Quick-and-dirty Tulsa blog round-up

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.