With Election Day just around the corner, candidates have amped up their campaigning efforts while politics buffs add their predictions to the fray. Below is a breakdown of the candidates for seven critical runoff races that will appear on ballots statewide Aug. 28. Bill Shapard, a nonpartisan polling expert and founder of the state’s only […]
Oklahoma City Council
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Open meetings
After weeks of sharply negative exchanges on the Oklahoma City Council concerning transparency of the body’s processes, there might be a way to lower tensions and empower the public. Oklahoma Gazette has learned that a proposed resolution has been drafted that, if passed by the council, will give the public more than 30 days to […]
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Getting seated
Former city councilman John Pettis resigned his Ward 7 position at the end of May after being charged with felony embezzlement and one count of intentional failure to file tax returns. His absence left a void on the council that has since been filled by Prospect Baptist Church minister Rev. Lee Cooper Jr. on an […]
Posted inArts & Culture
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, […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Money followed
John Pettis paid no mind to members of the press as he quickly marched out of the Oklahoma County jail and into his car on the morning of May 15. If the criminal charges against the Oklahoma City councilman are true, attention to the media is not the only thing Pettis has not paid within […]
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Transit improvements
About seven years ago, Oklahoma City Councilman David Greenwell was appointed to the Central Oklahoma Transportation & Parking Authority (COTPA) board, which provides oversight to the city’s parking and transportation system. Greenwell became the first council member to serve on the board in a number of decades, if not the very first. The councilman provided […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Agents of change
oNE OKC noon-4 p.m. May 19 Exhibit C NE 23rd Street and N. Rhode Island Avenue oneokc.net Free Exactly one year ago, several thousands of people gathered for the second annual oNE OKC: A Northeast Renaissance block party along a closed stretch of NE 23rd Street near N. Rhode Island Avenue. There, inside a large […]
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Home talks
The City of Oklahoma City is seeking to do what many other American cities have tried in recent years: regulate the home-sharing industry. It’s no easy task to write an ordinance that allows homeowners to generate extra income by renting their homes through Airbnb, HomeAway, FlipKey and others while also creating a mechanism to cut […]
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Fast track
After a decade of discussion around City Hall and among the public about building a modern streetcar system for Oklahoma City, downtown streets are showing all the signs that soon, the sleek colorful streetcars will glide through. In the downtown core and Midtown, pedestrians and drivers travel over rail tracks. In Bricktown, which will see […]
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A bicycle and pedestrian master plan makes its way through City Hall this spring
A bicycle and pedestrian master plan makes its way through City Hall this spring.