INSIDE TODAY
Spring Break, Summer Camps
Nichols Hills, Gaillardia, Quail Creek and The Greens Community Magazine featuring the 2019 Red Tie Night and the American Heart Association Sweethearts.
For information on Camp Olympia, Cafe Fire, Thelma Gaylord Academy, Keystone School, St. Eugene and YMCA spring break and summer camps, see Page 11 & 12.
OKC FRIDAY Vol. 52 No. 43 • Two Sections • 20 Pages March 1, 2019
www.okcfriday.com facebook.com/okcfriday Serving affluent far north Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills, The Village, Quail Creek, The Greens, and Gaillardia for 45 years
P2G: Johnson special needs students to move to Ridgeview By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer Special-needs students who attend Andrew Johnson Elementary School would be shifted to Ridgeview Elementary under the final “Pathway to Greatness” (P2G) realignment plan recommended by Oklahoma City Public
Schools Supt. Sean McDaniel. District records show that almost one-fourth of the pupils enrolled at Johnson in school year 2016-17 were special education students, many with multiple disabilities. That rate was the highest among all elementary schools in the Oklahoma City district.
Cathy Cummings, vice mayor of The Village, previously expressed concern about the fate of specialneeds students who attend Johnson Elementary. The school, at 1810 Sheffield Road, is in Cummings’ Ward 4 and will be shuttered at the end of this school year. OKCPS board member Charles Henry indicated he
has reservations about McDaniel’s plan for Johnson. “I’m concerned” whether Johnson’s special needs children “will be served at the highest level at Ridgeview,” he said. Johnson’s faculty includes an occupational therapist and a speech pathologist, and the school’s doors have been widened to
accommodate wheelchairs, Henry noted. “The level of support at Ridgeview will be excellent,” McDaniel pledged. Special-needs teachers and classes at Johnson will move to Ridgeview alongside the students, he said. Johnson is one of 15 See P2G, Page 3
Airbnbs outlawed in Village, NHills By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer
Legend of Gene Rainbolt
- Photo by Rose Lane
Gene Rainbolt threw a party for his 90th birthday and brought Willie Nelson onboard to perform. Underwritten entirely by Rainbolt, the event benefited cancer research. Above: Don Prescott, Clarke Abbey, Dr. Steve Prescott, Willie Nelson and Gene Rainbolt. At left: Willie Nelson takes the stage. For more photos, see Pages 7 & B1.
Although Oklahoma City recently adopted rules governing homesharing services such as Airbnb, Nichols Hills and The Village both forbid short-term rentals. A Nichols Hills ordinance decrees that “home office use” in a residential zoning district does not allow “hotel, bed and breakfast or other similar uses serving transient guests for compensation at the dwelling unit.” “Ever since short-term
rentals (STR’s) became popular, we have had a handful in Nichols Hills,” City Councilwoman Sody Clements said. Initially the STR’s “were OK, families visiting grandparents, for example; that was no big deal,” she said. “But then we began getting complaints from neighbors – and apparently this is happening nationwide – of people renting a property, having a wild, loud party, and leaving trash all over the yard.” See AIRBNBS, Page 7
Oklahoma Senior Follies looking for performers who are over 55 Auditions for the Oklahoma Senior Follies are set for Saturday, March 30, 6:30-9:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 31, from 2-5 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall of Putnam City Christian Church, 4215 North Grove Ave., Warr Acres. Interested persons over 55 years of age should prepare an act they would like to perform in the
FRIDAY’s
Follies, which will be a Ziegfeld-type variety show format this year. Appointments may be made by leaving a voicemail with name, telephone number and time constraints (if any) with director Sheridan McMichael at 619-8912. Founded in 2011 by Bobbie Burbridge Lane, this will be the ninth year of the Follies extravaganza,
The cast of the 2018 Senior Follies performs the finale.
which features many senior stars of stage, screen and radio. The mission of the Follies is “to promote,
Dog of the Week
Phoebe Grace is the OKC Philharmonic’s Susan Webb and her husband Nate’s new puppy. “Today she grabbed FRIDAY out of a stack of papers and carried it over to the puppy rug,” Susan said. “It made us laugh at her determination.” Email Dog of the Week, Baby of the Week and Cat of the Week submissions to rose@okcfriday.com. Submissions are used in the order they are received.
Sponsored by Paulette and Leo Kingston of WePayFast.com
encourage and stimulate the social and active lives of Oklahoma seniors”. It will again part-
ner with the Alzheimer’s Association. Performances are at 7 p.m. on June 1
and at 2 p.m. on June 2 in the Kirkpatrick Auditorium at OCU, 2501 N. Blackwelder.
Four file for Village Council By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer David Bennett filed unopposed for another term as the Ward 1 representative on The Village City Council, and George Colbert filed unopposed for the Ward 2 seat. Two candidates, Adam Graham and Jane Lowther, are vying for the Ward 3 post. Bennett, 65, has served six consecutive terms on the council; he was first elected in 2007. He retired after 30 years in the Army Reserve and teaches col-
lege-level business courses. Colbert, 42, has been active in civic affairs. He served on the citizens review committee for Tax Increment Finance District 4, and on the municipal parks steering committee arising from the $10.38 million capital improvements bond issue last year. Colbert will replace C. Scott “Bubba” Symes, who is stepping down after 16 years as the Ward 2 councilman. Graham, 25, is the managing See FILINGS, Page 3