevented us from having the feed at all.

Thanks to Brian Gann and KFAQ for making it happen.

KFAQ broadcasts the Michael DelGiorno show live between 5:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. (Central Time) then rebroadcasts the most recent show over and over again until the next show begins. You should be able to hear my Monday morning bit live at 6:40 a.m., then again at 10:10 a.m., 1:40 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 8:40 p.m., then Tuesday in the wee hours at 12:10 a.m., and 3:40 a.m.

Jamie Jamieson, developer of the Village at Central Park and outgoing president of TulsaNow has written a letter reflecting on the state of the city and the state of TulsaNow to mark the end of his term of office.

Jamie reviews some of 2004's positive developments, including the emergence of other civic-minded groups like Homeowners for Fair Zoning, SaveTulsa.org, and Young Professionals of Tulsa.

He has some choice words for the recall attempt:

TulsaNow exists to stimulate objective civic debate that leads to intelligent strategic decisions about our community�s future. Among the less enlightening of 2004�s small-town politicking is the ongoing �recall� effort to eliminate two of the City�s more inconveniently opinionated Councilors, Medlock and Mautino. This self-serving initiative - denounced by virtually everyone, including the Mayor and Tulsa�s GOP � has the aroma of a rancorous and rattled old boys� club that�s run out of ideas but resents the harsh light of day intruding into the comforting fug of the locker-room. We see those Councilors as elected representatives asking good questions. Let�s spend more time on the issues in 2005 and less on character assassination.

(If you're wondering, a fug is "a thick, stuffy, smelly atmosphere, especially that of a crowded, poorly-ventilated room.")

Jamie goes on to talk about TulsaNow's 2004 focus on land use issues and focus that will continue into 2005:

Land Use policy affects our health, taxes, traffic congestion, transit options, pollution, zoning, schools � you name it. Our present policies are out-dated and uncompetitive. They�re inefficient, expensive and socially divisive. Bureaucratic rivalries serve to hinder rather than encourage change. Acrimonious �Developer vs. Neighborhood� disputes are just one symptom of the growing pains we�re facing that relate to land use.

He closes with an appeal to get involved:

Now more than ever we need imagination, courage, clarity of vision and a cooperative determination to carry through. The visionaries of the 1920s and 30�s are gone, and we can no longer depend on our founding philanthropists to decide what�s best for us. It�s up to informed citizens to take charge of our own destiny. TulsaNow aims to help by organizing and invigorating working groups of people who come to the table with ideas and solutions.

I was about to say �Watch this space�. Don�t. Get involved instead. Start by joining us at www.Tulsanow.org. Here�s to a ground-breaking year of visible progress and rational, purposeful, civic discussion.

Thanks, Jamie, for loving Tulsa enough to get involved and do all that you do to make it a better place to live.

The letter is not up on the TulsaNow website, yet, but I'm sure it will be. (UPDATE: Here it is.) For now, I'll post the full text in the extended entry.

We've long suspected it, and Ken Neal admitted it in his Sunday Whirled column:

It is a common accusation that the World �never saw a tax it doesn�t like.� There is a lot of truth in that statement.

The point of the editorial is to push for the proposed fuel tax increase for roads and bridges. No one doubts that some of our roads and bridges are in dire shape, but many of us doubt whether giving an ever-larger share of the wealth and income of Oklahomans to state government is going to fix that problem.

Ken Neal regularly advocates for a bigger share of the pie for government. I wonder what percentage of the state economy he would consider to be the limit beyond which government should not be allowed to grow. At what point would he say that the state has as much as it should have and needs to learn to live within its means.

Rather than increasing the state's share of the pie, we need to grow the pie.

Don't anybody say I've never said anything nice about the Tulsa Whirled. That was a lovely story they ran Saturday on the front of the local section about Dr. James D. Green's retirement. (Article starts here, jump page here.)

Tulsa physician James D. Green has never been a typical doctor � he makes house calls, prays with his patients and doesn't have a computer on his desk.

In an age of standardized care, Green believes in tailoring his
medical practice to meet the needs of his patients.

To many people, he might sound like the perfect doctor, but
alas, he isn't accepting new patients. After more than 43 years of
practice, Green, 71, is closing his office and going into semiretirement.

We've gotten to know Dr. Green and his family through church -- they are wonderful folks. (Dr. Green and I sometimes sit next to each other in the choir, and we share an appreciation for traditional hymns sung to familiar tunes.)

The article mentions that Dr. Green will continue to visit some of his homebound patients, and the Greens plan to travel to Ukraine (as they've done before) to work with clinics and hospitals. Our church has a connection with Ukraine going back about 10 years, when some of our church members did year-long stints as short term missionaries in southern Ukraine, as part of the "CoMission", a cooperative effort among denominational and independent missions agencies and parachurch groups to reach the old Soviet Union with the gospel.

May Jim and Betty Jo enjoy a long and fruitful retirement.

On New Year's Day, the Tulsa Whirled announced the demise of the long-running "Call the Editor" feature, which the paper inherited after it drove the late, lamented Tulsa Tribune out of business in 1992, the Whirled having refused to renew their longstanding joint operating agreement.

"Call the Editor" worked like this: People called and left brief, anonymous comments on the news on an answering machine. Someone would then weed through the comments and a selection would be published each day.

The very act of selection creates an opportunity for bias. If calls in support of the City Council majority outnumbered calls in opposition by a 100-1 margin, the paper could publish one of each and claim they fairly represented both sides of the issue, although they would have misrepresented the relative intensity of opinion. Then again, anonymous calls to an answering machine don't represent a scientific sample of opinion. It could make for entertaining reading, but it was never one of my must-read features.

Anyway, "Call the Editor" is an outdated approach to commenting on news articles. So are letters to the editor. Blogs and message boards make it possible for anyone to comment publicly on any Whirled article, and to do so immediately, whether or not the Whirled wants to publish that comment. The only problem now is knowing where to look for that commentary. Someday, someone will set up a website to let you view a newspaper article in one frame and comments on that article in another. For now, I encourage people to register and use the TulsaNow forums.

(And before someone shouts "hypocrite," I plan to add non-anonymous comments to this blog as soon as I can install software to prevent comment spam. This being a one-man operation, I don't have time to be a comment cop. It probably won't happen this week, though. And in the meantime, you can comment all you like over at the TulsaNow forums.)

If you really want to call the editor, you still can: Many of the editorial board members are listed in the phone book, and they all have voice mail at the newspaper.

Here's the reason the Whirled gives for discontinuing the feature, with helpful translations in brackets:

With the addition of Datelines, however, we say goodbye to Call the Editor. Since 1992, when The Tulsa Tribune ceased publication, Call the Editor has been a mainstay on A-2 of the Tulsa World.

We believe that it is time to take a more positive approach to commentary in our community. [We are sick and tired of all of you telling us how rotten the paper is.] Despite careful editing [censorship], we believe � and many of you have told us � that Call the Editor has become extremely negative and divisive within our communities. [Our feelings are wounded. Get the iodine.] Call the Sports Editor, which appeared in the Sports section, also has been discontinued.

We still want to hear from you and give you an opportunity to express your views on everything from the Tulsa World to the world at large. However, we ask that you write your comments to our Opinion section. [That way we can sit on them for three weeks until no one can remember the article to which you responded.]

There, you'll be given the opportunity to put your name with your comments and stand up for your point of view. [If we agree with it.] Editorial Pages Editor Ken Neal plans to run more of your letters [through the shredder], and we look forward to carrying on Call the Editor's history of commentary in those letters.

If the Whirled really wants to end anonymous, destructive, negative, and divisive commentary, they should begin by firing the entire editorial board.

That's the observation of the Downtown Guy, an Oklahoma City blogger focused on that city's downtown, about the announcement that the backers of "The American" (aka "The Big Indian") have nearly raised enough money to build the monumental statue. Downtown Guy says sculptor Shan Grey's excuse for not naming any of the investors is flimsy and that reporters should have dug deeper.

Tulsa Today has an analysis and excerpts from the Tulsa County grand jury report on the death of Shawn Howard, owner of Deadtown Tavern. The grand jury indicted Terry Badgewell for first degree murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The grand jury also had criticism for District Attorney Tim Harris' handling of the case, particularly the failure to notify the victim's family before the decision not to prosecute was publicly announced.

Sandra Langenkamp has a guest op-ed in Sunday's Whirled outlining a process for developing a vision for the future of our region. She recommends first gathering the great and the good -- former public officials, Chamber officials, bureaucrats -- to reach a consensus about what needs to be done. When do ordinary citizens have a chance to be heard?

Once a level of consensus is gained through these early conversations a process then would be established to obtain broad citizen participation.

A steering committee would be selected from the four early participating groups, which would select chairmen for the issue areas and assign appropriate staffs. The individual topic group chairman and staff would invite citizen participation. A one-year deadline would be stated for development of a mission statement, recommendations, implementation strategy and assignment to the appropriate group for fulfillment of the goals.

In other words, once all the important decisions have been made, then we'll "obtain broad citizen participation," whatever the heck that means.

She goes on to promote the laughable idea that a committee of ex-chairmen of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission could be formed to run the whole thing. Oh, and yes, that would include her. A bunch of developers and developers' toadies, who are there to ensure that developers get what they want, regardless of the impact on other property owners, would decide the future of our region with minimal public input. You betcha.

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that the American way to make those decisions is through the elected representatives of the people. Let those running for Mayor and City Council and County Commission outline their visions of Tulsa's future. Let the voters vote for the candidates whose vision lines up with their hopes and dreams. Then the elected officials can debate, consider, propose, compromise, and make decisions. It's fashionable to say that such important matters should be removed from the realm of dirty old politics. Personally, I prefer politics, specifically representative democracy, to other methods of choosing between oppposing views. I think politics is much better than knives and guns, much better than oligarchy, much better than autocracy. It's much better than a bunch of unaccountable swells pretending to listen to us.

Just came across this fairly new website -- Eating Tulsa. A group of friends meet about once a week to try a locally-owned restaurant and then write a review for the site. You can register and contribute your own comments as well. Cool logo, too.

We recently ventured out to a couple of restaurants we hadn't visited before.

Binh Le is a Vietnamese restaurant at 31st and Joplin (west of Sheridan), in a converted QuikTrip. (You could never tell if you didn't know already.) When Ri Le Restaurant lost its lease at 31st and Yale in 2002, Ri Le's son-in-law Binh Le opened up down the street with the same menu and recipes. We had the hot garlic chicken and hot ginger beef -- both delicious -- and the imperial rolls, which are like egg rolls, but in a rice wrapper, steamed, not fried, and served with peanut sauce. They don't use MSG, the place is smoke-free, and, as a bonus, they proudly display a photo of President Bush along with a certificate of thanks from the National Republican Congressional Committee for a 2003 contribution. Yes, a portion of your meal purchase may go to support keeping the U. S. House in Republican control.

1978 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims recently opened a barbecue (pardon me, "Boomer-Q") place in The Farm Shopping Center. It's filled with memorabilia of Billy's years with the Oklahoma Sooners and the Detroit Lions, and, in an inclusive gesture, there are OSU, TU, and ORU pennants on display. Menu items have been given themed names: Ordering "Smoked Jayhawk" will get you a serving of chicken, and you cannot get Texas toast -- you have to ask for "Okie Bread." I had the "Pulled Razorback" (pulled pork -- revenge for the '78 Orange Bowl) which, for my tastes, is the ultimate test for a barbecue place -- few sell it, and of those that do, even fewer do it well. This was moist, tender, and flavorful and the dinner serving was generous. My eight year old was quite pleased with his smoked bologna ("Arkansas Steak") sandwich. Souvenir cups feature a picture of Billy as a Sooner and his college and pro rushing stats. If you need to visit the facilities, you'll be greeted by a red and white commode, with an inverted longhorn head at the bottom of the bowl as a handy target.

I am expecting some extra-special spin from the Whirled this morning about the defeat of the Tulsa library bond issue and property tax rate increase. No doubt they will find some way to blame it on Jim Mautino and Chris Medlock. It'll be something like: The City Council clown band has so devastated confidence in local government that the momentum from Vision 2025 has been water line annexation historic relationship with the Chamber get a rope. (I didn't say they'd be coherent.)

Does this vote mean that Tulsa Countians hate libraries? Do they hate downtown?

If I were to go to my boss and ask for a raise, and say, "You pay me a good salary, plenty to live on, but you aren't paying me the most that you possibly could. If you gave maxed out my salary, I could keep my house, car, and wardrobe fresh, vibrant, and up-to-date," he would probably say, "That's nice. Now get back to work." It wouldn't mean that he hated me, or that he didn't appreciate my work, or didn't think I was worth what he pays me. It means that he doesn't see a compelling reason to spend more for my services.

The Tulsa City-County Library system seems to do a good job with the money they've been given. They provide a valuable service to the community. The vast majority of Tulsans don't begrudge them the funding they currently receive or the bond money they've used to expand and improve their facilities and collections. I haven't heard anyone calling for a reduction in the library's millage rate or for selling off the library buildings.

(The only knock I've heard against the library's actions concerned a month-long pro-gay-rights exhibit on the Central Library's main floor, just across from the children's section -- and I think that happened some years ago.)

Tulsans see that the library system is well-funded and well-maintained. They see that over the last six years, since the last bond issue, every branch has been expanded or given a facelift, and new branches were built. Some of the same branches that were upgraded over the last six years would have been abandoned for newly built facilities if the bond issue had passed -- Broken Arrow's library, for example.

I am hearing rumblings that the defeat of the library tax hikes has city officials in a panic, fearing that this may spell trouble for the City of Tulsa infrastructure bond issue that we are supposed to be voting on sometime early next year. Those officials underestimate their constituents. We will support a bond issue if we believe the money is really needed, not just because it would be "nice."

Tulsa County voters approved the Vision 2025 sales tax increase because they were convinced that it was an emergency and we had to "do something." (True, the solution didn't actually address the problem.)

Tulsa County voters turned down the Health Department's 0.75 mill increase in February 2002, even though it was billed as a measure to fight "bioterrorism" and expand services. Voters read a week earlier that the Health Department's revenues had nearly doubled over a ten-year period. The previous fall, they read about special performance bonuses given to a third of the health department's employees, and you couldn't miss their big new building, at 51st & 129th. Tulsa County voters reasonably concluded that the Health Department had enough resources to protect us against epidemics and food poisoning, which is what a public health department is all about.

No libraries will close, no librarians will be laid off as a result of the vote. The message of the library tax defeat wasn't "we hate taxes," or "we hate libraries," it was, "we love you, but you don't need any more money right now."

FYI, here are the precinct-by-precinct results. I haven't looked at them that closely, but opposition appears to have been very widespread.

The rumor is that Tulsa City Council Chairman Randy Sullivan will push to delay a vote for the city infrastructure bond issue until after a vote is held to recall Councilors Mautino and Medlock. The excuse will be that the political atmosphere is just too poisonous because of the recall -- using the failure of the library vote as Exhibit A -- and passage of the bond issue may be in jeopardy. Isn't that a bit like blaming the dog for the results of having had cabbage, pinto beans, and cauliflower for lunch? The poison in the air has been put there by Chamber Chairman Bob Poe, the Whirled, Randy Sullivan, and the Coalition for Reprehensible Government. The way to clear the air is for Sullivan and his masters to stop pursuing the recall and focus on what really matters to the citizens of Tulsa -- things like smooth residential streets and replacement of aging and inadequate water and sewer lines.

The bond issue is already months overdue, thanks to footdragging by the Mayor's Office. There are reports that Mayor had planned to ask the Council to suspend its rules and authorize the vote on the bond issue on the first reading tonight, so that the bond issue could be on the ballot in early March. Talk about putting things off until the last minute. At the moment, I don't even see the bond issue on the agenda on the council's website. It doesn't seem to have been discussed since a draft was presented to the Council's Public Works committee back at the beginning of October.

The city has a backlog of infrastructure projects that runs into the billions. The city's policy has been to fund these needs with a third-penny sales tax renewal every five years and a general obligation bond issue, also every five years, but roughly halfway between third-penny renewal elections. The last city general obligation bond issue vote was in August 1999. If Randy Sullivan has his way and pushes the bond issue out until April or May of next year -- scarcely a year before time for the next third-penny vote. That would be a very irresponsible move on his part, and it would demonstrate that getting rid of two of his colleagues means more to him than attending to the needs of the city.

UPDATE: Chris Medlock responds to this morning's Whirled story. Bobby Holt and Charles G. Hill tee off on the Whirled's editorial on the failure of the library vote.

If you live in an incorporated area of Tulsa County, you are in the jurisdiction of seven separate entities with the power to levy property taxes, namely:

1. Your municipality
2. Your school district
3. Tulsa County
4. Tulsa City-County Library
5. Tulsa City-County Health Department
6. Tulsa Community College
7. Tulsa Technology Center

The library system currently receives 5.32 mills. Once you apply the assessment ratio and homestead exemption, the owner of a home worth $100,000 pays $53.20 in taxes every year to support the library. The library's budget gets bigger automatically as property values rise.

The first of two items on today's ballot is a permanent increase in the library's millage of 0.8 mills. For that $100,000 homeowner, that's another $8 a year. For the library, that represents a 15% increase in the tax rate, a 15% increase in the budget even if property values don't increase. The tax increase will not expire but would have to be expressly repealed if the people don't want it anymore.

The second item is a $79.1 million bond issue, which will also increase property tax by an estimated 2 mills over the next fifteen years. That's another $20 a year for the $100,000 homeowner.

So if both propositions pass, the $100,000 homeowner would be paying about $80 a year in taxes for the library system.

The question in my mind is not whether the library system is a good use of tax dollars, the question is whether the library system is the most needy or worthy recipient of the additional money they seek. As I watched a presentation today by a library official about the vote, I came to the conclusion that it is not.

The presentation made it clear that we have a very good system, with nearly every library in the system either new or significantly refurbished and expanded, mostly using funds from the 1998 bond issue. The presentation spoke not of replacing decrepit or dangerous buildings, but instead of keeping facilities "fresh." The current Central Library building is in excellent shape, and the library official confirmed that the building could indeed be expanded upwards by two stories, while pointing out that doing so would mean closing Central Library for a year or more and far from fixing the parking problem, it would create more demand for the library's limited spaces.

The library system is not in jeopardy. They are not short of funds. The facilities are in good shape. The library system is seeking to max out its allowed operating millage in hopes of expanding staff and services, but its current level of service is well funded.

The library system has been largely unscathed by the budget crises of recent years, thanks to its dedicated funding source. I can't justify giving the library system more money when many other more critical government functions are short of funds -- e.g., the jail. We need to reserve that taxing capacity for other parts of local government with greater needs. That's why I'm reluctantly voting no on both propositions today.

MORE: Bobby Holt is also voting no.

I love books, and I love libraries. The first really impressive library I ever set foot in was the Central Library downtown, and it is an awesome sight for a small fry as he walks down the center aisle of the plaza level to the main staircase.

Some kids are latchkey kids; I was a library kid. When I was in middle school, Central Library was where I went every Wednesday, when school let out early at 2:20. I took the MTTA bus from 26th Street and Birmingham to 5th and Boston, walked down 5th to watch the construction work on Bartlett Square and the Main Mall, got a 7-Up and a fig bar at the sub sandwich shop next to the Christian Science Reading Room on the west side of Boulder between 5th and 6th, then headed to the library, found a desk on the east side of the reference section on the mezzanine level, and spend a couple of hours browsing through maps and newspaper microfilm, before heading to the Cities Service Building to meet Dad at 5 for the ride home.

My wife and kids make heavy use of the library -- so heavy that I sometimes complain that I feel bound to read the library books to the kids first, rather than that books we already own. My wife loves the fact that she can search for and request books online and have them delivered to the local branch, and then renew them over the web. We have a good library system, a true civic asset.

That said, I've got some heartburn with Tuesday's bond issue. When a new Grand Central Library was first proposed, it was going to be an urban building -- something that looked like it belonged downtown -- located in the "East Village" area as a catalyst for development, and tied in with the Centennial Walk, the Tulsa Tablets, and other urban amenities. Now it appears we will be approving a suburban-style spaceship building, complete with useless plaza, designed for easy expressway access -- and that means no likelihood of stimulating nearby redevelopment, as patrons will zip back home on the expressway rather than venture out on foot.

The original proposal for Grand Central Library had it within a few blocks of Tulsa Community College, several churches, the Village at Central Park, and existing commerical development in the Blue Dome district and around Home Depot. In that context, it would have helped to connect several disconnected, but important, islands of activity downtown.

The location chosen by the library commission is 11th and Denver -- decades ago a bustling commercial corner at the crossroads of US 66 and US 64, but decimated by urban renewal. It is near residential areas -- Riverview Neighborhood just across the IDL, Central Park Condominiums, and Renaissance Uptown apartments -- but the nearest commerical development may be the QuikTrip at 15th and Denver. Sitting as it does up against the Inner Dispersal Loop, the edge of downtown, the 11th and Denver location won't be as effective as the East Village area as a connector between centers of activity.

There has been some discussion of the fact that Dan Schusterman, donor of the land on which the new Central Library would sit, also owns (or rather, various companies and LLCs connected with him own) a considerable portion of the land between Denver and Cheyenne, 7th and 11th. He may be hoping that the new arena at 3rd and Denver and the new library at 11th and Denver may enhance the perception of the area enough to allow him to sell his other land at a premium to developers. Paul Wilson, president of Dan Schusterman's Twenty-First Properties, was a member of the Dialog/Visioning Leadership Team.

For what it's worth, I understand the complaint that a new Central Library should be located closer to the population center of Tulsa County. I disagree. It makes sense for the main city-county library branch to be near the seat of government for both city and county, especially in its function as repository of government documents. Tulsa needs one densely developed urban district, and within the inner dispersal loop you have the land, the street grid, and the zoning rules that are most hospitable to that kind of development, and you don't have to worry about offending the neighbors. A well-designed and well-sited library could make a significant contribution to creating that kind of place. Better at 11th and Denver than in the middle of a massive parking lot at, say, 51st and Mingo.

I guess I had hoped for something more like this -- Chicago's Harold Washington Library Center, the Chicago library system's main branch. We don't need that much space, but it is a beautiful building. Built in neo-classical style, it's proof that modern public buildings don't have to look like flying saucers or Dr. Seuss inventions. You can build something stately and dignified if you pick the right architect and give him the right instructions. And you can build something that will last you not 40 years, but hundreds of years, if you do it right.

Something else Chicago is doing right -- free WiFi in the libraries. Instead of waiting on a library computer to open up so you can access research databases, you can BYOL (bring your own laptop), freeing up the library computers for those who don't have their own computer. What I'd really like is a secure way that would allow Tulsa County residents to access research databases, such as Tulsa County land records, for free from home, 24/7, rather than having to get to the library during normal hours.

Two more things that bug me about this bond issue: (1) It could have gone on the November ballot and saved us the cost of an extra county-wide election. (2) The Tulsa City-County Library system has its own property tax revenue stream. That's good for the library system's independence, but it makes it impossible for public officials to balance the desire to expand and improve the library with the need to take care of public safety and deteriorating roads and water lines. The library didn't have to consult with city or county officials before launching their effort to keep their current share of property tax, build more facilities that cost money to maintain and operate, at a time when maintenance and operation money is hard to come by.

Bobby Holt has some thoughts over at Tulsa Topics, and he links to a discussion on TulsaNow's forum.

Here's a PDF of the sample ballot. There are actually two ballot items -- one to increase permanently the library's property tax rate for operating costs, the other to authorize bonds for library construction and capital improvements. So you can pick and choose.

An accountant writes to tell me about an interesting case discussed at a recent tax law seminar. The case is F&M Bancorporation & Subsidiaries v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, No. TC-99331. Here's how the case was summarized in the seminar materials.

An Oklahoma bank holding company established an investment subsidiary which was organized and had its principal office in another state. The subsidiary presumably had substantial equity capitalization. It acquired mortgage notes receivable that had been generated in Oklahoma by a bank subsidiary of the holding company. The investment subsidiary did not report any income to Oklahoma and the holding company did not report any of the investment subsidiary's income or dividends to Oklahoma.

My correspondent adds:

Further information I gathered would indicate that the subsidiary was established in Delaware.

What the above is saying is F&M generated loans in OK then transferred those assets to a Delaware subsidiary. Then F&M did not pay OK income taxes on the income derived from the loans originated in OK.

The state of OK was a double loser here. The people with the loans more than likely deducted the interest expense on their OK income tax returns and F&M did not report the interest income from the loans on their OK tax return.

Being a fiscal conservative I think that is great, because OK would have just wasted the additional revenues on things like oh say, Great Plains Airlines. But, it kind of makes F&M not look like the greatest corporate citizens...

So far F&M has won the case. The OTC has asked the OK Supreme Court to review the case. They have not accepted nor rejected the case as of yet.

Who is the chairman of F&M Bancorporation? According to the F&M Bank's 2001 annual report, it's Robert E. Lorton, who is also chairman of the F&M Bank and Trust Company, and Chairman and Publisher of World Publishing Company, publisher of the Tulsa Whirled.

I don't take offense that a business would seek ways to minimize its tax liability, but it is amusing that this bank would be trying to avoid Oklahoma state tax, while the editorial board of the Tulsa Whirled, headed by the same man, never met a tax it didn't like, and frequently complains about the constitutional protections that make it hard to raise taxes on Oklahoma businesses and residents.

I was excited to discover a new blog about Tulsa. Bobby Holt, who set up the websites and blogs for the Lewis Crest Neighborhood Association and the Homeowners for Fair Zoning, has launched Tulsa Topics. Here's a bit from his introductory entry.

Many hands make light work. The more Tulsans keeping an eye on local politics, the better. Be sure to check the above blogs, as well as Chris Medlock's blog and the TulsaNow forums, to keep up with local news and politics.

UPDATE for searchers looking for Tulsa blogs: Since I first published this, many more Tulsans have started blogging about local news and politics. For a whole collection of Tulsa blogs, visit tulsabloggers.net. (12/13/2005)

The continuing search for Internet access in public places:

Panera Bread at 15th & Troost has free WiFi for customers -- and they now close at 9 pm instead of 8 pm. 71st & Lewis and 41st east of Yale both have WiFi -- the other Tulsa locations will get it eventually. Here's a list of all WiFi-enabled Panera locations.

I haven't been there myself yet, but there's a new cafe called Saffron at 12th and Harvard that has free WiFi. A reader reports that it has a "relatively simple (unpretentious) and inexpensive menu. I had lunch there this afternoon, which consisted of half a sandwich ('build your own' from several choices of meats, cheeses, and vegetables), chips, homemade salsa, and a pickle for just $3. Coffee was $1.50 (more elaborate concoctions are a little more, but not much)." Saffron is at the eastern edge of Renaissance Neighborhood -- an easy walk from the TU campus and nearby neighborhoods -- and as it's in an older building in an older commercial area, it sits right on the street. You actually can walk to it without worrying about dodging cars as you cross a vast sea of asphalt.

Can people sitting at computers in public result in a richer, more neighborly social atmosphere? It seems counterintuitive, but I think so. People who want to catch up with emails, need to work on a report, or just feel like surfing the web can do so in a public place, where it's possible for them to bump into friends and neighbors, something that isn't possible if everyone is stuck at home at the computer. Anything that gets folks to spend time outside the cocoons of home and work will help make Tulsa a more neighborly place.

Just open this week: Another cafe offering free WiFi to customers. Cosmo at 68th and Memorial, next to Red Lobster on the west side of the street, offers "sophisticated sandwiches," a wide variety of coffees and teas, and a full bar, including Guinness on tap. It's an attractive, comfortable, and roomy place, and it's open from 9 am until midnight. In addition to WiFi access (and lots of convenient outlets), they have a few desktops available for those customers without a laptop. Give them a try.

And don't forget about Caffe Bona (81st & Memorial and 91st & Yale; no website!) and DoubleShot (18th and Boston) -- good coffee and free WiFi.

That's what someone at work asked me last week -- lots of big new developments of big new homes (plus new retail and commercial properties) around Tulsa at a time when our economy is said to be in rough shape. "sendoff", posting here on the TulsaNow forums, has an interesting bit of info that may give us a clue:

I'm not trying to be glib here, but I think the developer's/builder's vested interest is primarily themselves doing well. It's the nature of the beast.

In the Tuesday Tulsa World there was the monthly report by the Home Builders Association (HBA) on Tulsa area new home starts. It mentioned the inventory of existing $300,000+ homes (the "gravy" business of new home developers and builders) is at a 19-month supply. To contrast that with the Minneapolis area, which has not seen the degree of economic downturn Tulsa has, inventory of the same is at a 4 1/2-month supply - which is close to the national average. I'm sure similar numbers exist relative to other price categories.

So indiscriminate building and development in a weak housing environment is good? For whom? The Tulsa area or the developers?

What will happen when interest rates rise (and they will, regardless of who wins the White House) and home buyers of both new and used homes decline? Think what the housing inventory will be like then.

The cost and price appreciation of existing homes in the Tulsa area is being artificially held down because developers/builders are allowed to do their thing without restraint or any real growth planning. They make money, our homes do not.

And strategically placed water lines only make the situation worse.

It's still hard to understand how the builders and developers can make money in a situation like this.

UPDATE: A friend in the real estate business speculates that builders are taking advantage of low interest rates to build these homes now, before the price of materials rises any higher, in hopes of selling them when the economy comes roaring back. Many of the customers for homes in this range are professionals with a significant liability exposure, and the home (often purchased for cash) becomes a shelter against lawsuits.

A while back I promised to sing the praises of any local establishment that offers free wireless Internet access to its customers. Right now I'm blogging from the DoubleShot Coffee Company on Boston Avenue, just north of 18th Street, enjoying a cup of Tanzanian coffee and a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. They offer a variety of coffee drinks and a variety of blends, along with teas, desserts, and snacks. The coffeehouse has a scattering of tables, large and small, some chairs and couches designed for sinking down into with a book. (They have a shelf of books for browsing, too.) In the middle of it all is an enormous Vittoria coffee roaster, built in Italy in 1953, used in an English coffee shop, then brought to the US in 2003 and restored for use at DoubleShot. Beans are roasted fresh each day.

DoubleShot is selling a custom blend called "g.i. joe", created by the owner, Brian Franklin, in honor of his best friend who is serving in Iraq as an Army medic. With each purchase, $1 goes to buy and ship snacks, DVDs, magazines, etc., to the 1-26 infantry battalion in Samurra, Iraq. The label describes the blend thus: "Smooth and complex. Overtly earthy aroma, slightly sweet apple nuances with peppery body and lingering tobacco-like finish."

DoubleShot is open weekdays 7 am to 9 pm, weekends 8 am to 9 pm. It's an inviting, relaxing place with great coffee. Come check it out.

I guess I'm becoming immune to instances of laughable hypocrisy on the Tulsa Whirled's editorial page. At least my readers aren't, and one of them writes -- from across the pond! -- to call my attention to Monday's editorial about the plan to use $1 million in third-penny capital improvement sales tax dollars to subsidize the construction of 12 rental units in the Philtower Building.

One thing, however, is certain: Unless many of Tulsa's historic downtown buildings are not put to alternate use, such as for residential properties, they will eventually fall into disrepair and stand vacant, which does no one any good.

Tulsa's old oil-boom buildings are beautiful. Their architecture is part of Tulsa's rich heritage. But as breathtaking as they are on the outside, the insides of many do not fit today's market for businesses.

New offices are geared toward open floor plans with work spaces often separated by cubicles. The old buildings generally were built for individual offices. To renovate such space to accommodate the needs of today can be prohibitively expensive.

Turning floors 12 through 20 of the Philtower into lofts is a good idea. Tulsa needs such residential housing.

And because Tulsa needs such housing, and housing is the only practical way to save these downtown office towers, the Whirled's response is to tear down a nine-story building and turn it into a parking lot. The Whirled has the resources to convert the Skelly Building into residential space, or the Whirled could have sold the building. There was a group ready to buy the Skelly Building to do such a conversion, but the Whirled is determined to have its parking spaces.

If the Whirled really believed in downtown's future, the Skelly Building would be a part of that future.

The Philtower project, which went forward despite a divided Tulsa Development Authority, will increase downtown's population by a maximum of 18. The Philtower is in no danger of demolition and the owner has a revenue stream from his office and retail tenants that could have been used for the Philtower conversion. If the point of including that money in the third-penny was to spark residential development, Tulsans may wonder whether they are getting enough spark for the money. Tulsa Today had a story last month which provides details and raises questions about the selection of the Philtower and the elimination of other, larger projects from consideration.

I wish the Tulsa Whirled's editorial writers would do some mind-stretching exercises before they sit down at the keyboard. Or maybe they could go out and encounter people with differing points of view. For example, Sunday's offering, Mike Jones, who generally seems to be one of the more reasonable editorialists, but he's got his assumptions about things and they will not be shaken:

The naysayers simply don't give up. Anonymous calls to the editor and signed letters to the editor are rolling in again about the dangers and hopelessness of downtown Tulsa. Maybe it's the unveiling of the new arena project that rekindled their attention.

The best bet is that most, if not all, of this current batch of writers and callers (most likely the same ones as the last round) are people who were against the Vision 2025 project from the outset. No one expected them to change their minds. Closed minds are often difficult to change.

There are several problems here, the biggest being the assumption that everyone who opposed Vision 2025 (and It's Tulsa's Time and the Tulsa Project before that) has a disdain for downtown. That may be true of some, but it isn't true of me.

One of the things that motivated me to oppose the 1997 Tulsa Project and to run for office, first in 1998 and again in 2002, was seeing that Tulsa was progressively destroying the few urban places that still existed, through a combination of demolition, pedestrian-unfriendly redevelopment, and misguided efforts to "revitalize" in ways that destroyed what urban character still remained.

In fact, my biggest cause for opposition to the 1997 Tulsa Project was that it was billed as the salvation of downtown, but would accomplish nothing of the sort, and in fact would make matters worse, by demolishing more of downtown's urban fabric, closing off streets, and pushing out the businesses and residents who have been trying to make a go of it downtown against all odds. Here is an article I wrote that was published in Urban Tulsa back in 1997. And here's what I wrote about the arena and downtown revitalization in 2000 during the "It's Tulsa's Time" campaign.

I wrote this back in 2003 in response to a Tulsa Whirled editorial whining that the arena was in danger of being excluded from the Vision process:

For those of us who want to see downtown Tulsa become a vital, bustling urban place once again, the problem is that most of downtown Tulsa's streets are devoid of human life apart from brief bursts around starting and quitting time. The question to ask is, "How do we re-create Downtown as an exciting place to be, as it once was?" The strategic answer is to get people living downtown once again, and to make visiting downtown a pleasant and inviting experience. To get to that goal, you look for positive trends and opportunities and find ways to encourage and facilitate those trends -- fan the sparks into a flame. It is an incremental approach employing a variety of tactics. Roberta Brandes Gratz calls it "Urban Husbandry" because it's like tending a garden -- you work with the uniqueness of the material you have on hand and help it to flourish. (Read the intro to her book Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown to get a better feel for this concept. Better yet, buy and read the whole book!)

In the end, there were some funds in Proposition 4 that could be used in the spirit of Urban Husbandry. (Whether they will be applied in a way that will make a real difference remains to be seen. Although Prop 4 had some good projects, none were urgent enough to warrant a tax increase; they should have been put on the Capital Improvements Plan and evaluated as part of bond issue or third penny renewal.)

Most of what needs to be done to make downtown appealing again involves the basics -- a visible police presence to act as a deterrent against crime and an assurance to downtown visitors and residents alike, improvements to lighting and sidewalks, fixing and, where possible, reopening streets to auto traffic. (When will the Boulder Ave overpass be reopened? How else do you plan to get pedestrians from the arena to the Brady Village entertainment district? Do you want them to go through the spooky Denver underpass past the bail bonds shops?)

Mike Jones goes on to say that downtown is no more dangerous than 71st & Memorial or 41st & Yale. That may be so, but at those other locations, people feel insulated from danger because they are in their cars. In a real downtown, you're going to be on foot as you go from place to place. If the arena is going to spark new restaurants and clubs downtown, people will have to feel safe and comfortable walking from the arena to the Blue Dome and Brady Village districts. Once an arena patron is in his car, downtown has lost the advantage of proximity -- a myriad of restaurants and clubs are at his disposal, all within a 20 minute drive.

Who are the real downtown naysayers? Mike Jones' own newspaper is working to make it harder for people to feel comfortable walking downtown. By turning one building into a parking lot and another into a windowless air conditioning plant, the Tulsa Whirled is turning more of downtown into a pedestrian-unfriendly zone. Residences and retail establishments provide "eyes on the street" -- that means that as you walk along, you know that there are other people who will notice if anything bad happens. If you feel threatened and need to escape a worrying situation (or maybe just a sudden rainstorm), you look for an open business to duck into -- a parking lot and an air conditioning plant don't provide that kind of shelter. The Whirled's demolition decision also reveals that they don't really believe that downtown has a bright future, otherwise they'd seek to hold on to these buildings for future redevelopment.

I've heard complaints from a number of downtown boosters that the Whirled has sensationalized its coverage of downtown crimes and violence while downplaying similar events elsewhere in the city, thus feeding an already negative image of downtown. Who's the naysayer?

Good things are happening downtown, thanks to folks like Michael Sager and his work in the Blue Dome District, and if the Whirled would quit looking to the arena to be downtown's salvation when it finally opens in 2008, perhaps they would start backing the kinds of improvements that will make the greatest positive difference to downtown right now.

The Tulsa Zoo is one of 15 semi-finalists in Microsoft's "America's Favorite Zoo" competition. Online voting between now and October 29 will determine the five finalists, and then another round of online voting will determine the winner. Tulsa is up against several other zoos in the region, including the Oklahoma City Zoo. Here's the complete list:

To be included in the contest, zoos had to submit entry materials, which probably accounts for the absence of world-famous facilities like the National Zoo, the San Diego Zoo, and the Saint Louis Zoo.

Here's what is at stake: The winning zoo gets a $25,000 grant.

So Tulsa readers (or other readers without a rooting interest), click here and cast your vote!

Spent the afternoon and evening at the Tulsa State Fair. Made the mistake of not bringing a stroller for the four-year-old. The problem wasn't so much that she got tired of walking as that she would stop holding hands and start off to the next place she wanted to go. A stroller would have contained her. When she heard one of us say we were ready to leave the petting zoo, she headed for the exit. She didn't get far before someone spotted this lost little girl and asked if she knew Mom or Dad's phone number. She said yes and pulled out the index card we had tucked into her jeans pocket with both our cell phone numbers. Reunion occurred moments later.

The highlight of the day for the parents was seeing that the eight-year-old won a blue ribbon for acrylic painting, junior division. He had really been hoping for a prize and was thrilled. (There's a $5 prize, and he was excited about that, too.)

The highlight of the day for the kids was getting their picture taken (free!) with people in Star Wars costumes. The costumed characters photo op was part of Star Wars: The Fan Experience, put together by the Tulsa Fan Force. (The club's logo features Yoda in western gear.)

That was about the only free thing we did today. We spent a buck a piece on a reptile exhibit east of the Youth Building, which was actually a pretty good value. In addition to snakes, tarantulas, lizards, and turtles, they had a baby coatimundi and a pheasant, which was about the prettiest bird I've ever seen -- iridescent blues, greens, reds, and golds.

The kids spent nearly an hour painting a small ceramic piece ($2 each). We were sorry to see the building blocks area gone -- Joseph really enjoyed that in years past. We walked through the animal barns and looked at the Angus and Longhorns and Bramhas -- saw a frustrated longhorn calf on a too-short rope butting his head against mama's side trying to get her to move just a little bit to the right and bring dinner within reach.

We visited the petting zoo and the birthing center, where we saw some adorable three-hour-old kid goats, with their sweet faces and wagging tails.

We bought 20 ride tickets for $15 bucks. Since we'd been to Bell's a few weeks ago and will be heading to Silver Dollar City later in the month, we would just be doing two or three rides each today. Joe loved watching the high flipping and spinning rides but wasn't interested in trying those himself -- he did the fun house, the "Mardi Gras" mirrored maze, and "Starship 2000", a spinning ride. He was disappointed to discover that he's an inch too short to ride the midway's Himalaya on his own.

Fair food? Some, but not much -- a corn dog, a hot dog, chocolate-and-sprinkle covered marshmallows, pork chop dinners.

I was pleased to see Jennifer, the patron saint of travel where I work, volunteering at the Republican Party's booth. You may have believed that St. Christopher was the patron saint of travellers, but I find that when business travel troubles arise, I direct my supplication unto Jennifer, and lo, problem solved.

We were at the Republican Party booth when the four-year-old spotted "dancing animals!" -- a clever sales display of animal marionnettes. We came home with two.

Not nearly enough time to browse through old magazine ads -- an extensive collection for sale, sorted by product type. I did get to look through the gas and oil ads. There were several Sinclair ads from the '40s featuring Dino the Dinosaur as the star of a comic promoting Sinclair's line of farm lubricants and pesticides. One featured a herd of cows, beleaguered by biting insects, crying out to Dino for aid. Dino came to the rescue with a can of Sinclair DDT.

We were all beat by the time we left, but we had a good time. I can't imagine not going at least once every year.

Good news! Bama Corporation plans to renovate the Max Campbell Building, built in 1926, using the second floor as corporate offices, with shops on the street level targeting students from nearby TU.

The handsome old building, which fills the block between Birmingham and Columbia Avenues on the south side of 11th Street, features broad towers on each corner, topped with multicolored tile. It has been the fervent hope of the neighborhood to see this landmark restored. Hats off to Paula Marshall-Chapman and Bama for promoting historic preservation and good urban design. Let's hope that other corporate citizens will follow Bama's example.

If you've been meaning to show your support for saving the Skelly Building from the Whirled's wrecking ball, today is the day to show up. It looks like it may be the last opportunity. (The Skelly Building is on the northeast corner of 4th & Boulder.)

Here's the official notice:

11:30-12:30 Wednesday in front of the Skelly! Bring your friends, bring your family, bring your pets. This will likely be the last chance we have to hit the pavement in front of the Skelly. Bring your signed petitions, sign one of ours, we are presenting them to the World on Thursday and every name counts.

Petition available here: http://www.tulsapreservationsociety.com/skellypetition.pdf

And here's the text of the petition:

Robert E. Lorton
Chairman and Publisher
Tulsa World Publishing Co. � Downtown Improvements

We are citizens of a county that voted for Vision 2025 and who care about Tulsa�s future. We wholeheartedly support the arena, library projects and the vision of a revitalized Downtown Tulsa. We believe what we need, in the words of Cesar Pelli, �is a vital downtown where people can work, live and have fun.�

We know you, your family and your newspaper have long been leaders both advocating for, and supporting, a progressive Tulsa. You have shown your support for Vision 2025 and Downtown initiatives. We know you care deeply for our community.

We read with concern that you intend to demolish the Skelly and Froug buildings and replace them with a surface level parking lot across the street from a garage and an Air Conditioning/Heating (HVAC) Building on the prominent corner of Main and Third Street . We the tax payers are now spending $4,200,000 to renovate Main Street to be a more attractive street that will help revitalize downtown. Your plans to build yet another surface level parking lot downtown and a HVAC plant on our newly renovated Main Mall appear strikingly inconsistent with the city�s significant downtown expenditures and the goals of Vision 2025.

We are therefore requesting a meeting between yourselves and members of the Tulsa Area Preservation Society to better understand your reasoning and plans. We respectfully request you delay demolition until all avenues in the private and public sectors can be pursued to meet your needs. Our intention is to find a solution both beneficial to you, and at the same time, be consistent with the ideals of Vision 2025 by preserving Tulsa�s historic buildings.

If this issue is new to you, click here to read previous entries on the topic, and to find links to other sources of information.

The Tulsa Whirled's exterior demolition of the Froug's Building, 3rd & Main, is underway.

Protests will continue each Wednesday, 11:30 - 12:30 in front of the Skelly Building, 4th & Boulder.

The Tulsa Beacon gave the Skelly Building front-page treatment, with a photo and comments from protestors. (Story will be replaced Thursday -- sure would be nice if the Beacon would find a way to archive their main stories and keep it accessible.)

Architect Paul Uttinger has a great letter in this week's Urban Tulsa. Some key paragraphs:

The Tulsa World and Lorton family are great supporters of the performing arts, but there is an opportunity now for them to become true champions of the building arts, where a reinvigorated city center and good urban design are paramount. The argument is not one of private property rights. As owners of the Skelly Building, the executives of World Publishing are free to do with their property as they see fit.

But in a true city, there�s an underlying implication that private property owners will develop their land with civility and with respect toward the public. When a building such as the Skelly is taken down, the general public expects something better to be built in its place. In the urban context, a parking lot is not better than a building.

Even as a vacant structure, the Skelly provides two important street walls facing Fourth and Boulder. With the Skelly Building removed, the south side of the World Building will be exposed to public view. In its current condition, the south face of the World Building is far more unattractive than the vacant hulk of the Skelly.

There seems to be someone with a viable proposal for buying the Skelly Building and making use of available tax incentives to redevelop it as housing. But will the Whirled entertain an offer?

Finally, someone has made a "modest proposal" as an alternative to demolishing downtown one building at a time.

Tulsa Area Preservation Society held another protest Wednesday outside the Skelly Building, one of two buildings which the Tulsa Whirled plans to demolish later this summer. (I couldn't manage the time away from work this week, unfortunately.) Protests are planned every Wednesday from 11:30 to 12:30 through August to call attention to the planned demolition, to try to get the Whirled to consider alternatives, and to encourage finding a way to stop the continued conversion of Tulsa's downtown to asphalt parking lots.

A participant in the TulsaNow forums asked whether last week's protesters tried to get a meeting with the Tulsa Whirled before setting up the picket line. The answer was no, but representatives from the Tulsa Preservation Commission had already sought an audience with the Whirled. They were allowed to meet with an administrative aide, and each question was met with the reading of a prepared response.

In light of over $200 million in public investment in downtown, it's reasonable for Tulsa's citizens to feel some "ownership" over our center city, and to place the "burden of proof" on someone who wants to tear down yet another downtown building. Here's the case made by Whirled executive editor Joe Worley (how about that -- Whirley of the Whirled!) in last Thursday's paper:

"The Skelly Building was in disrepair when we bought it in 1993," Tulsa World Executive Editor Joe Worley said.

The building lacks proper sprinkler and fire systems and needs a new roof and an updated heating and cooling system, he said.

"It would cost millions of dollars to make the necessary improvements, and given the amount of vacant office space downtown, this just does not make sense," Worley said.

No one is asking the Whirled to renovate these buildings today. No one is asking them to add to the surplus of downtown office space. We're simply asking the Whirled not to tear them down. It is possible to stabilize a building and "put it in mothballs" for future usage. The buildings serve a purpose just by being there, as a part of downtown's streetscape. That block is one of the few remaining downtown without any surface parking. Tearing that building down devalues all of downtown.

I am pretty certain that the Whirled did not seek the advice of local preservation experts before deciding on demolition. Tulsa's preservationists are not unreasonable people, and if a building is too far gone to be saved, they aren't afraid to say so, as in the case of the buildings demolished in 2001 by Arvest at 6th & Main. But in this case, they have brought the plan to demolish the Skelly Building to national attention, and have tried to meet with the Whirled to suggest alternatives.

An architect posting to TulsaNow's forum under the handle "booWorld" has an alternative proposal for the Whirled to consider:

I wrote a lengthy letter to the World yesterday. I requested that the former Froug's site at 3rd & Main be developed with retail space at sidewalk level facing both streets. It seems as though World Publishing could build a few private parking spaces below the retail area with their new thermal plant tucked behind.

The best use for the Skelly would be residential. Keeping the spaces open and "raw" without expensive finishes would help in keeping renovation costs under control. It is most likely that one or two exit stairs would need to be built in order to meet minimum fire codes.

I like the creative approach to preserve street-front retail, while still meeting the needs for parking and the thermal plant.

In the same topic, he offered some informed comments on the International Existing Building Code and how that affects what can be done with the Skelly Building.

Urban Tulsa gave the first protest some extensive coverage, with this story by Hilton Price, which includes an interesting quote from Clayton Vaughn, head of the Tulsa Historical Society:

�We are interested in the preservation and documentation of buildings of historical value in the community.� Vaughn said. �We are asking for support in the form of private and public partnerships, revolving purchase funds, and tax incentives.�

Revolving purchase funds have been used by preservationists in other cities as a way to protect endangered buildings by purchasing them, then selling them to someone who will restore or adaptively reuse the buildings. The proceeds from the sale of one building goes to buy the next endangered building. I'm not sure if he's saying Tulsa has such a fund, and it needs funds, or that we don't have such a fund at all yet.

State and federal tax credits may be available for restoration -- a downtown Shawnee hotel (this one) is being restored with this kind of help, and it was used in the renovation of the old Tribune Building as apartments.

Taxes may be part of the push to tear the building down, despite alternatives to meet the Whirled's desire for parking. Property taxes are assessed on the value of the land plus the value of the improvements. If you remove the improvements, you remove the value, and you remove that amount of the property tax assessment. Because this building is lumped in with the rest of the Whirled's property on the western half of that block, it's impossible to tell exactly how much the Whirled would cut their taxes by tearing down the building. Funny, though, that the same paper that continually urges us to pay more taxes to build up our city is willing to wreak destruction in order to cut their own bill.

Urban Tulsa also has a feature by Dave Jones of the Tribune Joneses about the folks who own the shoe repair store in the Skelly Building, the only tenants that remain. Good story about some fascinating people, but at the beginning of the story he displays the same defeatist attitude that has brought downtown to its current state of demolition.

UT also reports on the drive to get funding to turn a Brady Village warehouse into a center for contemporary art. Architect Kathleen Page calls this a form of positive preservation -- finding a use for a building now, before demolition is even in the picture.

�There is a mindset that empty land is more valuable than old structures,� says Page. �It all has to do with the fluctuation of land value, building value, and renovation costs. But instead of waiting until someone purchases the building and tears it down, then saying �Oh, that�s awful,� the city could step forward and insure that the Brady Mathews building is retained under the ownership of someone who has a dedicated purpose for it.

�We really see this as a positive form of preservation. Once the cycle of demolition gets started in older areas of the city such as this, it�s really hard to come back and reverse it. We�re trying to stop that process before the building becomes endangered.�

Page says the expansive two-story concrete warehouse�complete with high ceilings and clean, unadorned lines�is an ideal art studio. She stresses that the site is also a perfect link between our revitalizing downtown district and the burgeoning Brady Village area. �If this building is not developed for a civic purpose,� she says, �if someone were to tear it down and make it a parking lot, it would simply continue the unraveling�the destruction�of our downtown building core.�

The east half of this building is proposed as loft/studio space, and they sought some of the city's downtown housing funds, but were turned down by the Tulsa Development Authority's committee in favor of a proposal for apartments in the Philtower.

Finally on this topic, a reader makes an interesting point: The Whirled claims that there is a wall between the business operation (Whirled Publishing Company) and the editorial content of the paper (the Tulsa Whirled). If that's so, why was Tulsa Whirled Executive Editor Joe Worley speaking on behalf of Whirled Publishing Company on this issue?

Here are links to media coverage of Wednesday's protest:

KTUL Channel 8

KOTV Channel 6

The Whirled its own self (look way down at the bottom of the page)

The Daily Oklahoman.

The TulsaNow forums have photos here but there are bandwidth issues, so the photos may not be visible at certain times. They should be mirrored elsewhere at some point.

Another TulsaNow forum topic asks what can be done long term about downtown demolition. And yet another topic reveals the result of an attempt by the Tulsa Preservation Commission to try to meet with the Whirled's management:

Representatives of TPC met with an administrative aide. The response to each of their questions was the reading of a prepared statement.

The discussion is just getting started. And the best way to be part of it is to head over to the TulsaNow forums. Anyone can read what's there, but you must register (pseudonyms allowed) to post.

With the advent of e-mail, it is not unusual to see a letter in a newspaper responding to a news story from a day or two before. Not in Tulsa. The Whirled, for whatever reason, won't publish letters until the relevant story is good and cold -- at least two weeks after the event or story that the letter addresses, long after the story has migrated from their website to their website's archives or from your coffee table to the recycling bin.

As a public service, I am publishing this excellent letter, which I received today, from a Cushing resident in response to the Whirled's plans to tear down the Skelly Building. He submitted it over a week ago, but it has yet to be published.

July 13, 2004

Editor,

It is with dismay that I read about the Tulsa World�s decision to take a chain saw to Tulsa�s and Oklahoma�s history by demolishing the Skelly building in favor of a parking lot.

One of the reasons cited was code restrictions and the age of the building , built in the 20�s. May I remind you that the Philbrook was built in the 1920�s? The White House in Washington DC is older still. Ways were found to keep them as part of our history and heritage. Down the turnpike Oklahoma City�s Bricktown is made up of buildings this age or older. And this venture has made positive repercussions nationwide.

In my hometown of Cushing a 1920�s American Legion group has found a way to rehabilitate their structure which was built in 1924.

At a presentation sponsored by the Tulsa Architectural Foundation earlier this year noted economic developer/historic preservationist Donovan Rypkema stated after a fly-over of Tulsa proper that even taking into account Tulsa�s wildest growth projections another 40 years could pass without the need for another parking lot.

I have long thought of the Tulsa World as a calm voice of reason. But this
decision is one of the most distasteful I have seen in recent memory.

Laura Bush is seen on television telling us to �save our history�. All across the country we see grass roots effort to save, restore and celebrate our past. Small Oklahoma towns such as Newkirk and Perry have made national waves with their preservation efforts.

Surely Tulsa can do better than this.

The decision to take a wrecker ball to the Skelly building is sad indeed. Each time a bit of history is wiped away in such fashion it creates another disconnect between generations. Nothing left to remember, nothing left to build a dream on.

Just a nice place to park your car.

Sincerely,

Rick Reiley
Cushing

Good stuff, and thanks to Mr. Reiley for sending it along. From his e-mail address, I gather that he is involved in the "Main Street" program, which has been used effectively to restore buildings and reviving downtowns in Oklahoma's small cities, and has even been used in three different districts in Oklahoma City -- Stockyards City, Capitol Hill (south OKC), and Automobile Alley. Tulsa's leaders have never bothered with it.

Interesting to read that he regarded the Whirled as the calm voice of reason. A lot of people have that impression until they find themselves involved in an issue and learn that the Whirled is hiding behind that calm facade to promote the self-interests of the Whirled and its allies in the city establishment. That "distasteful" decision to which he refers is characteristic of the way the Whirled operates. You may recall the Whirled's even more consequential decision in 1992 to refuse to extend their joint operating agreement (JOA) with the Tribune. The two papers could have gone on indefinitely with the old arrangement, but the Whirled wanted and got more money and a monopoly on print media. Meanwhile Tulsa lost the many benefits of having two independently owned daily newspapers.

The Whirled's demolition plans are helping more Tulsans see the Whirled as it really is.

It's been a while since I joined a protest, but there I was, with my seven-year-old son, on the sidewalk in front of the Skelly Building at 4th & Boulder, along with the hearty souls who organized the protest on the TulsaNow message board.

We brought some signs with us:

Enough asphalt already! Stop tearing down Tulsa! [With a wrecking ball demolishing the letter "a" in Tulsa.]

$200 million of public investment in downtown -- and this is the thanks we get?

Tulsa Whirled has no faith in downtown's future

Knocking down history is not an "improvement"

Downtown's future? Acres of parking, but nothing worth parking to see.

Someone else took the prize for a clever slogan:

Tulsa World's
Vision 2025:
Asphalt parking lot

KRMG, KJRH, and KOTV all covered the story, as did Urban Tulsa. The Whirled sent city reporter Brian Barber out to talk to us, and later on his colleague P. J. Lassek came out to say hello. The organizer had me do much of the talking -- I have some recent experience with that sort of thing.

It was a hot morning. We showed up about 9:30. Neptune74137 and sgrizzle -- that's the handles they use on the TulsaNow forums, don't know if they'd want me to use their real names -- were already on the corner. Neptune74137 was the principal organizer of this event. When my son and I left about 11 there were about a dozen folks on the corner (a few were sympathizers who weren't carrying signs). We got thumbs up from passers-by -- no negative responses. At one point, while the Whirled and Urban Tulsa reporters were there, a police officer pulled up onto the sidewalk in his Cushman cart. He was cordial, wished us well; he advised us not to keep anyone from entering or leaving the building.

One of our number was familiar with the downtown parking situation, and he pointed out that the parking garage just across 4th Street from the Skelly Building is now open for daily parking -- it isn't fully used by people paying by the month for parking. We could look up and see that the upper level and part of the next level was vacant, at least along the 4th Street side. Surely the Whirled could work with available existing parking facilities to meet any need for customer parking.

There was some conversation about restoring older buildings. The Ambassador Hotel was in terrible shape, nearly ready to be demolished, when Paul Coury restored it as a top-of-the-line hotel. The consensus was that the Skelly Building couldn't be as bad off as the Ambassador was.

I'm hoping for at least enough coverage of the event to raise awareness. During my runs for City Council, I talked to plenty of people who were dismayed at the continued demolition of downtown and wished that something could be done about it. There are steps our Council should take, but what is more urgently needed is a change in attitude, especially among Tulsa's business leaders, from a culture of demolition to a culture of preservation. If someone with influence and money were willing to advocate for preservation, that could do a great deal of good.

As we walked back to the car, we peeked in the window to the basement of the Mayo Hotel, which is currently being used as a very nice covered parking garage, while the 1st and 2nd floors have been restored as a banquet facility. I know of another building -- I think it's the old Renberg's building on Main between 3rd and 4th -- that is used as a parking garage. It's well concealed -- the entrance is on the alley. Couldn't the Whirled do the same thing with the Skelly Building? The first floor or basement could be converted to parking, while the rest of the building is mothballed until it becomes valuable for office, retail, or residential use.

There are ways to preserve and reuse these buildings -- the Whirled has the money, they just need the will and the imagination.

UPDATE: Preservation Online -- the web edition of the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation -- published a story about the Skelly today. Here's the link.

(Don't forget this morning's protest! 9 a.m., 4th & Boulder.)

The Tulsa Whirled's plan to demolish the old Froug's Department Store at 3rd & Main, to replace it with heating and cooling equipment for the rest of the Whirled's complex, is a slap in the face of Tulsa's taxpayers, who were told that reopening the Main Mall was necessary to encourage new residential and retail development. The Whirled endorsed the plan to reopen Main to traffic as a way to revitalize downtown. Reopening 3rd to 4th cost $1.3 million. Reopening 4th to 6th will cost about $4 million.

This entry is not going to include a lot of analysis. I want to provide a history of the effort to revitalize this part of downtown, particularly what the Whirled, public officials, and civic leaders had to say about it.

Back in the mid-'70s, Tulsa followed the lead of a lot of other cities in closing off what was once our main shopping streets to traffic. It was a mistake, and it choked off what business there had been on Main Street. Shortly after we completed our mall, other cities began to remove theirs. In some notable cases, like Chicago's State Street, reopening to traffic led to restoration of buildings along the street and businesses moving into once vacant buildings.

In 1996, the City included, in that year's third-penny tax package, $1.1 million to "update and repair" the Main Mall, according to a January 10, 1996, story in the Whirled. In all that package was to include $13 million in funding for downtown improvements.

By October 27, 1996, the plans had changed and the final amount for downtown improvements was $8.5 million. Here's how Whirled editorial writer Janet Pearson described the plan in that day's edition:

Main Mall will get a face lift too, though not a radical one. Main Street would be reopened between Third and Fourth streets, but the pedestrian mall would remain in place between Fourth and Sixth streets. Barriers, berms and other structures that give the appearance of being hiding places will be removed and landscaping changed to make the mall a more open, lighter and more inviting place. Bartlett Square would not be changed.

In 1998, Downtown Tulsa Unlimited formed a committee and worked with a consultant to look at options for reconfiguring the Mall. The committee chose an option that would open the rest of Main Street to traffic.

In a June 24, 1998, editorial, the Whirled said:

The date and time has been set, Wednesday, July 21st, 9 a.m., at 4th and Boulder. Bring your own protest signs. The media has been notified. If you are tired of seeing downtown Tulsa turned into one big parking lot a building at a time, be there. Keep an eye on the TulsaNow forum for more details and any change in plans that may occur.

A protest is brewing against the Whirled's planned demolition of downtown buildings (which they call an "improvement"). Click here to see what's been discussed so far.

This quote hits the nail on the head:

Since when was tearing down an historic building a downtown "improvement?"

I'll let you know when the protest date is set.

The Tulsa Whirled 'fessed up in Sunday's edition, owning up to plans not only to demolish the nine-story Skelly building for a small parking lot, but also to demolish the old Froug's Department Store building at 3rd and Main for a heating and cooling system.

The demolition of Froug's will mark the destruction of one of the last remaining retail spaces on Main Street of any size. In 1998, Cathey's Furniture (8th to 9th on Main) was pulled down and more recently three two-story buildings, built in the late 1910s, on the west side of Main north of 6th Street, were demolished by Arvest Bank. Both demolitions were for the purpose of creating surface parking. Another two small buildings on the east side of Main between 4th and 5th will be torn down for no good reason -- for another worthless plaza.

Main Street was once the principal commercial street of our city, but we blocked it off with the Williams Center, malled it, de-malled it, and our city's culture of demolition resulted most of its buildings being pulled down. Where there were department stores, now we have holes in the ground. Grand theatres gave way to parking garages.

During TulsaNow's bus tour of Oklahoma City back in 2002, I asked then-Mayor Kirk Humphreys about the urban conservation districts that were set up in Bricktown and other areas in and near downtown OKC. These districts set design requirements for new construction, and if memory serves me, they also place some restrictions on demolition. I asked the Mayor how they convinced developers to go along with restrictions on what they could do with their property. He said (paraphrasing here) that the City pointed out how many millions of dollars the City had invested in that area, and that it was reasonable for the City to take steps to protect its investment.

Tulsa's taxpayers have or will soon pour over $200 million into downtown Tulsa -- the arena, convention center upgrades (including some 3rd penny projects in addition to Vision 2025), removing the Main Mall and Bartlett Square, funding downtown housing initiatives, streetscaping, a new Central Library (if their bond issue passes).

The Tulsa Whirled strongly supported the reopening of Main Street to vehicular traffic. They told us that we had to reopen the Mall to traffic in order to encourage residential and commercial development. It is a shame and an outrage that fronting Main Street -- newly reopened at great taxpayer expense -- will be a big air conditioning system where a department store once was. Our city leaders need to take action now to prevent the Whirled from devaluing the taxpayer's investment in Main Street and downtown.

And what greater waste than to demolish tens of thousands of square feet that could be reused and redeveloped to create maybe a dozen parking spaces, just so the Whirled's executives don't have to cross the street. Don't believe it when they say it's for the customers. They could easily make arrangements with the lot across the street or the new city-funded structure a block away. They could validate parking.

The Whirled's publisher says this demolition represents the Whirled's commitment to downtown. The Whirled appears to be committed to the idea of downtown as just another suburban office park. As with TCC and its parking land grabs, downtown would have a better chance of becoming a real downtown again if the Whirled packed up and moved rather than tearing down more buildings. But of course, the Whirled doesn't really care about downtown or about Tulsa, as it proved when it refused to renew the joint operating agreement with the Tribune in 1992. The Whirled cares about its own business interests and those of its cronies. That's all. Nothing illegal about that, but you may want to take the Whirled with a nine-story tall grain of salt.

I believe Tulsans want downtown to be a real downtown again. A real vision for downtown should address parking issues, demolition, historic preservation and design guidelines. It is completely reasonable for the city to tell landowners, we've done our part, now you do yours. But that will only happen if the City Council takes the initiative. Dear Councilors, the Whirled already doesn't like you -- what have you got to lose?

The TulsaNow forum discussion about the Tulsa Whirled's plans to demolish the old Skelly Building at 4th & Boulder is evolving into a broader discussion of the gradual conversion of downtown into a suburban office park. Some of the talk is about legally constraining further demolition -- a moratorium on more surface parking lots, or tax rates that disadvantage demolition, but it's tricky to do this in a way that doesn't invoke the notion of a "taking" under the 5th Amendment and thus require compensating the landowner. Preservation easements have been used successfully with willing building owners -- the building owner signs over certain rights to a private organization, while retaining ownership of the building. This is mostly done as a tax-deductible donation, although sometimes the easement will be done in exchange for payment.

One of the writers on the forum ("Average Joe") wonders what book Tulsa's leaders are using for revitalizing downtown. It seems to recommend the following steps (my comments interspersed):

* Tear down historic structures, especially multi-story buildings that add density to the streetscape, for parking lots. That parking lot architect might turn out to be just as famous as the architect who designed the building you just hauled off to the landfill.

* Spend $183 million on a new arena away from any nightlife already happening downtown. If possible, build it smack up against the post office, city hall and social services. It'll be a big draw. All the vagrants will add "urban character" to the experience.

* When installing new sidewalks and lighting in your downtown districts, take care to avoid installing lighting in the entertainment district next to the jail, bail bondsmen, homeless shelters, and social services.

* Cut the local police force to the bone. Citizens enjoy the excitement of fending for themselves.

* Allow a bridge over railroad tracks to deteriorate to the point of having to close it. Leave it barricaded for years, with no plan to repair it in sight. This is most effective if said bridge would conveniently connect your new arena parking structure to an entertainment district and concert venue.

* Plant lots of Bradford pear trees along your narrow downtown sidewalks, even when trees aren't historically accurate. Bradford pears are an important choice for plant material due to their low, wide, squatty shape and weak wood. Nobody wants to see the front of those buildings (and the businesses in them) anyway. Dodging fallen limbs is fun! And the dense shade cast they cast is particularly useful in turn a poorly lit sidewalk into a pitch-black tunnel at night. The 10 days that Bradford pears are in bloom will make up for the other 355 days a year.

* Move the Chamber of Commerce out of your historic Art Deco Chamber of Commerce building - but leave up the sign. Nobody wants to be able to find your C of C anyway.

* And finally, whenever possible, fill your downtown with drive-thru branch banks and flat parking lots for churches and community college students. Downtown should just be suburbia without the grass!

The real problem in Tulsa, one which laws and financial incentives cannot fix, is the absence of a preservation mindset among the city's leading families, developers, and property owners. The instinct in Tulsa is to tear down and build new, rather than adapt and reuse. In some cities, where the preservation mindset is dominant, you'd be cast out from polite society if you tore down a building for a parking lot. If we had the preservation mindset in Tulsa, we'd be able to pass laws to protect Tulsa's architectural history, but then if we had that mindset, laws wouldn't be necessary.

Beyond the issue of preservation, there's a lack of appreciation in Tulsa for the little buildings that form the connective tissue of the urban fabric. Most of downtown Tulsa's one to four story buildings have been torn down for parking lots. Downtown Tulsa has become a sea of isolated nodes of activity separated by vast parking lots.

In contrast, look at San Antonio, which still has a large and widespread stock of such buildings downtown, despite rising land values and demand for parking. These low-rise buildings provide pedestrian-friendly links between the Riverwalk and the Alamo and Market Square.

(A side note: I've been to San Antonio very recently, and I think the city may have more art deco buildings than Tulsa does. That's if you only count the buildings that haven't been torn down -- Tulsa may prevail if you count demolished buildings.)

As a first step toward making things better in Tulsa, we ought to make sure we do something useful with the $18 million set aside for downtown Tulsa from Vision 2025. Planting more pear trees, installing glare-producing acorn lights, and building brick sidewalks isn't going to fix what's wrong.

But more than that, Tulsa's powerful few need to get the vision of real downtown revitalization and historic preservation. Then they need to lead by example.

There are reports that the Tulsa Whirled plans to demolish a historic nine-story building at the northeast corner of 4th and Boulder. Why? For a parking lot of course. Another stinking downtown surface parking lot. I guess the new municipally funded parking lot soon to open two blocks away is too far to walk. Memo to Whirled -- real downtowns are designed for walking, not for park-at-the-door convenience.

Apparently, Whirled staffers have been made aware of the plan to demolish the building, but of course the Whirled hasn't reported on its plan to destroy more of downtown's architectural heritage and urban fabric.

If true, it's one more sign that the Tulsa Whirled really doesn't care about downtown's well-being. There is speculation that the folks running the Whirled don't really care if the arena is successful at revitalizing downtown -- all they need is for the opening of the arena to create enough of a speculative bubble in land prices so they can cash out and move to the suburbs. At that point downtown can go to pot, from that perspective.

The building in question was HQ for the Skelly Oil Company. Three floors were added in 1928 -- the addition was designed by famed architect Bruce Goff.

A downtown that is two-thirds asphalt parking lot is not a real downtown.

In the same vein, I was disappointed to read that TCC has promoted its new president from within. I guess we can expect TCC's slash-and-burn approach to student parking to continue.

UPDATE: Corrected typo -- location is 4th & Boulder.

Reader David Nalle writes to tell me about a new blog about Tulsa, entitled "Midwest Prisoner". The blog's writer is from here, left town as soon as he could, but has returned for family reasons, and is none too happy about it. Here's the tagline of his site:

Think prisoners only exist at Alcatraz or Devil's Island? ... Well think again. Here I am, a free thinker and spirit stuck in Tulsa, Oklahoma smack dab in the middle of the bible belt. This blog will catalog my musings on the local and state scene ... read on at your own risk!

Until recently, he was a frequent poster to the forums at TulsaNow.org, under the name "Davaz", but was booted off for spawing numerous threads on the same topic, which made the forums frustrating to use for the other participants. (He was admonished to no effect by the forum's administrator.) Full disclosure: I am a member of the board of TulsaNow, and while I didn't initiate the ban, I concurred with it, and it was not because of the content he was posting, but the spamlike way he was creating new threads. I'm glad he's started a blog, which is a better format for what he wants to say and the way he wants to say it. It will be a lot easier to follow his argument on a single page than scattered across dozens of pages.

It should be interesting reading, agree or not.

I started writing something about the Tulsa Metro Chamber and the money the organization receives from the hotel/motel tax. I accidentally posted the first couple of paragraphs when I merely meant to save the work in progress. Never fear -- I'll get it written and posted in the next day or so.

Also, I'm working on a travelogue about our trip up 66 to Miami to see Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore". I need to edit some photos for size and upload them before I'll be ready to post the whole thing. In the meantime, today is your last chance to see Light Opera Oklahoma's production of "HMS Pinafore" at Kendall Hall at the TU campus. Go see it! It's wonderful!

I've looked through the various Route 66 bulletin boards on the Internet and have yet to find a discouraging word about the way the International Route 66 Festival turned out. As noted earlier, out-of-town Route 66 aficionados had a great time and were very pleased. On the other hand, I continue to get this reaction from Tulsans -- almost verbatim: "I looked at the website and the brochures, and I couldn't get my arms around it. I couldn't figure out what it was really all about."

Here's a letter sent by the executive director of the National Route 66 Federation to the Mayor. This was posted on the Route66 Yahoo group:

The City Council is going to consider raising traffic fines for most offenses by $5 at tonight's meeting. The stated reason is to cover the $2 increase in the assessment levied by the state Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET). CLEET gets a share of each fine assessed -- a sort of commission for training police officers to be more effective.

Someone called this to my attention and wonders if the city thinks officers aren't bright enough to handle numbers that aren't multiples of $5. He also recalls that just last year, preset fines were increased for most violations from $80 to $115. At the time, Police Chief Dave Been said that officers favored raising fines so long as the purpose was to deter offenses, rather than just to raise revenue. If that increase was punitive in intent, rather than a revenue enhancement, then it shouldn't be a problem for that extra $2 CLEET assessment to come out of that $35 increase. In any event, I don't see the need to raise an extra $3 per ticket. Now if someone wants to tell me that fines should be high enough to fund the municipal court system, but aren't, I'm listening. But fines aren't the right way to fund general functions of government.

I see that Dean Van Trease, outgoing president of Tulsa Community College, is getting a block of Boston Avenue double-signed in his honor. It would have been better to name the Downtown campus's vast swath of surface parking in his honor -- the Van Trease Treeless Expanse, perhaps. TCC has a single block of buildings, but four blocks of parking. No single institution has done more damage to downtown's urban fabric in the last ten years than TCC under his leadership.

You have to wonder how downtown benefits from TCC's presence and vice versa. When TJC (as it was then) had only its classroom building and no parking of its own, a nearby cafe or snack bar might hope to attract students for meals. A nearby variety store might hope to sell school supplies. Now TCC's downtown campus is a self-contained world with its own cafeteria and bookstore, and there are no nearby merchants because of TCC's vast moat of parking. So people zoom into downtown, park, go to class, maybe eat at the cafeteria, and zoom back out. If TCC were to relocate, there would be an opportunity to redevelop those parking lots into something useful and attractive. The only reason I can imagine TCC would want to stay downtown is for ease of access to the Tulsa Transit bus system, but surely bus service could be provided to, say, the TCC northeast campus if sufficient demand exists.

I will give TCC credit for their adaptive reuse of Central High School's Manual Arts building, which fronts Cincinnati. On the other hand, TCC tore down the old Cadillac dealership -- a multi-story building designed to hold cars -- for surface parking.

TCC is by no means the only guilty party in the deconstruction of downtown Tulsa, but it is the single biggest offender. Long ago some mayor or some other city leader should have sat down with TCC, the nearby churches, and businesses and come up with a parking plan that would meet everyone's needs while stopping the continued conversion of the southern part of downtown into a desert.

There's an interesting divergence of opinion about Tulsa's recent International Route 66 Festival.

Many of the Tulsans I spoke to found the promotional information confusing, and if they went, they were surprised by the light turnout and couldn't figure out how it differed from any other street festival. You had your streets blocked off, your food vendors, your local musical acts, your kids' area, your difficulty finding a place to park -- like Mayfest without the art. My wife got frustrated trying to figure out the schedule, and wrote a scathing e-mail to the promoters; I put together a schedule like a TV-grid to help us and others sort out what we wanted to do and where we needed to be. One friend said she saw the ads for the festival but could never get the sense of what it was all about, so she didn't bother going. Many others we spoke to hadn't heard of it at all. Our family went and had a good time, but it's clear we didn't get as much out of it as we might have, had the essence of the festival been more clearly communicated. And although we enjoyed it, we had the sense from the numbers we saw that it was not a successful event.

The apparent failure of the festival has led some to question the wisdom of the $15 million for Route 66 development included in Vision 2025. If Route 66 is such a tourist draw, shouldn't we have seen an acute influx of tourists for this international festival, which includes the annual meeting and banquet of the National Route 66 Federation? If they weren't wandering around Brady Street, where were they?

On the other hand, we're told that the National Route 66 Federation regards the festival as a success and would like to come back. On Tuesday's Michael DelGiorno show, Mayor LaFortune read an e-mail from author Michael Wallis, enthusing about the festival. He's been to dozens of events all along the highway, so surely he would have an idea if this event was successful. The Steinbeck Banquet -- the annual awards banquet of the National Route 66 Foundation -- was reported to have twice the attendance as the previous year in Springfield, Illinois. The J. M. Davis Gun Museum in Claremore reported higher than normal attendance.

So how do we account for the divergent perspectives?

Michael DelGiorno expressed his boredom Monday morning during our weekly chat, as I tried to explain the part of the Route 66 festival that most excited me as an old highway enthusiast. I can't imagine why he doesn't find mid-60s Borden's Cafeteria postcards exciting.

Tulsa will likely never be a mainstream tourist destination. We will likely never make the list of 1000 places to visit before you die. But that doesn't mean we can't make some money from the tourist trade.

The key is niche marketing. There are aspects of the history and culture of Tulsa and the surrounding region that appeal to market segments that are narrow but full of people passionate about their special (not to say peculiar) interests.

Route 66 is one of those niche markets, probably one of the broader niches, as evidenced by websites about the topic in Portugese, German, French, Finnish, Swedish.

This German page describes Route 66 as "Die legend�rste Stra�e Amerikas - Mythos der unendlichen Freiheit" and warns that it's only for absolute "Amerikafreaks." (Love those German compound nouns.)

Beyond Route 66, Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma can appeal to people interested in cowboys and Indians (and art inspired by them), the Charismatic movement (ORU and Rhema), oil exploration and the roughnecks and boom towns and overnight millionaires of oil's heyday. There are even severe weather aficionados who dream of visiting Oklahoma and chasing a storm. I met a German some years ago, in a woolen shop in Ardara, Ireland, who wanted to do just that.

To exploit these niches, however, Tulsans (and mainly those who have been paid handsomely to sell Tulsa to the rest of the world) have to stop being embarrassed by what makes us different. It does us no good for our tourist brochures to focus on amenities (like the ballet, the opera, and upscale shopping) which are wonderful for those who live here but don't really set us apart from other cities.

Meanwhile, thanks to Private Eye's "Funny Old World" column, we learn that looking for that edge in the competition for the tourist dollar is a concern the world over. Councilors in the Polish seaside resort of Ustka believe that an uplifting program of crest enlargement holds the key to attracting visitors. Note that the town's mayor carefully chooses his words to avoid giving offense to any mermaids amongst his constituents.

The City Council says the issue is dead. Seven councilors -- everyone except Neal and Baker -- voted for a consensus against the idea of annexing all the area within Tulsa's north fenceline in one fell swoop. I'm watching "This Week @ City Hall" -- Chris Medlock and Roscoe Turner are talking about areas in their districts that have been within the city limits for decades but still lack connection to city water and sewer services. Their point is that we need to maintain and in some cases install infrastructure to ensure continued investment in the areas already within our city limits. Tulsa is "doomed" to be a core city -- we are nearly surrounded by the boundaries or fencelines of other cities -- so we had better make it the best core city possible. Opponents of grabbing all the north area at once also point out that we have yet to extend roads, water lines or sewer lines to the large area of Wagoner County we annexed a few years ago.

Industries in the Cherokee Industrial Park have expressed opposition to annexation, as it will mean higher property and use taxes. Some have suggested that their opposition is merely an opening gambit in the renegotiation of tax incentives that are set to expire soon. Residents don't want to give up the freedoms they have in an unincorporated area -- raising farm animals, burning trash instead of paying someone to haul it off, even setting off fireworks.

Meanwhile, the Mayor continues to push for annexing the entire area at once. In a speech to neighborhood leaders at the "Mayor's Night Out" event last Tuesday, he was at his loudest and most animated when he urged neighborhood leaders to contact their councilors in support of annexation. In support of annexation, he expressed concern that unincorporated areas would be developed anyway, but not to the standards required for construction within the city limits, which would cause problems for the city when the area is finally annexed.

The Whirled is the only other cheerleader for annexation, and the editorial board has blasted the councilors who oppose annexation with a fury that makes me suspect they have some business interests at stake.

When you're talking about the historic preservation of buildings, the standard for "historic" is 50 years. That's the minimum standard for consideration for inclusion on the National Register for Historic Places.

The Lortondale neighborhood, east of Yale between 26th & 28th Streets, has attained the necessary age. In the early '50s, the homes represented a dramatic departure from traditional homes, with their low-pitched roofs, glass walls, and bright colors. (The neighborhood was developed on part of a farm that had belonged to the Lorton family of Tulsa Whirled fame, thus the name. The brick gate posts for the farm still stand along Yale.)

Several Lortondale residents with an interest in mid-century architecture discovered each other on Internet forums devoted to the topic, and now they've set up their own website at www.lortondale.com, which features the history of the neighborhood and photos of some of the homes.

Don't be too surprised to see this neighborhood seek historic status sometime in the future -- an entire neighborhood of architect-designed homes in a unique style is a rare thing.

We made it to the International Route 66 Festival Friday night for a couple of hours, and again this afternoon from 1 to about 8. Here are some of the highlights:

• The street music was consistently good, and the organizers were wise to alternate stages and not allow simultaneous concerts. Nothing ear-assaulting, all family-friendly stuff.

• Pawnee Bill (actually the Pawnee County Assessor, I was told) was out on Brady Street offering kids rides on his horse. Katherine was in little girl heaven, leaning forward, gripping the saddle horn, and beaming. Joe enjoyed his ride, too. The Pawnee Bill Wild West Show, by the way, will be performed June 19th & 26th west of the town of Pawnee.

• Nice to see new developments in Brady Village, like the glassblowing studio and Caz's new restaurant.

• The open houses today were fun -- we went up to the roof of the Tribune Building and looked in a couple of the available units; looked around the restored first floor and mezzanine of the Mayo Hotel; and had a tour of Boston Avenue Methodist Church. The Boston Avenue Church tour was very well organized and presented, with a guide to lead us around to about eight different stations, and a guide at each station to explain the history and symbolism of the art work and architectural details. At the first station they helpfully had photos of two Oklahoma wildflowers -- the tritoma and coreopsis -- which appears in stylized versions throughout the church. Katherine quickly became a skilled coreopsis-spotter and discovered that coreopsis is fun to say. At the eight station we got the straight scoop about who designed Boston Avenue Church, and how she got the job. The building is a dazzling work of art.

• It was nice to see that full-time Brady Village businesses were allowed to make a buck. I can remember Mayfests in the past where they may as well have placed a dropcloth over downtown for all the good it did the year-round businesses.

• The kids enjoyed the "Kids Korner" activities, especially the reptiles exhibit Friday evening.

• Lots of friendly and helpful volunteers. One exhibitor told us how much he appreciated that Tulsa had volunteers available to man his booth to give him 20 minutes to stretch his legs and get a bite to eat. He also said the festival organizers worked with exhibitors to get them their preferred locations as much as possible.

But what, you may ask, made this event different from all the other street festivals we see through the course of a year. Yes, there were car tours of the highway and a 66 theme, but that could have been done for a purely local celebration of the old road (which isn't a bad idea). What is the essence of the International Festival, which will go with the festival to another city next year, something Tulsans will only have readily accessible for these few days?

The Expo.

We discovered it belatedly. It is not given a place of honor on the website or in the program, but if you are a Route 66 or old highway enthusiast, this is where you need to be.

Five collectors were there with albums of postcards and maps and room keys and posters. Sadly most were not for sale, but was able to buy a couple of Borden Cafeteria postcards, which I will scan and post here sometime in the future. One collector, from Arizona, had road atlases from the '20s and '30s, and a 1950 map of Tulsa from the Triangle Company. The postcard collections were a chance to look back at places that are gone and signs that have been changed -- the Downtown Best Western Motel, actually on the north side of 11th at Columbia; the Town and Country near the turnpike gate; the Flamingo Motel -- the motel is there but the neon flamingo is gone; the Park Plaza Courts, torn down in the '80s. Since they aren't willing to part with them, I wish these collectors would scan and post these cards on the web.

There are some wonderful new books out, and the authors were there to sell and sign copies.

• Bob Moore and Rich Cunningham have published an atlas and guidebook aimed at setting out the best way to drive the old road (without having, as they say in the foreword, a four-wheel drive, a lawyer, and two months to drive the road). They use GPS data, odometer settings, and high resolution topographical maps to help guide the would-be 66 cruiser.

• Scott Piotrowski has compiled the many routes 66 has taken through Los Angeles County in Finding the End of the Mother Road (website should up shortly).

• Shellee Graham has a new book about the late lamented Coral Court Motel near St. Louis and a book of postcards from the highway.

• Russell Olsen has just published Route 66 Lost and Found a book of paired images -- an old postcard image or photograph, and a photo he took recently of the same place from the same vantage point. The Shady Rest Court on Southwest Boulevard, just north of downtown Red Fork, is one of his subjects. (Still there, believe it or not, but without a sign.) His website offers the book and individual photos for sale.

• Ghost Town Press in Arcadia (home of the Round Barn) has published Oklahoma Route 66, a big book of maps and photos, including some pictures taken where law-abiding angels fear to tread. They've got a picture of one of Max Meyer's gas stations and one of his tourist cabins, too.
  

The entrance to the expo features Cyrus Avery's map of the national highway system, highlighting roads passing through Oklahoma, and a couple of his letters relating to the struggle to get a good number for the diagonal route from Chicago to LA. Next to those were some wonderful sketches of late '30s Tulsa by Paul Corrubia (more here) -- I had never seen these before.

A group called Friends of the Mother Road had a table. This group restores historic signs and other artifacts along Route 66. They were selling a children's book about the highway to raise money for their work.

Each of the state Route 66 associations had a booth, with brochures and things to give away. I note that the site of Times Beach, Missouri, once notorious for dioxin contaminiation, has been rehabilitated and has been developed as Route 66 State Park. (Here's another view -- Times Beach should be named a national monument to chemophobia.)

By the time we got to the Expo -- nearly 5 this afternoon, because we wanted to do the building tours before they closed at 4 -- there were only two hours left. The collectors were packing up their things and it looked like they weren't planning to come back on Sunday. The other booths didn't seem to be going anywhere, so hopefully they will still be around Sunday, but there's nothing in the festival website to indicate if that's the case.

One other downside -- all the booths appeared to be cash only. I didn't notice any credit card equipment.

A number of things fell through the cracks, which is to be expected. In another entry, I'll relay some thoughts on what could have been better.

Thanks to Zik Jackson for making me aware that the page-to-page navigation was broken on the schedule grids for this week's International Route 66 Festival. That's fixed now. Hope you find them useful, and please let me know if you find broken links or missing or wrong information.

Front page story (jump page here) in the Whirled yesterday reports on the ongoing investigation into the Tulsa Airport Authority and their involvement in the Great Plains Airlines deal.

Federal investigators are accusing Tulsa airport officials of inflating the cost of a runway project by about $10 million and linking it to a land purchase they could not justify.

The investigators suspect the money was going to be used to clear up a problem bank loan on the land, and that could have allowed officials to camouflage a potentially illegal subsidy of about $7 million to now-bankrupt Great Plains Airlines.

Documents obtained through an open records request show that investigators concluded the airport may not even need the land for the runway extension.

It apparently was connected to that project only after Great Plains' financial health deteriorated.

That plan was foiled by information officials supplied to the investigators as part of a yearlong probe into airport operations.

The story mentions that Federal investigators are focused on a memo written by airport trust counsel Richard Studenny, outlining how to circumvent laws against direct subsidies by airports to airlines, by concocting a land deal and keeping it small enough to evade Federal scrutiny. Now it appears that the airport authority inflated the cost of a runway expansion project in order to justify a passenger fee increase to the FAA -- the extra money would have been diverted to cover the default of Great Plains.

Let me spell it out for you: Our airport authority wanted to tax Tulsans and people visiting Tulsa -- anyone flying through our airport -- to compensate for the money lost in the Great Plains scheme. While many of those responsible have moved on, we need a clean sweep of the airport management. An "ethics training class" is not sufficient to make an ethical person out of someone looking for ways to deceive and evade the laws. That boils down to character.

As noted earlier, my lovely wife got fed up with the lack of a comprehensive schedule for this week's International Route 66 Festival, which made it difficult to plan to participate. In the spirit of lighting a candle, rather than cursing the darkness, I have created schedule grids for the next week, beginning Monday, June 7, with the opening of Chautauqua 2004, which has Route 66 as a theme, and going through the close of the Route 66 Festival on Sunday, June 13.

(By the way, in response to my wife's e-mail, someone with the festival coordinator e-mailed back saying if we'd send along our mailing address, they'd be happy to send us a festival brochure. So if there's info in the brochure which isn't on the website, why not post a PDF of the brochure on the website? How hard is that?)

As I disclaim on every page, this is not an official schedule, just my attempt at organizing info from various sources so as to be able to make the most of the festival's opportunities. I tried to include as many official websites and phone numbers as I could find. Consult official sources for official schedules and details.

The schedule grids are not very artistic -- just the HTML produced by Mozilla Composer with a minimum of tweaking. If you find a broken link, missing info, or bad info, e-mail me at route66 AT batesline DOT com and I'll fix it. I may have made mistakes, things are subject to change, your mileage may vary, etc. Hope you find it useful, nevertheless.

A lot of local organizations have rescheduled events to coincide with the festival. Cain's Ballroom has some special concerts scheduled, including that great western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. The Leake Car Auction and the Tulsa Pow-Wow will happen next weekend, and Light Opera Oklahoma will begin its 2004 festival with two performances of "HMS Pinafore". There's a lot of great stuff going on all over town.

Here are the grids:

Monday, June 7
Tuesday, June 8
Wednesday, June 9
Thursday, June 10
Friday, June 11
Saturday, June 12
Sunday, June 13

Below is the first entry from my wife, Mikki, an open letter about the upcoming International Route 66 Festival. She's been able to post to this blog since we started it, but today's the first time she felt compelled to write something, specifically about her frustration with the website for the festival. We want to support the festival with our attendance, we want to be a part of this big event, and we want to use the opportunity for our kids to learn about the highway and its significance to American history. But trying to find out what's happening when, what our options are for any given day or hour, has been frustrating.

Note what she says about awareness of the festival -- none of the friends she mentioned it to knew it was happening.

Back a few months ago, an organization I belong to sought out a representative from the festival to come and talk to us about it and about opportunities to participate and volunteer. I'm told it was a challenge just to get phone calls returned. The lady who came to speak to us had a presentation about the history of the road, but the festival details were sketchy, and she didn't know anything about volunteer opportunities, nor was she prepared to take the names of potential volunteers.

I hope this thing is a success, for the sake of Tulsa's reputation. If it flops for lack of local participation, I expect that Tulsans will be scolded for not supporting the festival, but it seems to me that the blame will belong to the festival's organizers for failing to get the message out.

Dear Route 66 Festival webmaster,

Please put a calendar on the festival website that makes it possible to click on each day, and choose which events I might want to attend.

That would make the festival and your website simple - and user friendly. Our family could actually choose something to try almost every day of the event - and even the hidden events that are early - like the Chautauqua events. Visitors to Tulsa could make the most of their stay here.

ExpoSquare has been able to do a calendar listing of events for years! People can look at the day; see an event, and click for details and a location. It can be found on the top of the home page by clicking on "Events Calendar". The calendar is in simple text. No time would need to be wasted with pretty pictures. All it needs is links to events, on the days they happen. If the morning events were listed first, that would be icing on the cake.

This website had been really frustrating me for over a week. Any church or organization can put a calendar page with a listing of events on each day - except for this one. Your website seems to require someone with a master planner or calendar to sit and write each possible event down on our own calendar - and then choose.

Examples of frustrations � Kid�s Korner - 10 events are listed - WITHOUT ANY TIMES OR PLACES!!! - just pretty music as if to say - HA HA - YOU CAN'T FIND IT. If there are links there, they aren't coming up today.

I sincerely hope that someone who cares about attendance and our reputation can come up with a prominent item on the home page with a day by day event guide - SOON!! Once again, I am embarrassed to be a TULSAN.

Of course, Tulsans may not notice. I mentioned the event to 6 people around town and on the phone yesterday. The only one who had heard about the Route 66 Festival had plans to be out of town before they knew of the event. The others were slightly interested, and totally uninformed. I mentioned the website - but I may not any more.

It is an AWFUL website for planning participation. I really want to know who planned this website. That way I can be sure NOT to recommend their services. I just can't imagine missing a master calendar for a supposedly international event.

PLEASE ADD A CALENDAR!!! And if you think this is hard, imagine us trying to figure out which days and events our family will attend. A jigsaw puzzle is much more enjoyable then deciphering your online events guide.

Sincerely,
Mikki Bates

There's a bunch of local stuff, like annexation, that I need to write about, and that you will want to know about, and I will, but I'm out of energy for now. See you tomorrow.

First performance of the Oklahoma Boast and Roast was tonight. The highlight of the evening was Jacques Chirac singing, "I'm proud to be a Frenchman." (OK, it was actually journalist Pat McGuigan.) I won't give away the lyrics here, but it must be seen. There's just something about verbally abusing the French. And Glenpool City Councilor Zik Jackson did a great job as Bill Clinton at the Pearly Gates.

Second performance is Saturday night, in the Assembly Hall of the Tulsa Convention Center, 7 p.m. $15 -- profits go to help the Tulsa County GOP and the Blue Star Mothers. Come early -- a number of local and statewide candidates will have information tables for your perusal.

Blog Oklahoma links a site called TulsaGasPrices.com, which features reports of the lowest gas prices in the metro area. Curt's Oil and Flying J are the best today at $1.769 / gallon. (And Flying J offers WiFi for as little as $1.95/hour!)

When Mayor Bill LaFortune took office two years ago, Tulsans expected changes, particularly among the heads of city departments. You would expect the mayor in a strong-mayor form of government to be able not only to set policy but to be able to appoint department heads who would effectively and enthusiastically carry out the mayor's policies.

To date there haven't been many changes. It turns out that civil service regulations make it rather complicated for a mayor to control who runs city departments. Unless he wants to go through civil service proceedings, a mayor is pretty much stuck unless the department head retires. This wasn't a problem for Rodger Randle -- as the first mayor under the new form of government, he got to appoint all the department heads. Susan Savage was Randle's deputy and presumably was content with the leadership she inherited, and if not, during her 10 years in office nearly every post became vacant and she had the chance to choose a replacement.

With Bill LaFortune, we have the first real change in administration under the new form of government and for the first time can see how the rules hamstring a new mayor's ability to implement the platform that got him elected. There was some talk about amending the charter to improve the situation, but nothing was done about it during the last charter change evaluation in 2003.

Now Mayor LaFortune has the chance to name a City Attorney. The City Attorney is one of the most powerful and least accountable public officials in the city. The office is defined by charter in Article III, Section IV. Title 19 of Tulsa Revised Ordinances fleshes out the City Attorney's powers and duties. The City Attorney's duties are diverse grouping together in one office anything in city government related to the law -- prosecuting violations of municipal law, providing legal advice to the Mayor and the City Council, representing the City in court, ruling on the legality of ordinances approved by the City Council.

On a number of occasions, these diverse duties have turned into a conflict of interest. For example, when the Mayor and Council are at odds over an issue, the City Attorney must provide legal advice to both sides, which is impossible. If the Council has concerns about the legality of the City Attorney's actions, the City Attorney has the authority to prevent the concerns from being pursued.

The Council sought to have the power to hire its own attorney, answerable only to the Council, but that would require a charter change. Instead, they were assigned an attorney out of the City Attorney's office, nominally working for the Council, but ultimately responsible to the City Attorney. That interferes with the principle of the separation of powers, and the ability of the Council to legislate and exercise oversight of the executive branch.

Given the diverse legal functions involved, it would make sense to amend the charter and establish several independent offices -- a City Prosecutor, a City Council Attorney reporting to the Council, an attorney reporting to the City Auditor, and a City Solicitor reporting to the Mayor and handling lawsuits. Until the charter could be amended, a similar de facto arrangement could be accomplished by appointing a City Attorney who is committed to allowing the City Council attorney to function independently, with as little input and control as possible from the City Attorney.

This coming Friday and Saturday will be the first-ever "Oklahoma Boast and Roast", sponsored by the Tulsa County Republican Party. It's a satirical revue written from a conservative perspective, poking good-natured fun at both Democrats and Republicans (but especially Democrats). It's an answer to the annual Tulsa Press Club Gridiron, which has a decidedly left-wing slant.

The shows are June 4 and 5 at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Hall of the Tulsa Convention Center. Tickets are $15. Proceeds will benefit the Tulsa County Republican Party and the Blue Star Moms, an organization that sends care packages to the troops overseas. You can buy tickets online, in person at Tulsa GOP headquarters (1503 S. Denver, 627-5702), or at Steve's Sundries at 26th & Harvard.

We celebrated a friend's birthday Saturday night at the Spotlight Theatre on Riverside Drive for the weekly performance of "The Drunkard" and Olio. Our party consisted of six grownups and four kids from three to seven. We all had a great time.

Is there anything else in the USA quite like this show, which has been running continuously for over fifty years? Lots of cities have ballets and opera companies, but I don't know of any other place where this sort of Americana is on display on a weekly basis. I'd think foreign visitors would especially enjoy this show. Seeing "The Drunkard" goes on my list of things to do with out-of-town guests.

I don't think you can call yourself a Tulsan if you haven't been to see "The Drunkard" at least once. The audience Saturday night was a diverse bunch -- small kids, teenagers, young adults, and older folks. It's a great evening out for a group of friends, for families. Is it corny and old-fashioned? Yes, but that's what makes it fun and special.

The pre-show fun began at 7:30 with an old fashioned sing-along -- the lyrics are in the program -- songs like "Sidewalks of New York," "Bicycle Built For Two," "K-K-K-Katy," "Shine On Harvest Moon." At 7:45, the curtain went up, and we were instructed in the proper way to cheer and boo in a melodrama.

"The Drunkard" is an old-fashioned temperance melodrama in three acts, based on the 1854 novel Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and What I Saw There, depicting the misery and degradation caused by alcohol. Deadly earnest when originally written and later performed as a play, the Spotlighters play it for laughs, with plenty of slapstick, asides, and opportunities for heartily booing the villain and cheering the hero.

Between acts the sing-along continued. During one scene change, one of the characters, the bumpkin Sample Switchel, came out to tell a few jokes, but his timing was thrown off by a little boy, about five years old, with a big laugh -- something tickled his funny bone and he couldn't stop laughing, and before long everyone was joining in.

Between "The Drunkard" and "The Olio", free coffee and cookies are served, and the cast mingles with the audience. "The Olio" is a variety of acts, changing from week to week. In between acts, out-of-town visitors were recognized -- Australia and the Netherlands were represented this week -- and those with birthdays were invited up on stage, serenaded, and presented with a commemorative coffee mug. This week's olio acts included a solo from "Les Miserables", last year's Miss Tulsa performing a jazz tap dance, and a third-grade boy with a big voice, singing "What a Wonderful World" and "You've Got a Friend in Me". The show closed with the patriotic monologue, "The Old Man and the Flag". Veterans in the audience were recognized and applauded, and we all stood and sang "God Bless America". It was about 10:30 when the evening came to an end.

As I understand it, everyone involved is a volunteer. Receipts and donations go to cover expenses -- including keeping this art-deco building up and running -- and beyond that for scholarships for aspiring performers. The Spotlighters also produce Children's Theatre -- "Ramona Quimby" will be performed the last two weekends in June, and "Treasure Island" is slated for August.

It was a relaxing, fun evening for the whole family. Check it out.

If you're not in northeastern Oklahoma for the entire month of June, you're missing out on a lot:

The International Route 66 festival is in Tulsa this year, June 10-13. Should be a great party, and a great way to learn about this important pathway through 20th century American history.

Bartlesville's annual OK Mozart festival marks its 20th anniversary from June 12-19. The family concert this year features the author of the "Hank the Cowdog" books and a performance of Carnival of the Animals. There are chamber performances, piano concerti, and the outdoor concert at Woolaroc. You could even sneak in a side trip to the wonderful Kiddie Park.

Then there's Light Opera Oklahoma, the annual festival sponsored by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, this year featuring "HMS Pinafore", "Three-Penny Opera", and "Guys and Dolls". The fun lasts all through June, and includes a couple of road performances of "HMS Pinafore" in Okmulgee and up Route 66 at the beautiful Coleman Theatre Beautiful in Miami.

Why spend June anywhere else?

The budget mess at the Tulsa County Courthouse is just starting to get interesting. County Commission Chairman Randi Miller is asking the State Auditor's office to find out where the projected surplus went. It's being called a transition audit -- rather like counting the money at the end of a cashier's shift so the next cashier starts clean. Wayne Carr had announced on April 29 that he is retiring after 25 years for health reasons. It was Mr. Carr's budget projections that led county officials to believe they would have a lot more money to spend than they actually did. Word is, though, that Commissioner Miller was pushing for an external audit even before Carr announced his retirement.

The County's internal auditor for the last two years, Clarence McClain, quit Thursday and was quoted by county fiscal officer Wayne Carr as saying it was a choice of hitting somebody or leaving.

It's tough to piece all this together, because Tulsa County budget info is not available on the Internet.

Think back to the Vision 2025 campaign last summer, when we were told that we should have confidence in the County's ability to manage a billion dollars because of their sound fiscal performance in the past. We were reminded that Tulsa County was untouched by the County Commission scandal back in the '80s.

Sorry to learn of the passing of Tony Randall. I grew up watching and enjoying his work in "The Odd Couple", knew of his ties to Tulsa, and more recently enjoyed his cameos on Letterman and marveled at his late-in-life virility.

There are some intriguing details in the obituaries. He was married to his first wife for 54 years (although some sources say 50). That's remarkable for anyone, much less for a famous actor. She died in 1992, so if the first number is right, he married at age 18, in 1938. Three years after his first wife's death, he, at age 75, married a 25-year-old and became a father for the first time, siring a boy and a girl.

He was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa in 1920. The obits say his father was an art dealer. I wonder where they lived. He was growing up in the midst of Tulsa's first boom -- what must that have been like! And what was it like to grow up Jewish in Oklahoma in those days?

I found this brief reminiscence about Tulsa's cultural life.

Tulsa TV Memories has his Central High School yearbook photo.

I found this quote from a 1997 commencement speech he gave at Centenary College:

�You must find-each and every one of you � something in life to do that you love, that you love blindly. And you must work yourself to death at that,� he said to applause.

Here's a link to the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General report on the Tulsa Airport Improvement Trust's stewardship of federal funds. You've read the Whirled's summaries, now go read it for yourself.

Thanks to Home, My Home for the link.

A caller to KFAQ Tuesday morning mentioned another mess involving the Tulsa Airport Improvement Trust (TAIT), which is documented on the "Home, My Home" website. The "Home Not Quiet Home" section covers the Tulsa Airport's noise abatement program.

The caller to KFAQ alleged that the TAIT received federal funds to pay for noise abatement work south of the airport all the way to 31st Street, but no work has been done south of Admiral, leaving the caller wondering what happened to the rest of the Federal grant money.

The proprietor of "Home My Home" lives in one of the homes that is supposed to be soundproofed as part of the program. He documents the sloppy work that has been done, and says that there is no effective oversight, and no recourse for homeowners if work is not acceptable. The company running the program is the same company hiring the subcontractors.

The program, called Home Quiet Home, is administered by Cinnabar, a company that specializes in handling eminent domain acquisitions for local government. The co-owner and president is Bob Parmele, who is well-connected to Tulsa County government. He is a member of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority (the Fair Board) and is a former member of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. His executive VP is Terry Young, former Mayor, and former managing director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

Credit where due: Three front-page stories in three days in the Whirled about the federal investigation of the Tulsa Airport Authority and the Tulsa Airport Improvements Trust (TAIT). While most of the investigation is complete, it appears they are still looking into the airport's dealings with Great Plains Airlines. In particular, the feds are examining a "convoluted" deal set up to allow the TAIT to provide financial assistance Great Plains, despite the federal ban on airports subsidizing airlines. Tulsa used Air Force Plant No. 3 as collateral for a loan to Great Plains. Great Plains is now bankrupt. The TAA applied to the FAA for authorization to raise passenger fees, and it appears that this increase was intended to pay off the loan when it appeared that Great Plains might default. This would also be a violation of federal regulations.

One of the more interesting tidbits from Friday's story by Jim Myers:

Investigators are also examining what appears to be an attempt to keep the public in the dark about certain discussions.

The source said investigators believe that notice requirements of a public meeting in December 2002 were waived so there would be no advance notice of the session.

They believe that meeting was called to discuss several aspects of the financial backing for Great Plains.

Just another example of the way the Cockroach Caucus prefers to do business.

I appreciate the Whirled running these stories prominently. It's interesting that the coverage is being handled by their Washington reporter, rather than the city reporters that would ordinarily handle it.

It's also interesting to look back at the Whirled's coverage from January and February 2003, when Mayor LaFortune and Senator Inhofe first requested that the Department of Transportation's Inspector General conduct an investigation. The newspaper stories focused on critics of the call for an investigation, and suggestions that it was all about politics and sour grapes. Looks like the call for an investigation was well founded, and credit to the Mayor and the Senator for pushing ahead with it despite the potshots.

In the meantime, Tulsa does have a daily non-stop flight to and from Newark, offered by Continental Airlines, and made possible by the advent of regional jets which make it cost effective to provide service on lower-volume routes. But for frequent flights to the coasts, drive a hundred miles to the east to XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional), see the famous Highfill Tower, and jet away non-stop to Los Angeles and New York. The difference, sad to say, is that there's heavy demand for non-stop flights from the coasts to Bentonville, thanks to Wal-Mart, but not so much for Tulsa.

Tulsa lost a treasure last week. Nancy Apgar, longtime leader in the Brookside Neighborhood Association, passed away Friday. There will be a memorial service today at 11 at 1st Presbyterian Church, downtown, 7th & Boston.

Nancy came from Philadelphia to Tulsa with Cities Service in the '70s, and after her retirement in 1984, she began a sort of second career as a community leader and neighborhood activist. She was one of the founding board members of the Brookside Neighborhood Association, which was formed in the midst of a zoning battle in 1991. Over the years she served the association as Vice President for Zoning and as President, and I believe she served continuously on the board of the association from its founding. Since Brookside joined the Midtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations in 1999, Nancy served as Brookside's representative on the Coalition. The Mayor's Office for Neighborhoods recognized her service with a "Picket Fence" award, and in 2002 she was recognized as a Community Hero by the City of Tulsa.

Nancy was one of the most effective neighborhood advocates I've ever seen. She did her homework on an issue, and when she spoke, she presented the case simply and effectively. She kept her cool under fire. She was persistent and direct, but never impolite.

Some self-interested parties like to characterize neighborhood advocates as knee-jerk naysayers and anti-business NIMBYs. Nancy Apgar didn't resemble that caricature a bit. Nancy built good working relationships between the Brookside Business Association and the Brookside Neighborhood Association. She understood that the neighborhood consists of the businesses and the residents together and that the presence of each enhanced the other. The residential area forms a big part of the customer base for the business district, and the pedestrian-friendly shopping district is a big part of the appeal of the neighborhood as a place to live.

Nancy also understood the importance of boundaries and balance between the two aspects of the neighborhood. She picked her battles carefully, and when she got involved in a battle, it was because she saw a threat to that balance. That's why she worked against commercial encroachment into the residential area, worked against turning Brookside into a concentrated nightclub district, and worked for enforcement of the noise ordinance. For the benefit of the neighborhood, she also worked against widening Riverside Drive and for a traffic light at 41st Street and Riverside, allowing neighborhood residents safe access to River Parks.

Nancy kept her ear to the ground, and if she got wind of plans for a new development, she'd do some digging and get in touch with the developer. Wise developers would seek her out long before seeking city approval for a zoning change. She would prefer to work with the developer to accommodate neighborhood concerns while allowing the project to meet its objectives, rather than have to oppose the whole project. If you comb through the minutes of the TMAPC and the Board of Adjustment, you'll often find Nancy expressing her support for a zoning change and praising the applicant for addressing the neighborhood's concerns.

In 1999, when then-Mayor Savage announced funding for infill development plans for three neighborhoods, Nancy successfully pushed to have Brookside included in the process, and then participated in the planning process over the next few years, along with business leaders and city planners. The Brookside plan has been adopted, and implementation is just beginning. The plan was all about how to accommodate new growth and development while protecting the aspects of the neighborhood's character that make it a desirable place to live and have a business.

It was my privilege to know Nancy and work with her. We first worked together on the Albertson's zoning battle and as members of the initial Brookside Neighborhood Association board. We lost touch for a few years after I bought a house and moved out of the neighborhood, but connected again through the Midtown Coalition. Nancy's reports on events in Brookside were a feature of nearly every Coalition meeting. She was an encouragement to me in many ways and was kind enough to endorse me and to contribute to my 2002 City Council campaign. At the same time, she wasn't shy about letting me know if she thought I was off base -- always plain-spoken, but never impolite.

The headline on the business section of Sunday's Whirled read "Booming Brookside". Nancy Apgar has had a major part in laying the groundwork for that boom.

There's talk of placing a statue in memory of Nancy in Brookside, perhaps something like one of the NatureWorks animal bronzes in River Parks. If this is done, the plaque should include the Latin motto, "Lector, si requiris monumentum, circumspice" -- reader, if you seek her monument, look around you.

I have only this much to say at the moment:

Yes, I read it. Someone e-mailed it to me Sunday morning.

When I saw it, I sighed. It deserves a thorough rebuttal, because it is hogwash, but I determined I was not going to let the Tulsa Whirled spoil my Sunday. I will get to it, but not now.

All right -- just this one point:

This past election voters, for their own reasons, turned out two incumbents, Art Justis and David Patrick.

Here is an analysis of the politics of the new City Council, and Ms. Del Cour can't be bothered even to speculate on why these two Councilors were turned out of office. (And a third, Baker, nearly was ousted.) The whole election turned on issues of fairness and openness, particularly with regard to land use planning, points that were hammered in the alternative media. Of course, the F&M Bank rezoning -- remember that the publisher of the Whirled is the Chairman of F&M Bancorporation -- was the symbol of the badly slanted approach the previous Council took to such issues.

That's all for now.

I have struggled with what to call this cluster of special interests which has been trying to run the City of Tulsa without public input, and preferably without public debate. The "Developers, Chamber, and Establishment" party was one awkward attempt at labeling them. I've used the term "bad guys" as shorthand -- not very descriptive. Trying to label them by referring to the F&M Bank rezoning controversy is problematic, because it was just one skirmish in an ongoing struggle.

But now a name suggests itself, thanks to the revelation about this City Council working group which has been discussing strategic public policy issues behind closed doors. Disdain for public debate and public scrutiny is the defining characteristic of this faction. When the Whirled complains that the new Council is going to be contentious, they mean that the Council will debate the issues in view of the public. The heart of John Benjamin's complaint about Chris Medlock's vote against Randy Sullivan for chairman -- his vote and Jim Mautino's shattered the illusion of unanimity, revealing a difference of opinion that shouldn't be aired.

They don't like the light of public scrutiny, so they conduct their business in the dark. But just because we can't see what's going on, it doesn't mean that they aren't there, contaminating public policy out of sight.

Why don't they like the light? Here's a link to reputable 2000 year old opinion on the subject. They know they aren't serving the interests of all Tulsans. They're serving the interests of a favored few, but they don't want us to know that.

I hereby dub this faction of Tulsa politics the Cockroach Caucus.

At present, there are two councilors who are definitely aligned with the Cockroach Caucus (Sullivan and Baker). Two of the Cockroaches (Patrick and Justis) were eliminated in the election.

Another two (Christiansen and Neal) that have shown some independence in the past, and seem to have good motives, but based on their vote on the Council consensus last Thursday and other actions and pronouncements, they also seem to have aligned themselves with the Cockroach Caucus. Let's hope that changes.

I will take nominations for an appropriate name for the good guys, the faction supporting fairness, openness, and running the city in the interests of all Tulsans. The winning suggestion will win praise and accolades on this website.

I miss all the fun, lately. The City Council had a busy agenda today.

Roscoe Turner was sworn in, to resume his service as a City Councilor, in what I am told was a very emotional ceremony.

Sam Roop presented his proposal for rotating the chairmanship of the committees. Roop's proposal is an alternative to Randy Sullivan's attempt to install his cronies as permanent chairmen, the incident that launched Thursday's meeting boycott. I'm told that members of the minority party sat in stony silence and made no comment during the presentation.

A lovefest greeted Paula Marshall-Chapman's reappointment to the Economic Development Commission. Mayor Bill LaFortune attended the meeting with the Bama Pie chief, an unusual move that may have been intended to ward off any tough questions about oversight of the Tulsa Metro Chamber's stewardship of the City's economic development funds. In any case, that was the effect. Or perhaps the controversy over the committee chairmanships drained councilors of the desire to open another can of worms.

Bill Christiansen wanted to focus on the District 3 election irregularities, but other councilors pointed out that the problems are more widespread, and there was sentiment for a full council investigation. Acting County Election Board Secretary Shelley Boggs was expected, but was not present for the discussion. Council staff was asked to research the chain of responsibility at the election board and the process for selecting a new secretary to replace Scott Orbison, who passed away Saturday at age 85.

I didn't hear anything about the discussion of the proposed amendment to the taxicab ordinance. The driver who took me to the airport this morning (in a very well-maintained vehicle, I might add) thought it was a bad deal for the small operators. He was interested to hear that the discussion would be open to the public; he thought he might go and bring some colleagues along.

It's impossible to link directly to this, so you'll have to take my word for it. There are several interesting items on the committee agendas for Tuesday:

In the Public Works committee meeting, which convenes at 8 a.m.:

8. Discussion of Council rule changes on Committee chair/co-chair assignments. (Roop) 04-159-1

This ties in to Roop's objection to Chairman Randy Sullivan's attempt to grab power and seat his cronies as permanent committee chairmen, able to control the agenda and debate at these important meetings.

There's a special council meeting at 9:00 a.m.:

Official Certificates of Votes for special election held April 6, 2004, concerning the election of a Councilor for District 3; Council to acknowledge receipt, canvass, and direct the certificates to be filed with the City Clerk. 04-150-1

In the Urban and Economic Development committee (10:00 a.m.):

1. Paula Marshall-Chapman - Reappointment to the Economic Development Commission; term expires 12/31/06; (5/5 meetings). 03-363-2

This is the reappointment of a former Tulsa Metro Chamber chairman to the committee which is supposed to oversee the Chamber's handling of the hotel/motel tax money we pay them to handle our city's economic development efforts. This would be an excellent opportunity to ask about the Committee's oversight activities -- for example, whether there are any -- and to get an assessment about the Chamber's responsiveness to any concerns that have been expressed. We've paid the Chamber a pile of money -- over $60 million -- and for the price we've lost tens of thousands of jobs. I hope some Councilor asks Ms. Marshall-Chapman what she hopes to do with a new term on the Committee to ensure that Tulsa is getting its money's worth?

4. Rezoning application Z-6936 requested by J.D. Berray to rezone property located at or near the SE/c of E. 3rd & S. Kenosha (Owner: Berray/Manlove/Harrington) from IM to CBD. (TMAPC voted 6-0-0 to recommend approval) (CD-4)(PD-1) [UED 3/13/04] 04-140-1

This is an important step forward for the hearty residents of a small block of lofts near 3rd and Kenosha, an area targeted by the Tulsa Project for a soccer stadium. A lot of folks talk about downtown housing, but these people have invested their own money and their hearts in a growing neighborhood. The current industrial zoning no longer makes sense, and a change to "Central Business District" zoning would remove some roadblocks to residential reuse of these historic buildings.

10. Proposed amendments to TRO, Title 36, relating to taxicabs and paratransit vehicles. 96-7-4 (UED 4-13-2004)

From what I've heard, this seems like an effort to squeeze small taxi operators out of business by requiring them to buy new vehicles every few years. The issue should never be the age of the vehicle, but the condition. Why impose a greater cost burden on an already struggling industry?

11. Discussion regarding municipal election process. (Christiansen) 04-160-1

No idea what Bill Christiansen has up his sleeve on this one. Hopefully, the committee will review the research I did revealing five precincts where there were significant discrepancies between votes cast and voters who signed in for the City Council primary on February 3rd. I stand ready to testify, Mr. Chairman.

All Council committees meet in Room 201 of City Hall and are open to the public.

The four Councilors who skipped last Thursday's City Council meeting will hold a press conference at City Hall, exact location TBA, at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 12. Here's the press release:

Tulsa City Councilors to Hold Press Conference

Four Councilors Will Address Recent Events Prompting Lack of Quorum at Last City Council Meeting

Tulsa, OK, Monday, April 12, 2004: The four Tulsa City Councilors who missed the first council meeting of the newly elected City Council will hold a press conference today at 1:30 PM. The conference will be held at the Tulsa City Hall, 200 Civic Center Plaza (room to be announced by Noon).

Newly elected Councilors Jack Henderson of District 1 and James Mautino of District 6 will join District 2 Councilor Chris Medlock and District 5 Councilor Sam Roop, in addressing the events that led up to their actions, why they have remained silent until now, and what action they plan to take in the coming days.

The Councilors have agreed not to speak to the media about the specifics of their proposal until the press conference. Councilor Chris Medlock will fulfill a previously scheduled interview on radio station KFAQ at 7:10 AM, but will only address general issues surrounding the controversy.

Roscoe Turner will hold a press conference at 11:00 am Monday, at Rose Hill United Methodist Church, 749 N. Louisville Ave. (four blocks east of Harvard on Independence St, which is a few blocks north of Admiral Place). Here's what Steve Denney has to say in the news release. (Steve was one of the attorneys addressing the voting irregularities which occurred in the original primary election.)

If you have been reading the vicious articles that the Tulsa World has been running against newly elected Councilor Roscoe Turner, you must realize the degree to which the paper is upset about having a Councilor it doesn't control replacing David Patrick as District 3 City Councilor. The World's articles have implied that Mr. Turner is guility of "election crimes." The "crimes" that Mr. Turner appears to be accused of are a minor misdemeanor which remains uninvestigated and uncharged. We believe that the District Attorney's office will find no merit to the charge and will decline to file. Other Council candidates have done exactly the same thing Mr. Turner did, i.e., witness a voter's signature. It seems more than passing strange that no other candidates were mentioned in the news article and that the World implied that Mr. Turner was accused of a felony instead of a misdemeanor. Help us break the misinformation and intimidation factors generated through the World's articles by appearing and supporting Councilor Roscoe H. Turner at his press conference

Let me highlight the last part -- this is an opportunity to show your support for Roscoe. Your presence is requested at this event.

By the way, Roscoe officially became Councilor-elect at 5 p.m. Friday when the deadline for requesting a recount or contesting the election passed without a challenge from lame duck Councilor David Patrick.

BitWeever has analyzed the list of Tulsans contributing to presidential campaigns. Interesting reading -- no Tulsa contributors to Kerry are listed -- and a hat tip to Okie Doke, who linked the article in his weekly round up of Oklahoma blogs.

Dustbury.com's Charles G. Hill has a guest entry over on the Dawn Patrol about Oklahoma City's telephone exchanges. Oklahoma City had some pretty good ones: Shadyside, Swift, Orange, Prospect. Someone had the job of coming up with these names.

For the record, here's what I remember of the Tulsa-area prefixes from 1969, when we moved here:

ADams-4 (far east Tulsa)
AMherst-6 (Catoosa)
CRestview-2 (Owasso)
GEneral
HIckory-5 (west Tulsa)
LUther (downtown)
NAtional-7
RIverside (near the river)
TEmple (near-east Tulsa)

Can't remember the exchange names for Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Sperry, north Tulsa (425 -- was it LAkeview, JAsper, or something else?), or Jenks. Bixby, Bixby North, and Broken Arrow didn't have named
exchanges since they weren't (and aren't) served by Southwestern Bell. (Please e-mail me with additions and corrections.)

The exchange map from the phone book back then is still burned into my brain. Bixby, Bixby North, and BA were shown as solid black shapes separated (out of fellowship?) from the interlocking exchanges of Ma Bell. The next page was the toll chart, warning Catoosa phone subscribers that a call to Sapulpa costs extra.

The first Tulsa exchange without a name, as far as I can recall, was 560, which was used by Cities Service for their headquarters starting in the early '70s. At the same time, the phone book stopped referring to named exchanges and used all-numeric, um, numbers.

On a related note, I have never had a phone number without a zero or a one somewhere in it, which means I've never been able to turn my phone number into a word. My favorite in that category was GARAGES -- the phone number of a garage construction company that advertised on Cubs TV broadcasts (another passion of my Pogo-loving Grandma). Tulsans of a certain age will remember a verbal phone number of ill repute.

Nice to see that the concern I had about taxpayers getting stuck with the bill -- used by KJRH on TV Thursday -- is shared by that well-known cabal of naysayers, the Tulsa Whirled Editorial Board:

Gray's decision is more good news for a Tulsa that seems to be headed in the right direction. Gray says that the $26 million sculpture is privately funded and that an endowment will be established to take care of the long-term maintenance.

We are confident that Gray can be trusted. Nevertheless, it would behoove city leaders to acquire some guarantees. What the city does not want to face is making a commitment to the sculpture and then being pressured for tax dollars to complete it. Such a guarantee would show no disrespect to Gray or those involved in the private funding. It simply makes good business sense -- for all parties.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and I'm sure they'd say the same about me.

I feel used. It's my own fault. I knew what they were after, and I let them come out and talk to me anyway. I could have said I was too busy, because I was, but I'm a soft touch, especially when it's the dulcet tones of KJRH's Omadalle Nelson coming through the phone.

She said she'd read my entries about "The American" and had the impression I wasn't supportive of the colossal statue. I told her I supported it, and was pleased that Tulsa would be getting a major tourist attraction that would be privately financed. I confessed that I was amused at all the skepticism about economic impact being voiced by people who weren't asking skeptical questions last fall about the impact claimed by Vision 2025's supporters. The only concern I had about the project is what would happen in the event that the backers couldn't complete the project or couldn't maintain it over time -- would taxpayers get stuck with the bill?

That's evidently what she (or her producer) was after -- something negative to balance out the piece, create a sense of controversy -- and no doubt that's why she called me. We met up not far from where I work and talked for several minutes. I mentioned my support for the project, my support for the idea of a privately-funded project, and the idea that this statue could help define Tulsa in the world's view as the place to come to experience American Indian culture and history.

A reader sends a link to this CNN story about a proposal to build a 305-foot-tall fiberglass and steel statue of Abraham Lincoln, which would dwarf "The American" -- the 220-foot-tall statue honoring American Indians which will be built in Tulsa. The statue would be built in Lincoln, Illinois, a town founded by Abraham Lincoln:

In the first phase of the project, the steel and fiberglass statue would be built, patterned after a Lloyd Ostendorf painting that shows Lincoln christening the town with watermelon juice in 1853, Steffens said.

Though organizers hope to match the height of the Statue of Liberty, Steffens said the Lincoln statue may be smaller because of air traffic and the tornadoes that threaten the area every spring.

And it looks like their statue will be in color. Boosters are looking for corporate investors, and may be willing to sell naming rights. Lincoln could end up looking like a NASCAR driver with all the corporate logos on his jacket.

There's a press conference tomorrow at 2:30 at the Central Library with sculptor Shan Gray, and it's almost certainly going to be to announce that the monumental statue "The American" will be built in Tulsa.

Where in Tulsa remains an open question, with some contending for the Osage Hills, some for just north of downtown, some for the west bank of the River. Urban Tulsa this week has a list of proposed sites.

Barry Friedman of Urban Tulsa also takes a closer look at the finances for the project and its expected economic impact to the city.

Surprising some, was not that the project�s team�s inflated the economic impact�publicists and marketing people have been known to do that�but that Tulsa city officials and their mouthpiece daily paper failed to publically question the numbers. Further, no official wondered whether the artist, who heretofore hadn�t designed anything taller than 18 feet, can even bring the 176-foot American to fruition.

Barry's got it backwards: Some city officials are the mouthpiece for the Tulsa Whirled and the elite group it represents, not the other way around. But it's heartening to see some skepticism applied to economic impact numbers and big dreams.

The Tulsa Development Authority, the local urban renewal quango, is updating its plans, and the TDA is inviting public input. An open house will be held at the TDA offices on March 30 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Plans are also available for public inspection this week during normal office hours. The covered areas include everything within the Inner Dispersal Loop; just east of the loop, between I-244, 11th Street, and Rockford; and just north of the loop, between the old Midland Valley tracks, Pine Street, and US 75. Anyone concerned about downtown and near-downtown redevelopment should take time to review the plan changes and express an opinion. The TDA acquires property (sometimes from a willing seller, often by eminent domain), demolishes buildings, and resells land to try to encourage development in accordance with its plans. Because of the property the authority owns, and its ability to acquire more, the TDA's decisions will have an enormous impact on downtown's future, through projects like the East Village redevelopment.

In recent years, the philosophy of urban renewal has changed dramatically, and for the better, as you can see in this Request for Proposals for downtown residential development -- one quarter of a proposal's "grade" will have to do with how well it "promotes compatibility with the character of an urban, pedestrian friendly neighborhood" and how well it contributes "to downtown vitality."

Will downtown once again be a vibrant, diverse, urban place, or will it become another outpost of suburbia? Don't just stay tuned, come down, form an opinion and have a say.

Over at Tulsa Today, David Arnett asks whether we've been getting our money's worth from the City's contract with the Chamber for economic development:

For the last twenty years or so the primary publicly funded local economic development effort has been conducted by the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce at a cost of over $70 million. Any local expenditure for that long at that level begs the question of value received. Is Tulsa now economically developed and a center for conventions and visitors? That is the objective of the annual contract the Chamber executes in behalf of the City of Tulsa at a rate of approximately $3 million per year. If they are not doing the job, should we fire them?

A few months ago, Chamber Senior Vice President Mickey Thompson took questions at a meeting of the Republican Men�s Club where he publicly asserted that �big business is more important to Tulsa�s economic development than small business.� The crowd groaned as most knew that statement to be false. Big business is defined as more than 200 employees, but the backbone of Tulsa�s economy has always been small business. Economists by the thousands will testify that small business generates faster higher quality economic growth than big business.

What drives the Chamber to focus on big business? When they land a big business, they make a bigger splash. And the pursuit is more glamorous, too. There's more travel, more expensive lunches. It's all much more exciting than lobbying legislators to make Oklahoma a better place for all sorts of businesses.

I wrote back during the Vision 2025 campaign about the importance of small businesses to our economy. Go back and read that.

Recall also that Mickey Thompson confessed during the Vision 2025 campaign that he had no idea how to regain the thousands of high-tech jobs Tulsa has lost over the last few years.

Arnett asks if it's time to give economic development responsibilities to some other organization:

Maybe the City of Tulsa should change contractors. Maybe City Government should execute the function in-house. Maybe Tulsa County should establish an economic development office or with the City create a cooperative effort. Whatever the plan, results are critical. It is proper for public officials to monitor and make organizational changes when necessary to execute this important public business.

If the people of Tulsa County are willing to fund economic development, maybe it is time to get serious. What about a revolving fund that would provide business development loans to local small businesses for expansion and real economic growth? With $350 million (Boeing's package), we could help a lot of local businesses.

And that raises the question of who would control this fund. Handled honestly, it could do a lot of good, but it could also be used to repay political favors.

(I can't remember the details, but for some reason M.Y. Cab, a Tulsa company that made headlines in the '80s, comes to mind. Anyone remember?)

I'll repeat my call for a private venture capital fund for Tulsa entrepreneurs, run by people who understand technology and understand business, with no other purpose than to maximize their investor's return. Make it inexpensive enough so many Tulsans would participate, even if only out of love for our city rather than the expectation of a return on investment.

Here's another item from the colorful 1988 Tulsa city elections:

Gene C. Burns, better known as Accountability Burns, also has called himself A. B. Einstein IV, Einstein Belcher Burns, and Tulsa's Man from MARS.

His name change to Accountability, he says, "is in honor of Watergate, obviously. Accountability in government is my program."

He last ran for City Auditor in 2000, as a Democrat against incumbent Phil Wood. You see him around downtown, where he lives. I last bumped into him in a break room at TCC's downtown campus, shortly after I lost an election.

A co-worker had a big file of newspaper clippings about and correspondence with Accountability. He used to apply for jobs with the company, typing cover letters in the lobby. He has a very creative approach to phonetic spelling, and some of the engineers struck up a correspondence, replying to his missives in the same style.

Speaking of colorful characters like Virginia "Blue Jeans" Jenner, here's another find from my friend's basement, a political ad from page 2 B of the Monday, February 15, 1988, edition of the late great Tulsa Tribune, in which she attacked Oral Roberts, State Senate President Pro Tempore Rodger Randle, and Water & Sewer Commissioner Patty Eaton. (Click here for a full-sized image.)

(I hasten to add that I don't endorse any of the views in the ad -- far from it -- which is presented solely for historical and entertainment value.) Here's the punch line of the ad:

To stop husband and wife teams benefitting at taxpayer expense, get your Irish up and vote for this dental hygienist who knows how to deal with folks who talk out of both sides of their mouth. I'll give a lottery instead of a tax hike. 50 percent women appointments and ward government. Merge ORU and UCT and retire Oral.

Love always,
Virginia Jenner
Democrat for Mayor of Tulsa

This would have been just before the primary of what was to be the last election under the old city charter. Coincidentally, on the same page there's an article about a Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce committee writing a new city charter, with the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and the Northeast Oklahoma Labor Council, that they hoped to get on the ballot by the summer:

Under the chamber proposal, the mayor would be elected citywide to a four-year term. Council members would be elected from districts, with a few elected from larger, regional districts. Council members would be part-time and serve four-year terms.

The chamber didn't quite get their way, but isn't it odd that government would turn over the responsibility for developing the basic law of our city to unelected, private organizations?

Here's an interesting find that popped up in Google: The Tulsa Metro Chamber's political directory and legislative agenda for 2003. It's a bit outdated and there are a few inaccuracies (for example, they show Susan Savage as an elected official -- she's not, Secretary of State is an appointed position), but it lists contact info for the Tulsa area's legislative delegation and local government officials. It also has a list of the names and occupations of its executive committee and board members and lists their legislative goals for last year.

Stan Geiger sent along an interesting e-mail exchange between himself and Ken Neal, editorial page editor of the Tulsa Whirled. With Stan's permission, I reprint it below. It is illuminating. It has to do with Omer Gillham, the Whirled reporter who covered recent scandals surrounding administrators at Tulsa Community College over retention bonuses and false attendance figures. For a change it appeared the Whirled was actually engaged in afflicting the comfortable.

Gillham has been reassigned to cover Tar Creek. Stan Geiger asked Ken Neal about the reason for the reassignment, and wondered if there was pressure applied to get Gillham away from covering education.

Geiger makes an important point: The experience Omer Gillham gained while digging into TCC's mess could be used to uncover similar problems elsewhere in public education. It takes time to learn who to talk to, what records to ask for, and what to look for in the records. You don't just open the board's minute book and see a meeting transcript like this:

College President Loombucket: "Gentlemen, I have a cunning plan to make all of us millionaires at taxpayer's expense."

Other board members (singing): "We're in the money! We're in the money!"

Loombucket (gleefully rubbing hands together): "Buwahahahahaha!"

An investigative reporter has to learn how to spot patterns in the public records and spot where the records don't make sense. An ordinary-looking invoice might stand out like a smoking gun to an experienced reporter. Now, instead of leveraging that experience, the Whirled seems to be discarding it. Maybe the Beacon could take him on.

Ken Neal says that he doesn't share Stan's "generally sour outlook on education". This is interesting: Someone who cares enough about the quality of education to expose mismanagement and worse is labelled sour on education, while someone who is willing to overlook problems, take official pronouncements at face value, and tolerate an educational system that doesn't serve the students, considers himself pro-education.

Read the whole exchange by following the link:

This is still at the rumor stage, but it's the sort of rumor that, if true, needs to be passed along so that people can make some preparations, and if it's false, there's no harm done. And the rumor comes to me from very reliable sources who assure me this is really going to happen.

The rumor is that Bob Dick will resign from the County Commission sometime this year, which would trigger a special election. He had already said publicly that he did not plan to run for another term in 2006.

Depending on the effective date of resignation, the special election may be held as part of the normal election cycle. This was the case in 2002, when Commissioner John Selph resigned in March and the process of replacing him involved the usual primary, runoff, and general elections, held along with the scheduled state elections. It would be better from a voter's perspective and a taxpayer's perspective if we could avoid a special election in this year already full of elections.

Continuing with the rumor: State Senator Jerry Smith, who is being forced out of office this year by term limits, has been tapped by Bob Dick to replace him on the commission. Smith already has ties to county government -- his wife, Sally Howe Smith, is an elected official, Tulsa County Court Clerk. Smith has not been seriously challenged for re-election in many years and has a war chest ready for a County Commission race.

I said earlier that it's reasonable to pass along a rumor so that people can make preparations. If Bob Dick is stepping aside, we need to make sure that his replacement is someone who will be responsive to the citizens, someone who will reform county government and scrutinize the cozy network that currently runs the place. How Vision 2025 overages will be spent should be a major campaign issue. Will the new commissioner push to grow county government, or will he seek to return the county to its proper minor role? Will his appointments to the TMAPC, Fair Board, and Board of Adjustment be neighborhood-friendly or servants of special interests? Think about people you know in District 3 who might make a good County Commissioner, and drop me a line at blog at batesline dot com if you come up with some good ideas. The time is now to begin to organize a campaign and raise money.

The City Council campaign is underway. Last time around I was a candidate. Not so this time -- and while I enjoyed campaigning, I think I will enjoy watching from the sidelines this time.

As a candidate, I got many phone calls from people who wanted to pass along negative information about my opponent. As my opponent was the recently retired Fire Chief, the information came from ranking officers in the department who had worked closely with him. They came to me with examples of favoritism, indecisiveness, ignorance, procrastination, and failure to lead. These were credible charges from credible people, and they raised valid questions about his fitness to serve on the City Council.

What did I do with the information? Nothing. What could I do? The people who brought these concerns to me were not willing to go public, certainly not with Susan Savage still in office. I couldn't make the stories public -- I didn't have first-hand knowledge or documentation, and the media would treat anything I presented as crass mudslinging. I appreciated their willingness to help and their sincere belief that the other candidate was unfit for office, but there were better ways to handle the inside information they had.

My advice to you if you have negative information about a candidate: Do not tell another candidate about it. Take it directly to the media. Call KFAQ, KRMG, the TV stations, the Tulsa Beacon. Provide them with specifics -- names, places, times, and dates. If you have corroborating documents, photographs, or recordings, provide copies of them. If they're ethical reporters, they should protect your anonymity. They may not be able to do anything with your story alone, but if enough witnesses come forward about one specific incident, or if you can provide them with enough information to form the basis for an investigation, or a pattern of behavior emerges, they would be able to move forward with a story.

So if you know firsthand that a City Councilor has misused his public office for private benefit, let a reporter know so that the public can know. If you've been on the receiving end of discourteous treatment from a Councilor, or if he has ignored your concerns, tell a reporter. If you have firsthand knowledge of rank hypocrisy -- to pick a hypothetical example, if the Councilor trying to score political points with strip club regulation is a regular patron of the same establishments -- tell a reporter. Don't torment another candidate by giving him information he can't use.

Last week Tulsa again hosted the annual Chili Bowl Midget National races in the Expo Building at Expo Square. (Translation for us old timers: That's the IPE building at the Fairgrounds.) Noisy little "sprint cars" tear around a 1/4-mile track built inside the building. The first race was held in 1987.

As Michael DelGiorno pointed out (during our weekly Monday morning Batesline update on 1170 KFAQ), people commit suicide by going into a garage and starting a car with the doors shut. During cold weather, we're warned by health authorities to open the garage door before starting the car. Going into a building with dozens of running engines is not a recipe for respiratory health, and yet thousands, including the elderly and children file in each night to breathe the fumes.

Thursday night EMSA and the Fire Department came out to investigate elevated CO levels at the event. A spectator brought a Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector into the race. CO levels in the stands reached 370 parts per million (ppm). To put that in perspective, here's what the Consumer Product Safety Commission has to say about high concentrations of CO levels.

The health effects of CO depend on the level of CO and length of exposure, as well as each individual's health condition. The concentration of CO is measured in parts per million (ppm). Health effects from exposure to CO levels of approximately 1 to 70 ppm are uncertain, but most people will not experience any symptoms. Some heart patients might experience an increase in chest pain. As CO levels increase and remain above 70 ppm, symptoms may become more noticeable (headache, fatigue, nausea). As CO levels increase above 150 to 200 ppm, disorientation, unconsciousness, and death are possible.

At about 9 p.m., the hazardous materials (hazmat) team was called to deal with the situation. For some reason, they were turned back. Similarly with the Fire Department. The reason appears to have to do with the fact that Expo Square is not in the city limits, so any health issue would come under the jurisdiction of the Tulsa City-County Health Department. They were called, too. Finally, at about 11 pm, long after the last race and after the doors had been opened to ventilate the building, the authorities arrived and still measured between 70 and 130 ppm.

The County's approach to solving the problem is to open doors and roof panels to ventilate the building. That's fine for the spectators, but it subjects neighbors across the street -- most of whom have lived there since long before the first Chili Bowl race in 1987 -- to dreadful noise and vibration. Noise level in one yard were measured at over 80 db with the Expo Building's doors closed.

Here's a telling quote from Susan Hylton's story in the Whirled:

Expo Square officials met with Chili Bowl promoter Emmett Hahn, County Commissioner Bob Dick, the fire marshal and representatives from the health department and the HAZMAT team Friday morning.

Hahn said he had no idea if the carbon monoxide levels were too high Thursday night and referred questions to Tuttle.

Rouse said the fire department could close down the event, but he thought "everybody was pretty much satisfied with the corrective action that was going to be taken."

Note that no one from the nearby neighborhoods were included in the discussion, despite the impact of the event. If they had included neighbors, I doubt they would have been "pretty much satisfied" with the conclusion. And I doubt most of the spectators are aware of the risk they are taking with their own health. This is just one more example of how the majority of our County Commissioners are more concerned about generating revenue at the Fairgrounds rather than operating it in a responsible way to serve the interests of the public.

By the way, the outdoor races at Fair Meadows by the same promoter were approved by the Fair Board in November 2002, at a time when the surrounding neighborhoods lacked representation on the County Commission. The contract with the promoter required mufflers on the cars and keeping within a specified decibel limit. The limit was exceeded -- sound levels of 82 db were measured nearly 1/2 mile away -- but the County and Expo Square management did nothing to penalize the promoter for breaking his contract.

Expo Square, and the Expo Square building in particular, weren't built for auto racing. They were built for fairs, expositions, and trade shows. Let the Chili Bowl races be held in a facility suited for the purpose, where spectators won't be endangered and neighbors won't be bombarded with noise.

The results are in! Congratulations to Pam Peterson for a resounding victory in the Oklahoma House 67 special election -- 69% in a winner-take-all primary in this heavily Republican district. No Democrat filed, so by winning the primary Pam becomes a Representative-elect.

Pam received 69% of the vote. Her nearest opponent, Tommy Thompson, received only 14% despite (or because of?) the Whirled's endorsement and a last minute phone call from Thompson's campaign attacking her.

The factors underlying this big win: a great candidate, first and foremost, and a great match for the district; her many hours going door-to-door and making phone calls to meet the voters; support from grass-roots activists and elected officials; and a great campaign team headed by campaign manager Terri Cleveland.

Best wishes to Pam as she starts her rookie session at the State Capitol.

The choice to replace Hopper Smith in the Oklahoma House is an obvious one. For a legislator, you want someone who shares your values, who can work effectively with other legislators, and who will keep in touch with the district.

I've known Pam Peterson and have worked with her in local Republican activities for many years. She has served the Republican Party as a delegate to the national convention, Vice Chairman for the 1st Congressional District organization and most recently as Chairman of the Tulsa County party. If voters in House District 67 have the good sense to elect her, she won't need to build relationships with other elected officials. Through her involvement in the party and in their campaigns, she already has a great working relationship with the other members of the Tulsa County legislative delegation and with our representatives in Washington and with many other local and state officials. They know her as someone who understands the issues, and someone who is easy to work with.

Pam has solid conservative values, and it is her values that motivate her involvement in politics and in other activities. As one example: She serves as a board member for Mend Crisis Pregnancy Center, an organization that supports women who are facing an unexpected pregnancy, giving them the support they need to choose life for their unborn children. She has two children and has been actively involved in their education; this year her youngest child will graduate high school, while her oldest just finished college. Her husband Paul, a surgeon, shares Pam's values and concerns for our state's future, and encouraged her to pursue the opportunity to run for public office.

Politics can bring out the worst in people. It is hard to be genuinely friendly, to be alert without being paranoid, to be determined without being pushy. It is easy to develop delusions of grandeur, to become paranoid or embittered.

Despite her long involvement in politics, Pam Peterson remains kind-hearted, unpretentious, and friendly. She has a great sense of humor and doesn't take herself too seriously. The reality of her Christian faith is evident in her dealings with others.

I don't know any of the other candidates in the race, but I know Pam Peterson and I can heartily recommend her to the voters of House District 67. On Tuesday, January 13, please vote for Pam Peterson and tell your friends to do the same.

Chad Stites was back in the news (jump page here) this weekend. He's received a $600,000 contract to oversee the appraisal of homes for HUD in a six-state region.

The story reminds us about one of the things Chad Stites did to get himself in trouble:

Stites appraised foreclosed properties for Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz, and records show in six cases Stites had a role in the purchase of properties that he had appraised. Glanz fired Stites as an appraiser after the purchases were revealed.

A state audit found six cases in which Stites, his relatives or his company purchased property at sheriff's auctions that Stites had appraised. The audit concluded that state laws against conspiracy and obtaining property by false pretenses may have been violated.

The story goes on to say that HUD is hiring someone to oversee appraisals is the possibility of an unscrupulous appraiser abusing the system, and that one of Stites' companies was targeted for special scrutiny:

The contracts are not the first work Stites has done for HUD. Another company operated by Stites, Appraisers of Tulsa, appraised more than 3,200 properties for HUD between 1995 and 2000, ranking fourth nationally in the number of appraisals, according to a 2001 audit by the agency.

The audit by HUD warned that "the appraisal process is inherently vulnerable to abuse and should be closely monitored." It states that the agency's single-family appraisal process "had received virtually no HUD oversight."

The audit was prompted by problems with HUD properties in Philadelphia that had no connection to Stites' company but reviewed national data on appraisals of other HUD properties. It found "alarming trends" in the difference between the appraised value and the actual sales price of the property.

The audit highlighted Appraisers of Tulsa as one of the appraisal companies that should be monitored, given the difference between appraised value and purchase price, nearly 15 percent.

"Appraisal monitoring and quality assurance efforts might best be focused on these companies," the audit states.

Robert Pinney rightly refers to the situation as the fox guarding the henhouse, and points out that his complaint about Stites to the Real Estate Appraiser Board, filed 15 months ago, has yet to be acted upon. In response, Stites displays the "even-keel temperament" and sound judgment that prompted the Tulsa Whirled to endorse him in a special state house election in 2002:

Pinney filed his complaint more than 15 months ago alleging that Stites violated numerous ethics codes that appraisers are required to follow. He said he has received no explanation about why the board has not acted on the complaint.

"Their failure to address my complaint filed over 15 months ago certainly proves their value as a regulatory agency. They've failed their primary reason for existence, which is to qualify persons for federal contracts."

Stites described Pinney as "a sore loser."

"Robert Pinney probably needs to get a life."

And this is the person the Tulsa Whirled told us was best qualified to replace John Sullivan in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

The Tulsa Whirled editorial board has revealed their pick in next Tuesday's winner-take-all Republican primary to fill Hopper Smith's place in the Oklahoma House of Representatives for District 67 in south Tulsa. To no one's surprise, they passed over the best candidate, the candidate with the best working relationship with elected officials and grass roots Republicans -- about her, more later.

The Whirled editorial board, which consists of pro-abortion, pro-corporate-welfare liberals, made their endorsement. I don't know if their chosen candidate shares their views on contentious social and economic issues -- sometimes the Whirled endorses good people, like Steve Largent and John Sullivan, even if they seem to be biting their collective tongue as they do. (In my interview with the board, I was assured that they sometimes endorse "anti-choice" candidates.)

The Whirled editorial cites their candidate's ties to local minor league sports, public schools, and the Chamber of Commerce as the major selling points. It's interesting that he is not described as a conservative.

Should Republican voters trust the Whirled's endorsement?

Let's look at a very similar election nearly two years ago: The race to replace John Sullivan in House District 71. This race also featured a crowded Republican field in a strongly Republican district. Two of the candidates were party activists, well-known to the grassroots. The primary wasn't quite winner-take-all -- a Democrat filed -- but winning the primary in District 71 is tantamount to winning the election.

The Whirled endorsed Chad Stites in their March 8, 2002, edition. If you believe the Whirled carefully investigates the candidates before making an endorsement, read the second paragraph carefully:

Stites, 44, is a native Tulsan, graduated from Claremore High School and attended the University of Tulsa and Southern Nazarene University. He owns Appraisers of Tulsa, a statewide real estate appraisal service. He is a family man, active in church and community.

Like the other candidates in the race, Stites shares the solid conservative values that are so important to Republican voters. In addition, he has the even-keel temperament needed to work with legislators on both sides of the political spectrum.

I love the assurance that Stites is a solid conservative. Keep in mind that Janet Pearson frequently makes the following argument, frequently enough that I call it Pearson's Syllogism: Nixon favored X, Nixon was a conservative, therefore conservatives are inconsistent and hypocritical if they don't favor X, too.

Stites won a narrow victory, getting only 34% in the first-past-the-post primary. In all likelihood, the Whirled's editorial moved enough undecided votes to tip the election his way. A few weeks later, the Whirled went on to endorse Stites against Democrat Roy McClain (April 2, 2002):

Both Stites and McClain are attractive candidates -- bright, articulate and well-versed on issues of interest to voters. Stites' experience, which includes operating a small business and being actively involved in community and church, makes him the best choice. He has all the tools to be an effective legislator.

Not many months later we were treated to an audio clip of Stites' even-keel temperament on display in a career-ending phone call to a city employee. The Whirled was kind enough to post the clip on the free part of their website, although I don't believe they ever apologized for steering Republican voters wrong in the special election.

The Whirled editorial board seems to listen to a very select subset of Republicans, and the people they listen to -- people like former City Councilor John Benjamin -- aren't in touch with the grassroots any more, if they ever were. Despite this, the Whirled's endorsement still pulls weight with some voters -- people who aren't engaged in the political process, but they vote religiously, and when in doubt they will vote the way the Whirled tells them to vote. In a narrow race with many undecided until the last minute, their influence could tip the balance.

So, you conservative Republicans who live in House District 67, do you trust the Tulsa Whirled editorial board to tell you who can best represent you and your views in Oklahoma City?

UPDATE: Chad Stites is back in the news.

Congratulations to County Commissioner Randi Miller, who was unanimously elected on Monday as Chairman for 2004, the first person ever to have served as chairman of the Tulsa City Council and the Tulsa County Commission, holding both posts within a 12-month interval. There was some speculation on my part that she might be passed over, given that the other Commissioners seemed to be quite happy to make decisions without her input. But convention was upheld -- it was District 2's turn -- and Miller got the nod.

The question now is whether she will be able to make effective use of this position to work for reform. The dynamics of a three-member commission are much different than those of a nine-member council. It's hard to build alliances and support for new initiatives when you can't legally discuss county business with even one other commissioner outside of announced meetings.

One of the chief powers of the Chairman is to make appointments to county boards and commissions, and it will be interesting to see what Miller does with this power. She will have her first opportunity this month, when Wesley Harmon's term on the TMAPC expires. Miller could appoint a replacement who will represent the concerns of homeowners. There are any number of zoning savvy neighborhood leaders in her district who would do a great job on the Commission. A few that come to mind -- not an exhaustive list: Pam Deatherage of Brookside, Jim Graham of Riverwood, Fran Pace of Renaissance (a former planning commissioner), Maria Barnes of Kendall-Whittier, and this writer. All these people would be fair to developers and homeowners, but would work to address the problems that frustrate everyone involved in the process.

The easy, but wrong, choice would be to appoint yet another member with connections to the development industry. It would be a tempting choice for Miller, who is up for election to a full term this year and will have to raise a pile of money to handle a primary challenge as well as a general election.

Miller should also have opportunity to replace a member of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority. Besides the three commissioners, there are two other members, Bob Parmele and Jim Orbison, both deeply entrenched in the county crony network. Whoever is up to be replaced should be, preferably with someone who lives within 1/2 mile of Expo Square and will ensure that the pursuit of profit is balanced against the concerns of nearby property owners. In the Bell's roller coaster dispute, neighbors proposed a number of creative alternatives that would have allowed the coaster to be built with less impact on the surrounding neighborhoods, and I'm sure they'd apply the same creativity and fairness to other Expo Square issues. There are dozens of people I know who would do a fine job -- for example, my neighbor and Midtown Coalition treasurer Margaret Perrault, who is an attorney. (And yes, I live within 1/2 mile of Expo Square, too, and would be honored to serve on the board.)

Miller ran for office as a reformer, and her position as Chairman gives her some opportunities, through appointments, to carry out those promises. She could still be overridden by Dick and Collins, but even so, making the effort is crucial. It would not only be the right thing to do, but would encourage her constituents that someone at the County Courthouse is on their side.

Among the achievements praised by County Commissioner Wilbert Collins in his "State of the County Address":

The Election Board has added enhancements to its Web page that allow voters to determine their polling places.

The enhancement: The county election board website has a PDF file that shows the name and address of the polling place for each precinct. There is no map of the precincts, however, so if you don't remember your number, you're out of luck. Better than nothing, but only slightly. Wilbert Collins has probably not looked at the website to see this "enhancement" for himself -- I suspect he is like the vast number of elected officials who are still barely tech savvy enough to send and receive e-mail.

There is a lot of data that could easily be put on the web. If the information were available on the Internet it would save government workers a lot of time answering questions from the public. The election board could put detailed precinct maps and maps that show which precincts are in which districts (legislative, city council, school board, judicial, etc.). INCOG could put current copies of the zoning map and the Comprehensive Plan (along with all the subsidiary area plans) online. (In her recent defense of Tulsa's zoning regime, Whirled editorialist Janet Pearson incorrectly stated that this information was already available online.) Most of these things already exist in electronic format. While a lot of money could be spent creating sophisticated interfaces to the information, simply creating and posting PDF files would be an inexpensive way to serve the public.

The county assessor's office has put some very useful maps on the web, including maps of city and school district boundaries, and a map for each township section in the county, showing subdivisions, lots, and block numbers. Each map is a large PDF file. I believe this was initiated under former Assessor Jack Gordon. In any case, the maps have a lot of useful information. It would be great to click on a lot and get the current valuation, the current zoning, history of zoning cases relating to the property, maybe a title history. Someday, but for today this is a great start.

The Whirled had coverage of outgoing County Commission Chairman Wilbert Collins "State of the County" address on Monday. Collins praised himself and fellow commissioners for "stepping up to the podium" with Vision 2025.

He went on to present some evidence that the County has too much money to play with:

The county's contribution to employee retirement was increased to 10 percent from 8.5 percent, and employees still are required to contribute only $1 a year.

"That's not bad. Very good, very good (benefit) if you ask me," Collins said.

I'm happy for the County's hard working employees, but it seems inappropriate when so many private sector employees in our county are losing jobs and pensions, and when other government entities are cutting back to match declining revenues.

And should the County be in the printing business?

He also noted that Tulsa County is the only county in the state that has an Administrative Services Division authorized to print voting ballots. Many counties look to the private sector for printing services.

This year, the county's print shop earned about $2,500 assisting a Sapulpa company in the bindery work for 190,000 ballots used by the state of California in the most recent gubernatorial race.

Looks like an opportunity for privatization to me.

More about the County Commission meeting in subsequent entries.

Please forgive my absence from these pages for the past week. It's been unusually busy for a quiet vacation period, a time to catch up on a lot of things around the house. Expect to hear from me more often as the City of Tulsa's campaign season heats up.

Today the Tulsa County Board of Commissioners has their first meeting of the year, as does the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority (aka the Fair Board, which includes the three commissioners). I'd like to tell you what's on the agenda, but the County's website doesn't allow access to the agendas or meeting schedules. I suspect there's some reorganization of the site going on at the moment, and they haven't got all the links working again.

After a bit of poking around, I was able to find my way to the agenda. The meeting is in the usual place, room 119 of the County Administration Building at 500 S. Denver, at the usual time, 9:30 am. Current chairman Wilbert Collins will give a "State of the County" address, and the commissioners will elect a chairman and a chairman pro-tem for 2004. No indication of who will get the nod, but it should be Randi Miller's turn in the normal rotation.

The Fair Board will meet at 2 today in room 119 to consider the Drillers' request for fireworks displays this season. There's also this very vague item:

9. Consider and vote on ratification of Facilities Lease Agreements as listed on attached forms

Of course, the attached forms aren't available on the County's website, so we don't know whether or not they have a lease agreement pending with an air horn tradeshow and convention or plan to host a concert by some band with a name like "Bleeding Ears". The Fair Board has a history of sneaking these things through.

Sad news in Sunday's paper (jump page here): The University of Tulsa plans to replace yet another Route 66 landmark with empty space.

The Metro Diner is not historic, but it still matters. I remember when it was an Arby's, in the late '70s, and I'm told it was a gas station before that. The Diner was created in the early '80s in the style of old Route 66 diners, and it became an instant tourist attraction. It gives Route 66 tourists exactly what they hope to see (and eat) along the old highway. Its brilliant neon sign is compensation for the many other spectacular neon signs along Route 66 in Tulsa that were demolished along with the establishments they pointed to -- like the Will Rogers Motor Hotel and the Villa -- or replaced with backlit plastic signs.

Losing the Metro Diner will hurt our city's drive to capitalize on our Route 66 heritage, just as we prepare to host an international Route 66 convention and have voted to spend $15 million in taxpayer dollars to enhance our appeal to Route 66 tourists. We want to encourage others to rehabilitate businesses that are still standing and to build new facilities that revive the look of long-gone roadside establishments. But allowing TU to knock down Metro Diner will have a chilling effect on anyone considering private investment along the old highway.

The chill will be even worse if the City uses eminent domain to acquire the property on TU's behalf, as it has done for TU in the past. Why fix a place up if some politically-connected institution can use government muscle to take it away from me and tear it down?

If TU had acquired all its land from willing sellers, you could make the case that we have no place telling this private institution what to do with its own land. But TU has gained so much property through the unconstitutional use of eminent domain for private benefit, the least we should expect is that TU use its land efficiently. Instead we see this ill-gotten land taken up with surface parking lots (TU has no multilevel parking) and suburban-style apartment complexes. Now they want to use four blocks for nothing but a clear view to 11th Street.

TU claims it is doing this for aesthetic reasons -- to create a visual entrance to campus from 11th Street. Of course, they could have created such an entrance along Harvard, but chose not to. By pursuing this course, TU is also doing a disservice to its students, killing the only commercial properties within easy walking distance from campus. Why not create a "campus corner" commercial development on the north side of 11th Street? Leave Metro Diner alone and encourage other businesses to locate nearby to serve the student community.

The Whirled praised TU's plan on Friday's editorial page, as usual innocent of the idea that there might be two sides to the story. The editorial writer praises TU for improving the surrounding neighborhoods, by which I guess the writer refers to the demolition of most of the surrounding neighborhoods. The homeowners that remain live in perpetual fear that TU will take their neighborhood next, with the City's blessing and active assistance.

The Whirled editorial also emits this howler:

TU also retains its roots in buildings such as Kendall Hall, McFarlin Library and Sharp Chapel.

Kendall Hall is a great example of TU's disregard for its roots and history. The first building on campus, it was demolished in the early '70s -- the cupola is all that remains -- and replaced with a modernist monstrosity.

Perhaps the folks hosting next summer's Route 66 festival and the folks overseeing the Vision 2025 money for Route 66 could have a word with the TU folks and help them understand the serious damage they're about to do to Tulsa's Route 66 prospects.

The agenda for Thursday night's City Council is up, and there could be fireworks aplenty.

Early in the program, the Mayor's appointees to the Vision 2025 sales tax overview committee will come before the Council. The appointees are David Paddock, Kevin Crosser, John Benjamin, Tony Ringold, Fred Ramos, Liz Hunt, and David Elsworth. David Paddock is immediate past president of Brookside Neighborhood Association. Liz Hunt is current president of Tracy Park neighborhood association. Fred Ramos is president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a resident of Jenks.

Then there's John Benjamin, former City Councilor. Benjamin was the point man for "It's Tulsa Time" -- the 2000 attempt to raise sales taxes for a new sports arena. He's responsible for encouraging Randy Sullivan to run for council in 2002. He is a true-blue Chamber pot. His endorsement of Terry Simonson did a lot to alienate grass-roots Republicans from Terry's 2002 mayoral campaign. Having him on this committee is like the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse.

I don't know the other three at all. I am told that at the Council committee meeting, all but one of the seven indicated that they were enthusiastic supporters of all four propositions.

Then Monte Dunham is being reappointed to the City Board of Adjustment -- the Board that considers special exceptions and variances from the zoning laws. Mr. Dunham is yet another example of the dominance of development and real estate interests on boards dealing with zoning and land use planning. He's also an example of how not much seems to have changed since Mayor LaFortune was sworn in on April 1, 2002. The same people as before are in charge of the departments and sitting on various boards and commissions.

After that you've got the 41st & Harvard rezoning case -- another controversy involving the conversion of residential to commercial (a Wal-Mart neighborhood market) contrary to the Comprehensive Plan. Here's an earlier entry explaining the case. In this case, the planning commission voted 5-4 to recommend approval -- a very slim margin indeed. The neighbors who are fighting this would appreciate your presence and support Thursday night at 6 pm at City Hall. If you can't be there, drop your councilor a line at distX@tulsacouncil.org, where the X is your district number (1 through 9).

Then the Council may be voting to override a veto for the first time in history over the issue of managing the City's use of cellphones.

Be there if you can, otherwise catch it live on C-SPAN Thursday night at 6 p.m., or on Cox Cable 3 Saturday morning at 6 a.m.

I've been thinking about redistricting reform lately. (Redistricting fascinates me because it combines three of my favorite subjects -- politics, number-crunching, and maps!) With term limits kicking in, and the possibility of a change in control in the state legislature, this may be the optimal time to reform the system that has given us ridiculous gerrymanders which work against representative democracy.

So please indulge a bit of retroblogging -- here's an op-ed piece I wrote back in 1991, calling for reform of our state's redistricting process. From the May 31, 1991, Tulsa Tribune:

In one of my first entries, I lamented the decline of locally produced television. So I was thrilled to learn about a new locally produced half-hour comedy program called Beef Baloney, which airs on Fox 23 every Saturday night (actually Sunday morning) at midnight.

Tonight's episode was all about politics. They had a man on the scene at the Democratic debate in Stillwater, talking to the activists and to several of the candidates. Presidential candidates aren't quite sure how to respond to a reporter who says he's from Beef Baloney.

They did a hilarious parody of the Vision 2025 ads. This was an ad for Vision 2026, a tax initiative to stimulate the local production of comedy -- it's for the children.

Then there was an instructional video for politicians -- how to disengage from a conversation with a voter. It's a five step process, evidently, involving a pat on the arm, a point of the finger, mutating into a wave and a thumbs up. After explaining each step in slow motion, Beef Baloney then presented film of an actual politician executing the maneuver to perfection -- Joe Lieberman, as he backed away from the Beef Baloney reporter.

Most of the remainder of the program was taken up debates and commercials in a fictional mudslinging local campaign.

Support local comedy and tune in. This episode will air again Friday and Saturday nights at 2:30 am and Wednesdays at midnight on channel 71.

Shame on me. Shame on all of us. School board filing period was last week, Monday through Wednesday, and I forgot to remind you about it. I knew it was coming up soon, sometime in December, but forgot it was the very first Monday, and this year, that was December 1st. (I did mention it a couple of months ago, however.)

So last Thursday the Whirled published the list of candidates who filed for school board seats in Tulsa County. Of the 18 seats on the ballot, 13 drew only one candidate. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall a Whirled story announcing the beginning of the filing period.)

The Tulsa district has two seats out of seven up next February. One seat is contested -- incumbent Cathy Newsome faces challengers Betty Pelton Morrow and Claudia L. Brown-King. In the other seat, Ruth Ann Fate is reelected to her third four-year term without opposition. (She beat Marilyn Wigger in 1996 and Dennis Dowell in 2000.) Most of the suburban districts have five members, each serving a staggered five-year term.

While ignorance of the law is no excuse, the school board election system in Oklahoma seems designed to keep the school board election process out of the public eye and insulate the schools from the democratic process. Filing takes place during the busy Christmas season, after the regular election date has come and gone, when ordinary people and the news media are paying attention to other things. Elections are in February, and the campaign is conducted during a season when early sunsets and cold temperatures interfere with door-to-door campaigns. Terms are long, making board members less accountable to the public. And it is impossible, because of staggered terms, to throw all the bums out. I often get the impression that school board members are more interested in representing the administration's views to the public, than holding the administration accountable on behalf of the public.

I offered my idea for school board accountability and taxpayer empowerment a few months ago -- elect the full school board, in partisan elections, every two years. For now, I guess we'll just have to put up with a school board that has no problem with French classes that don't teach French.

If candidates in the contested school board elections would like an opportunity to air their views publicly, please drop me a line at blog at batesline dot com. I'd like to do my part to give voters an informed choice.

For the first time in his administration, and only the second time since the current form of city government was adopted, Mayor Bill LaFortune has wielded the veto pen. He chose not to exercise this power in the 71st & Harvard rezoning ordinance, even though the ordinance was passed by a narrow 5-4 vote, was opposed by his own appointee to the planning commission, and was accomplished by neighboring property owners being illegally deprived of recognition for their protest, thus triggering yet another civil liberties lawsuit against the city. No, in that case, the Mayor chose to defer to the prerogatives of the Council.

So what Council action was egregious enough to get the Mayor to whip out his veto pen, sans Liquid Paper? A 9-0 vote by the Council to require by ordinance that cell phone expenditures be accounted for by department, rather than as a single budget category. The Council's proposal, initiated by Bill Christiansen, is a sensible measure. It is too easy to hide unnecessary expenditures in one big government-wide budget item. By having each department responsible for its own cell phone expenses, each department has an incentive to control its own cell phone usage. The Whirled story quotes Christiansen drawing a comparison to copier usage:

Lewis Crest Neighborhood Association, which is southeast of 51st & Lewis, has set up a Movable Type-powered weblog for announcements of interest to the neighborhood. This is a great idea, and I'm pleased to see that this site helped to inspire this development.

With some template manipulation and creative use of categories, Movable Type could be adapted for use as a general-purpose content management system, an easy way to set up and maintain a website.

Speaking of categories I'm thinking it's about time to revise my category structure, and specifically to add some hierarchy to the Tulsa category -- with zoning and Vision 2025 as a couple of subcategories. If you've got suggestions for organizing the site, let me know at blog at batesline dot com.

Sometimes I don't get around to writing about something for a week or so after it happens. I have good excuses -- a full-time job, family responsibilities, civic involvement. This blog is not a paying gig: Although some donors (four, actually) have contributed enough to pay the hosting bills for a couple of years, it isn't so much I could quit my job and do this full-time.

The Whirled has no such excuse -- they're paid to cover the news -- and yet they frequently defer stories on City Council committee or regular meetings until the next Saturday. This last Saturday they published a story about a Council meeting that had occurred nine days earlier. (Jump page is here.)

In the past I've been told that even if the reporter files the full story the night of the Council meeting, but it's often drastically cut short or omitted entirely by the editors for space reasons.

That excuse made sense when newspapers were merely ink on paper, but with unlimited space available on the web, it no longer holds water. Why not provide the full story when it's filed, as a "web extra", thus adding value for your subscribers? An Internet news site has the ability to marry the immediacy of radio or television -- "news when it breaks" -- with the detail that only the written word can offer.

The story itself is a pretty fair explanation of the issues surrounding the zoning protest petition. The only glaring omission is a list of the "city officials" who invalidated the 71st & Harvard petition -- a list that would have to include INCOG staff, City Attorney's office staff, and the six city councilors (Baker, Justis, Neal, Sullivan, Patrick, Williams) who voted to accept INCOG's invalidation. It's odd, though, that the Whirled would delay running it, and then wait until the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, a day when not as many people are reading the paper, I suspect.

The highlight of the story was news that Mayor LaFortune had signed the 71st & Harvard rezoning, but his signature was covered with correction fluid (no brand specified), and Deputy Mayor Steve Sewell's signature was superimposed on it. To be fair, the Mayor has taken ultimate responsibility for approving the rezoning in radio interviews, even though it's his deputy's signature. But the use of White Out or Liquid Paper on an official signature provides opens a window onto the decision-making process on the 11th Floor of City Hall. (And I wonder if a signature over a whited-out signature is valid. I'm pretty sure you couldn't do that on your closing documents when you buy a house.) When did the Mayor first sign the document? When was it whited out? Who decided to white it out? When was it signed by Sewell? What brand of fluid was it? Inquiring minds want to know.

A dear friend and regular reader of this blog thought I needed to lighten up, so she baked me a cake, a cut-up cake just like the one I had when I turned three -- a hobby horse, complete with coconut frosting for fur and Life Savers polka dots. (Baker's Coconut published a booklet of cut-up cake plans -- very popular in the early 60s.)

The earlier entry was a bit gloomy, I suppose. Really, life is pretty good, and I have plenty of blessings to count, two of whom you see in the above photo, and another one is holding the camera.

Charles at dustbury.com has notice of a rally to protest the opening of Bass Pro Shops in Oklahoma City, a facility built with $17 million in public money. Mayor Kirk Humphreys, a candidate to replace Don Nickles in the U.S. Senate, strongly supported the subsidy plan as a way to build an attraction that would bring tourists and revenue to the city.

Moshe Tal, who has sued the city over the Bass Pro Shops deal, had his canal front property -- property he planned to develop -- taken from him, ostensibly for public purposes, but later sold to another private developer.

It could happen here, and in some instances already has.

Had lunch at Kim Long's today and as we were driving away I noticed a newly opened Internet cafe on the north side of 81st, east of Memorial, advertising free wireless Internet access. It's called Caffe Bona. I didn't stop in today, but will be interested to check it out at some point. It's hard to imagine an Internet coffee shop working as a place you reach by car -- perhaps they'll draw clientele from the apartment complex within walking distance.

With a name like Caffe Bona, I'm guessing the place is run by Julian and his friend Sandy, filling in between acting engagements.

(I'd be interested in knowing how many Tulsa readers have any idea what that last paragraph is all about.)

UPDATE: Since no one e-mailed to say, "I get it! Ha, ha!", I'll explain myself in the extended entry below.

Despite the wonder about a wireless internet cafe in a suburban context, I am thrilled that someone is opening such an establishment in Tulsa, and I wish them all the best. I really enjoyed the Internet cafe I frequented in Savannah, and I hope the idea spreads quickly to Midtown and Downtown.

Once upon a time, Tulsa schools taught foreign language by actually teaching it. A reader writes:

Dear Mr. Bates:

I found your October 8 essay, "How to Teach French without Actually Teaching It," funny but depressing.

I'm writing because I hope you can help me figure out how to get some information on past language instruction in Tulsa. I attended Fulton Grade School and Skelly Junior High in the sixties. We were the first class to go all the way through Skelly, and I got excellent language instruction there. I studied French and, when I moved on to Palo Alto, California, for high school, I was so far ahead of my class there that the teacher gave me an independent study.

I wondered if you knew what the Tulsa system in the sixties was called, or if you knew anything that had been written about it. We approached language in multiple ways that my child's teachers seem to find very implausible, and I'd like to be able to show them some literature on it. I seem to remember reading in the Tulsa papers that foreign languages were a bit of a showpiece in the school system.

Briefly, we did it all. From the very beginning, we spoke the language in the classroom. We practiced saying "dialogues" with one another, and wrote and practiced our own dialogues using the words we were learning. We also read simple texts from the very beginning. We took "dictation" from the teacher, writing down what she said. In addition, we went to language lab once a week. By our second year, we were writing and performing plays in French. It made the memorizing a thousand times easier because we internalized the structure of the language, its connotations, its pitch, etc.

If you know how I could find written information about the Tulsa schools' language instruction in the sixties, I'd appreciate your help very much.

Can anyone who was around back then help this reader? Drop me a line at blog at batesline dot com, and I'll pass it along to her. Thanks.

My hosting provider has moved to a new server, and I'm finding that there's some cyberspace confusion as the Domain Name Service (DNS) record for www.batesline.com is moved from pointing to one machine to pointing to another.

On the Internet, a diverse and diffuse system, such changes are not made instantaneously across the Internet from "Internet Central Control". (Internet Central Control doesn't exist. In fact, that is the key design feature of the Internet.) Instead, a change to the correspondence between a domain name (www.batesline.com) and a numeric Internet Protocol address (63.247.72.82 -- the new address) spreads through the Internet like ripples through a pond, as one DNS server tells several others about the change.

Ultimately, your ISP needs to find out about the change, as does software in your own computer. At the moment, my computer at home and work still have batesline.com pointing to the old address, while my laptop is pointing to the new. This creates certain side effects -- I've posted to the blog from home, and it goes on the old server, but I don't see the post from my laptop, which is somehow pointed to the new server, which has the site as it was when the ISP moved my files over.

This will just be a weird couple of days, I'm afraid, until the DNS change is fully propagated, so bear with us. I will try to post to both old and new servers until the changeover is complete.

The good news is this -- the move to a new server is necessary because my hosting provider -- BlogHosts -- is doing a great job of providing affordable hosting, so they're winning lots of new clients. I recommend them highly.

Joe and I headed out to a barbecue Saturday night -- a fundraiser for the Republican State House Committee at the Kellyville ranch of Todd Hiett, five-term state rep, House Minority Leader, and the next Speaker of the State House (I hope). It was too chilly and windy, but we had a good time and great food anyway. (Dinner was sliced pork -- appropriate.)

Nearly all the Republican members of the State House were there, as were many candidates. Congressmen Ernest Istook and John Sullivan were there, along with Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune, and Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys. Another ex-Congressman was there as well, and a Democrat at that -- Clem McSpadden, rodeo announcer and lobbyist, who served eighteen years in the State Senate, and a single term in Congress (elected 1972) before an unsuccessful run for Governor in 1974.

The Congressmen and Mayors each had a chance to speak. Mayor LaFortune recounted a conversation at the OU-Texas game with Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- LaFortune described him as the leader of the competition -- who told LaFortune that nothing Oklahoma did to compete for jobs would matter until we dealt with our income tax and tort reform.

The highlight of the evening was the bullriding competition -- most of the state legislators got aboard a mechanical bull and tried to hang on for the prescribed time, as Clem McSpadden provided commentary. Kirk Humphreys took a spin on the bull as well. (The amateurs had a chance to ride earlier. I took a pass -- back problems -- but Joe rode it twice.)

There was some juicy political gossip floating around. There's a rumor that County Commissioner Randi Miller may face primary challenges next year from both proponents and opponents of Vision 2025. I'm told that the issue is not so much the sales tax election but a perception that she's timid and unwilling to make tough decisions. Her absence during the recent vote on raising county salaries (including her own) is cited as an example of trying to dodge politically tricky issues.

As the sun went down, the party wound down, and the conversations continued as Joe played hide-and-seek with some of the other boys.

I can't close without mentioning that on the way to and from the ranch, we passed the old Max Meyer spread -- the ruins of his native stone tourist cabins are still visible, on 66 just west of the 33 junction, just east of the Creek County Fairgrounds. (If you haven't read Lewis Meyer's book about his amazing father, you have missed a treat.)

The state Attorney General's office is holding seminars around the state this fall to help citizens and public officials understand the Open Meetings and Open Records act. These two acts are important tools in ensuring public access to the decision-making process. They have sometimes been misunderstood and abused -- for example, twisted to stifle public comment at public hearings, on the grounds that a citizen has brought up a topic not on the agenda. So it's important for ordinary citizens concerned about the way government is being run to educate themselves on their rights and the government's responsibilities.

Unfortunately, all the seminars appear to be outside the metropolitan areas and during working hours. Here's the schedule of remaining events:

Oct. 27 Ardmore Southern Oklahoma Technology Center
Oct. 29 Lawton Great Plains Technology Center
Nov. 12 Alva Northwest Technology Center
Nov. 14 Weatherford Weatherford Pioneer Center
Nov. 19 Claremore Rogers State University
Nov. 24 Ponca City Pioneer Technology Center
Nov. 25 Stillwater Meridian Technology Center
Dec. 8 Seminole Seminole State College
Dec. 9 McAlester Eastern Oklahoma State College

All seminars begin at 1 p.m. They are free, open to the public, and no reservations are required.

One of the interesting items on the City Council agenda this week is consideration of proposed changes to the City of Tulsa's charter -- our City's constitution, which defines the structure of City government. Tulsa's charter was completely rewritten in 1989 and took effect in 1990, replacing a system of five elected commissioners acting as both executives and legislators with a "strong mayor, weak council" form of government, which vested all executive authority in the Mayor, and creating a relatively powerless City Council designed to provide representation for all parts of the city. The charter has rarely been amended. I've proposed a few changes in the past, mostly advocating for election reforms: non-partisan elections (a first round election, followed by a runoff if no one gets a majority), adoption of "instant runoff voting" when voting machine technology makes it practical.

The charter specifies that amendments will be put before the voters at the biennial general election. The Council sets the timetable for considering amendments, receiving suggestions from the public and from Councilors the summer before the election, then selecting some for which a draft amendment will be prepared by the City Attorney's office, and finally settling on which amendments will be put before the voters. Few amendments have made it all the way to the ballot, and of those that have, I think all of them have passed.

The proposals are scheduled to be discussed at this Tuesday's Council committee meetings (2nd floor of City Hall, 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.), and a public hearing will be held on November 6.

This year there were proposals to increase the Council's term from 2 years to 4, to make the City Auditor an appointed official, and to move city elections from the spring of even-numbered years to the fall of odd-numbered years. I haven't seen all the details yet, but I like the election date proposal and am skeptical of the others.

There are two good reasons to support moving the election date. The current election sequence culminates with the swearing-in on the second Tuesday in April. Within two months of taking office the Council must consider and approve a city budget for the coming fiscal year. New councilors have complained that there isn't enough time to get up to speed on such a complex document. The current schedule has new councilors taking their seats in the midst of the budget process, dealing with a budget largely shaped by their predecessors. Moving the elections back to the previous November -- swearing in could be that same month, December, or January 1 -- would give incoming councilors plenty of time to find their feet before budget crunch time.

It's been suggested that moving the start of the fiscal year to January would alleviate the problem and eliminate the need to move the election dates. But there's another great reason to move the election dates to the fall of odd years: It's better for grass-roots campaigning, putting the candidates in touch with the voters.

Door-to-door campaigning is important for a number of reasons. Candidates learn a lot about what matters to their constituents, often changing their preconceived set of priorities, and making them more effective representatives. Voters get a chance to talk to the candidates face-to-face, get their questions answered, and form an impression of a candidate unfiltered by the media or by the candidate's own publicity machine. And door-to-door campaigning is an equalizer -- you can knock doors even if you don't have the money for lots of direct mail or newspaper ads.

Currently the primary is the first Tuesday in February, leaving only four weeks to campaign for that hurdle -- no one will be paying attention before Christmas and New Year's Day. And that campaigning must be done during the darkest and coldest part of the year, with very little prime time for door-to-door campaigning between when people get home from work and when the son goes down. Although I've been blessed with unseasonably warm weather for most of my two campaigns, I did take a nasty spill on an icy driveway toward the end of the 2002 race.

A fall campaign enjoys warmer weather and plenty of sunlight, as most of it will be conducted during Daylight Savings Time, and during the late summer and the warmer part of autumn. Candidates will be able to start campaigning as early as they need to to allow them to meet as many prospective constituents as possible.

On appointing an auditor: By default, I'm skeptical of any proposal to make an elected official no longer elected. When Tulsa's charter was proposed, Bob Dick, who campaigned for the new charter, described the Auditor under the new form of government as the "anti-mayor", someone with enough power and scope to act as a check on the Mayor's power. It hasn't worked out that way, perhaps because of the man who has held the office since before the charter changed. Phil Wood is a dedicated public servant and committed to the ethics and principles of the auditing profession, but tempermentally he will never be an "anti-mayor". The proposed change would create a nine-member board, one member appointed by each councilor, to appoint the auditor. Advocates of this change believe it will make the auditor more responsive to the City Council and provide more of a counterweight to the Mayor.

I don't like the idea of longer terms for councilors either. I think running for election every two years helps keep councilors from becoming alienated from their voters -- at least it should, assuming the councilor has a strong challenger and has to work hard for re-election. I would also oppose staggered terms -- I think it's healthy to have a way to throw all the bums out at once. I hear that supporters of the idea believe that it would give councilors who wish to challenge the status quo more time to pursue reforms before the establishment comes after them in the next election. Again, I'm skeptical.

I'll add a link to the proposals once their available online.

If you're curious, Savannah has its municipal elections in the November of the year before the presidential election. The City Council consists of a Mayor, elected at large, two at-large councilors, and six councilors elected by district. Day-to-day, the city is run by the City Manager. All the councilors are up for election every four years. Elections are non-partisan -- everyone is on the initial ballot, and if no candidate gets more than 50%, a runoff between the top two contestants three weeks later. The election was in full swing during my visit, and the Mayor's race is a wide-open, six-candidate contest. The incumbent was term-limited out. Here's a link to the election coverage of the Savannah Morning News, and a link to Savannah city government's home page. The paper had nice things to say about all six mayoral candidates, but they favor Dicky Mopper, owner of a real estate company.

A cool site -- if you've ever wondered where a particular Tulsa city park is, or where the nearest park is, the city has a clickable map on its website and a clickable lists of parks. Clicking on the park will bring up an aerial photo with the park outlined in color. Clicking on "Upper Haikey Creek" will reveal that said park is an undeveloped 40 acre tract between 71st & 81st east of Mingo and currently inaccessible by road. Hours of entertainment for map lovers and park lovers alike, and handy to find a park by name.

No time to elaborate -- hope to get time this weekend to provide you with a full report -- but the Curtis Killman's story (continued here) in the Whirled did a good job of capturing the essence of the meeting. The quotes from the former Mayor of Edmond are interesting:

Authority member Bob Dick said there was a "great deal of value with having a team that understands the government they are serving." But not all with experience in selling bonds believe sticking with past practices is always the best decision. Edmond city officials discovered they could save money in bond issuance costs if they considered proposals from other firms.

Former Edmond Mayor Randel Shadid, now a private attorney, said his city saved "a bunch of money" when officials decided in the early 1990s to test the market prior to issuing bonds.

Like Tulsa County, the Oklahoma City suburb for years used the same bond counsel and bond adviser. Shadid said "there are plenty of people out there that can provide those services that have the expertise. I guarantee you when you get them into a bidding war, it's a feeding frenzy."

How does that Lending Tree slogan go? "When banks compete, you win."

A browse through bondbuyer.com revealed that there are a number of other Oklahoma firms that serve as financial advisors and bond counsel on local government bond issues.

With at least half-a-billion to be financed, it would only take a tiny difference in interest rates and fees to make a huge difference to the bottom line. While I understand the desire to work with a familiar team, I'm disappointed that none of the commissioners chose to pursue competitive bidding for investment banking services.

More later.

Yesterday I posted some educratic bilge from 20 years ago:Larry Zenke, then superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, defending declining test scores by saying that knowing things wasn't really important anymore, and teachers would no longer be "disseminators of cognitive information". I closed by writing, "I suspect that Zenke's ideas are now mainstream among public education administrators, but perhaps better disguised behind a veil of Educanto."

A reader whose daughter takes French at a Tulsa high school writes and confirms my fears. [Identifying info has been redacted.] "This is what I received back from [my daughter's French teacher]. I was concerned when my daughter was complaining that they have not been studying or learning any French yet. I did figure that she was stretching it a bit but I was surprised at the answer I got back from the teacher as to why. Am I just out of the loop?"

Here is the answer he got back from the teacher:

On the first day of school, the students were given a course expectancy sheet with a copy of the syllabus on the back side. They were asked to read and sign the sheet and to have their parents/gardians read and sign it also and return it the next day. It was their first homework assignment. [Your daughter] has hers, signed, in her notebook.

The theme for the year is Discovery. The concept for the first 6 weeks is systems. Then the concepts are perspectives, celebrations, economics, exploration and adaptation.

The training I received this summer on the Tulsa Model for School Improvement stressed the importance of accessing the knowledge that students already have about the themes and concepts and then building on it. Building the background knowledge they will need for the new learning, introducing the themes and concepts is to be done in broad generalizations that they can apply to their lives now and in the future before it is "narrowed" for specific classroom use. After a summer of asking the experts what they would do/how they would do it, I decided to introduce the new learning in English to enable the students to more easily and quickly grasp the concepts that we will be using. New strategies and techniques are to be non-academic the first time the students use them to allow them to concentrate on learning the new strategies and techniques before they are used academically. To this end, I have been teaching the 7 Learning
Community Guidelines and the Life Skills, class and team building activities to teach the new strategies and structures. Teachers are also expected to teach students about the 8 Multiple Intelligences and how they learn best, the 7 Learing Community Guidelines and the 18 Life Skills which are the basis of the Tulsa Model discipline plan. This is what we have spent the first several weeks concentrating on.

What has been "French" in the classroom:

The day, date, month and classroom directions are given in French. We have reviewed classroom objects. The 7 Learning Community Guidelines and Life skills have been translated into French. The colors (used for learning preferences and communication styles) have been learned in French, also. Since we have been working with the names of the colors in French, the students have created a pattern book about the colors in French that will be read and donated to a local elementary school. This meets the community service/social action component of the Tulsa Model and satisfies the PASS objective of using the foreign language outside of the classroom in the community. The quiz on the colors was 10/3. The students saw a video on the French impressionist artist Edgar Degas when I had to have a substitute for a professional development day. The students evaluated how effectively Degas, the ballerina and Degas' housekeeper used the Life Skills and what the students would have done in the same situations.

We have been working on class and team building activities and stressing mutual respect and attentive listening since research proves that students learn best in cooperative groups. Sadly, most students do not know how to work effectively in a group and these skills must also be taught. What does this have to do with learning French? It is setting the background for the rest of the year and the rest of their lives. It is also part of the Tulsa Model for School Improvement that I am expected to teach the students in addition to teaching them French.

I am doing my best to integrate into the curriculum everything that I am expected to teach the students in addition to teaching them French and to do so in a brain-compatible manner. (This includes using music and movement activities.) The Multiple Intelligences, the Learning Styles, the 7 Learning Community Guidlines, the Life Skills, how to work effectively with others and so on fit best at the beginning of the year. I am open to suggestions on a better, more effective way to accomplish what is expected of me.

I hope this addresses your concerns.

Yow! That really is appalling. This isn't the raving of some rogue teacher, imposing her own nutty ideas on her defenseless pupils, but a teacher trying to do what her school district has trained and instructed her to do. This is the "Tulsa Model for School Improvement".

This approach to teaching is ill-suited to learning a foreign language, which is, I believe, the point of a French class. Learning French in America means learning sounds and words with which you have no personal experience. (It would be different for an English-speaking student in Quebec.) Learning a language has nothing to do with grasping big ideas and key concepts. It's about learning spelling and pronunciation and verb forms and sentence structure -- many little details that you just have to learn. J'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. Yes, a good teacher will draw on the student's experience to help explain concepts or teach vocabulary words, but much of a foreign language is by definition foreign and just has to be learned by heart. Yes, a good teacher will draw on different techniques to help students with different learning strengths, but memorization, learning by ear, and learning by sight are essential to learning a language well enough to use it.

This sort of thing is why my wife and I are willing to spend the money to send our son to a private school, where they still have the idea that school is about learning facts.

If the previous entry got you riled up, if you believe that education ought to be about the development of understanding, knowledge, and judgment, and you want our local public schools to be engaged in that enterprise, you should consider running for school board. All too often school board races draw only one candidate, or an incumbent and a weaker opponent. Occasionally they draw no candidates at all. It's a shame because, in Tulsa, a school board term is four years long, and giving an incumbent a free pass means it will be a long time before there's another chance to replace him with a reform-minded board member. For the sake of public accountability, terms ought to be shorter, and all board members should be up for election at the same time.

In Oklahoma, school board filing period this year is December 1-3, but if you're going to make a serious run, you need to make a decision soon. Let me know if I can help.

Found this in the archives of the Underground Grammarian, as a result of a Google search on "Tulsa Tribune". The column sheds some light on the state of public education in Tulsa in the late '70s and early '80s. I'm quoting at length, but you still should go and read it all -- it's brilliant, and I don't say that lightly.

Indeed, we have to begin our sixth year with a couple of the most sickening documents we have ever seen. We found them quoted, and appropriately, although not sufficiently, derided, in an editorial in The Tulsa Tribune.

What documents? The Grammarian quotes one:

Students do not read, write and do arithmetic as well as they used to because they can get along quite nicely without these skills. . . . Americans are finding that they need to rely less and less on "basic skills" to find out what they want to know and what they want to do. Our basic skills are declining precisely because we need them less. [Peter Wagschal, Futurist, University of Massachusetts]

And the Grammarian comments:

YEAH. And that�s not all! Just you take a good look at the standard American dogs and cats. They live pretty damn well, tolling not, neither spinning, and they�ve never even heard of stuff like reading, writing, and arithmetic. They "do quite nicely without those skills," and so do tropical fish and baboons. And so, too, did black slaves and Russian serfs, and all those marvelously skillful and industrious ancestors of us all who gathered nuts and roots and killed small rodents with sticks. They all knew everything they needed to know.

Why was the Tribune interested in Massachusetts futurist Peter Wagschal? Because Larry Zenke, Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, brought him to town to help explain declining test scores.

As the Whirled reported last Friday (continued here) and Saturday (continued here), Covanta, the operator of Tulsa's "trash-to-energy" incinerator (owned by CIT Group Inc.) on West 21st Street, is bankrupt and has shut down operations at the Tulsa facility. For now, Tulsa's trash will go to the landfill, which will actually save money -- about $2.5 million a year, according to Cheryl Cohenour, the head of the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy (TARE). But the City of Tulsa still owes $33.2 million on construction of the plant. The Whirled's Saturday story reported that Tulsa generates 800 tons of trash a day. About 15% of our trash ends up at the landfill, which has a 25 year capacity at the current rate of usage (with the incinerator in operation), with other inactive landfill sites that could be called into service if needed.

Why Tulsa's ratepayers were paying millions per year more to have their trash burned is a long story that goes back to the arrangements made when the plant was opened in the mid '80s. For background, I'll direct your attention to a couple of stories from Tulsa Today back in 1999, which are still available online thanks to archive.org, the Internet's "Wayback Machine". The trash-to-energy plant became an issue that year in connection with the a 7% trash rate hike. Then-Councilor Anna Falling attempted to forestall the rate hike by pushing for the introduction of curbside recycling. Her well-intentioned involvement in a pilot recycling project generated a lot of controversy and led to her re-election defeat the following year.

In that context, Tulsa Today published a summary of the controversy, which included a brief history of the trash-to-energy plant. Here's an excerpt that deals with the circumstances of the 1998 trash rate hike.

In May 1998, shortly after Falling took office, the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority (TMUA) informed the City Council that increase in sewer, stormwater, and refuse rates was required in order to pay for capital improvements mandated by federal and state governments, principally to pay for the trash-to-energy plant upgrade. The proposed 21% increase in rates would be phased in over five years. Tulsans were already paying the highest trash rates in the state and the region. Falling, who made holding the line on rates a key plank of her platform, began to investigate alternatives to the increases. Could Tulsa seek an extension or an exemption from the EPA? Would curbside recycling reduce the flow of trash to the incinerator, and thus its emissions, sufficiently to bring the plant into compliance with a less expensive upgrade?

In July 1998, Falling assembled the facts she had gathered and presented them to the Council with her recommendations. She persuaded the City Council to delay approval of the trash rate increase to allow time to consult with Oklahoma's congressional delegation and seek their help in dealing with the EPA. Ultimately, the increase was approved, but Falling continued to pursue ways to decrease the cost of the plant upgrade to the City. In her Fall 1998 newsletter, she surveyed District 4 residents for their interest in curbside recycling. Encouraged by the positive response, she began to organize a team of volunteers to conduct a privately-funded curbside recycling pilot project, which she announced at a January town hall meeting. The same month, she also convened a meeting with representatives from the EPA, the Oklahoma DEQ, TARE, the Council and the City administration. At that meeting an EPA engineer stated that reducing the amount of trash sent to the trash-to-energy plant could reduce emissions to the level required by the new standard, but such a reduction in the volume of trash would put Tulsa at risk of violating its contract with Ogden Martin.

Note the dilemma the city was in -- we could avoid the retrofit by reducing trash incineration, but that would mean violating our contract with Ogden Martin (now Covanta), which dated back to the plant's opening and would run until 2007.

The whole trash-to-energy idea seemed like a good idea at the time. Yes, it might cost more to incinerate trash than to dump it in a landfill, but the resulting energy (the plant produces steam) would be less expensive than natural gas. That was the thinking in the late '70s and early '80s. Then the price of natural gas plummeted, eliminating most of the rationale for the plant, but we were already heavily invested ($92 million in city revenue bonds). At its closing, the plant's only energy customer was the neighboring Sun refinery.

The political lesson to be learned from the trash-to-energy plant story is that political leaders and citizens should be reluctant to enter into any long-term contracts. Circumstances can change suddenly.

Posting later today and tomorrow --

Why is our City Council uninterested in how City-related Vision projects will be administered?

Status of the County trust authority and sales tax oversight committee

Tulsa's "trash to energy" plant closes -- it's been sending our money up in smoke for 20 years

... and scroll down for more.

The Kiev (Ukraine) Symphony Chorus and Orchestra will perform this Friday night at 8 p.m. at Union Performing Arts Center, as part of their 2003 US tour. These talented musicians are a symbol of the resurgence of music, culture, and faith in the old Soviet Union.

The chorus was founded in 1992 by a visiting American musician, who organized the first Ukrainian performance of Handel's Messiah in over 70 years. The following year the chorus was expanded to 100 singers and an orchestra was added. Over time, a church of 600 members and ministries to widows and orphans emerged as part of a larger organization called Music Mission Kiev.

The link above will take you to their repertoire for this concert tour, which includes works by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky. I am particularly looking forward to the selection of Slavic a capella pieces. As a member of Coventry Chorale, I had the privilege some years ago to sing selections from Rachmaninoff's Vespers, an a capella setting of ancient Orthodox chants. This music will give you goosebumps, and all the more when you know how the lyrics glorify Christ and exult in his incarnation and resurrection.

The link above will take you to the website of Christ Presbyterian Church (my home church), which is cosponsoring the concert with the TU music department and Reformed University Fellowship (a campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America). Tickets are $10, and most area Christian bookstores have them for sale.

Much talk this week about the decision by the City of Tulsa to save money by turning off lights along the expressways. The Whirled expressed its embarassment on the editorial page. Charles Hardt, director of the City's Public Works department was on KFAQ explaining that lights aren't critical to safety on limited access highways where there there are no pedestrians and few interchanges. Michael DelGiorno held a two-day "radiothon" to raise the $12,500 needed to turn the lights back on for one month.

I drove a bit of unlit I-244 last night and it wasn't bad, but it helped that there were other cars to follow, and the lines on the road and embedded reflectors were easily visible. I-44 east of the 244 junction is still lit from above, but I notice that the lane lines are dim and the reflectors are barely peeking above the asphalt. Such a road would be dangerous without overhead lighting, especially in foul weather. In my travels, I've noticed that Texas is far more diligent than Oklahoma about maintaining the reflectivity of their road markings.

I also noticed that turning off the lights along 244 meant that the lights were out on the Yale Avenue overpass, where you have sidewalks, the occasional pedestrian, and traffic intersections. That didn't make much sense.

I agree that it's pathetic that we can't find the money to keep the lights on. It looks bad for our city. It reinforces the need to investigate how we're spending tax dollars so we can spend money on what really matters. But I also believe that most of the lights along the expressways can be safely switched off, improving visibility in the process.

A few years ago I first met Patric Johnstone, a Tulsan who has been researching this issue for several years. The heart of his message: Everything you think you know about outdoor lighting is wrong. More is not necessarily better. Far from promoting safety and security, badly designed lighting can actually make matters worse, sending glare into the eyes of drivers (one reason why many older folks hate driving at night), creating deep shadows, and encouraging neighbors to keep blinds and shutters closed (making life safer for those up to no good).

Patric submitted a proposal to the Mayor's Competition for Better Government and was one of the finalists. Johnstone points out that the city's outdoor lighting is wasteful -- sending more light up into the clouds or into the eyes of drivers rather than directing it all toward the ground where it does some good. Increasingly, cities and businesses are going to full-cutoff lighting -- the light source is recessed inside a reflective fixture, providing better lighting on the ground for lower cost, because all the light goes where it's supposed to go. I notice that new businesses are installing full-cutoff lighting, not because they're required to, but because it reduces their cost. (See the Lowe's at 15th & Yale as an example. An apartment building at 13th & Elgin uses wall-mounted full-cutoff lights to provide good lighting at ground level without blinding the residents indoors or the neighbors.)

Patric has endorsed switching off most of the lights along the expressways, while leaving ramps, overpasses, and intersections lit. This is the standard practice outside metropolitan areas. From a letter he's submitted to the Tulsa Whirled:

When the Texas Department of Transportation began replacing lights on highways and signs with highly reflective microprismatic markings ("passive" illumination), their utility bills began to plunge. The doom-and-gloom predictions of decreased safety never materialized, as fewer drivers were tempted to speed beyond their headlights (as they often do with continuously-lighted highways.) Texas was also the first state in the region to require new streetlighting only be used when the task couldn�t be accomplished by more economical means.

National highway safety studies have found no real benefits to motorists
with continuous streetlighting, so this is one false sense of security
we can safely discard now that we can no longer afford it.

Here's a link to some examples of good and bad lighting. And here's a link to more.

Patric is also concerned about the fad of using "acorn" lights to lend authenticity to historic areas. Acorn lights are designed to look like gas streetlights of long ago, but the lamp is a modern sodium light with a bright pink glare. I was once driving through a small town in southwestern Oklahoma (Fletcher, I think it was), and there were acorn lamps at 20 foot intervals all along the main street, making it impossible to get a good look at the historic buildings allegedly enhanced by the lighting. There are full-cutoff lights designed with a historic appearance, and they don't cost any more than the bad lights.

Now that budgets are tight, it's a good time to realize that well-designed lighting costs no more than bad lighting to install, and is far cheaper to operate and maintain as it does a better job of providing for safety, security, and comfort.

UPDATE: Here are some more photos illustrating good and bad outdoor lighting practices. Here are some examples from New York state. And here are some more, with an explanation of how glare impedes visibility:

Since the eye has an effective ability to discern details in a scene if the range in brightness (the contrast) is about 10 to 1 or less, it is important that when driving, important details such as the roadway or parked cars not be masked by bright, glary light bulbs. If unshielded or poorly-aimed lights are in view of drivers, then the lights set the upper brightness range - things 10 times less bright like potholes, trees or pedestrians become featureless. The following are examples where such situations occur. ...

Efficient light fixture design puts all of the light where it is needed: on the road, vehicles, and pedestrians. Shielded, full cutoff and properly aimed lights are generally not part of the driver's view, so the 10:1 brightness range occurs entirely on the ground between cars, trees, pedestrians, etc.

The Illumination Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) is the principal technical body that establishes indoor and outdoor illumination requirements. The IESNA recently revised its current recommended practices for roadway lighting. Its guide ANSI/IESNA RP-8-00 now includes strong recommendations that all streetlights be fully shielded. These modern standards seek to reduce glare for drivers and pedestrians, which improves visibility and, hence, safety. The reduction of glare is far more important to visibility than the absolute illumination level. Glare reduction is especially important for older drivers.

And here's an article about one town in Idaho which is improving public and private outdoor lighting.

Dustbury has an recent item about the dispute between Seattle's two daily papers, the Times and the Post-Intelligencer. The two papers have a joint operating agreement (JOA) -- content is handled separately, but production circulation, and advertising are handled jointly. The Times wants out, but a judge ruled that the terms for exiting the agreement had not been met. The Seattle JOA is relatively young -- 20 years. The Dustbury entry has more about JOAs and links to a couple of stories and comments, and also remembers the JOA linking the Tulsa Whirled and the late, lamented Tulsa Tribune. There's another entry on Dustbury remembering the Tribune, with a tantalizing quote from a 1961 speech by publisher Jenkin Lloyd Jones entitled "Who Is Tampering with the Soul of America?" and subtitled "The Stomach-Turning Point". (Anyone have the full text?)

Here's a brief history of the Tribune-Whirled JOA. It's from memory, so please write me at blog at batesline dot com with corrections:

In the early '40s, the Tribune was in difficult financial circumstances, made more difficult by the economy of the Great Depression. To keep it from going under, the Tribune formed a JOA with the Whirled about 1943, ending head-to-head competition. The Tribune became an afternoon paper, publishing six days a week, leaving the lucrative Sunday and morning editions to the Whirled.

The JOA was to run until 1996, and as that year approached the Tribune began to position itself for independence, modernizing its appearance (including an ill-advised change to its masthead font, which was later reversed), and trying to build circulation. Anyone else remember the commercials with Debbie Campbell singing on a porch swing --

Can't wait to get my Tribune,
it's a fresh point of view.
It's everything that's Tulsa;
where to go and what to do. ...
I can read when I want to,
Anywhere that I choose.
So bring me the Tulsa Tribune!
It's my kind of news!

(If anyone has the rest of the lyrics or an actual recording, send it along and I'll post it.)

But in early 1992, the Tribune was not ready to go it alone. Perhaps the oil bust of the '80s and the national recession of the early '90s created too much drag. Sometime that spring, the Whirled publisher made it known that he was not interested in renewing the JOA when it expired. The Tribune could try to prepare to compete head-to-head, but the success was unlikely, and the paper's owners could see a lingering demise looming -- losing money and readers as the paper's talented staff moved on to longer-term job prospects. Rather than slowly bleeding to death, the Tribune shut down gracefully on September 30, 1992. In an interview with the TU student newspaper a month later Jenk Jones, Jr., said that the death of the Tribune was ultimately the decision of one man, Whirled publisher Robert Lorton. If the Whirled had been willing to renew the JOA, both papers might still be in business.

I grew up with the Tribune. Dad didn't have time to read the paper during the day, so we got the Sunday Whirled and the Tribune through the week. When I went away to college I subscribed to the Tribune by mail and was proud to leave it on the living room table next to the Boston Globe and the New York Times. When the Whirled shut down the Tribune, I swore I'd never subscribe to the Whirled again, and so far I haven't. I've since met a number of people, from across the political spectrum, who made the same decision.

The Tribune was the first Tulsa paper to have a second Op-Ed page, a second comics page, a special weekly feature section ("Innovate"), guest editorials, call-the-editor, color photos, a scoreboard page, and a modern look. The Whirled didn't bother to update its look until a month after the Tribune was dead. The Whirled did take on a few old Tribune staffers, including columnist Jay Cronley and cartoonist David Simpson, but working for the Whirled seems to have drained the humor out of them. I am looking at a compilation of Simpson's work at the Tribune in the late '70s, and many of the cartoons are still laugh-out-loud funny. Nowadays, Cronley and Simpson are rarely funny, more often just cranky.

Just a few years after the Tribune was closed, and about the time the JOA was set to expire, the World Wide Web came into being and London's Daily Telegraph began publishing an electronic version. I have often wondered whether the Tribune might have soldiered on as a web-based newspaper. They were always the first to try something new, and I think they would have beaten the Whirled onto the web and could have made a successful venture out of it.

The results of a Google search for references to the Tribune were disproportionately about the newspaper's shameful involvement in the 1921 Race Riot. That's understandable, but sad that the newspaper's better days are not remembered on the web.

Several items related to vagrancy:

Tom McCloud, the publisher of Community Spirit magazine, has spent the last four days on the streets to try to understand that way of life on the inside. He has written about his experiences on the magazine's website. Among other revelations, it turns out there's a tent city behind Newblock Park.

Tulsa Today has an interview with the head of the Day Center for the Homeless, which is eye-opening. The signals from Sandra Holden, Executive Director, are mixed. At one point she seems to be pointing to mental illness and the loss (or rejection) of family support as the cause for homelessness, at other times she suggests it's a lack of subsidized housing. Perhaps there are two different groups -- those who can't seem to find affordable housing, but want it and would use it responsibly, and those who would still be vagrants even if they were offered a permanent place to live. Instead of lumping all "homeless" into one big category, perhaps our social service agencies and church assistance programs should learn to make distinctions.

Meanwhile a former Wall Street Journal reporter writes about his migratory lifestyle in USA Today:

I could be one of many vacationers or weekend campers traveling in my clean, red, 5-year-old truck with pickup shell. But this has been my daily routine for 15 months now. On June 2, 2002, I gave up my $750-a-month apartment in Palm Springs, Calif., and put most of my belongings in storage to save money by living out of my truck. I thought it would be for the summer until the economy rebounded and I got public relations consulting and freelance writing work or a full-time job in the field. I never realized then that summer camping would go into fall and then the chill of winter, even in Southern California, then spring, then summer again.

Wylie in Norman has no sympathy for this writer: He says a free-lance writer or free-lance anything should have another trade to fall back on, given the uncertainty of income; he should be willing to leave California for a part of the country with more opportunities, and he should be willing to do jobs in fields other than PR, such as working in a retail store.

Another Okie blogger, Charles Hill of dustbury.com, has a comment too.

The saga of former WSJ staffer turned free-lancer turned sort-of-homeless person Les Gapay has gotten some play in blogdom. I didn't pay much attention to it for reasons which can literally be summed up as "been there, done that": like many others, I moved to California in the late Eighties, and things went bust rather quickly, prompting me, after a period of living out of my car, to do a reverse Tom Joad, rationalizing that if I'm gonna be broke, it's less painful, or at least less expensive, to be broke in Oklahoma.

Finally, here's something I blogged back in May on the subject, which includes a link to John 3:16 Mission's "8 Ways to Help the Homeless".

Fearful of well-financed opposition when she runs for a full term next year, County Commissioner Randi Miller voted back in July to send a billion-dollar tax increase to the voters, despite her objections to the structure of the ballot, her objections to many of the projects, and her concerns about issues of governance and oversight. By declining to vote against the logrolled ballot, she gave the vote yes forces the gift of unanimity, allowing them to claim that all elected officials supported this package.

Miller went so far as to pose smiling for a photo, standing between Commissioner Wilbert Collins and Mayor Bill LaFortune behind a giant "Vote Yes" banner. Her appearance in the photo was not mentioned in the photo caption or the accompanying news story.

In return for her compliance with the powers that be against her better judgment, Commissioner Miller has not been treated with respect by her colleagues or by the news media. She was excluded from a Tulsa Press Club event the day after the vote at which her two colleagues spoke (in apparent violation of the Open Meetings Act). At that event Commissioner Collins and Commissioner Bob Dick mentioned separate discussions with bond consultant John Piercey (Bob Dick's "dear friend") and attorney Tom Hilborne about the issuance of revenue anticipation bonds tied to the new sales taxes. Evidently Commissioner Miller is going to be left out of that loop as well.

Last Sunday, Whirled editor Ken Neal singled her out for criticism:

The opposition of these public figures is exceptionally discouraging, as well as that of a lesser light, County Commissioner Randi Miller who is still struggling to learn what a county commissioner does. ...

It makes you wonder how Inhofe, Roberts, Miller, et al, rationalize their opposition. Are they against American? New jobs? Higher education? More likely, they all are playing petty political games, their opposition based more on personality snits than rational thought.

What does a county commissioner do, Ken? She does as she's told, dadgum it! Off with the shoes and back in the kitchen, Randi!

So for all Miller's work to avoid being targeted, she's got a big red bullseye on her. She's made it known that she doesn't like many things about the way the County does business -- the lack of openness, the cozy deals, the disregard for the interests of homeowners.

If custom is followed, Miller, as commissioner for District 2, should take over in January as Chairman of the County Commission. As Chairman, she would have the power to appoint new members to the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, the Tulsa County Board of Adjustment, and the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, which runs the fairgrounds. Commissioners Dick and Collins may well decide to keep the chairmanship within their two-man majority caucus, and even if they elect Miller, they may deny her her choices to serve on county boards and commissions. This is something to watch carefully, as it will reveal whether Dick and Collins are committed to honest government or will rig the system to suit themselves and their friends.

Appointments to the public trust for the new sales taxes will be another early indication of the manner in which the County will manage their billion-dollar blank check. The trust will have among its trustees the county commissioners, the Mayor of Tulsa, and three suburban Tulsa County mayors, appointed by the Chairman of the County Commission. I have seen nothing in writing that defines the terms of the suburban mayor trustees and whether the terms will be staggered in any way. It's possible that Collins, the current Chairman, will name all three suburban mayor trustees, and with Dick's concurrence, they would control five of the seven seats on the trust, easily overruling any objections from LaFortune or Miller. The fair way to handle it -- give each commissioner one appointment, and stagger terms so that each seat will come up for reappointment when the originally appointing commissioner will be chairman.

Let's watch carefully and see if Collins and Dick will play fair, or if they will effectively disenfranchise one-third of Tulsa County's population.

As for Commissioner Randi Miller: She's got nothing to gain by complying meekly with the majority. If she's going to be outvoted 2-1, she may as well make some noise about it, rather than acquiesce in a 3-0 vote for the sake of "consensus".

A reader, Rob Abeira, calls my attention to an interesting website, The Oklahoma Capitalist, with this note:

I apologize for the spam, but I thought that since you opposed Vision 2025, which was passed on Sept 9, you might be wondering what to do next. Well, the battle may be over but the war for economic freedom in Oklahoma rages on. Even though you lost this particular fight in Tulsa, voters in Stevens County succeeded in defeating a tax hike the same day! There is hope yet! And Oklahomans will need it, as Governor Henry prepares his Oklahoma's EDGE economic development plan for announcement in November, likely to be followed by an effort to push it through the Legislature in the next session. The Governor's plan is sure to be a repeat of the Vision 2025 basic concept at the statewide level.

I invite you to visit www.oklahomacapitalist.com to keep up with developments in this situation, and resources for fighting the corporate welfare, increased taxes and redistribution of property that have come to be the hallmark of government-run "economic development" programs. Such programs
represent fascism, NOT Capitalism. Capitalism requires FREEDOM, which is the exact opposite of what people like Kirk Humphreys, Bill LaFortune and Brad
Henry want for Oklahomans! I also urge you to join the Oklahoma Capitalists email group as a resource for networking, information, and grass-roots activism at the speed of email! To subscribe, visit groups.yahoo.com/group/oklahomacapitalists.

Don't give up the fight! Let's continue to work together for economic freedom for Oklahomans!

Rob Abiera

I think Rob is probably right when he says that the Governor's plan will be about raising taxes for "economic development". I was interested to see that the Tulsa members of the governor's committee were all major supporters of Vision 2025. So at a time when we need to reduce taxes and increase economic liberty, we'll be told that higher taxes are the answer, and I suppose that many Republicans will go along with it, since they already argued that tax increases were necessary for Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Anyway, check out the site. On the home page, there's a link to a story about Moshe Tal's fight against corporate welfare for Bass Pro Shops.

One of Tulsa's most effective neighborhood leaders calls for reform of county government in yesterday's Whirled letters column:

The county commission form of government has brought more shame than pride to Oklahoma for many years. Many Tulsa County citizens believe it is time for a change to a county council form of government. Citizens throughout the county would be better and more fairly represented.

It is detrimental to permit one commissioner to wield most of or all the power in county government as it often happens in our state.

Who wields the most power in many counties? The commissioner who has been in public office too long. A second commissioner is often bargained with or bought for support and leaving the third commissioner's constituents to suffer for not participating with the power commissioner and the "good old boy gang."

When repairs are needed in any level of our government, we should promote and participate in making the repairs.

Jim Graham, Tulsa

Back in 1992, a County Home Rule act was passed which would allow only Tulsa County the right to enact a charter. In 1994, Tulsa County voters approved the development of a charter by a vote of 96,951 to 61,846.

The following year, the home rule act was struck down by the appeals court as a "special law", making an unconstitutional distinction by effectively allowing Tulsa County to pass a charter while forbidding the same right to Oklahoma County. The County Commission chose not to appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, and the charter commission folded its tents shortly thereafter. Throughout the process, the Tulsa Whirled was a major supporter of county government reform in its editorial columns.

It's a shame that we failed to reform county government before entrusting it with a billion dollars. We're putting a lot of weight on a structure that wasn't designed for anything more than building two-lane roads. As Jim's letter points out, the dynamics of such a small legislative body guarantees that one-third of the public will be cut out of the decision-making process. More about county government to come.

It's a familiar story: The newspapers nag relentlessly, the politicians and the political parties trumpet their support. Everyone is voting yes. It's all about jobs. Only kneejerk naysayers would be so selfish, so unpatriotic as to oppose this progressive measure.

No, not Tulsa. Sweden. And today the Swedish people voted overwhelmingly against joining the European Monetary Union, which would have meant discarding their own currency and control over their own monetary and economic policy and adopting the Euro. The Euro has now been rejected by voters in the two countries (Denmark and Sweden) that allowed their voters to make the decision. In both cases, well financed "vote yes" campaigns, with the support of the establishment, the major media, major political parties and big business, were defeated by grass-roots opposition campaigns which cut across ideological lines. But the pro-Euro forces in Denmark are already plotting a second attempt, and will no doubt keep trying until they wear down the populace and get it passed.

In Sweden, the opposition withstood a wave of sympathy following the death of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, who was stabbed in the chest in a Stockholm department store last Wednesday. Lindh was a leading spokesman in favor of adopting the Euro.

Before the vote, left-wing British newspaper the Grauniad had this to say about the two sides:

The yes camp has most of the money. In the seat pockets on trains, there is a free glossy magazine, designed to look like "OK!" or "Hello!". It is called "Yes!" At yes rallies, young women wearing Yes! anoraks and carrying Yes! satchels hand out free sandwiches and bottled water to voters. Business leaders stand four square behind [Prime Minister Goran] Persson. Unlike Britain, almost all the other mainstream political parties are backing the yes campaign. Unlike [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, Persson has not had a pack of viscerally anti-EU newspaper proprietors, editors and columnists snapping at his heels. There's no Daily Mail in Sweden.

There has been a problem. While the ruling business, media and political elite has been marching towards the single currency, the majority of the voters, and many of the members of the pro-euro parties, have been marching in the opposite direction. The social democrats have been split; Persson's party has a No! campaign as well as Yes! campaign, and in an act of some humiliation for the leader, the party treasury was forced to allocate funds to both sides. Five of Persson's own cabinet ministers have publicly said they are against Sweden joining the euro, although they have agreed not to take part in the no campaign.

The other parties are split as well. And what should make Britain's political establishment sit up and take notice is that opponents are not divided, and allies not united, along traditional, right-left lines. Something remarkable emerged in Sweden's euro debate, the crystallisation of a new set of political dividing lines, in which right-wing and left-wing activists find themselves in alliance against powerful, cross-border, private-public bureaucracies. On one side, the small, the local, the personal, the individual, the accessible, the familiar, the inherited; on the other, the big, the transnational, the impersonal, the mass, the remote, the alien, the acquired.

Drawing the comparison to Tulsa's recent vote: Some high-ranking politicians in Sweden's ruling party were willing to oppose their own prime minister for the sake of principle. Here in Tulsa, the only open opposition from elected officials came from one State Senator and one Glenpool City Councilor. A lot of high-ranking elected officials from our "ruling party" privately opposed the tax measure, but either out of fear of political reprisal or out of a desire not to undermine Mayor LaFortune, they remained silent.

As in Sweden, this campaign polarized Tulsa's politics in a way that brought left and right together on both sides of the issue, with the more activist-minded in both parties fighting against country-club Republicans and country-club Democrats.

What would Whirled editorial page editor Ken Neal's counterpart in Sweden have to say about all this? Thanks to the Babelfish Swedish Chef translator, we don't have to guess:

Emeed zee smesheeng veen ooff Feesiun 2025 lest veek, zeere-a vere-a sume-a deeseppuintments.

Zee fuoor meesoores iech vere-a epprufed by et leest 60 percent ooff neerly 129,000 futers. Boot ceefic leeders hed tu puny up mure-a thun $700,000 tu prumute-a zee prugrem und persooede-a futers tu epprufe-a a 1 percent increese-a in zee cuoonty seles tex.

Thet sooggests thet mooch muney oor mure-a veell be-a needed uny teeme-a zee ceety oor cuoonty needs ceefic imprufements. It tekes thet mooch tu oofercume-a ebuoot 50,000 ceetizens vhu veell fute-a egeeenst elmust unytheeng. Bork Bork Bork!

Bork bork bork, indeed. That makes more sense than it did in the original.

A reader writes:

Last evening I watched the Channel 6 news. A lot of the newscast was eaten up by coverage of the big football game between Union and Jenks. It was interesting.

A reporter noted that Union was showing off what the reporter referred to as "$2 million dollar's worth of new toys." She was, of course, talking about Union High's massive football stadium upgrades. Union schools were just voted $1.4 million in extra tax money from Vision for textbooks the district supposedly can't afford. But they can, apparently, afford plenty of very expensive "toys."

On the Jenks side of things, the reporter said Jenks will soon be seeking a $2.2 million bond issue in order to fund stadium upgrades and build a new weight facility. Vision will provide Jenks schools nearly a million dollars in extra tax money. Exactly three days after the vote, Jenks was reported to be seeking another $2.2 million dollars. As I said, the public schools' appetite for money cannot be satisfied.

On a humorous note, we can wave bye-bye to Ken Neal's argument that raising sales taxes paves the road to lower property taxes. Jenks has already shot that down---and it wasted no time in the process.

Back in the '70s at Catoosa, where my mother taught kindergarten, it was typical for the school board to fund improvements to high school sports facilities while neglecting the needs of the elementary school. Lights for the baseball field came ahead of air conditioning for the elementary school, which had to wait for years. These days, the athletic budget still gets top priority, except now the school board will point to their neglect of basic needs, blame the taxpayers, and plead for a tax increase "for the children."

Things are tough all over Oklahoma. I missed this July 29 story, but came across it today, browsing through some other Oklahoma blogs.

More than 650 employees of Seminole's two Wrangler facilities received word Monday that they will be dismissed while 250-300 workers will keep their jobs. ...

In the letter to Choate, the company indicated 663 employees will be affected by the reduction. Those positions include 507 sewing machine operators, 52 laundry positions, 23 quality assurance positions, 19 supervisors, 16 mechanics, 11 general labor positions, 10 clerical employees and various other management and administrative positions. The layoffs become effective Sept. 26.

"The distribution center will remain open, however, the laundry facility in the back of the building will close," [Seminole City Manager] Saxon said. ...

"It basically all boiled down to we had more capacity than what we needed for production," [Corporate HR VP Sam Tucker] said. "We were forced to look at the facilities with the highest costs. This, in no way, is a reflection on the people of Seminole. They have done great work for us."

The story went on to say that the jobs are probably headed to Mexico, and that even with the loss of 650 jobs, the 250 to 300 remaining will continue to make Wrangler Seminole's largest employer. Talk about overdependent on one company.

Found the story through JMBzine, which has an entry about this week's demonstration at the plant.

This morning at 8:46 am local time, Trinity Episcopal Church will host a choral concert to remember the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Coventry Chorale and singers from other Tulsa choirs will present Gabriel Faure's Requiem. Admission is free.

There are a number of interesting group blogs on the web, including National Review's "The Corner". Although the contributors are in general agreement on key issues, there are vigorous debates on a regular basis, illuminating the diversity of opinion within the broader conservative movement on the issues of the day. Some differences are philosophical, some tactical.

Rod Dreher, a former NR writer now with the Dallas Morning News, calls our attention to the DMN's new editorial board blog:

Over on our blog, the editorial board of the Dallas Morning News is duking it out on the Israeli-Palestinian question.... No matter which side you're on, it's useful for readers to see the kind of thinking, and the kind of people doing the thinking, that goes into the creation of the editorial positions of a major American daily newspaper. This kind of transparency serves the reader, who can see the ed board's biases plainly. This might sound self-serving, but I bet newspaper readers elsewhere in the country would benefit if their daily's editorial board did the same thing. Check us out and see what you think -- and please write to let me know.

I think Tulsa would be well-served if the Whirled had a similar feature, although I don't think we'd see much "duking it out", because the Whirled editorial board isn't diverse. They all march together, unnaturally in lock-step. I have yet to read a signed column where one editorial board member challenges the the opinions of another member, either directly by name or even indirectly. As individual human beings they must have disagreements, but these are never brought to light, if in fact they ever disagree. But the Whirled's policy seems in line with their disdain for dissent, and their constant assumption that anyone who disagrees with them is a bad person.

Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, writes about the joys of wireless blogging from a downtown Knoxville pub:

I LOVE WI-FI: I'm wireless-blogging from the Downtown Grill and Brewery, which is yet another in the list of wifi equipped local businesses.

I note that Shannon Okey is playing up the idea of free wireless hotzones as tools for downtown redevelopment. I think that there's a lot of room for that sort of thing. Knoxville's Market Square, downtown, has wireless access now. I'd like to see that sort of thing spread.

Of course it may be -- as Paul Boutin suggests -- that businesses will take care of this everywhere. (That's actually how it is in Knoxville -- the City hasn't done squat). And in fact, as Boutin also points out, the biggest hassle and expense in setting up a for-pay wifi hotspot is the billing setup. I think that means that wireless internet access may really be "too cheap to meter." Though perhaps that will change as wifi becomes more popular. In the meantime, be sure the hotspots have backup power, so that people can post photos to their blogs during blackouts!

Here's a related story:

Somerville [Massachusetts] is considering setting up an urban hot zone in Davis Square to provide free wi-fi to customers of participating businesses and three parks. The cost to merchants is expected to be approximately $30 per month with no charge to the city for access in the parks.

This is a great idea conceived by Wi-Fi activist Michael Oh of Tech Superpowers (who first set up the NewburyOpen.net hot zone prototype along Newbury Street) and Patrick J. McCormick, the chief information officer for the City of Somerville.

Why not in the Blue Dome and Brady and Greenwood districts -- and why not now? This could be a cheap way to get people excited about downtown and send a message that Tulsa is a city committed to technology. And it could be done by businesses alone or in partnership with government.

Are there any wi-fi hot zones or wi-fi-equipped coffee shops, bookstores, or restaurants around town? E-mail me and I'll give said businesses a free plug.

(Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity, a system for wireless computer networking.)

In Business Reform, a national online magazine that looks at business from a Christian perspective, Noah Knox takes a hard look at Tulsa's proposed Boeing bribe and the overall economic picture:

Boeing's clear ransom note? If you want our jobs, you need to pay our price. The tactic apparently is working, at least for the company. Washington taxpayers' ability to survive $3.2 billion in ransom payments, or Tulsa taxpayers ability to support $1 billion in new taxes is much less clear.

However, other companies are learning from Boeing's success. Just within Tulsa, at least three other companies have issued their own ransom notes. The $1 billion tax package also include $22 million for American Airlines to keep that troubled flyer's maintenance facility in town. Since the Boeing package was announced, rumors have also conveniently leaked out of Citgo and TV Guide that those companies may move their headquarters out of town (with the obvious but unstated postscript of "unless taxpayers cough up the ransom"). ...

However, local government leaders continue to favor the ransom demands of the big companies over the real growth needs of small businesses within their communities. In his Batesline web log, Michael Bates points out that two-thirds of net new jobs are created by small businesses, and that these small businesses create virtually all net new jobs during a recession and the early portion of recovery.

Like the other multi-million dollar ransoms being offered to Boeing, Tulsa's new tax plan includes virtually nothing to help the small business owner. But then again, new taxes rarely are the best answer for anything. Leaving the money in the hands of individuals to invest in entrepreneurial ventures is clearly a better solution.

Go read the whole article. (And Noah, thanks for reading.)

Some people don't understand why the opponents of the proposed new Tulsa County sales taxes call this a billion-dollar blank check. They don't understand why we worry about this public trust that will have full power to add, delete, and change projects and spend the excess. Let me remind you of a story that dominated local headlines in 2002.

The Tulsa County Industrial Authority (TCIA -- whose trustees are the three County Commissioners) loaned $83 million to non-profits to finance low-income housing in Tulsa. The non-profits, mostly out-of-state organizations, purchased apartment complexes (thus taking them off the tax rolls), and many of the complexes were allowed to decay. The County Commissioners didn't exercise any oversight to ensure that the complexes were being maintained or that the requirement that 40% of units serve low-income tenants was being met. In some of the complexes most of the units were uninhabitable. From a November 9, 2002, Tulsa Whirled story about one of the complexes, Falcon Ridge:

City inspectors have found numerous health hazards -- including uncapped gas lines and faulty furnaces -- at an apartment complex where six residents suffered carbon monoxide poisoning earlier this week.

An improperly vented hot water heater in one of the buildings at the Falcon Ridge apartment complex was cited as the source of a leak that caused carbon monoxide levels to be as much as 10 times what is considered dangerous.

Six residents, including a baby, were treated at local hospitals Tuesday after becoming ill....

Robert Strong, whose girlfriend was sickened by carbon monoxide, said that the apartment he was relocated to was filthy, so he is staying with his parents.

"It was dirty and filthy. The tub was leaking and the toilet was running all the time. It was gross in there," he said.

Strong said he had been paying rent on a month-to-month basis but was asked to sign a lease for his new apartment.

Stray kittens could be seen Thursday in one of the vacant units in the building where carbon monoxide was released. The city's animal control office said it would only respond if the property owner makes a complaint.

The Tulsa County Industrial Authority loaned Virginia-based Tulsa American Housing Foundation nearly $30 million to purchase and rehabilitate Falcon Ridge and several other complexes in 1999.

The foundation defaulted on its loan and has filed for bankruptcy in a Virginia court, records show.

Besides the non-profits, the TCIA loaned $41 million to John Piercey, a "dear friend" of Commissioner Bob Dick, and the financial adviser who handles selling bonds for nearly every county project. Here's a tidy little deal, recounted in a Tulsa Whirled story on April 7, 2002:

While problems surfaced with some nonprofit operators, the authority said it was pleased with the way one for-profit operator handled his properties: JC&P Limited Partnerships. Piercey said he and his family members operate the partnerships. Both Dick and Piercey say there is no conflict of interest in the fact that Piercey has been both a borrower and an adviser to the county.

"Does that mean I give up my right as an individual?" Piercey said.

Dick said he has known Piercey since both worked for the city in the '70s and '80s. Piercey is a former development director for the city. Dick is a former Tulsa Police officer.

Dick said Piercey is a "dear friend."

Piercey has a long history with the county as a paid financial adviser on various projects, including the new jail and the "4 to Fix the County" project.

"Each deal that he brought to us stands on its own merit. He was smart enough to put together the deals," Dick said.

In the early '90s, after Piercey had spent two years trying to secure financing to purchase several apartment complexes, he turned successfully to the authority in 1993.

The authority approved a loan for $15 million to purchase and rehabilitate nine properties, including property in the 61st Street and Peoria Avenue area.

Five years later, in 1998, the authority approved financing for twice that amount, $30 million, to the Tulsa American Housing Foundation to purchase the same properties from Piercey. The funds were also for "substantial rehabilitation" of the properties, records show.

Piercey says that doesn't mean he made a $15 million profit in five years.

"I never made a lot of money on those because I put money back into them. I take pride in what we own and how we run them," Piercey said.

After the initial project with the authority in 1993, Piercey received approval for funding on four more projects, many of which included the renovation of dilapidated structures. Piercey said he is proud that he never defaulted on any of his loans.

"They didn't create this especially for me," Piercey said. "I took advantage of what many developers in Tulsa County have taken advantage of -- using tax-exempt financing."

All this is probably legal, but the coziness of this deal makes me uneasy. Add to that the Commissioners' failure to check out the non-profit groups before lending them millions on Tulsa County's credit rating. Add to that the Commissioners' neglect of oversight.

If you want to learn more about this issue, search the Whirled's archives for the year 2002, and look up terms like "Tulsa County Industrial Authority", "John Piercey", "Tulsa American Housing Foundation". As much as I dislike the Whirled's editorial positions, I have to admire the digging reporters Susan Hylton and Ziva Branstetter did on this story, and the fact that the Whirled published their work.

Sand Springs has a history page on its website and nothing on it.

There's nothing here and do you know why?

We're having a Sand Springs History Contest!

Write a report on the history and heritage of Sand Springs, Oklahoma. We will select one report for inclusion in SandSprings.com and give the winner a $50 Amazon.com Gift Certificate!

No deadline is mentioned. Sand Springs has a lot of interesting history and characters to write about. Charles Page, the widows' and orphans' homes, the Sand Springs Railroad, Marques Haynes, William Pogue.

Here's a free idea; a good one, too, I think. I don't have time to pursue it -- perhaps someone else will. Contact Marques Haynes, the Basketball Hall of Famer and Harlem Globetrotter legend. He lives in Dallas, I think; he's in his 70s now. If he's willing, interview him about places he remembers from his childhood in Sand Springs -- his neighborhood, where he lived, went to school, went to church, the stores where his family traded, where he first played basketball, where he went to play with his friends. Ask him to relate memories of everyday life in his childhood -- good and bad alike. He went to segregated schools and grew up in a segregated neighborhood -- what was that like? Then work with the local historical society to determine the locations and find period photos of the places he remembers. Take pictures of those places as they are today. Then put it all together as a photo exhibit, designed to give 21st Century Sandites a sense of everyday life in Sand Springs before World War II, as seen through the eyes of a Sand Springs kid who went on to become world-famous.

The same kind of project could be done for other celebrities who grew up in Tulsa before World War II -- Paul Harvey and Tony Randall are a couple of other examples that come to mind. It's a way to help people imagine what neighborhoods used to be like, before expressways and suburbia and urban renewal.

I've been told that the Keystone Corridor redevelopment project in Proposition 4 of the sales tax vote includes demolition of Marques Haynes' old neighborhood, just across the Keystone Expressway (and across the old MK&T tracks) from downtown Sand Springs. If someone wants to pursue this idea, you'll need to hurry.

UPDATE (17 SEP 2004): Tipped off to the fact that sandsprings.com had changed hands. Evidently it was a commercial site, not affiliated with the city in any way. I've changed the link to point at the Wayback Machine's copy of the page on the date. sandsprings.com now points to a page about a high school reunion.

I learned of this change via an e-mail from Ruth Ellen Henry, the programs and public information coordinator of the Sand Springs Cultural and Historical Museum. If you want to help document the history or can provide information or artifacts about Marques Haynes' old neighborhood or any other aspect of Sand Springs History, I am sure the museum would be happy for the help. That link will take you to the museum's page on the official City of Sand Springs website.

There's more in this entry I just posted.

When Weird Al Yankovic performs tomorrow night at the River Parks Amphitheatre -- the postponement of Friday's storm-cancelled performance -- it would be appropriate to lead off with "Amish Paradise". We were among tens of thousands of Tulsans to get a generous taste of life disconnected from the grid. Amish, yes. Paradise, well....

The power went off about 5:30 Friday afternoon. I was working late, Mikki and the kids were about to leave to go over to my folks' house for a visit. Earlier in the day, they had finished baking a football-shaped cake for Joseph's birthday party the next day. When I got home, just ahead of them about 9, the power was still out, all over the neighborhood. No storm damage to the house, a tree lost a limb, but no apparent damage to the lines leading to our home. We've had our problems with power -- a sequence of squirrels who committed suicide attacks on the transformer, a lightning strike on a transformer which started a small and brief grass fire in a neighbor's yard -- but never a long outage.

The rest of the family returned soon after, and we worked on getting everyone ready for bed in the dark. We opened some windows to get air moving through the house. The temperature had dropped and there was a good breeze, so it was fairly comfortable. We had some battery-powered lanterns we could scatter around the house, so we didn't have to deal with the heat or danger of candles. Everyone slept well except me. I kept imagining that the flashes of lightning were the lights from a PSO truck come to fix things, and I kept thinking about all the food in the deep freeze.

We slept later than we should have. The other side of the street had power; we were still out. I took the kids with me to verify that Whiteside Park Recreation Center -- where we were having the party -- had power, and then to get some lunch. I could hear the AC unit humming, so all is well. The kids wanted to eat at a Sonic with a picnic table so we went to 16th & Lewis -- no power there.

The party was a great success. Although renting the center included having a staffer set up and run games, the boys just had fun with the run of the gym. Nothing organized -- just whacking tennis balls with padded T-ball bats, shooting baskets, and tossing Nerf footballs. No worries about anything getting broken, and we were out of the heat. The rec center staff were very helpful. The ice cream cups had turned kind of soupy, but otherwise everything went well. Joe was pleased with his gifts and was as gracious as you can expect a seven-year-old boy to be. He got a pair of Star Wars light sabers -- one from Grandpa and Grandma, one from a school friend. Who would have guessed in 1978 that light sabers would still be a hot toy in 2003?

A brief stop back home to drop off gifts and balloons -- still no power, and sweltering -- then out to dinner with family. Some discussion about whether some or all of us should go to my folks' to spend the night -- deciding factor was that we did all right the night before and it would be a hassle to pack things for one night away. So we got home and got ready for bed before it got too dark.

Saturday night there was no breeze and no relief from the heat. The last time I remember being that uncomfortable sleeping was 20 years ago, when I spent a summer in the Philippines. No air conditioning there, but at least we had an oscillating fan to move the air around. During a winter power outage we could turn on the gas log to heat part of the house, but we had no options last night.

I couldn't sleep and neither could Katherine, so I got ready to take her for a drive. We could hear fireworks at Driller Stadium, so we hurriedly changed her diaper and got her shoes on. I wasn't moving fast enough for her. She said, let's go see the fireworks, and she rolled off the changing table and landed three feet below on the floor. Nothing injured but pride, thankfully.

We went to the side of the house, saw the finale, which she pronounced awesome, then got in the car. A quick tour of the neighborhood revealed we were part of powerless island of only about 30 houses. We stopped at Sonic for a limeade for me and a grilled cheese for her. She only wanted a quarter of the sandwich to hold -- if she held half, she explained, she needed two hands and so she couldn't clutch her blanket. It was about 10:30, and I started to drive toward downtown, curious to see how many other neighborhoods were still without power.

She was asleep by the time I reached 11th & Elgin, but I wanted to give her time to get deep asleep, so I drove past all the night spots. Things seemed busier and livelier at 11 than they had the previous Saturday night at 10, and I did hear music as I drove by. There was a concert in the street at Main and Brady with a good-sized crowd enjoying it. I drove past the site of the proposed new arena, and drove the routes that people would take to get from that site to the Brady District or the Blue Dome District. I made some observations about arenas, downtowns, and synergy, but I'll save that for a separate post.

Back at home, and no one except Joe was able to sleep. Katherine was uncomfortable, and when she's uncomfortable she wants to cover up in her big crocheted blanket, which was only making her more uncomfortable. By midnight she was hysterical and couldn't be comforted. We began making plans to find a motel, putting together clothes and the portable crib. PSO would make no promises about when we'd see a truck. The recording said that there were about 10,000 households without power scattered around the city, and it could be Monday before everyone was back on line.

Meanwhile, the transformer on the side of the street with power started putting on an amazing fireworks show -- three or four big surges that lit up the night. Everyone called the fire department, and I called PSO, too, and managed to connect to a live human being. (Hint: Hazardous conditions get you a live human to talk to.) The fire department came and went -- the transformer finally blew completely, and there was nothing for them to do. We loaded up and left. As we headed to the hotel, I noticed a PSO truck on the next street, presumably to fix the blown transformer. I thought about stopping to plead with them to fix our power too, as long as they were in the area.

We got to the hotel about 1 am. The Quality Suites is in the relatively new cluster of hotels at 31st & Memorial. With AAA discount, it was only $62 for a very nice room, including microwave, fridge, two cable TVs, two double beds and a hide-a-bed, and high speed internet access. Should have thought of the hotel option hours earlier -- could have used the indoor pool -- but we were sure that the power would be back up by then.

In the nice cool room, with the "Love-A-Byes" CD playing, we all dropped off to sleep. Next morning we learned that the power had come back on about 2:30 a.m. I guess the PSO crew did take care of us while they were in the neighborhood.

KOTV Channel 6 had a story last night about Nordam moving aircraft repair jobs to Tulsa from Texas. (I can't find last night's story on their website, so I've linked to an earlier story.) To the credit of the KOTV reporter (and his editor), the report made a point of saying that in the midst of a vote on incentives for Boeing and American Airlines, Nordam was not receiving financial incentives or tax breaks to relocate one of their divisions here. They just thought it made good sense for their company.

Our route into downtown was the Broken Arrow Expressway, then north on US 75, to the 7th Street exit. The first stoplight you hit on 7th Street is Elgin. I know that turning there will take me to the Blue Dome district, but to the unenlightened visitor, there is no indication that this is the place to turn. Times are tight, but perhaps the city could put up a sign.

As we drove north on Elgin, an idea struck me. Elgin should be the new downtown retail corridor, the new "main street". It is already anchored by Home Depot at the south end, and as it goes north, it intersects the 7th/8th Street interchange with the inner dispersal loop, goes past parking lots and a few commercial buildings, including the old Bill White Chevy dealership, connects to the edge of the Blue Dome district, then crosses the tracks not far from either Greenwood or Brady Village.

Elgin between 7th & the Frisco tracks is part of the proposed East Village district. The Tulsa Development Authority is working with a developer to try to create a district with housing, shopping, and entertainment. The TDA owns some of the land in the district and has plans to acquire more. The TDA could designate Elgin as the preferred location for retail, while encouraging more residential and office uses to the east.

How would we make it the new main street? Encourage retailers interested in downtown clientele to build there. Set design guidelines to require urban, pedestrian friendly street frontage along Elgin -- buildings with windows, not empty lots or blank walls, where possible. Try to get someone to build something dramatic right at 7th & Elgin as a grand entrance to downtown and an anchor to this new commercial corridor.

Oh, and strongly encourage the dirty movie theater at 3rd & Elgin to vacate the area. This idea won't take off as long as that blight is present.

For what it's worth -- I have no financial or property interest here. I was just driving down the street and had a Vision.

After dinner Friday night, my wife suggested driving downtown to see what it was like. It was about 10 o' clock when we arrived, and we drove through the Blue Dome district, then across to Brady Village.

While we didn't see a lot of people out on the street, there were plenty of cars on the street and in the lots. The parking lots around the Old Lady on Brady were full -- the theatre was featuring "1964", the Beatles tribute band.

What surprised us was the lack of music around these venues. We had the windows down as we drove past, but all we could hear were crickets chirping. I had expected to hear live or recorded music spilling out into the street, grabbing the ears of passers-by the way the hickory smoke from Jamil's chimney grabs the noses of travelers on I-44.

So I have a question: Is this because of the city's noise ordinance, or for some other reason? The noise ordinance is a help for Tulsa's residential areas, but it would make sense to relax it in downtown. I think the sort of people who want to live downtown wouldn't be bothered by music from nearby clubs -- it would be part of the attraction.

I guess I had heard about this years ago, but I had blocked it out, it was so appalling.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit by eight parents against the local Head Start program (run by Community Action Project). Here's the court's summary of the case:

In this civil rights action, parents of eight pre-school children enrolled in the Head Start program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, complain that their children were subjected to intrusive physical examinations, including genital examinations and blood tests, on school premises without parental notice or consent. They claim that the Head Start agency, defendant Tulsa Community Action Project, falsely represented to medical personnel that consent forms had been obtained for each of the children and insisted on examinations even for children with up-to-date physicals supplied by their own doctors. They claim that these examinations violated their rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and under state law.

Later in the ruling is a more detailed description of what occurred. I will omit the really lurid parts.

The examinations challenged in this case were conducted in an ordinary classroom, with desks used as examination tables. The examining areas were separated only by partitions, so that it was possible for other children to see or hear portions of the examinations performed on their classmates. According to the plaintiffs, no doctor was present and the nurses were not in uniform, and the children were given no explanation regarding what was happening.... According to the plaintiffs, some of the children were upset and confused about the event, though testimony regarding their exact words was the subject of a motion in limine pending as of the grant of summary judgement. With the exception of Misti Dubbs, who was present in her capacity as a Head Start aide, no parents or guardians were with their children during the examinations. Parents were not given prior notice, and were not informed by telephone that day regarding the examinations. According to CAP, notification letters were prepared and available at the project site, but "[u]nfortunately" were "not distributed to the children to take home to their parents."

As far as I can tell, both sides agree that the exams were performed; the only dispute is about whether the exams violated the civil rights of the children.

This sort of thing has been happening in other places around the country, often in connection with Head Start.

Here's a story from World Net Daily in 1999 about the Tulsa case. And here's the press release by the Rutherford Institute, which represented the parents in this case.

What in the world was to be gained by subjecting three, four, and five-year-olds to this kind of treatment?

Another Michael Bates from Tulsa makes the news more frequently than I do. He is Michael S. Bates, director of human resources for the City of Tulsa. Although I am often up at City Hall, I am not now and never have been employed by the City. I'm sure Michael S. would prefer not to be blamed for some of my opinions. I (Michael D.) would prefer not to be blamed for some of his policies, especially as he's having to make some rather unpleasant decisions related to the budget shortfall.

Hope that clears things up. Maybe now I won't get nasty looks when I'm introduced to a city employee.

P.S. There's another Michael D. Bates in Tulsa -- same middle name even -- and according to the voter rolls he was born the same year. My apologies for any inconvenience!

TulsaNow is running a poll about the September 9 sales tax.

Also, the TulsaNow website includes discussion forums on a variety of Tulsa topics -- anyone can read, you must register to post.

Tulsa Today's City Talk Forum is another opportunity for online discussion of Dialog / Visioning. There are some pretty vigorous debates underway.

I've also noticed some discussion in a couple of Usenet groups: ok.general and ok.tulsa.general

Found a site today that captures some of the "romance of the road" that travelers are looking for when they search out the old highways. It's called "Postcards from the Road", and it's the work of Laurel Kane, who has been restoring a 1930's service station in Afton, Oklahoma. There's a wonderful essay about her love for motels and Route 66, and a collection of postcards from old Route 66 motels and landmarks, complete with the messages on the back.

Here's my favorite, on a postcard of Chain of Rocks Bridge:

Sept. 1961 --

Dears, We just came over this bridge. Coming back, we intend to bypass this dumb bypass!! It�s all torn up and took up 1 3/4 hours to go about 30 miles -- and it is about 95 degrees in the shade only we can�t find any shade. Finally found an air-cond. Holiday Inn with a soda fountain and Mobil 24.9 cents/gal. Whee! Love and Kisses, G and M

Whee, indeed!

Laurel Kane has captured the spirit that should guide whatever we do with Route 66 in Tulsa County.

Cherie Cook (resume is here) writes to alert me to a website aimed at helping to place laid-off workers so they won't have to leave Tulsa. Tulsa has a lot of unemployed engineers, managers, and other white-collar workers, because of problems at companies like WorldCom and Williams. I have many friends in this situation, unemployed or underemployed. They love Tulsa, and they would dearly love to stay here, but they can't stay unless they can find work. (Not one of them has said that they are moving because Tulsa lacks a 20,000-seat sports arena.) These people represent intellectual capital, and their departure would make it harder to attract new high tech business to Tulsa, and harder for existing high tech companies to expand.

I'm pleased to read that there is an effort to stop the brain drain. There's a website called www.tulsastoptalent.org, a project of Tulsa's federally-funded Workforce Investment Board. It includes a collection of about 100 resumes of workers in 10 categories, such as administrative, engineering, finance, and information technology. Just a browse through some resumes reveals a wealth of knowledge and experience that we can't afford to lose.

When Joel Kotkin spoke in Tulsa last May, he urged Tulsa to find ways to keep laid-off telecom workers here:

But Tulsa can emerge from the Williams Communication Group Inc. bankruptcy crisis stronger than ever by coming up with a plan.

"You should react by saying not that the end is near, but how do we overcome it," Kotkin said. "Those in the telecom industry still have knowledge and skills. Find a way to redeploy them, either in existing companies or by starting new ones."

Tulsa should refine its ability to attract and retain well-educated and highly skilled workers or lose out to other communities with that edge, he said.

"That is the real key issue for Tulsa. . . . All the traditional ideas of economic development, particularly those used here in the Midwest, have failed. I really believe human capital will be much more important in the future, and Tulsa has much to offer in that regard."

If you are hiring, have a look at www.tulsastoptalent.org before searching further.

To tie this back into the upcoming "Forfeit 4 Greater Taxes" vote: The package on the ballot September 9 is heavily focused on the "traditional ideas of economic development" described by Kotkin as "failed": $372 million in taxpayer-funded incentives to attract big companies and $183 million for a sports arena and convention center; Kotkin characterized advocates of that strategy as living in the wrong decade. Aircraft assembly jobs at Boeing, maintenance jobs at American, concession and custodial jobs at a new arena -- an increase in those kinds of jobs will not create new job opportunities for displaced high-tech workers.

Participants in this year's Tulsa course of the Royal School for Church Music will sing several Choral Evensong services around Tulsa this week. Here's the schedule:

Monday 14 July - Thursday 17 July 7:45 p.m. - University United Methodist Church 5th Street and South College Avenue

Friday 18 July
6:00 p.m. - First Presbyterian Church
7th and Boston Avenue

Sunday 20 July
4:00 p.m. - Trinity Episcopal Church
5th and Cincinnati

The course participants will also sing the morning liturgy at Trinity
Episcopal Church on Sunday 20 July at 11:15 a.m.

James Litton - Director; Jeremy Bruns - Organist

Music by Shephard, Archer, Bairstow, Sowerby, Sumsion, Smith, Bainton, Mundy and Howells

Choral evensong is a brief, traditional Anglican service that combines the reading of scripture, Psalms set to Anglican chant, and eloquent prayers that are as relevant today as when they were composed over 400 years ago. It is a world away from contemporary worship services that seem more focused on the worship leader than on God. Make it a point to attend at least one service this week.

This week, the week of the 4th Sunday after Trinity, each evening's service will include the following "collect" (prayer):

O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake our Lord.

Was looking at thetulsan.com tonight and amidst many other interesting bits of information spotted a link titled "Visioning 2025: The Ultimate Guide". This should be interesting, I thought, as I clicked on it, and found myself at... www.batesline.com.

To TheTulsan: I am deeply honored. Thank you!

Richard Florida has received a lot of press recently for his new book about the "creative class" and how a city prospers when it is a place that the creative class wants to be. There was a review of his book in the first issue of The Next American City.

In the latest issue of American Enterprise, Joel Kotkin questions some of Florida's assumptions, and observes that most of the growth today is occurring in family-friendly and business-friendly regions, like southern California's Inland Empire:

Alvarez, who bought his Ford-Lincoln agency seven years ago and added a Jaguar dealership last year, has boosted his sales from ten cars per month in the mid 1990s to 114 a month now. He credits most of his success, and that of the other 15 dealers at the Riverside Auto Center, to the remarkable demographic and business growth that has made the Riverside-San Bernardino region of Southern California into arguably the strongest regional economy in the nation. Since June 2001, this highly suburban region east of Los Angeles, known locally as the Inland Empire�with a population exceeding 3 million people�has enjoyed annual job growth of over 3 percent.

No other area of the country of comparable size has experienced anything like this rate of job creation during the current soft economy. According to Economy.com, California�s overall job numbers fell by 0.2 percent during the same period (driven largely by a rapid collapse of the over-inflated, over-hyped tech sector in the San Francisco Bay area), while the national rate dropped by a full percentage point.

The striking success of the Inland Empire�and the poor performance of places like San Francisco and other glamour economies of the late �90s such as New York City, Boston, and Seattle�sharply rebuts recent conventional media wisdom on the underpinnings of economic growth. In the late 1990s, a trendy argument launched by academics and propagated by journalists held that future economic growth depended on attracting high-technology workers and affluent yuppies. It was said that this in turn would happen only in places with lots of graduate students, artists, bohemians, homosexuals, and unmarried singles packed into a vertical city with loads of nightlife. In other words, places exactly the opposite of the sprawling, highly familial, lower-bourgeois Inland Empire....

Kotkin identifies a number of growth cities that don't fit the "Creative City" mold -- not only family-friendly, but more accommodating to business, and less wedded to high-tech.

America�s new growth spots tend to be economies centered around basic industries like construction, distribution, retail, and low-tech manufacturing. This can be seen in the relative success of such diverse economies as Portland, Maine; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and McAllen, Texas. Some tech centers�like Boise, Raleigh, Austin, and Provo�also rank as family-friendly locales, with well-above-average rates of married-with-children households.

In addition to being much more family friendly places, today�s growth regions tend to differ from fashionable but economically lagging parts of the Northeast and coastal California in another way: They have different attitudes toward business and enterprising. Places like the Inland Empire are very friendly toward founders and builders of business establishments. In these places, expansion is regarded by citizens, local government, and regional media much more as a good thing than as a source of problems. That attitude is reversed in many more culturally liberal regions�and in the national media.

Tulsa seems to fit this description to a T -- so why aren't we prospering in the same way as Provo and McAllen? Kotkin doesn't say, but I'll suggest that Oklahoma is not as friendly toward capital formation and job creation as it needs to be, and that's a change that can only be made at the State Capitol, by modifying our tax and regulatory regimes.

I think I'm going to take a weekend off from blogging and this comes up: After months of piddling around by the attorney for Bell's Amusement Park, Roy Johnsen, Bell's has finally filed an appeal in their zoning case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In October 2001, the Tulsa County Board of Adjustment voted 3-2 to approve a special exception to allow Bell's to build a new 88' tall roller coaster to the west of Zingo, much closer to a nearby and long-established neighborhood. The neighborhood appealed, and in August 2002, District Judge David Peterson rejected the zoning change, which was contrary to the Comprehensive Plan, which requires low-intensity development for that portion of the Fairgrounds.

I'll later update this entry with more detail, but for now I'll say that Peterson was right, with law and precedent to back him up. The Comprehensive Plan, which is approved by the City and County governments, prescribes what zoning changes are permissible for a given parcel of land, by means of an intensity designation. In 1984, the Fairgrounds was divided into three bands of intensities -- the westernmost section as low intensity, the easternmost as high intensity, and in between a medium intensity section. The low and medium intensity sections directly border neighborhoods, while the high intensity section abuts retail development.

The Tulsa County Board of Adjustment exceeded its authority in granting a special exception for a high intensity use in an area designated low intensity. Here's a quote from an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling relevant to this case.

The board of adjustment cannot have unconfined and unrestrained freedom of action. It is not at liberty to depart from the comprehensive plan embodied in the ordinance and it cannot, under the guise of exceptions and variances, modify, amend, repeal, or nullify the ordinance by establishing new zone lines and creating different areas for the drilling of oil and gas wells and thereby essentially change and substantially derogate the fundamental character, intent, and true purpose of the zoning law. Its power of review in granting variations and exceptions is limited to adjusting practical difficulties and unusual emergencies which may arise in a particular case when the strict enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would constitute an unnecessary hardship.

The BoA isn't free to do whatever it wants, and property owners should be grateful. Well-written zoning and planning regulations help to remove uncertainty that might prevent investment.

There don't seem to be many out there yet, but I have found a few others blogging from Oklahoma.

Okie Pundit focuses on Oklahoma state government. Here's an archive page from the end of the legislative session, covering the impact of cuts and pork-barrel "pass throughs" on state departments, and critcizing Governor Henry for destroying our state's ability to build our economy, by replacing professionals with hacks. Here's a sample:

In what seems to be a trend with the Henry Administration, old George Nigh and David Walters political functionaries are replacing career professionals. Kathryn Taylor brought in Delmas Ford, formerly Secretary of Transportation under Walters, to take the place of former Department of Commerce Executive Director Ron Bussert - a true professional. Mr. Ford, not known for business or economic development acumen, is seen as Ms. Taylor's link to the state's good ol' boy network. Ms. Taylor, one of the richest people in Oklahoma, has been busy in her first two months destroying the careers of numerous long-serving and low-wage civil servants.

The irony is that when Brad Henry came into office he promised that during these challenging times he would focus on economic development and existing business and globalization. Instead, he and Ms. Taylor are busy destroying one of the premier economic development agencies in the United States. For almost 15 years the Oklahoma Department of Commerce has been remarkably free from political cronyism. While agencies in neighboring Texas, Arkansas and Missouri have floundered under rampant cronyism and political micromanagement at their economic development agencies, Oklahoma had invested in non-political career professionals. Those days seem to be gone under Brad Henry and Kathryn Taylor. This is turning out to be one of the worst administrations in memory.

Okie Pundit may sound like a conservative Republican here, but I don't get that impression from other posts on the site. There's much more of interest -- have a look back through the archives.

Cam Edwards is a talk show host on KTOK in Oklahoma City, and his blog style is short, punchy, and frequent. The blog covers a wide range of topics. Here's an excerpt from a post I particularly liked -- rules to live by for talk-radio hosts:

1-Yelling doesn't make you smarter. I can't stand listening to people getting themselves worked up in a lather, to the point that they're yelling at me. You can be passionate without shouting.

2-Don't lie. Don't lie about your beliefs. You'll get caught, sooner or later. You have to be yourself or you'll have no credibility.

A minor quibble: He misuses the term "dittoheads" later in the post. Now that we have conservative talk shows covering the dial 24 hours a day, and myriad conservative opinion outlets on the web, it's easy to forget what it was like in 1988. Rush was a breath of fresh air to conservatives, and callers wanted to express their appreciation for his presence on the airwaves. One listener decided to skip the long litany of thanks and appreciation and just said "ditto to what that guy said". "Dittos, Rush" became shorthand for appreciative remarks, allowing the caller to get to the point more quickly. It was never meant to indicate total agreement with everything he stood for.

Speaking of Rush, does anyone else feel that Internet news and commentary has made his radio show dispensible?

More Okie blog profiles to come.

Susan Hylton of the Tulsa World called Wednesday about Tulsa Now's letter to the Dialog / Visioning 2025 leadership team. My comments made her front-page article in this morning's World. (Starts here, my quote is here.) I don't remember saying (as she summarizes my 10 minute conversation with her) that the pursuit of Boeing "pushes aside" the vision process, but I did identify it as one of three factors that could derail the vision process, and that was the reason for the letter.

She did correctly reflect one of my key concerns: Aerospace manufacturing jobs won't create high-tech jobs for the WorldCom and Williams workers who lost their jobs last year. New manufacturing jobs are not to be despised -- they would help a lot of Tulsans, and the new jobs should make life better for retailers and for people trying to sell their homes. But software engineers and electrical engineers won't get jobs at the Boeing plant because they aren't qualified for that kind of work. Perhaps these laid-off engineers will be able to get jobs at Radio Shack or Best Buy, selling computers and DVD players to newly employed mechanics. Perhaps they will get a better price on their homes when they move to Plano where their new engineering jobs are.

Woo Boeing and encourage American to stay, but let's not spend so much in that pursuit that we have nothing left to make our city more attractive to high-tech employers, nothing left to encourage local entrepreneurs to stay and grow their businesses. Is it right to lay a heavy tax burden on these engineers who have been unemployed or underemployed for months, so that we can pursue jobs that they can't have?

When Joel Kotkin came to Tulsa last May, he told us that the telecom layoffs could leave us stronger than ever, if we act boldly. Here he is quoted in a column by Janet Pearson of the Tulsa World:

Tulsa has demonstrated its adaptability by rebounding from the energy bust, Kotkin noted, but its heavy reliance on telecom creates new challenges. But Tulsa can emerge from the Williams Communication Group Inc. bankruptcy crisis stronger than ever by coming up with a plan.

"You should react by saying not that the end is near, but how do we overcome it," Kotkin said. "Those in the telecom industry still have knowledge and skills. Find a way to redeploy them, either in existing companies or by starting new ones."

Tulsa should refine its ability to attract and retain well-educated and highly skilled workers or lose out to other communities with that edge, he said.

"That is the real key issue for Tulsa. . . . All the traditional ideas of economic development, particularly those used here in the Midwest, have failed. I really believe human capital will be much more important in the future, and Tulsa has much to offer in that regard."

The whole article is worth reading, and I hope our Dialog / Visioning leadership reviews its options in light of his wise words.

As far as I am aware, Tulsa's leadership has done nothing to try to stop the brain drain, to create opportunities so that we keep these talented people here in Tulsa. While local government probably can't do much directly to help, government and business leaders could work to develop venture capital funds and to set up business incubators to help people with talent and ideas create jobs. There are people in this city with a lot of money -- the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of oil patch wildcatters -- couldn't our leaders encourage them to take some of their money out of conservative investments and use it to back a high-tech "wildcatter"?

Over at Tulsa Today, David Arnett has posted a wide-ranging analysis of the vision process. He says the risk-takers have left Tulsa.

Historically, Tulsa�s entrepreneurs have stepped forward with private money to jumpstart public facilities from bridges to airports to exhibition centers. By definition, entrepreneurs are those that assume risk of an enterprise and sadly from Tulsa many major players are gone. Those in charge of our corporations today are managers, accountants, and bureaucrats who view risk with distain. Even the Board of Directors of the Tulsa Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) is now mostly populated by people who must plead for checks to be written rather than pull out the checkbook to write one on the spot.

The Boeing pursuit is a classic case of the traditional approach to economic development -- bribe an big company to build a plant and hope they stay around. It may be a useful stop-gap. It would be a confidence builder if it came to pass, but it is no substitute for making Oklahoma a better place to start and build a business.

Too much whimsy, lately, sorry. I've been working on a lot of serious stuff off-line, so the web has become a source for comic relief. Checked out thetulsan.com for the first time in a while, which has a little blurb about the Indian Gaming / Class III Gaming bill, labeling it Wampumgate and condemning the scandal, although he doesn't explain what it's all about. In any case, the gaming bill failed to make it through before the end of the session, as you can read in this story from KFAQ.

There's also a link to thetulsan.com's ranking of Tulsa news websites, with pros and cons for each one.

Found another interesting local website, worth checking on a regular basis. Right now thetulsan.com features an article on goings on at KFAQ, a rank of Tulsa news websites. Most usefully, there are links to stories of local interest that would otherwise be difficult to find. For example, the home page has a mention of the disappearance in Iraq of aid workers with Bartlesville-based Strategic World Impact, and a link to KFAQ's transcript of the remarks of Sen. Bernest Cain, in which he compares Christians to the Taliban and Hitler. From the links and some of the comments, the site appears to lean right. Glad to have yet another source of local news and commentary on the scene.

Only four city pools will be open this summer -- haven't heard anything about the county's pools yet. We were hoping to have our kids take swimming lessons and then have a chance to practice what they learn over the rest of the summer. My wife thought to look into a membership at one of the private pools near our house. Some government agency (probably the City-County Health Department; don't know for sure) told one of these pools they needed $15,000 worth of work done before they could open for the summer. I don't want to see our children put in a dangerous situation, but it seems like this would be a good summer for government to find ways to let these private pools open, to take some of the pressure off of the few public pools.

While we cowered in our "hidey-hole" during last Friday's storm, we heard a radio station tell us that certain schools and public facilities would be open as storm shelters. I'm looking forward to hearing the whole story. Who gave the information to the stations and why did no one at the stations realize the absurdity of telling people to drive for miles in a tornadic storm to take shelter?

On the way down US 75 to Jenks for my son's T-ball game, I directed his attention up Lookout Mountain to the KTUL Channel 8 studios. "That's a TV station up there." Trying to find a way to explain the significance, I asked my wife, "Does he watch anything on Channel 8?" "We see bits of the news, sometimes."

Thirty-five years ago, the Channel 8 studios on Lookout Mountain meant something to Tulsa's six-year-olds. That's where you went to be on "Mr Zing and Tuffy" or "Uncle Zeb's Cartoon Camp". It's where you wrote to get an autographed Gusty cartoon by weatherman Don Woods. Lookout Mountain meant something to local musicians too, who appeared on John Chick's morning show, and to the many fans of Mazeppa's Uncanny Film Festival. It wasn't just that these programs were entertaining or informative, it was that you or someone you knew might be on the air. Stations like KTUL were woven tightly into local culture.

That connection is gone -- my son watches Animal Planet, PBS, Disney, and HGTV. He's probably seen more TV reporters in person, at the various political events we attend, than he has on TV.

If you want to relive a time when locally-owned TV (and radio) stations reflected and contributed to local popular culture, check out Mike Ransom's wonderful Tulsa TV Memories website.

Hard to believe? Well, it's not happening here. It's happening in Oklahoma City, where Mayor Kirk Humphreys and the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce are joining forces to defeat a 0.4% permanent county sales tax sought by Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel to fund his department. The Daily Oklahoman quotes Humphreys as saying, "It's too large in the amount of money, it's too loose in accountability and it goes on for too long."

Approval of the tax on May 13 would create an oversight committee, but the members would serve at the Sheriff's pleasure. The tax will raise $30-$35 million a year. The Sheriff could spend it on anything. Mayor Humphreys says that having that kind of money to spend with no oversight would make the Sheriff more powerful than the Governor.

Competition over and coordination of tax elections takes place all the time behind the scenes, as overlapping government entities try to keep the money flowing. An ill-timed bond issue from, say, the Vo-Tech District could make it harder for another taxing authority, such as the city, to extend a sales tax. But an elected local official is usually reluctant to oppose another local official's tax hike, because he doesn't want to create enemies for the next time he must ask the voters for more money. So it's refreshing to see Mayor Humphreys break the code of silence of the Bureaucratic Brotherhood and take a public stand against a bad idea.

Here's the Oklahoman's collection of stories on the proposed tax hike.

I want to be sure that all our Tulsa readers are aware of Coventry Chorale's upcoming performance of masses by Schubert and Schumann, Monday, May 12th, 7:30 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 5th & Cincinnati in downtown Tulsa. We performed the Schubert piece at Grace Episcopal Church in Ponca City last week, and it sounded beautiful and was well received.

The Chorale's website features a couple of Eastertide selections from our CD of works by the late Thomas Matthews, organist and choirmaster of Trinity Episcopal Church -- "The Day of Resurrection" and an organ improvisation on the hymn tune "Nassau". Stop by and have a listen.