The issue has created a stir among several neighborhood associations that claim property values are declining because of the 12,000-plus vacant homes and buildings located throughout the city. As a result, the council on Dec. 3 approved the creation of a registry that will require owners of all vacant homes and commercial buildings to register […]
Tim
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Moving on
Now, it’s a key element of the annual city budget debate, competing with other high-level interests such as public safety, trails and parks and better streets, and it has been included in the popular MAPS initiatives. “It’s strange because people didn’t even know we had a transit system 12 to 15 years ago. Now, we’re […]
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What’s to hide?
Joey Senat, author of Mass Communication in Oklahoma and associate professor of journalism at Oklahoma State University, said divorce filings are as much a public record as lawsuits and criminal charges.“Divorce records are not private and are included in the public court system,” he said. Senat’s comments come on the heels of a legal battle […]
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Crushed plans
The council approved a rezoning request Nov. 5 that will allow USA Metal Recycling to set up shop at 100 N. Morgan Road near Interstate 40. The approval changes the area’s rezoning from moderate industrial to a 23.5- acre planned unit development (PUD). The unanimous decision was reached despite written and verbal protests from area […]
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Fair trade
White, as the Ward 4 representative, believes extra wards will help the city’s elected officials work more efficiently with their constituents, create smaller geographical areas and bring about a higher level of ethnic and racial diversity. According to White, there are about 72,000 people in each of OKC’s wards. “I tried to make a run […]
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It still hurts
Although homes and businesses have been rebuilt since the May 20 twisters ripped through Moore, people’s lives are a different story. One of countless victims from the devastating tornadoes, Waldroop still suffers from physical and emotional scars that may never heal. Her daughter, Shannon Quick, died at her side as the EF5 twister mangled sections […]
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Banned?
White asked Municipal Counselor Ken Jordan at a city council meeting to prepare a report about the possibility of outlawing the devices, which reportedly help people quit using tobacco products. White doesn’t believe the hype that e-cigarettes will eliminate the desire to smoke. “It’s a tobacco product and another path to addiction,” he said. “The […]
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Not in my backyard
The nonprofit agency is building a $15 million, 50,000-square-foot, multipurpose facility that includes an overnight shelter, a feeding site, administrative offices, a chapel and social services offices. The new building replaces the abandoned flea market that was housed there for decades. Marilyn Blackburn, who lives north of the facility at 1101 N. Barnes Ave., complained […]
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Failing forethought
Researchers contend that crushing poverty is more significant than failing public schools or bad teachers. Two years ago, a Stanford University study documented the new “income achievement gap.” The report showed family income is the “biggest determining factor in a student’s academic achievement.” The same year, writer Joanna Barkan published a report in Dissent Magazine […]
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Shelter battle
A lawsuit filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court alleges Pruitt accepted donations from political action committees and influential businessmen connected to the State Chamber of Commerce, which formally opposes the state’s franchise tax and wants it abolished. The franchise tax would be used to repay $500 million in state bonds if the petition drive is […]