Javier Flores considers himself an “accidental immigrant.” At age 9, his father hired someone to smuggle him and six other family members across the U.S.-Mexico border. For two years, Flores was in the country illegally until he was able to obtain resident status, and later took extra English courses in high school and college to […]
Clifton Adcock
Posted inArts & Culture
Memory Lane
Former Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said he set out wanting to write a biography, rather than an autobiography. The subject: God. “This is not meant to be a book about the fascinating subject of me,” Lane writes in the preface of his new book “Amazingly Graced.” Lane was a prosecutor in the Oklahoma […]
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Change of plans
A source of funding from the MAPS 3 project that had been promised by supporters of the project to go toward hiring 20 new police officers and 10 new firefighters is instead being used to pay for existing public safety employees because of the city’s budget shortfall. The police and fire unions clashed with supporters […]
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Alleged abuse
A former Oklahoma City Catholic priest has been accused of childhood sexual abuse in a lawsuit by one of his former parishioners. The Rev. Stephen D. Cude is named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed recently in Oklahoma County District Court. The plaintiff’s identity is not revealed in the filing. Cude did not return […]
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Year-round learning
The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 13 to change the district’s traditional calendar to a “continuous learning calendar,” which features a shorter summer break while increasing the time of fall, winter and spring breaks. The new schedule has the same number of days as the old one, and allows students […]
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Passing the gavel
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett took the gavel one last time on Dec. 16 as she chaired her final regular state Board of Education meeting. After two decades at the post, Garrett, who did not run for reelection, is retiring in January, when Superintendent-elect Janet Barresi will be sworn into office. “Certainly, it has really been […]
Posted inArts & Culture
WikiLeaker?
The helicopter circled the dead and dying lying in the street. Moments prior, the troops in the Apache helicopter had opened fire, killing several people, some possibly armed, standing in the Baghdad suburb’s street. A lone survivor began to crawl away, but when a van pulled up to load him, the helicopter opened fire again, […]
Posted inNews
Bumper cars
One of the major projects of the approved MAPS 3 program came under fire by an Oklahoma City council member who said it was at odds with other city initiatives and something city leaders would end up regretting. Around $130 million from the MAPS 3 fund is dedicated to the modern streetcar project, which will […]
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Animal house
above American Bald Eagle at the zoo The Oklahoma City Zoo will be getting some major renovations under a new master plan approved by the City Council at its Dec. 21 meeting. In addition, zoo-goers will also see ticket and membership price increases, with single-day tickets going up by $1 and annual membership prices increasing […]
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Penny for your thoughts
A recent poll of likely Oklahoma City voters shows a majority of those surveyed do not support the city owning a hotel that would adjoin the future MAPS 3 convention center. While likely voters are split about the MAPS 3 convention center’s location, it is important that the site be near Bricktown, according to the […]