Oklahoma Gazette started Citizen Spotlight more than a year ago to highlight the citizens in our community who selflessly pay it forward to those in need. As the days pass, these selfless citizens have continued their missions, often working together to make the biggest impact. As the close of the year draws near and many […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inArts & Culture
Citizen Spotlight: The Red Case Society
Sometimes the best way to give back is to start with the thing you love the most. Price Vernon hit the stage with bands like Big Okie Doom and Ugly Stick, while Steve McAnally played with Killer Gandhi and Nevermind the Embers. After the longtime friends reconnected, they found a way to combine their talents […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Citizen Spotlight: Stacey Yarbrough
When she emerged from prison in 2016, Stacey Yarbrough didn’t have much of a resume. The weight of 11 felonies heavily hindered her ability to get employment or find a place to live. She happened upon the soft opening of the downtown Sunnyside Diner where a meeting with co-owner Aly Cunningham would change her life. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Black Sky Affair: Artemis I
Son of Zeus, god of the sun, immortal. Olympian. All know Apollo. Influential still, if only in the realm of philosophical ideals and the context of ages past. His time, however, is nearly done. Artemis — Apollo’s twin, goddess of the hunt, for millennia intimately associated with our moon — stands poised to outleap her […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Reading rooms
Deer Clan Books, 3905 N. College Ave. (Bethany) Boasting a huge collection of Oklahoma and Native writers of both fiction and non-fiction, owner Claudette Robertson is a Muscogee citizen of the eponymous Deer Clan. A former high school social studies teacher and college history professor, her advanced degrees have informed the selection at this unassuming […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Living Rooms
Oklahoma Contemporary – Destination Oklahoma As America’s crossroads as well as originally being considered “Indian Territory” until 1907, Oklahoma is a unique cross-section situated inside the nation’s larger melting pot, which results in some fantastic cultural juxtapositions. Black artist Skip Hill returned from traversing the globe to call the state — specifically Tulsa — home […]
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Citizen Spotlight: Bagz of Luv
Suddenly out of work as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the United States, sous chef Augustina Aviles stopped cooking for customers and instead started feeding her homeless neighbors. “We started on Easter Sunday 2020, it was really random,” Aviles said about herself and mother Kelly Vargas. “I got laid off from my job. We were […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Beating depression to a pulp
Mental health is a worldwide crisis, but it couldn’t get closer to home. As a former death investigator for the state of Oklahoma, I can tell you I worked an average of one to four suicides on any given shift. Too often on these scenes I would read suicide notes that depicted the individual had […]
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Citizen Spotlight: Tarah Warren
When she was 29 years old, Tarah Warren got some of the worst news anyone could: she had cancer. Her fight with Stage IV Ovarian Cancer would change her life forever.“I had a very extensive fight ahead of me, including surgery and 16 months of chemo,” Warren said. “Lots of time in the hospital. A […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Citizen Spotlight: Tamara Nelson
It all started with socks. One may not consider it a luxury to slip into a nice, clean pair of socks, but to many people, that’s exactly what it is. Tamara Nelson is an economic development specialist with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. She specializes in historic preservation, with her work taking her into a […]