Ben Fenwick

Jeff Bezdek took the microphone at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and told the assembled crowd of mass transportation executives, riders and others interested in Oklahoma City’s transportation system that now is the time. Now is their time. MODERN TRANSIT PROJECT STEEL RAILS ELECTRIC WIND TYPES OF RAIL “You have passion,” Bezdek told the April […]

To view a .pdf of this article as it appeared in print, click here. Authorities now say the 2008 flu may have been the worst epidemic to hit humanity. Yes, more than the black death of Europe or smallpox in the New World. The World Health Organization now admits its original prediction — 7.4 million […]

A nationally recognized urban planner hired by Oklahoma City to assess its lack of walkability said two major projects are unsustainable as envisioned, unless changes are made. Jeff Speck said a massive boulevard, slated to eventually replace the Crosstown Expressway, is a colossal mistake in design that needs to be changed before it is built. […]

Oklahoma’s largest private nonprofit foundation, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, recently had assets totaling $1.2 billion, an amazing treasure chest of hope for institutions, funds and grants across the state. NO GRANTS ‘WORST IS YET TO COME’ In 2006, the foundation gave out more than $8 million to scholarships, research, medicine, the arts, schools, ministries, […]

In the coming year or so, the state of Oklahoma may say goodbye to its dear, old voting machines that have served it since the late 1980s, the Oklahoma Election Board secretary said. As of last month, secretary Paul Ziriax said Oklahoma has received up to $30 million in federal grants to change its voting […]

State Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, who spoke alongside Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, at a January John Birch Society summit in downtown Oklahoma City, gained notoriety recently for his bill to erect a monument to the Ten Commandments on the state Capitol grounds. MODUS OPERANDI NO-BID CONTRACTS Ritze spoke […]

At the “Oklahoma: The New Energy Frontier” conference last week at Midwest City’s Reed Center, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud identified himself as the “nuclear guy” of Oklahoma energy. “I’m kind of developing into being the nuclear guy. That pretty much came about by nobody else talking about it,” Cloud said. CENTERPIECE WASTE ISSUE POWER […]

A letter from the director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to a federal board asking that board to “expeditiously issue” a ruling actually caused the ruling to be delayed further, according to an attorney. SEVERAL MONTHS COMMUTER RAIL PATHWAYS The letter, dated Jan. 30 and sent by ODOT Director Gary Ridley to the […]

Narrow Broadway to two lanes, said a nationally known planning consultant tapped by Mayor Mick Cornett to assess the city’s profound lack of walkability. HEAVILY TRAVELED FREEWAY FOUR CATEGORIES CULTURAL LEVEL Jeff Speck, an author and planner who runs Speck and Associates out of Washington, D.C., regularly addresses issues of walkability and said one way […]

The law wants DNA. No fewer than 10 bills are in consideration at the Oklahoma Legislature this session requiring collection of the DNA profile of a subject, some at the point of arrest rather than conviction. EXPUNGING THE RECORDS NATIONAL DATABASE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS However, a sticking point for some legislators appears to be the issue […]