The Taylors rock!

By Annabella Potts

Student Intern

When Kyle Taylor went on an evening walk with his kids, he wasn’t planning on finding a golden idea to reconnect with the community of The Village.

After working late most days, Kyle spent time with his family by taking walks to the park or around the neighborhood. It was on his nature walks that he came up with the idea to decorate rocks with paint and leave them in public spaces for the community to enjoy. Kyle and his children started by painting a few “traveling rocks” to encourage others to participate.

See TAYLORS, Page 5

With degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Leonard serves as development vice president on the Executive Board of Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. She also serves on Friends of the Mansion—which preserves and promotes the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion— and is chairing the Fine Arts Expansion Campaign at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School.

Her involvement in the arts has included volunteering with the Meyers Theatre for Young Audiences, which exposes children to live theater and educational performances.

In addition to her arts involvement, Leonard has worked as director of development for White Fields Oklahoma and has volunteered for numerous causes throughout the community, including Sunbeam Family Services, Christ the King School, and the Oklahoma City Archdiocese.

See LEONARD, Page 3

Misuse of golf carts worrisome to NHills residents, officials

Now that warm weather is here, residents are noticing more golf carts on the streets and worry about their safety.

“Golf carts have been observed being driven by children,” said NH Mayor Sody Clements.

Reports of golf carts doing “donuts” in the parks have been received, as well as running stop signs.

“It seems that young golf cart drivers are using the carts as toys, carrying too many passengers and not obeying traffic laws,” Clements said. Oklahoma state law requires that golf carts be driven by licensed drivers or “those 13 and older who have taken the Oklahoma state safety course.”

In addition, state law requires that the number of passengers be limited to the number of seats with seatbelts.

“We have received reports of residents having to slam on their brakes to avoid golf carts sailing through an intersection,” said City Manager Shane Pate.

Adults who own golf carts should be on the alert to be sure their children know how to use them properly. Golf carts are not to be driven at night, under any circumstance, may not be driven more than 20 MPH and must

Urban Heat Mapping targets OKC

By Annabella Potts

Student Intern

With the extreme heat in our state, Oklahoma City has been chosen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to participate in the 2023 Urban Heat Island mapping campaign.

Three hundred volunteer “street scientists” are needed to to capture temperature and air quality data throughout predetermined routes, Sarah TerryCobo, associate planner of OKC’s Office of Sustainability, said. Oklahoma City qualifies as an

Urban Heat Island due to its lack of tree coverage and increase in concrete and asphalt surfaces, Terry-Cobo said. These areas give off a higher surface temperature that can be up to 20 degrees hotter than neighborhoods with grass, trees and considerably less concrete.

According to the NOAA, the deadliest weather-related events that take place nationwide involve extreme heat.

“Oklahoma City is a large city, 621 square miles, and more than 4% of our total area is just parking lots,” Terry-Cobo said.

See MAPPING, Page 5 obey all traffic laws, signs and signals. The Nichols Hills police officers stop carts being driven unsafely, issue appropriate fines and hope to help avoid a tragic accident.

The open body of a golf cart means those passengers are extremely vulnerable in the event of a roll-over or collision with an automobile.

“I urge parents to be particularly cautious when allowing children to drive or