Homecoming at The Mount
In today’s edition:
The 2021 Mount St. Mary Homecoming Court: From left, Sophia Martin, sophomore attendant; Ellee Winters, senior attendant; Queen Shelby O'Steen; Ivy Tecmire, queen’s attendant; Natalie Caldwell, junior attendant; and Maddison Russell, freshmen attendant.
OKC FRIDAY Magazine featuring Fall Home and Garden, the Mountaineer and Trillium Homes. See it for details of our Christmas Cash giveaway for paid subscribers.
OKC FRIDAY Vol. 55 No. 20 • One Section • 14 pages • October 1, 2021
www.okcfriday.com facebook.com/okcfriday OKC’s only locally-owned legal newspaper with all local news Serving Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills, The Village, Quail Creek, The Greens and Gaillardia for 47 years
Three going into Hall of Honor
DEBBY HAMPTON
CHRISTIAN KEESEE
SAM PRESSTI
The 35th annual induction ceremony of the Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor welcomes three new inductees during ceremonies at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 28 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The honorees are Debby Hampton, Christian Keesee and Sam Presti. Oklahoma City University established the Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor to recognize business and community leaders who
have made significant contributions to the growth and development of Oklahoma. The Hall of Honor is housed in the Meinders School of Business at OCU. Hall of Honor inductees serve as role models for business students, providing them with inspiration and encouragement as they pursue their roles as the next generation of business and community leaders. Melissa Cory, See HALL, Page 3
Our schools among best in state, nation By Rose Lane Editor
victims and their families,” Voss said. “Over the years, we just kept coming back and the marathon officials encouraged us with incentives, including arranging a get together at the expo the evening before the marathon. “Once we reached 10
Fridayland schools fared well in rankings determined by Niche, a website that compiles data, reviews, and insights in one place to help families make school selection decisions. The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics was named the 2022 Best High School and Best STEM School in Oklahoma. Additionally, OSSM ranked No. 20 out of 19,984 high schools in the nation, placing OSSM in the top one-tenth of 1 percent of all public high schools in the United States. “OSSM is said to have the most rigorous curriculum of its kind in the nation,” said Frank Wang, PhD, president of OSSM. “Our students come from the entire state for our world class faculty and academic program, which prepares students for college, graduate schools and careers in STEM. “We are proud that through their work and companies that they found, OSSM graduates help fuel Oklahoma’s economic engine.” Harding Charter Preparatory School was named the No. 1 Charter School in Oklahoma and No. 78 in the nation. The school also ranked No. 81 in the nation out of 24,068 schools for diversity. “Overall this is truly a college preparatory high school, and college is simpler and easier than I thought thanks to Harding's teachings,” one alumni said. Harding Fine Arts was right behind HCP at No. 2 in the rankings of charter schools. HFAA was also No. 2 in Oklahoma for best high schools for the arts. “This school has an amazing community and family environment within the people that attend,” an alumni said. “The staff and students are all very nice and make everything more comfortable and easy to attend the school.”
See RUN, Page 2
See NICHE, Page 2
Some of the Ran Them All group in 2019: From left, bottom row, Becky Mannel, D. Chongo Mundende, Kathryn White and Lacy Amen; middle row, Alan Countryman, Stephen Abernathy, Allen Knehans, Penny Voss, Deanna Duplanti, Kathy Fleig, Michelle Conroy and John Hargrove; and Kevin Wudi, Alan Puls, Robert Muzny, Martin Dean, Keven Stone and Jeff Redding.
National Memorial Marathon: 38 have ‘Ran Them All’ By Rose Lane Editor At the completion of the 2020 Oklahoma City National Memorial Marathon, a group of 38 people had “Ran Them All.” A good number of those are expected to cross the finish line Sunday during the 21st
annual Run to Remember. Ran Them All runner Penny Voss said that most members of the group did not know each other prior to being a part of it nor did they set out to actually run every marathon. “We love running and the mission of the OKC Memorial Marathon – to honor the 168
OKC seeks input on sign codes Oklahoma City residents have until Sunday to express their input on the city’s sign codes. OKC’s Planning Department is updating the city’s sign codes to reduce sign blight and create user friendly regulations. The update affects signs like billboards, portable signs, electronic message displays, pole signs, signs attached to buildings, vehicle signs, flags, sandwich boards and signs placed in the right of way. Residents are invited to read and comment on the draft by logging on to okc.gov/codeupdate. Click “Review the pro-
posed new sign code” then click on the “How to Comment” tab at the top of the page for instructions on how to leave feedback. “The city’s sign codes are outdated and hard to understand,” said Assistant Planning Director Lisa Chronister. “Once adopted, our new codes will improve Oklahoma City’s aesthetics, reduce the number of dilapidated and abandoned signs, and accelerate the permitting process.” The proposed sign codes were See SIGNS, Page 2
FRIDAY’s
Dog of the Week
Blondie is an 11-year-old Pomeranian. Her humans, Barbara and Ron Perry, adopted her from the OK Humane Society three years ago. She is SO sweet, well-trained and super friendly —simply, the ideal pet! Blondie loves people of all ages and evening walks. “We adore our precious little furbaby,” the Perrys said. Send Dog, Baby and Cat of the Week nominations with complete descriptions to rose@okcfriday.com.
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