Next Issue: The 18th annual deadCenter Film Festival celebrates local and international filmmakers
P. 25 Now in its 18th year, the annual deadCenter Film Festival in downtown OKC celebrates world-class local and international filmmakers. Oklahoma Gazette deployed its writers to interview directors, producers and stars and review some of the movies populating this ever-growing local film event. Cover by Kimberly Walker
Purposeful partying
Making Movies and Flor de Toloache 6 p.m. June 7 Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City 900 N. Portland Ave. osuokc.edu/latinosunidos/ 405-945-9196 Free For the past several years, Making Movies’ Carnival music and education festival has been making waves in its native Kansas City, Missouri. Now the poetic and frequently political fusion Latin-rock band is sharing the…
Brunch addition
With a commitment to farm-fresh ingredients, the Ludivine dinner menu is famous for changing by the day, but the debut of its Sunday brunch menu allows diners to pick favorites around a set selection of entrees with slight seasonal tweaks. Chef Russ Johnson said the restaurant has received many requests for brunch since opening in…
Testing pattern
Editor’s note: This article is part of a series examining cannabis and cannabinoids in Oklahoma leading up to the June 26 medical marijuana referendum. In 2012, Oklahoma passed the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, which strengthened employers’ ability to administer tests for intoxicating substances against groups of employees suspected to be under…
Cover: Getting religion
Seven years ago, Tim and Christie Mannin had a conviction. God was calling them to start a church. At first, the husband and wife, who had been involved in Oklahoma City-area churches for years, fought it off. After all, there were plenty of churches in OKC. Following much prayer, they came around to the calling.…
Lovers and madmen
To quote the Bard, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park’s 34th season starts with “love’s stories written in love’s richest books” and ends in “grim-visaged war.” Season opener A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a romantic comedy, is scheduled Thursday-June 23 and season finale Richard III, a story of brutality and betrayal, is scheduled Sept. 13-28, both at…
Complex mandate
In January, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), with encouragement from the White House, announced that it would allow states to mandate work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients to receive benefits and released guidelines for how those mandates should look. Four months later, Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill that requires the…
Changing hands
Civic Center Music Hall has been linked to the City of Oklahoma City for decades, but the city’s relationship with the venue will likely soon shift from operational manager to hands-off landlord. In June, Oklahoma City Council is expected to approve handing over general venue operations from the city to the nonprofit Civic Center Foundation,…
Welcome return
Sean Cummings’ Irish Restaurant has returned to Oklahoma City, filling a nearly four-year pub void. The new location is in the former Sophabella’s at 7628 N. May Ave. and opened in early May a few blocks north from his wife’s Vito’s Ristorante, where the original Irish pub shared a wall. Sean Cummings’ Irish Pub closed…
Chicken-Fried News: Senior moment
It was supposed to be a prank, but the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office was not laughing. The sheriff’s department was called to investigate a senior prank gone wrong earlier this month at Deer Creek High School. A student told KOCO Channel 5 that the prank led to a teacher injury. So what was this prank?…
Gazedibles: Vitamin (D)ining
Even though we’re a few weeks away from the summer solstice, temperatures are beginning to heat up. Here are seven places in the metro area to grab a drink or a bite to eat under the sun. Photos Gazette / file and provided Bedlam Bar-B-Q 610 NE 50th St. bedlambarbq.com | 405-528-7427 If you only…
Full palette
¡Viva Sabor! 6-10 p.m. June 15 Exhibit C Tower Theatre 425 NW 23rd St. okchispanicchamber.org 405-616-5031 $45-$100 After a brief period of relative inactivity, Inclusion in Art reemerged earlier this year with CHROMA: Artists of Color, an art exhibition exclusively featuring local artists of color. Narciso Argüelles, executive director of the nonprofit that advocates for…
Next in line
Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Board of Education convened May 22 to approve the hiring of the district’s newest superintendent. It has become a fairly common ritual for the state’s largest school district, which has hired 13 different superintendents since 2000. But unlike the July 2016 vote for the last superintendent hired, Aurora Lora, this vote…
Chef-inspired Tex-Mex
Iguana Mexican Grill 9 NW Ninth St. iguanamexicangrill.com 405-606-7172 What works:Barbacoa made with beef cheek melts in your mouth. What needs work:Spinach and mushroom enchilada filling needs sauce. Tip: The street-style tacos allow excellent fillings to shine better than the Tex-Mex preparation. Iguana Mexican Grill has been a serving Tex-Mex in Oklahoma City since opening…
Making it
Skating Polly 10 p.m. Friday Opolis 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman opolis.org 405-673-4931 $8-$12 Getting out of Oklahoma gave Skating Polly’s Kelli Mayo a chance to appreciate it more. “When I was in elementary school, I always thought it was like the lamest place,” Mayo said. “I just hated how conservative it was. I just…
Expanding tradition
Red Earth Festival 10 a.m.-7 p.m. June 8-9, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 10 Cox Convention Center 1 Myriad Gardens redearth.org 405-427-5228 Free-$11 Walking through the crowd at the 32nd annual Red Earth Festival showcasing Native American dance and art, you might hear people speaking German. A popular series of books written by Karl May in…
Chicken-Fried News: Goon squad
This year, the worldwide journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranked the United States 45th in the world for press freedom. This puts the “land of the free and the home of the brave” just behind Romania, a country still trying to claw its way to political sanity nearly 30 years after the execution of…
Chicken-Fried News: Unhealthy bailout
We’ve seen the headlines over the last few years of the dire straits at the Oklahoma Health Department, but imagine our surprise last week when a multicounty grand jury report revealed that the state’s $30 million bailout to the department and its 198-employee layoff were unnecessary because the department had plenty of cash. The discrepancy…
Pet Gazette: Rewarding behavior
Correcting your pet’s behavior with physical force is easy, but sometimes we are telling them no without teaching them correct behavior. Dog trainer and owner of ROC Animal Training and Behavior Jessi Lane recognizes this problem. “I saw the fearful and anxious dogs in clinic settings and also saw many dogs who were hyper, lacked…
Pet Gazette: Purposeful pantry
Pets are a twofold presence in our lives — we care for them, and in turn, they give us love and affection. Through a variety of services, Pet Food Pantry of Oklahoma aims to help disadvantaged pet owners provide a high quality of life for their animals. A nonprofit founded in 2010, Pet Food Pantry…
Pet Gazette: Dietary solutions for pets
If your four-legged friend is exhibiting some unusual symptoms, there’s a chance a food sensitivity may be the culprit. Even for pets that don’t have a full-blown food allergy, food intolerance can create problems that are easily remedied with a change in diet. “The length of time a pet has been on a food does…
Pet Gazette: New feed
Natural and holistic pet food retailer Hollywood Feed recently welcomed three stores in the Oklahoma City metro: Oak Grove, 12220 N. MacArthur Blvd., Suite G; Nichols Hills Plaza, 6413 Avondale Drive; and Edmond, 1200 W. Covell Road, Suite 116. “As our neighborhood footprint expanded, Oklahoma was a natural direction for our growth — and it…
Pet Gazette: Rescue cats
Until recently, the western Oklahoma town of Hinton only had one dog rescue and a rising feral cat population. Katherine Piatt and Caitlin Sumler, co-founders of 9 Lives Rescue Oklahoma, addressed the issue through a program called TNR — trap, neuter and return. They set traps for the roaming cats, retrieve them and transport the…
Pet Gazette: Your cat’s scratch has met its match
Ever since the day the first feline became a house cat, destructive cat scratching has plagued owners. All the affection and loving care owners shower upon their cats can feel like wasted energy when the thanks they get looks more like hatred: shredded furniture, carpet and curtains. It’s a normal human response to be angry…
Pet Gazette: EarthWise wisdom
Tucked into the busy retail hubbub of Belle Isle Station is EarthWise Pet Supply, an oasis of holistic delights for the discerning pet parent. EarthWise carries food for dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, hedgehogs and ferrets. This store features products that are natural and healthy for your animal family. Steve Goss, the owner of this posh…
