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– How many Oklahoma registered voters turned out in the June 16 primary election. The Oklahoma Voice’s Courtney Bell with the details, including that only 630,000 Oklahomans cared to pick the future leaders in all the major state elected offices.
But wait, it’s about to get worse: The Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel writes that if form holds, 10-15% of Oklahoma’s registered voters — and less than 7% of its population — will likely decide the state’s next governor in the Aug. 25 Republican runoff.
My take: When I am asked how politicians with radical agendas get elected, I counter with this question: Did you vote in that election? None of them have. So I tell them that’s how it happens. I reminded about a dozen people I saw Tuesday to vote in this election. None of them had planned to do it and, as the numbers show, they likely didn’t.
Who knew Claremore has it together?
So much so that the Washington Post, in this unlocked article, reports that the city is getting homes built twice as fast and others want to copy it.
The story starts off with a 25-year home builder who applied for a city permit to build four duplexes, side by side. Within 24 hours, he had the permit in hand. He’s never experienced that before.
My take: It seems the suburbs have figured out how to speed up and get housing built. Tulsa’s mayor had this as a priority and is making strides, but maybe we can just cut and paste this Claremore policy?
Where are we at on …. autonomous vehicles
I now know three Tesla owners in Tulsa who brag they don’t drive anymore thanks to the features that allow the car, not Jesus, to take the wheel.
In case you missed it, 26 states — including Texas, Florida and California — now allow vehicles to operate without drivers, according to the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association. In this unlocked New York Times article, Waymo is dealing with some pushback in trying to expand to other states. Not helping are some issues including a cat killed by one of its vehicles. Waymo also last month suspended driverless service on freeways and paused rides in several cities over concerns about the cars’ ability to handle flooded roadways.
Oklahoma law doesn’t yet allow a fully driverless vehicle, but the on-board computers are still allowed to take the wheel, reports The Oklahoman’s Dale Denwalt. He wrote that a second trucking company has launched a freight route for autonomous semis on Oklahoma highways. This one is between OKC and Dallas.
My take: I am for whatever brings safety to the road, knowing one friend’s relative sustaining life-changing injuries after a collision on Interstate 35. Note, Walmart’s regional truck drivers can earn up to $110,000 in their first year, according to job descriptions. They have 89 openings.
Quotable quotes
“Woody’s named for a folk singer who said this land was ours. I don’t know about that, but I know it’s the land we got. I want to believe we could make it beautiful, if we could just be a little kinder to one another.”
– Lauren Hough, in her latest book “Monster of a Land,” talking about her dog named Woody Guthrie. I had the chance to interview Hough at the Woody Guthrie Center at a Magic City Books event Monday night. Woody took a nap during our chat. I pulled this quote from the book because at the end of the conversation, Hough mentioned how many empty towns she saw on her 14,001-mile trip, which is chronicled in the book. She mentioned that some say “there’s no room in America” for immigrants. She doesn’t agree. She believes a lot of these towns could be revived with the help of immigrants looking for opportunity. “These empty towns are everywhere,” she told the audience.
“It really wasn’t a miracle at all. It was the direct result of very good, strong policy followed by a plan to properly implement, and also — and perhaps most importantly — an accountability piece that was built into the statute.”
– Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves at a Oklahoma State Chamber event discussing the much talked about “Mississippi Miracle,” a law that helped the state surpass the national average in fourth-grade reading scores. The Oklahoma Voice’s Nuria Martinez-Keel reported on the event.
“You should be headquartered in a city because that is the very best place for you to do your business. That’s our responsibility as a company. And, you know … that’s not trying to be mean; that’s just the reality.”
– Williams CEO Chad Zamarin, quoted in a story by the Tulsa World’s Kevin Canfield about Williams having big plans for its downtown headquarters campus.
How about some good news
Tulsa-based artist Adam Davis landed a photo on the food magazine’s summer cover. He used tintype photography, first developed in the 1850s, in his Black Magic project. The photo was part of a story covering Oklahoma’s Black rodeo circuit.
A former Tulsa church downtown is becoming a live music venue with apartments and the new home for Wildflower Café. The Oklahoma Eagle’s Ismael Lele offers the details.
The New York Times offered this quick video about the University Village Okies in Tulsa, who are an undefeated Nintendo Wii Bowling team.
Murals and more murals (can we please get some more): Here’s the thing about murals. You hardly ever see them being tagged by graffiti, something that Tulsa has a problem with. The Tulsa Flyer’s Tim Landes highlights some of the new ones in the Pearl District.
The realities behind one popular path to homelessness
Oklahoma Watch’s Jake Ramsey in his latest series of stories on homelessness and evictions with some crazy stats: Oklahoma City’s eviction rates have doubled since 2016 and are more than double New York City’s. He notes that more than 40% of evictions filed in Oklahoma County were from the same 100 properties.
The Tulsa city budget is approved. Some highlights
- The city estimates the utility rate increases will amount to about $5.82 a month for a typical residential customer.
- The largest added expenditures were $840,000 to demolish large-scale nuisance projects, and $7.5 million for the Tulsa Zoo to help fund construction of its African Wilds exhibit. The Tulsa World’s Kevin Canfield with all the details.
A field trip to Country Bird Bakery
Since we aren’t ones to stand in line for much, forgive us for not taking in the experience of waiting for baked goods from Cat Cox, winner of Tulsa’s first James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.
The line moved quickly and we enjoyed getting some recommendations from others as we waited. We were shocked that Cat was working behind the counter, slinging her favorites. We spent $75 on everything from sour dough to breakfast sandwiches and some desserts. Everything was amazing, as the crowd said to expect. If you haven’t done it, do it. Check out Country Bird Bakery at 1644 E. Third St. Unit B. If you want to learn more about Cat, Tulsa People’s Lauren Rogers talked with the Booker T. graduate.
Thank you for your continued support with this movement toward truth and understanding in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There is no cavalry. It’s up to us.
All together now. jc
P.S. If you would like to stay married, some helpful suggestions based on 50 years of science.
Collington Index 