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INSIDE COVER Oklahoma Gazette celebrates 40 years of serving the Oklahoma City community by shining a light on injustice and supporting local arts and entertainment.

By Oklahoma Gazette staff Cover by Phillip Danner

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Retrospective Gazette

Past editors look back on Oklahoma Gazette’s 40 years and reflect on its success. By Miguel Rios Today, almost a quarter of the Oklahoma City metro reads Oklahoma Gazette for fiercely local news and entertainment.

But when it was first founded in 1979, it was a small monthly neighborhood publication only really covering historic preservation and neighborhood issues.

In 1982, Randy Splaingard became the publication’s first full-time journalist after working nearly a decade at The Oklahoman. He helped set the wheels in motion that would take Gazette from a circulation of 2,000 to roughly 55,000 at one point.

“Oklahoma City was a very different place then,” Splaingard said. “Oklahoma City was a big city that acted like a small town. It had a very conservative, rightwing newspaper that I didn’t think reflected the community as well as it could have or should have. … I started thinking that perhaps there was an opportunity for something different in Oklahoma City in terms of journalism, something that reflected the life of younger people in the city.”

The alternative

Splaingard learned about alternative weekly newspapers and nearly began one of his own. But in 1981, he encountered Oklahoma Gazette for the first time and contacted its founder Bill Bleakley to learn more about it.

“Long story short … I started at the Oklahoma Gazette April 1, 1982,” he said.

“I bought into the publication, and I became general manager. The idea was to take this paper that was a monthly

arts and entertainment rag that hardly anyone knew about — it really didn’t have a whole lot of circulation — and turn it into an alternative newsweekly.”

However, in 1982, Penn Square Bank failed, causing a domino effect that devastated the city’s economy and led to a depression.

“My first year was rough. We were trying to build something in a city that wasn’t doing well economically, but in a way, the fact that the economy was bad worked to our favor,” he said, “because The Oklahoman at the time was the only game in town. It was the only newspaper that served Oklahoma City. … This newspaper was very powerful, and it wielded its power. It was a very expensive newspaper to advertise in because basically, it was a monopoly.”

People who could no longer afford to advertise in The Oklahoman due to the bad economy began advertising with Gazette, which offered lower ad rates. The birth of the term “yuppie” (young urban professionals with well-paying jobs) also helped sell the publication to advertisers.

“All of a sudden, the whole country was interested in marketing to yuppies,” Splaingard said. “They had money to spend, and it became a very important segment of the community. … Now, instead of having to take a paragraph to explain who the Oklahoma Gazette was serving, I was able to say, ‘The Gazette was the yuppie paper.’

Everybody knew exactly what I was talking about, and advertising took off.”

With an increase in advertising came a higher page count, which led to the additions of a news section and an editorial page.

“When The Oklahoman was the only opinion in town, some people felt like their views weren’t reflected,” Splaingard said. “When we started an editorial page, we started talking about civil rights issues and we started talking about issues of integrity in government.”

Splaingard said commentary made some people feel like their opinions were finally being reflected in their community. More and more people would pick up the paper at local restaurants and coffee shops, which led to more interest from Phil Bacharach said Gazette employee’s dedication to the community helped make the publication successful. | Photo provided

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advertisers and businesses. But it also began drawing people who were interested in working for the publication.

Good talent

“We attracted such good talent.

People wanted to work at Gazette because it was a fun place, because it was a young place, because it was openminded; it’s just a great place to work,” Splaingard said. “It was very gratifying to work at the Gazette and to see the response that you got from the community.”

In 1986, Splaingard hired a young Rod Lott to deliver papers throughout northwest Oklahoma City. At that time, when Gazette was bound and put together manually, Lott also typeset and worked the binding machine.

After graduating from journalism school, Lott freelanced while doing other jobs but eventually returned from 2006 to 2013 as Gazette’s managing editor.

“Going there full-time meant a lot to me because I had seen it since, not quite its infancy because it had been a neighborhood paper, but when it really started to take hold and spread in the ’80s,” he said. “I picked it up almost every week.”

Lott credits the publication’s success to its clear purpose, keeping people informed and its willingness to tackle issues other news outlets might not be keen on.

“It’s never been afraid of that, so they will take stories that no one else will,” he said. “We’re not publishing press releases, and we were letting people know things that they can go do rather than things they could have done. …

Plus, a lot of people stick around. So those who read it in the ’80s are still loyal, still picking it up because they know what it means to be the alternative to the mainstream.”

Phil Bacharach had two stints at Oklahoma Gazette from roughly 1993 to 1999 and again from 2011 to 2013.

He served as reporter, associate editor and editor-in-chief during his time with the publication.

“One of the things I so enjoyed at the Gazette was you were able to play to your strengths and play to your interests, and I had a keen interest in politics, so I primarily covered state government and education,” he said. “And, of course, when the Murrah Bombing happened, I covered that pretty extensively.”

Bacharach said covering the bombing was one of the most memorable things from his time at Gazette. His coverage led to bomber Timothy McVeigh writing a series of letters to Bacharach.

“It was obviously the biggest story I ever would cover in my lifetime and just something I never thought, working at an alt-weekly, would be the case,”

Randy Splaingard helped turn Oklahoma Gazette into an alternative weekly during its early years. | Photo provided

Bacharach said. “It was a really memorable and transformational experience for me.”

It was very gratifying to work at the Gazette and to see the response that you got from the community.

Randy Splaingard After the bombing, Bacharach remembers the news section of the publication developing more. But ultimately, he said the quality of Gazette’s people have led to its success.

“You don’t go to the Gazette to make it rich. I mean, you go there to make a difference and to have a voice. It’s a little bit more of a calling, if you will. … You’re drawn to a place where you feel a commitment, where you feel like you can really affect change, and I think that alone has really helped the Gazette thrive over the years.”

Splaingard, Lott and Bacharach each have memories of a fun but hardworking environment in which employees had a real dedication to the community.

“I really had a great time. It was a small staff, but it was a very tight-knit staff. I loved the people I worked with, and it was a great deal of fun,” Bacharach said. “The Gazette certainly brought an important voice to Oklahoma City. It did bring a lot of different perspectives and voices. … What it is now is not what it was in the ’90s in terms of how cutting-edge it did get. I think now it’s more of an alt-weekly than we really wanted it to be back then, but the paper is a reflection of your community. And Oklahoma City is not the same place it was in 1980s or ’90s.”

Ruby headlines

For Oklahoma Gazette’s 40th anniversary, here’s a look at how its coverage has changed over the last four decades. By Jacob Threadgill Oklahoma Gazette debuted in October 1979 as a “journal of contributions to Oklahoma’s quality of life.” It was 12 pages under the guidance of publisher Bill Bleakley, editor Cynthia Emrick, managing editor Mary R. Grace and businesses manager Stephanie Emrick.

Stories appeared without a byline in the first issue, but many of them dealt with issues of business revitalization and historic preservation — including a story on and column by Hal Jordan, who had recently become director of the state’s historical society and state preservation officer.

In the first issue, there were also odes to food and drink, which would expand to become staples in the publication over the decades. There was a story on organic gardening and a column by Susan Wilson, who owned a local health food store and ended the piece with a recipe for tofu croquettes. R.D. Baron wrote a

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column devoted to enjoying fine wine.

J.K. Baron wrote a restaurant column titled “Bill of Fare a la Baron,” and the first piece is devoted to perhaps Oklahoma City’s finest restaurant at the time, The Cellar, located in the basement of the Hightower Building.

The final page of the first issue is a photo essay devoted to historic buildings around Oklahoma City with the promise to go in-depth on each of them in coming issues. “Restoration work doesn’t make the big splash that new construction does — mainly because an existing building has already claimed a share of our visual territory. These proud Oklahoma City structures; however, are raising revitalized dignities that demand attention be paid: Union Station, Colcord Building, Leonhardt Building, HarbourLongmire Building and MontgomeryWard Building.”

In the beginning, Gazette looked like a regular newspaper with stories and headlines on the first page. It finally took the layout with which we are now familiar in February 1981 with the cover page dedicated to Western fashion.

Ga zette published monthly until October 1982, when it went biweekly under the guidance of general manager Randy Splaingard and editor Jean E. Scott. In July 1982, Penn Square Bank’s failure led to a cratering of the local economy, and although the event paid dividends for Gazette because advertisers could no longer afford to run continued on page 6

The first issue of Oklahoma Gazette published in October 1979. | Photo Gazette file

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1979-2019 continued from page 5

in The Oklahoman, there was no mention of the bank’s failure between July and the October issue of Gazette.

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In October 1984, Gazette went weekly with a cover story devoted to the Cerebral Palsy of Greater Oklahoma City’s need to find a new building for housing after the city council surprisingly vetoed its request to take ownership of a home in the Zachary Taylor neighborhood. The story highlights the hardships of the disabled community before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

The Oklahoma City economy struggled through the 1980s and needed a boost in 1993 when mayor Ron Norick proposed the MAPS sales tax initiative.

A Dec. 23 story by Jonathan Nicholson ran under the headline “City’s anti-tax image challenged by passage of MAPS sales tax.”

The story details the efforts Norick and officials made to get the controversial measure passed and includes a photo of Norick standing on a platform decorated with big, fake red Christmas presents with green bows proclaiming, “Oklahoma City, welcome to the big leagues!”

Oklahoma City is still dealing with the ramifications of the bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on the morning of April 19, 1995 that killed 168 people and injured 680 others. The issue of Gazette published April 27 is titled “A Crack in Time.”

It opens with columns by associate editor Pam Fleischaker and Stephen Sloan, a political science professor at University of Oklahoma with a specialty in international terrorism. Sloan’s column urges citizens not to let terrorists win and to find a way to continue their daily lives.

“We must not give in to stereotyping and stigmatizing of our fellow citizens and visitors who have come from regions where international terrorists operate, for they too have been the victims of terrorism. We must not let our hatred or fear allow us to be held hostage to the event that started 9:02 Wednesday morning,” Sloan wrote.

Letters of support poured into the Gazette from around Oklahoma and across the country. Coverage of the blast and its aftermath six days after the event are chronicled over 12 pages by editor Mike Easterling and writers George Lang, Phil Bacharach, Madeline Tower and Nicholson. Photos by Mark Hancock depict the devastation in the city and the nationwide attention that followed.

Future mayor Mick Cornett published a column in the issue urging people to have the courage to overcome hatred.

Bacharach became one of the few writers to correspond with domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh, and their letters were later published in Esquire.

As the wounds of the bombing began to heal over the coming years, Oklahoma City fulfilled Norick’s proclamation of becoming a big-league city. What is now Chesapeake Energy Arena was funded through the original MAPS project, and improvements needed to make it home for Oklahoma City Thunder were paid through an extension of MAPS for Kids, which included a letter in support from Gazette publisher Bill Bleakley in February 2008.

In May 2013, an EF5 tornado touched down in Moore — in nearly the same area as the city’s infamous May 3, 1999 tornado — leaving a path of destruction that killed 24 people. Longtime Gazette photographer Mark Hancock was on the scene within minutes after the storm siren ended. The May 28 cover story “Moore will be more” includes team coverage from writers Tim Farley, Louis Fowler, Peter Wright and Bacharach with photos from Hancock and Shannon Cornman.

from top The issue of Oklahoma Gazette published after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building on April 27, 1995; the article after the first MAPS passed the vote in Dec. 1993; and the cover of Gazette after the largest tornado in the state’s history hit Moore in May 2013. | Photo Gazette file

T E C H N O L O GY

NEWS

Tech town Oklahoma City is home to an energetic technology culture cultivated by collaboration. By Miguel Rios

Oklahoma City is a “great ecosystem” for software developers, said Clevyr’s Matt Williamson.

“I’ve been doing this myself in Oklahoma City since 1995, so I’ve been around and seen a lot. And I would say that the culture in Oklahoma City now is just phenomenal for developers,” Williamson said. “Almost every day, you can go to a meetup, grab lunch, meet other developers and talk about a specific platform or project or style. … We do a lot of that. We really encourage our developers to go out into the public and meet other developers and meet other people like that. It’s good for us, and it’s good for the environment.”

Collaboration is huge in the technology sector. Not only are developers encouraged to work with others outside their company, Williamson said the natural workflow within the company is also built on teamwork.

“At Clevyr right now, there’s about 18 developers. For the most part, they work in a large, shared room, and it is

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just almost continual discourse about ‘how to do this,’ ‘why’d you do that,’ ‘check this out,’” he said. “There are plenty of times when it’s super quiet and all you hear is the clicking of keyboards and everyone’s got headphones on and heads down banging things out, but then out of nowhere, someone pulls off a headphone and says, ‘Anyone else seeing this?’ And then that sparks conversation, and that kind of stuff is great.”

Dev operations

After working with a financial tech company that laid off most of its developers, Williamson founded Clevyr in 2009 so nobody could lay him off again. The custom software development company does mobile and web applications, games, artificial intelligence and machine learning work for a myriad of clients.

Clevyr has grown organically in OKC partly for the same reason the city is a great software development ecosystem: it’s a big city that acts like a small town.

“We started and it was me and some partners. There were three of us for a long time. We’re up to a little over 30 now,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you have acted with integrity and you gave your client the best that you can possibly do, then you’re going to do great. That makes clients want to share you and clients want to tell other people about you. That’s the whole thing about Oklahoma people, you have to be able to trust them. … After you and I see each other, we shake hands and we talk about

Matthew Williamson founded Clevyr in 2009. | Photo provided

whatever we’re going to talk about, I’m going to run into you somewhere. I have to know that I’ve done the best job I can for you. Otherwise, I’ve got some guy out there who doesn’t want to hang out with me and work with our company.”

Williamson said his company also does a lot of work upfront with its clients to make sure the product is exactly what continued on page 8

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they need.

“We do have a great business development staff that really understands the needs of clients when it comes to this type of technology.

So we do a really great job of assessing the needs of a client before we get anywhere near writing a contract,” Williamson said. “We do a lot of work with the client to get them ready to understand what it means to be a technology owner, because when someone comes in and asks us to build an application, what they have to understand is, they are becoming a company that is based around technology in large part.”

Paul Stanley, a former sports broadcaster, came up with My Sports Vote, which launched earlier this year and allows fans to vote on different issues surrounding teams across the five main college conference sports and four professional sports – baseball, basketball, football and hockey.

Stanley said they share the results with the teams and leagues, and users can earn different ranks within the app as they vote, predict outcomes and participate in trivia. It took about a year after coming up with the idea to get the app ready to launch.

“We had to interview different app companies to see who had the best

vision,” he said. “We mainly wanted to go to somebody who had more of a vision and ideas and a passion for this particular project, and that’s how we ended up doing that. ... It has to go to somebody who has experience that seems trustworthy and has passion. Those people are out there. Just finding the right fit is the big challenge.”

Though the app is fairly new, Stanley said its now all about staying on top of their game.

The culture in Oklahoma City now is just phenomenal for developers.

Matthew Williamson “When you first come out, be prepared for bugs and testing to make sure things get worked out because you don’t know what you don’t know until you go live. We did a soft opening for about a month with different testings to make sure all the bugs were worked out,” he said. “Now we get to compete against the thousands of other app companies out there and try to make ours known. The challenge is, do we do this with a big marketing budget … or do you do a grassroots – which is what we’re doing – which is a very slow

process of people seeing value and sharing it with other people.”

My Sports Vote makes revenue on ads, which means it gets more money as it gains more users.

“You need a lot of users ‘til you start making money,” Stanley said. “My initial goal was to try to break even at a year, but we’re probably realistically at a one to two year mark to try to breakeven and start hopefully turning a profit. It’ll take some time for sure.”

Framework

Software development isn’t just Williamson’s career, but it’s also his hobby and passion. This despite the fact that he actually went to school for journalism.

“My circuitous route starts really with my dad, who was a developer in the ’70s. So I grew up hanging out in oldschool software places with giant computers with blinking green lights and a wheel that rotates,” he said. “I just always understood technology because I was always around it. I got a degree in journalism because I love to write.

Really quickly, I figured out that there was a lot more money to be made in the technology side.”

In a way, Williamson was able to merge both passions and said he became employee No. 1 at NewsOK shortly after graduating. Along with four others, they helped build the platform that powered

the NewsOK website.

Many developers have similar stories of going to school for a different degree or plan a specific career but end up getting into software development in some way.

“Right now is the best time on the planet to learn to be a developer because there are so many excellent resources,” he said. “One of my best devs is a teacher by trade. She went to Japan and while she was there teaching English, she decided to teach herself dev. She ends up coming back here, going to some code camps and she’s been writing code for me for a year or two now. … People with a good, solid understanding from a degree can excel probably more quickly, but if you’re inquisitive and you’re intelligent, writing code is just using logic.”

Right now is also a great time for software development, Williamson said, because technology’s future in Oklahoma looks bright.

“Our state has really grasped and embraced the idea that we can be as powerful as a Kansas City or an Austin or Boston,” he said. “The only thing slowing us down right now is really the income of venture capital, but we’re going to see that change too. As we get better and stronger at building these apps and letting people understand what Oklahoma can do, then we’re going to see an influx of that venture capital as well.”

This is 40.

OKC isn’t the same as it was in 1979, and neither is OKG. We work with a renewed passion to be a relevant, trustworthy, guiding force for our dynamic, progressive community, fueled by the energy of its engaged citizenry.

It’s been a great 40 years. And the best is yet to come.

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To the future!

A year after buying Oklahoma Gazette, its publisher reflects on its impact on his life and sees a bright future.

By Peter J. Brzycki

As we celebrate Oklahoma Gazette’s 40th anniversary, another milestone has recently passed that is of a more private nature.

It has been just over one year since I purchased Tierra Media Group, the parent company of Oklahoma Gazette, from founder Bill Bleakley. And in many ways the journey to this place was personal and a parallel to larger forces at work in Oklahoma City.

I never thought I’d leave Oklahoma, but I did just that in 1989.

My parents had moved here from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when I was very young, and I grew up listening to my dad trying to recruit friends and family to a place where he had been able to forge a great life for himself. Oklahoma was the Land of Opportunity, and I grew up close to my family and very proud of being from the Sooner State, so I never had the wanderlust so common among ambitious young people.

However, unless you lived here in the late ’80s and ’90s, it’s hard to describe the state of the economy and the overwhelming malaise of the entire community. The only momentum was downward. I’ll never forget a cartoon that appeared in this very publication: “What do you say about a town where the only downtown construction is for a jail?”

I was seven years out of college, I lost both my parents in quick succession and I needed a fresh start. I applied to graduate schools in California before deciding on Pepperdine University and packing up everything I owned and heading west; The Grapes of Wrath in a U-Haul truck.

But, to paraphrase an old song, I left my heart in Oklahoma.

All told, I lived in Southern California for over 25 years.

At the same time, I always believed I would someday move back to Oklahoma City, so much so that many of my West Coast friends would tease, “If you love it so much, why don’t you move back!”

I was very busy with my career but purchased OKCTalk.com when it wasn’t much of anything, mainly to stay involved here and keep up with what was going on. And surprisingly, activity really started to pick up and I started to see a real business opportunity.

For some time, I felt that I could do more to help Oklahoma City by not being directly part of it. I wrote about the craziness at Chesapeake Energy Corporation long before anyone

else and was ultimately drafted first by Reuters and then Bloomberg to assist with stories when it became obvious that company was spinning out of control.

All the while, I never had to worry about business relationships in what was and still is a very close-knit community. It’s easy to become ostracized here, and baby, it’s cold on the outside.

I also came to understand the value of an outside perspective. It’s a far different thing to live somewhere versus only visiting, and I soaked up everything I could. I gained valuable professional experience I could have never known in Oklahoma, performing management consulting jobs at many interesting companies such as Paramount Pictures, Disney and Capitol Records.

In addition to my MBA at Pepperdine, I took numerous night classes at UCLA. The teaching and learning experiences were completely different from my undergraduate time at University of Oklahoma, to say the least.

The most important motivation in my return was the desire to make a difference in Oklahoma City.

Having moved on to a senior-level management position at U.S. Trust in downtown Los Angeles, I ran OKCTalk as a passion project while working long hours at my day job.

At least once a year, I would return for a visit with a list of new things I wanted to see and do. With each passing year, that list became longer and longer, to the point that I couldn’t do it all in a week.

The prospect of moving back started to transition from a vague concept to serious consideration.

On one of those faithful trips, I finally decided it was time. There was so much going on and so much positive momentum, I knew I needed to be here and be a part of where the city was headed. I drew up a plan, and over the course of a year, I set about unwinding myself from 25 years of work, volunteerism, my social circle and my home.

Upon landing back in Oklahoma, I rented a new apartment downtown with a killer view of the skyline and did my best to readjust. Again, it’s far different to live somewhere than to visit, and with each passing year I had been away, my “home” had grown more foreign to me; the move back was jarring in many ways.

The most important motivation in my return was the desire to make a difference in Oklahoma City, and I spent more and more time on OKCTalk while I contemplated my next steps.

As a 20-something in 1980s Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Gazette was in its heyday — a beacon of art and entertainment and food and drink. Like many others, I religiously picked up each issue, consumed the entire thing and learned all that I could about what was happening in my city.

And make no mistake; Oklahoma City was a profoundly different place at that point in time. Rare was the time that events and concerts conflicted with each other. If there was something worth doing, you went or risked not having another good option for quite some time.

Gazette was on top of it all, and if there was a band at the Samurai, a new art exhibit or a restaurant opening, you read about it here.

I was thrilled to be back in town and able to pick up that paper, and as it once again became part of my life, a lightbulb went off — maybe I could buy it.

To his immense credit, Bill Bleakley had kept Gazette going even as print advertising took a strong downward turn. Newspapers were folding all over the country, and those that remained were struggling to remain relevant in a new, increasingly digital world. Yet the fine staff at NW 36th Street and Shartel Avenue were still putting out great, feature-length journalism, and I set about seeing if Mr. Bleakley might be open to passing the baton.

There is no faking passion. You either have it and it’s obvious to all or you do not, and there is no confusing the two.

Anyone who knows me also knows the incredible passion I have for Oklahoma, and through this writing and my actions, that should be obvious to even a more casual observer.

From the first time I met with Gazette staff last summer, I felt the same sort of passion and commitment, and I knew I wanted to own this publication.

Over the course of several months, I met with Bill and his wife Linda Meoli. Both had retired from legal practice and had built a beautiful modern home just outside downtown, and I could sense that they were ready to start traveling and reaping the fruits of decades of hard work.

I also knew that Oklahoma City needed a strong, progressive voice, and for all the changes in this town, there was no formal institution to lead that charge.

Bill and Linda grew increasingly comfortable with me as a steward of their fine publication, and in August of 2018, with the aid of my business partner Josh Thomas, we sealed the deal.

Print is far more complicated than most people, including me until recently, un-

Peter J. Brzycki | Photo provided

derstand. Print is forever; once the press runs, what is on the hard-copy page is pretty darn permanent, especially when contrasted against digital, where you can quickly make an edit or change or addition.

But print is also powerful. Almost anyone can put up a blog or a website or post opinions on social media, but precisely because print is difficult and expensive and increasingly rare does it have added authority and impact.

I speak for the 20 employees of Oklahoma Gazette when I say we feel a great responsibility to this community that goes well beyond a paycheck or profit. Everyone here could find a good job elsewhere, and many have been loyal for many years, even decades. We all have a deep affection for this publication — what it has meant to Oklahoma and what it can mean in the future.

Bill Bleakley is owed a great debt of gratitude not only by yours truly, but all of Oklahoma. He conceived, developed and maintained Gazette through four decades of monumental changes to the newspaper industry and only let go when he felt assured the future was bright.

We are committed to keeping our work free of charge and have developed a sustainable business model to ensure that will continue to be the case well into the future.

Anniversaries are one of those markers of time where you stop to reflect on the past and dream of future possibilities. I am incredibly proud to have my name atop the masthead of this amazing publication, and as we celebrate 40 years, I assure you the best is yet to come.

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9

9

chicken

friedNEWS

Fuzzy math

We here at Chicken-Fried News would calculate that Oklahomans are as good at math as just about anybody.

Unfortunately, that might be because, as Oklahomans, our math scores fall below the national average, according to the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, so we have to assume our calculations might be a little faulty.

Maybe multinational drug kingpin Johnson & Johnson is making a similar assumption.

Ordered in August to pay Oklahoma $572 million dollars for helping exacerbate the state’s opioid crisis, Johnson & Johnson is currently apologizing profusely for its part in driving a drugsoaked stake into the American heartland. Just kidding, of course. The Associated Press (AP) reports the company is currently appealing the court’s ruling, arguing that Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman miscalculated the settlement amount by more than $100 million, due to “a mistaken addition of three zeros.”

“Johnson & Johnson maintains the miscalculation resulted in the amount the judge awarded for the costs to the state for developing and disseminating information on treating babies born addicted to opioids,” AP reported. “The

to know for sure because Oklahomans also score lower than average in reading.

If only some multibillion-dollar drug cartel could explain it to us.

Dog did it

cost of these services should have been about $107,000, not $107 million, attorneys wrote.”

Johnson & Johnson’s attorneys have also warned Judge Balkman’s “novel ruling” — that aggressively and misleadingly marketing a highly addictive prescription drug in a state where 4,653 people died of opioid overdoses between 2007 and 2017 qualifies as a public nuisance — may have threatening implications for companies doing business in Oklahoma. Does that mean that big pharma might be more reluctant to get Oklahomans, including newborn infants, hooked on potentially deadly drugs in the name of creating more value for shareholders? That’s sure what it seems like to us, but unfortunately, it’s difficult

Is “the dog shot me” the adult version of “my dog ate my homework"?

A Grant County woman was a passenger in a vehicle while it was stopped at the train tracks in Enid when a yellow lab puppy named Molly got startled by the passing train and jumped from the backseat onto the vehicle’s center console that contained a .22 caliber handgun, and it discharged, hitting the woman in the thigh, according to Enid News & Eagle.

There is no official update on the status of the woman, but Enid News released audio of the 911 call.

The driver of the truck, 79-year-old Brent Parks, can be heard telling Tina Springer, who ironically is Parks’ caretaker, that she’s “lucky [the bullet] went where it went.”

The 911 operator responds to the call, and Parks eventually tells her, “We had a dog in here, and he jumped on the gun.”

The operator calmly responds, “The dog shot the gun?” with the kind of delivery that makes you think this isn’t the strangest animal-involved shooting they’ve dealt with.

As Parks took off his belt and tied it around Springer’s leg to act as a tourniquet while waiting for the ambulance, he can be heard saying to the dog, “Oh, Molly, you’re the one that pulled that trigger, and you’re going to get me in shit.”

Parks was not charged, and he told police that the gun is not normally loaded when it’s in the car. Police told Enid News that cloth from the seat covers could have gotten into the trigger well of the gun and caused it to discharge.

Let this be a lesson to keep the safety on firearms when puppies are

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around, which is probably something we all need to think about every week.

Secretive Sooners

Add “Black Hole” to the list of names people call the University of Oklahoma (OU) board of regents — right next to “corrupt,” “failures” and probably a less appropriate type of hole.

Freedom of Information (FOI) Oklahoma presents the Black Hole award to an organization or individual “that has most thwarted the free flow of information” in a particular year. According to NASA, a black hole is something “so massive and dense that light” cannot escape it." And we really can’t think of a more fitting definition for the award’s list of recipients.

The Black Hole awards basically serve as an Oklahoma Hall of Shame, with past dishonorees like infamous Scott Pruitt (2017), Edmond Police Department and city manager Larry Stevens (2012), Oklahoma State University board of regents and administration (2009), Oklahoma Supreme Court (2008) and, of course, former Gov. Mary Fallin twice (2013-2014).

Andy Moore, FOI Oklahoma executive director, told OU Daily the OU regents

received this distinction for their lack of transparency during the search for former president James Gallogly and their secretive selection of Joseph Harroz as interim president. The former led to the shortest presidential tenure in university history, and the latter resulted in the cringiest “We Are the Champions” lip-sync video ever, so we hope they learn from their mistakes.

“The organization hopes that the Black Hole Award can be a catalyst to encourage the recipient to make changes moving forward,” Moore said, “and we would be happy to recognize them for any changes made.”

We also hope the award has the intended consequences, but unfortunately the regents seem on track to rival two-time title-holder Fallin for least transparent.

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REVIEW

EAT & DRINK

Restorative Deli

The Brown Bag Deli is still serving the same excellent quality that has made it popular since 1978, but the building is for sale. By Jacob Threadgill

The Brown Bag Deli 7600 N. Western Ave. facebook.com/thebrownbagdeli | 405-842-1444 WHAT WORKS: The curry chicken salad and lentil chicken soup provide depth of flavor.

WHAT NEEDS WORK: The brisket was a little dry.

TIP: It closes at 3 p.m.

From its etymology, the word “restaurant” literally means “that which restores.” Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson is fond of saying the word means “to restore a community.”

I think both definitions are particularly apt because when you’re hungry, there’s nothing quite as restorative as a good meal, and when you think about how many plans have been made at restaurant tables, the importance of a welcoming and friendly restaurant in a community cannot be understated.

In this regard, I can only imagine the amount of customers that have been made whole again by The Brown Bag Deli, 7600 N. Western Ave., over the decades. Founded in 1978 by Jamil’s Steakhouse owner Greg Gawey, Brown Bag has been dutifully managed by new owners Sarah and Massoud Baghvardani for decades.

In honor of Oklahoma Gazette’s 40th anniversary, I wanted to review a restaurant that was open when the paper was first printed. Given Oklahoma City’s propensity to tear down historic buildings and the unpredictable nature of the oil-and-gas industry, there actually aren’t a lot of restaurants that are Curry chicken salad sandwich | Photo Jacob Threadgill

still around and kicking in Oklahoma City. The Gazedibles section in this issue gives a shoutout to seven, and the number expands slightly with the inclusion of always-fabulous Florence’s Restaurant at 1437 NE 23rd St., Someplace Else Bakery & Deli at 2310 N. Western Ave. and Legends Restaurant in Norman.

I can only imagine the hard work and long hours it takes to keep a restaurant open for more than 40 years, and it appears that it’s finally time for the Baghvardanis to retire and do something else. Sarah told me they’re ready to retire and the building is for sale.

There’s no deal imminent, but I can’t guarantee how much longer The Brown Bag Deli will continue to help restore the Nichols Hills community.

My only regret is that I had not visited earlier. From looking online, I always thought it was a no-frills menu of sandwiches and soup with desserts like lemon bars, brownies and muffins. The Brown Bag Deli is much more than your typical hospital-level, cafeteria-style deli. It pulls off a depth of flavor thanks to the owners’ Middle Eastern heritage, which can be seen with the inclusion of tabbouleh and hummus on the menu.

I walked in on a Tuesday afternoon to see that about four of the 10 or 12 marble tabletops were full of guests busy talking over sandwiches, salads and soup.

Sandwiches can be ordered on pita, an onion bun, or white or whole wheat bread with the option of filling it with brisket, ham, chicken, turkey, pastrami, corned beef, roast beef, chicken or tuna salad.

There are four specialty sandwiches that get a little more creative with the use of cream cheese, herb mayo and sprouts in lieu of lettuce. Again, it’s not a world-changing menu, but the service and love with which the food is delivered make all the difference. Massoud works in the kitchen while Sarah takes orders and their daughter helps expedite and deliver food through its drive-thru window.

Eating a meal inside at The Brown Bag Deli feels like watching a Ken Burns documentary.

There are a lot of kitschy photos of old people with thick mustaches and Americana items on the walls. The only thing that could make it more complete would be narration by Peter Coyote.

I ordered the Two-Hour Special, which is ham, pastrami and cream cheese with sprouts, onion and tomato on an onion roll with a side of chicken lentil

soup, which is frequently Brown Bag’s soup of the day. The sandwich is huge.

It is not quite as big or tall as the offerings at ND Foods, but it’s close. I couldn’t get the whole thing in my mouth without removing some meat from the sandwich. I loved that the restaurant used sprouts, which provide an earthy flavor compared to the hollow crunch of iceberg lettuce.

The real start of the meal was the soup followed closely by a spiced iced tea. I ordered iced tea thinking it would be standard Lipton brew, but Brown Bag makes its own tea that is spiced with orange peel and cinnamon sticks inhouse. I liked the subtle hint of flavors, which is far superior than the over-thetop addition of fruit like mango; it was also freshly brewed. Nothing turns me off faster than stale iced tea.

The Two-Hour Special with ham and pastrami and a side of tabbouleh at The Brown Bag Deli. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

Eating a meal inside at The Brown Bag Deli feels like watching a Ken Burns documentary.

The chicken and lentil soup was a showstopper, and it’s an item that is perfect now that we’re getting to cooler weather. Its flavor was complex and layered without any heat, which is rare.

An onion base was enhanced with turmeric and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

My wife also tried the brisket sandwich, which was on the specials board.

It was served with barbecue sauce on the side, which prevents the bread from getting soggy. The brisket itself was a little dry but otherwise tasty. I think that there are probably better sandwiches on the menu, but it scratches an itch if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

In my excitement to get a sandwich with sprouts on it, I overlooked perhaps The Brown Bag Deli’s most popular item, which is the curry chicken salad.

A return visit rectified that problem.

The flavor from the curry spice blend is not overpowering but present, and it’s basically just shredded chicken with celery. I found it to be an excellent treat, and it’s something that can be adapted for a low-carb diet by being served with avocado. I’ve made curry chicken salad

The walls inside The Brown Bag Deli are filled with Americana items. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

for years by substituting mayonnaise for yogurt, adding my favorite curry blend with cumin and mixing in apples, golden raisins, red bell pepper, cilantro and lime juice. Eating Brown Bag’s version reminded me that something simple can be better; it allows the spice of the curry to meld with the coolness of the mayonnaise.

I’m sad to hear that Brown Bag is for sale, but I wish the Baghvardanis the best of luck in the next chapter of their lives. Hopefully someone will step up and keep everything the same.

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F E AT U R E

EAT & DRINK

Competition crowns

Jo-Bawb’s Championship BBQ serves its award-winning food at a permanent location in Oklahoma City. By Jacob Threadgill

After years of crisscrossing the country and earning recognition from some of the most prestigious barbecue competitions in the country, last October, Lon and JoAnne Mitchell decided create a permanent home for Jo-Bawb’s Championship BBQ. Located at 7921 Northside Drive, down North Rockwell Avenue off Northwest Expressway, Jo-Bawb’s operates out of a state-of-the-art trailer with a massive, built-in smoker parked outside a converted office building that provides covered seating, bathrooms and an opportunity to view the Mitchells’ massive trophy collection from years of chasing glory on the competition circuit.

“This isn’t even all of them,” Lon Mitchell said as he pointed out a reserve grand champion finish at the Smithfield King of the Smoker competition in California and a barrel cap signed by all of the top teams in the country at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue at which JoBawb’s finished third in brisket and seventh overall out of 90 teams.

In 2015, Jo-Bawb’s finished 13th in the country in Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned events and followed it up with a 22nd overall finish in 2016 despite the fact it was competing from Gillette, Wyoming, and Mitchell said it made it difficult to get to more competitions to increase its ranking.

“It was just like a lot of guys who Brisket, pulled pork and ribs with potato salad and baked beans | Photo provided

cooked barbecue on the porch or patio, and they invite a few friends over and the friends — who as long as they’re getting free barbecue and beer — say it’s the best they’ve ever had,” Mitchell said.

“Then you start to wonder how you stack up against the big boys. You get into your first competition, and if you get your named called once, you’re hooked.”

Life on the competition barbecue circuit is difficult. Even the most successful teams receive prize money every four to five competitions, which is only enough to pay for about three more competitions. They relied on product sponsorships, but once travel and smoker upkeep were factored in,

I don’t think Cole had anything to do with my slaw.

Lon Mitchell Mitchell said it left them in the red.

“You get so hooked going to competition that it’s about the only thing you care about, it seems,” he said.

After the Mitchells’ daughter and son-in-law Dusti and Quinn Martin — who are also partners in Jo-Bawb’s — moved to Oklahoma for work, the Mitchells decided to uproot from Wyoming, set up shop in Oklahoma and get out of the competition game.

After looking into a brick-andmortar location, they decided it would better to start JoBawb’s in a massive food

trailer that includes television screens and large prep areas. At first, they thought about being mobile with the trailer, but they decided on a permanent location except for occasional catering gigs.

“Following food trucks is a lot of work,” Mitchell said. “That, to me, was like playing Pokémon or something. Where are they going to find you today? If you stay in one spot, people know where to find you.”

They settled on what they refer to as a hybrid restaurant. There are four picnic tables with covered seating, and orders are delivered promptly through the trailer window.

Jo-Bawb’s offers pulled pork, sliced brisket, jalapeño sausage, St. Louis-cut spare pork ribs and brisket burnt ends, which is its top seller. It offers four sandwiches; sides of barbecue baked beans; potato salad; creamy mac and cheese, which can be topped with pulled pork, jalapeños and bacons bits; and slaw.

“Our slaw is just slaw; I don’t think Cole had anything to do with my slaw,” Mitchell said.

Wednesdays are for smoked chicken wings. Jo-Bawb’s is open until it sells out of barbecue, which happens almost every day in the afternoon or early evening.

Lon Mitchell, pittmaster at Jo-Bawb’s Championship BBQ | Photo Alexa Ace

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Jo-Bawb’s is located at 7921 Northside Drive, off Northwest Expressway. | Photo Alexa Ace

Friday and Saturdays are the busiest. All of the meat is smoked using pecan wood.

“It’s a mild smoke and a fruit wood,” Mitchell said. “We always scored cooking better with pecan. My theory is that a nice and mild smoke is easier to tolerate than a harsh smoke. … It’s not being injected or marinated or being enhanced. We put our rub on there and cook it to perfection. Some people say you cook it for many hours, but if it doesn’t feel right, it’s not done.”

They didn’t come out of the gates and immediately start placing in barbecue competitions. After a few trial runs with nothing to show for it, they started taking classes from accomplished pitmasters, including some in Oklahoma.

The classes are tell-all, and Mitchell has now taught a few.

“Grandma can teach 10 different people your secret recipe and you’re going to get 10 different results, and a few of them might even be better than Grandma’s,” Mitchell said. “There’s no reason to hold anything back because they’re going to tweak it to their own liking anyway, and if you can help someone else, I think that makes you a master in barbecue, if you can pass that knowledge along to someone else. Those that say, ‘Oh, it’s a secret; I can’t tell you,’ I believe them people don’t even know what they’re doing.”

Every time the Mitchells would go out to eat and the front-of-house staff would ask for a name, Lon would give them a fake one.

“It’s none of their damn business what my name is, so I’d tell them that it’s Bawb, spelled B-a-w-b,” Mitchell said.

He wanted to add “Jo” to the name of the operation in honor of his wife, and he said the unusual spelling of Bawb makes people remember the name. It has paid off by building a customer base in Oklahoma City. Since opening October 2018, Mitchell said Jo-Bawb’s traffic continues to grow.

“If you have good steakhouse or barbecue, people will find you wherever you’re at,” Mitchell said. “We’ve built a good clientele, and we look at the numbers each month and we’ve got a third returning and two-thirds new.

As long as we’re continuing to build on that, I don’t think you can go wrong.”

Visit jo-bawbsbbq.com.

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GAZEDIBLES

EAT & DRINK

40 strong

In honor of Oklahoma Gazette’s 40th anniversary, we’re giving a shoutout to some of the restaurants that were open in 1979 and remain open to this day. This isn’t a comprehensive list, but they do us proud.

By Jacob Threadgill with Gazette / file photos

Junior’s

Geronimo’s Bakery

When Junior Simon opened his restaurant in the basement floor of the Oil Center building in 1973, it was the building’s first occupant. The restaurant has survived the ups and downs of the oil industry and ownership changes and continues to serve an old-school menu done right, including the Caesar salad made tableside and the Brandy Ice, which is a blend of brandy, ice cream, cacao and nutmeg.

When Raymond Richards founded Geronimo’s in 1972, it was primarily known for its sweet treats, but after about three years, his wife got the idea to add burgers to the menu. Now, they’re the restaurant’s top seller, led by the eponymous Geronimo burger, which puts a thick slice of ham on top of the quarter-pound beef patty. Be sure to swing by in the morning for its collection of sweet treats like doughnuts and cinnamon rolls because they’re usually sold out by the afternoon.

2601 Northwest Expressway juniorsokc.com | 405-848-5597

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Leo’s BBQ

3631 N. Kelly Ave. facebook.com/leosbarbecue 405-424-5367

Leo Smith earned enough money working at the famous The Cellar restaurant under the direction of chef John Bennett to open his own barbecue restaurant in 1974. His son Charles runs the restaurant today, and it’s as popular as ever and became the first Oklahoma City restaurant to appear on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Neptune Submarine Sandwiches

Cattlemen’s Steakhouse

Coney Island

In the early 1980s, there were as many as 17 Neptune franchises across the state — in the days before Subway and Jersey Mike’s Subs. The lone survivor is the original Neptune that was opened in 1974 in the former Quick’s Hamburgers location. Freshly baked bread remains Neptune’s calling card because it’s as soft as pillows, and you can never go wrong with a Torpedo that includes salami, ham, roast beef and turkey.

Before it was known as Stockyard City, it was called Packingtown, and Cattlemen’s is Oklahoma City’s longest-open restaurant. It opened in 1910 when it was known as Cattlemen’s Cafe and was home to card players and gambling. Of course, today, it’s home to an eclectic wine list and excellent dry-aged beef as well as breakfast.

A staple in downtown since 1928 (with another location in Capitol Hill), Coney Island has served the same recipe of Greek-style chili on top of chili cheese coneys, Frito pie and chili spaghetti since Bill Mihas took over in 1966. The restaurant is not only a time capsule for its tradition-rich food, but also for years of Oklahoma football — memorabilia hangs on the walls.

3301 N. Classen Blvd. neptunesubsokc.com | 405-525-0414

1309 S. Agnew Ave. cattlemensrestaurant.com 405-236-0416

428 W. Main St. 405-239-8568

Jamil’s Steakhouse

4910 N. Lincoln Blvd. facebook.com/jamilssteakhouse 405-525-8352

Lincoln Boulevard was once the place to be in Oklahoma City, but only Jamil’s has survived from the good old days.

Jamil’s moved to its current location in the mid-1960s, and it has entertained politicians and celebrities in its steakhouse with a Lebanese twist. Each meal comes with a selection of hors d’oeuvres like tabbouleh, cabbage rolls and pickled vegetables.

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Manford and Kelsy Strecker cross the finish line to win the 2009 Dachshund Dash. | Photo Gazette / file

Paper practices

During Oklahoma Gazette’s 40 years, staffers have put on many events and learned some difficult lessons. By Jeremy Martin Back in the ’90s, when Oklahoma Gazette’s offices were located in the pre-statehood mansion then known as Maney House, staffers adopted a mascot that doubled as a running gag.

“We had a Mr. Maney,” said account executive Saundra Rinearson Godwin, who started working at Gazette in 1990.

“It was this dummy somebody had put together, and he would just wander around the building; people would take him. Keep in mind it’s an old Victorian house, so it could be kind of creepy. Mr. Maney sometimes would end up in the bathroom, and it would freak people out. We’d always play all sorts of tricks.”

Godwin, who said she “left after a couple of years because they were crazy,” came back a few years later and then left and came back again, has spent a total of 20 years at the paper.

A better-known, less creepy Gazette tradition began in 2005 with the inaugural Dachshund Dash, a wiener dog race to raise money for local humane societies.

“You would be amazed at how many people owned a dachshund in this city,” said account executive Christy Duane, who began her own long-term on-again, off-again relationship with Gazette in 1998. “You had to apply, and there was a lottery to get in. … We did our first one out at Remington Park, so the dogs raced on the racetrack, which was pretty cute, but it’s outside and it’s all cement, so it was hot, probably too hot for those dog paws.”

By 2009, the race, which had by then moved to Cox Convention Center, had 96 entrants.

“People would write about their dogs, telling us how ready they were,” Duane said, “and then the gates would open and three of them would go that way, and two more would go this way and one wouldn’t come out. It was a lot of fun.”

Wayne rules

In 2007, Gazette started a new creepy tradition, but this time all of Oklahoma City could get in on the fun. The annual Halloween

Parade (originally known as Ghouls Gone Wild) featured dozens of floats and, for its first four years, the March of 1,000 Skeletons presented by The Flaming Lips. Duane said the parade originally began as a way to fight “creative brain drain” in OKC.

It was a lot of work. I feel for anybody that throws an event.

Christy Duane “We felt like every college graduate that was any kind of creative star was looking to get out of Oklahoma at the time,” Duane said. “So really, it was kind of centered around that thought of keeping people here and making it a cool town, and then it was insane. It was a lot of work. I feel for anybody that throws an event. … We’d start on that thing in June … and like 30 days out, you’ve already done everything. You’ve gotten your available permits. You had to go in front of the city four times. You had to get all of the things. You’ve done your deal with Budweiser or whoever is going to be sponsoring. You know where you’re going, the route, where every one of your floats that you’ve approved are going to line up and come in to set up and how it’s going to flow together to disrupt the least amount of traffic. And then you would get a volunteer that would come in and say, ‘Hey, I’m here to help. You know, we really should think about moving that route.’

Like 10 days out. … It’s just cute. People don’t realize how much goes into a parade with floats and 1,000 flaming skeletons.”

In a letter to the editor published Nov. 4, 2010, one parade viewer described another inflammatory sight.

“My family and I have enjoyed Oklahoma Gazette’s Ghouls Gone Wild Halloween parade in the past,” wrote Theresa Husmann. “We were all shocked and disg usted when you portrayed a pregnant Catholic nun in her black and white habit, saying loudly

‘The devil made me do it!’”

Godwin recalled that Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne brought his own personal brand of chaos to the event.

“He decided to shoot off his infamous confetti cannon,” Godwin said. “We ended up getting fined because you can’t have confetti getting into the storm drains.”

Duane added that the timing could have been better.

“They told us you weren’t allowed to do that, but I just think that it’s Wayne, so he’s going to do what he wants to,” Duane said. “Unfortunately for us, there was an EPA testing the next week, so we had to clean out the drains — well, pay for it to be cleaned, obviously.

Thank God they didn’t make us do it.”

Zip-tied

Another run-in with authorities happened during an attempted guerrilla marketing campaign for now-closed classified ad site OKGFree. Gazette staff intended to inform people about the site via stenciled spray chalk on sidewalks around the city.

“We literally split employees up into teams, and you had to volunteer to do it because there were people that were like, ‘No way. I’m not doing that,’” Duane said.

Godwin raised her hand.

“That was me,” she said.

In retrospect, Duane noted that Godwin’s reluctance seems justified.

“Well, the police helicopter was called out on the team in Bricktown for vandalism, and a couple of our coworkers were zip-tied for a while on the ground,” Duane said. “Luckily, no one went to jail. It was just a big misunderstanding.”

Being misunderstood has been a common experience over the decades at the publication Duane said she has often heard described not so affectionately as “that liberal rag.” Maybe that’s why many of the more memorable moments at private company parties and events will remain, for now at least, off the record — no matter how educating and edifying they might have been for Gazetteers past and present.

“We learned things like how to communicate with each other better, and then, I think, at the same time, we also

Oklahoma Gazette held Dachshund Dash, benefitting local humane societies, from 2005 to 2009. | Photo Gazette / file

learned everyone’s tolerance level to liquor,” Duane said. “It’s always been a work hard, play hard sort of atmosphere.”

Videos from the Dachshund Dash and Halloween Parades can be viewed on YouTube.

The Gazette’s Halloween parade (2007-2013) required months of planning and coordinating with the city. | Photo Gazette / file below In its first four years, the parade featured The March of 1,000 Skeletons, presented by The Flaming Lips. | Photo Gazette / file

City changes

Historian Bob Blackburn reflects on Oklahoma City’s major changes throughout the past 40 years. By Miguel Rios Oklahoma City as we know it was unrecognizable 40 years ago. While physical changes — like the contemporaneous influx of entertainment and eatery options — are obvious, the attitudes of city residents were also drastically different in 1979 and in the following decades.

“1979 was important for a lot of reasons,” said Bob Blackburn, executive director of Oklahoma Historical Society. “It was my first year with a PhD, I had just graduated and started my career as a historian. An acquaintance that I did some work for started a little newspaper called the Oklahoma Gazette, and I became one of the first columnists. … Importantly, one reason I think Bill [Bleakley] was so optimistic — it was the optimism of 1979 because of the deep gas boom.”

Boom and bust

In the ’60s and most of the ’70s, oil and gas were in a depressed state, but by 1979, Blackburn recalls commercials encouraging people to get an oil well if they didn’t own one already.

“As all this money was flowing in; it was going to families who had mineral rights, so suddenly, Oklahoma was prospering,” he said. “Well, Bill Bleakley, a young attorney here in town, saw that and said, ‘Hey, I’m all in. I’m going to buy some buildings on Shartel.’ … We’re all feeling that way, this optimism.

That’s when so many people were coming here for this boom. Well, that all came to a crash in 1982.”

Demand fell, but supply was prolific, which led to prices falling drastically.

By 1985, Blackburn said two major banks — Penn Square Bank and First National Bank — failed, which led to

more dominoes toppling. Oil and gas collapsed, the real estate market was “toxic,” hundreds of smaller banks also failed and no capital was coming into capital-starved Oklahoma.

“I call it our second Great Depression,” Blackburn said. “So the Gazette was born right near the peak of that mini boom, and then with the economy toppling off, it survived and kept reporting. … It hit bottom in ’85 , and that goes really to ’98, so we have 13 years of the second Great Depression, trying to pull ourselves out.”

Fueled by a resurgence of oil and gas, a real estate rebound and a change in banking laws, Oklahoma’s economy started to recover right before the end of the century.

“Add to that a couple of other things changing in Oklahoma City: MAPS, December 1993; a bare majority of Oklahoma City people say, ‘We’re going to invest in ourselves,’” Blackburn said.

“That’s new.”

Up until then, OKC’s economy was based on trying to industrialize the state and attract outside businesses to provide jobs. However, while jobs were created, the investments went to other states.

“You get jobs, but you’re not getting an infusion of new leadership with this progression,” Blackburn said. “Well, the light bulbs go off: ‘Wait a minute.

We’ve got to help ourselves.’ That’s the genesis of MAPS.” That’s also the genesis of Oklahoma City Thunder, Blackburn said. Results from the first MAPS weren’t seen until 1998 with Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

“Then in ’05, [Hurricane] Katrina takes out the New Orleans Hornets arena,” he said. “Suddenly, we have a sports arena. That’s when Chris Paul comes here and the Thunder story

starts with investing in ourselves, creating this infrastructure. Any business starts that way — lean and mean and you invest in your infrastructure.”

Both MAPS and the Thunder set Oklahoma City on a path of exponential growth and development, which Blackburn said started to alter the way people viewed their city.

New voice

While all of that unfolded, Blackburn said people learned about it through the lens of Gazette. While Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce attracted people with a stake in the game, Bleakley was an “outsider” who recruited other outsiders to the publication.

“The people he would attract would be those who questioned what was going on at a time when there was a lot going wrong. So the attitude was not quite counterculture but counter-mainstream at least, promoting and looking at things in a new way,” Blackburn said. “It was edgy, poking the beast that had been there forever and saying, ‘Wait a minute.

Bob Blackburn, executive director of Oklahoma Historical Society, said young people are more likely to feel like they can find hope and opportunity in OKC now. | Photo Miguel Rios

Is this really the right policy? There are alternatives, and here is our opinion.’”

While it was political, Blackburn said Gazette looked at things from a cultural perspective, providing a different voice to mainstream talking points and opinions.

“Gazette is encouraging diversity, is encouraging hope, like, ‘Hey, we are not a cultural desert. Things are happening here,’” Blackburn said. “The Gazette is there, pulling back the curtain on what is happening and letting people know things are changing in an alternative voice. … There’s another way to look at our community, another way to report.

Well, that gave so many people a voice.

“I think it’ll always be led by culture.

That’s its bread and butter. What is the culture in Oklahoma City? Well, there’s food culture, musical culture, diversity culture, fashion culture — you go on. But I think political culture will have to be

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one of those three legs on the stool to let people know, to engage with what’s happening in the political culture. And then there’s business-promoting people saying, ‘Yeah, I’m willing to invest.’

People want to look at the Gazette and say, ‘Oh it’s a socialistic approach.’ Well, it’s not. To me, the Gazette is a champion of free enterprise.”

We’ve come a long way, and we’ve come a long way very fast in Oklahoma City.

Bob Blackburn When Blackburn’s son graduated high school in 2001, Blackburn said it was still assumed young people would move away to find hope and opportunities elsewhere. While things were changing, Oklahoma City was only just becoming attractive enough to give young people a reason to stay.

“After 2001, we start seeing the results,” he said. “‘Mediocrity is good enough for Oklahomans.’ That had been the general attitude about government. … Saying, ‘No, it’s not good enough’ was part of this new attitude. Suddenly, we’re saying, ‘Wait a minute. Yeah, I can get a lot of food at that cafeteria for $2.75, but I’m willing to pay $5 for a nicer meal at Cheever’s.’ People are saying, ‘No, I can do better.’”

After that, Oklahoma City began evolving more quickly. Blackburn said the city started valuing diversity more than it ever had, along with things like the arts, mass transit and holding its government to higher standards.

“When the city’s changing, the Gazette is changing. Today, you open a Gazette, you look at the restaurant section, you see all these restaurants.

You go from Indian to Latin, Asian fusion. You can go to street tacos — all this variety. You would’ve never seen this before this metamorphosis,” Blackburn said. “And now the Gazette suddenly has more advertisers, and with more advertisers, it’s another solid base to hire staff. They’re able to attract a stream of talented young people who share this commitment to diversity, to social justice, to equal opportunity and covering the city with that set of eyes. … We’ve come a long way, and we’ve come a long way very fast in Oklahoma City since the ’80s and that second Great Depression. I just feel fortunate as a historian. I’ve seen this unfolding. That helps me understand the past better than I knew it before.

“We need to applaud Bill Bleakley for having this dream and launching this.

I think he did it for the right reasons.

He felt responsibility. He was a privileged person. He had a law degree, he had money to invest, but he said other people need a voice too, and he was willing to put his time and resources into it.”

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ARTS & CULTURE

T H E AT E R

University of Oklahoma’s production of The Wolves runs Oct. 25-Nov. 3 at Weitzenhoffer Theatre. | Photo provided

Acting drills

OU’s theater department took an uncommon approach to rehearsal to prepare for its production of The Wolves. By Jeremy Martin

Though audiences for the University of Oklahoma production of The Wolves are warned about adult content and strong language, they don’t have to worry about getting hit by errant soccer balls — probably.

“We’re trying to keep the balls on the ground,” said Judith Midyett Pender, director of the upcoming University of Oklahoma (OU) production of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-nominated play. “There’s no intentionally putting balls in the air ever. So it could happen, but I think the chances are slim.”

Presented by Helmerich School of Drama and University Theatre, The Wolves runs Oct. 25-Nov. 3 at OU’s Weitzenhoffer Theatre, 563 Elm Ave., in Norman. Staging Sarah DeLappe’s play — which features an all-female cast, most of whom are identified only by their jersey numbers, and is set exclusively during a high school soccer team’s weekly pre-game warm-up drills — comes with an “extra layer of requirements,” Pender said.

“The women cast in this play have to learn how to drill with soccer balls, and one of the drills required in the script is a very complicated drill, and they have to look, not just proficient, but they have to look like they are national quality high school soccer players,” Pender said.

“Because of the way it’s written, because 22

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they’re drilling all the time that the scenes are going on, we had to work separately on the physical work and separately on the text work.”

Assistant director Emma Antongiovanni, a former soccer player, was an “invaluable resource” for teaching the cast the soccer drills, including the intricate “spider web,“ but beyond the play’s physicality, the complex, realistic dialogue is a challenge in itself.

“Because they’re 16- and 17-year-old girls, the dialogue is written in a way that they talk over the top of each other quite a bit,” Pender said. “A lot of the dialogue has no punctuation at all.

They’ll say two words and then three or four words and then three or four more words. They use the word ‘like’ an awful lot, as teenagers do. They also use quite a bit of salty language. They’re trying that out, and they talk at the same time. Sometimes there are two different conversations going on simultaneously, and sometimes there are three. And they all inform each other, so if they are perfectly timed, something that one person says to the person they’re talking to about their subject matter also, coincidentally, has relevance and comments upon another conversation that they’re not directly involved in. It’s beautifully constructed.”

The play requires its cast to become

so comfortable with the drills that they “look like it’s something that they do all the time and don’t even have to think about really” in order to allow the audience to also focus on the conversations taking place during the drills, which convey the play’s actual meaning.

“It’s not really about soccer,” Pender said. “It’s about what it is to be young women on the verge of becoming adults and all the eagerness for that to happen, but also all the fear and trepidation and all the unknown about that. This play uses soccer kind of as a metaphor. It’s very much like soldiers getting ready for battle, and they’re getting ready to go out on the field and battle other young women playing soccer, and they’re preparing to meet this challenge. Meanwhile, they’re discussing all the other challenging things that occur in the lives of 16- and 17-year-old young women, and the soccer is second nature to them. If the soccer were pedestrian in a way that drew attention to the people playing it, it wouldn’t do what the play is asking it to do. The soccer is the vehicle, but the things on the mind of these young women are the actual plotline, the subject.”

Uncommon roles

In an interview with The Economist, DeLappe also compared her young characters to soldiers and the play itself to a war movie.

“I’ve seen a lot of those with 19-yearold men, but not 16-year-old women,” DeLappe said.

The soccer is the vehicle, but the things on the mind of these young women are the actual plotline, the subject.

Judith Midyett Pender In the same interview, DeLappe said she was inspired to write the play by the lack of satisfying roles available to her as an actress.

“I was staring down the barrel of what it means to be a young woman in this industry, how it entails objectifying yourself and putting yourself out for roles like the stripper with a heart of gold or the girlfriend until you’re the mother,” DeLappe said.

When Pender was studying theater in school, she said roles like those in The Wolves were uncommon.

“We did classic American mid-20thcentury stuff, and we were basically kids playing grownups,” Pender said. “I played Mother Burnside in Auntie Mame, and she’s ancient and in a wheelchair, and I was in high school.”

Pender said the characters in The Wolves are familiar and relatable, even

if they aren’t commonly seen on the stage.

“You recognize the insecurities,” Pender said. “You recognize the false confidence. You recognize the bravado.

I can look at them and I could draw a parallel to every one of my girlfriends in high school, and that was years and years ago.”

Times have changed, but people are not much different, Pender said.

“The way they talk has changed a little bit, but the anxieties and the joys and the things that that are on their minds are pretty universal,” Pender said. “I think everybody, men and women, are going to be able to see themselves in some of these topics and in some of these characters. These are young women who are fully developed individuals, and they are not being portrayed in the normal entertainment industry way of, ‘This is somebody’s wife,’ or, ‘This is somebody’s daughter,’ or, ‘This is somebody’s girlfriend,’ or, ‘This is the nurse.’ They are fully fleshed-out individuals in their own right and not in relationship to a man or a grownup.”

The play’s unconventional nature required Pender — a drama professor, director, actor and author — to find a different approach.

“Normally, when you direct a play, you come in, and they have their script, and you give them the blocking, and they write it down, and you walk through it and see if it works,” Pender said. “And that was totally impossible in this situation, so I had to kind of come up with a new way to work. That’s very exciting, but that also makes you feel kind of vulnerable sometimes. I’ve worked a certain way with certain kinds of plays, and then here’s one that doesn’t really fit into the mold of any of those things. I have to say, it was quite a relief and really fulfilling when we first put the text and the drills together and it was working because it was an idea and a plan, but we didn’t know if it would work for sure or not.”

Tickets are $10-$35. Call 405-3254101 or visit ou.edu/finearts.

The Wolves Oct. 25-Nov. 3 Weitzenhoffer Theatre University of Oklahoma 563 Elm Ave., Norman ou.edu/finearts | 405-325-4101 $10-$35

CALENDAR are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS Local author book signing writers vehoae, Wayne Harris-Wyrick and Betsy Randolph will autograph copies of their latest books, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. WED Neustadt Lit Fest visiting authors including keynote speaker Margarita Engle will sign books and discuss literature, 11 a.m. Oct. 17. Reynolds Performing Arts Center, 560 Parrington Oval, Norman, 405-325-7370, ou.edu. THU Poetic City book signing poets Atavian Blakely, Brandon Current, Cordney McClain and more will autograph copies of Poetic City’s new collection, 3 p.m.

Oct. 19. Credit Union House of Oklahoma, 631 E. Hill St., 405-445-1511, creditunionhouseok.com. SAT

FILM LGBTQ+ Horror Movie Night watch some horror classics in an accepting atmosphere, 7-9 p.m. Oct. 17. The Diversity Center, 2242 N.W. 39th Street, 405-252-0372.

THU

Low Tide (2019, USA, Kevin McMullin) a treasure hunt sends a group of friends on a violent and paranoid course in this thriller, 7:40 p.m. Oct. 16-17. Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456. WED-THU Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019, USA, Stanley Nelson) a documentary featuring archival footage, studio outtakes of the famous jazz trumpeter, Oct. 16-17.

Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456.

WED-THU

Monos (2019, Colombia, Alejandro Landes) teenage commandos escape into the jungle after an ambush, Oct. 18-20. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. FRI-SUN The Sound of Silence (2019, USA, Michael Tyburski) a “house tuner” (Peter Sarsgaard) calibrates ambient sound to suit his clients’ lives until he meets a client (Rashida Jones) with chronic exhaustion he doesn’t know how to help, Oct. 18-20. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

FRI-SUN

VHS & CHILL Presents: The Lost Boys (1987, USA, Joel Schumacher) a small town is overrun by a gang of troublemaking vampires, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Oct. 21. Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456. MON

HAPPENINGS Afro Beats a dance party with soca, hip-hop, Caribbean, dancehall and other genres of music provided by DJ Sinz, 11 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays. Glass Lounge, 5929 N. May Ave., 405-835-8077, glasshouseokc.com. FRI

and free pet treats, 4-7 p.m. Saturdays. Café 501 Classen Curve, 5825 NW Grand Blvd., 405-844-1501, cafe501. com. SAT Pumpkinville more than 16,000 gourds transform the Children’s Garden into a New England-inspired pumpkin town with crafts, train rides and more festive fun, through Oct. 27. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. FRI-SUN Saloon Series experience happy hour at a recreation of a vintage wild west saloon with live music and cocktails, 6-8 p.m. Oct. 17. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. THU Scandalous Tales Season 2 Premiere preview the first episode of the new season of the locally produced LGBTQ+ series at this red carpet event hosted by Gizele Monáe, 6 p.m. Oct. 19. Packard’s New American Kitchen, 201 NW 10th St., 405-605-3771, packardsokc.com. SAT Scissortail Park Fall Market shop for local food, craft beer, flower bulbs and more at this weekly farmers market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 26. Scissortail Park, 300 SW Seventh St., 405-445-7080, scissortailpark.org. SAT USS Oklahoma presentation Oklahoma author and military historian Joe Todd discusses the history of the battleship, 3-4 p.m. Oct. 19. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. SAT

FOOD Born to Bourbon a dinner featuring grilled chicken sausage, bourbon barbecue short ribs, smoked gouda mashed potatoes, bourbon pecan pie and more, Oct. 17.

Café 501 Classen Curve, 5825 NW Grand Blvd., 405-8441501, cafe501.com. THU Paseo Farmers Market shop for fresh food from local vendors at this weekly outdoor event, 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays, through Oct. 19. SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., 405-208-8291, sixtwelve.org. SAT Taste of Philippines sample sautéed mung beans, chicken adobo, beef lumpia, dinuguan and other traditional dishes at this dinner benefitting Philippine American Civic Organization of Oklahoma, 5:30-7 p.m.

Oct. 19. Mayfair Church of Christ, 2340 NW 50th St. SAT

YOUTH Art Adventures children can enjoy story time and related activities, 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. TUE Koo Koo Kanga Roo a family-friendly dance-along live music show, 3-5 p.m. Oct. 20. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SUN Sankofa Chess Club children 7 and older are invited to learn chess in this club meeting weekly, 6-7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays. Nappy Roots, 3705 Springlake Drive, 405896-0203, facebook.com/pg/nappyrootsbooks. WED ScissortTales a bilingual story hour for children ages 5 and younger with singalongs and craft projects, 10-11

Filmography: A Field in England A psychedelic nightmare set during the English Civil War of the 1640s, Ben Wheatley’s 2013 film A Field in England follows a band of deserters under the influence of a treasure-hunting necromancer who uses hallucinogenic mushrooms to control their minds. Reviewing director A Field in England for RogerEbert.com, critic Matt Zoller Seitz called it “a deeply, at times exclusively visceral film” that “aims to wring out, mind-eff and visually beat up its viewers, and cast a malevolent spell in the process.” Seitz also cautions that it’s “not a great first date film,” but if you met your intended in the occult section of a bookstore or on a message board about DMT, we say go for it. The film is 8-9:30 p.m. Friday at 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St. Admission is free. Visit facebook.com/ OkcFilmSociety. FRIDAY Photo provided a.m. Saturdays through Oct. 26. Scissortail Park, 300 SW Seventh St., 405-445-7080, scissortailpark.org. SAT Species Oddities children grades 4-6 can learn about unusual species in zoology and botany at this fall break camp, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 17. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. THU-FRI

Chris Fairbanks the TV host and standup comic will perform, 8-10 p.m. Oct. 19. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom. com. SAT

Storytime Science the museum invites children age 6 and younger to hear a story and participate in a related scientific activity, 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. TUE-SAT

Evil Dead: The Musical a stage adaptation of the cult horror film with music and a designated splash zone, through Nov. 2. The Pollard Theatre, 120 W. Harrison Ave., Guthrie, 405-282-2800, thepollard.org. FRI-SAT

Trunk or Treat trick-or-treat, play games and have a chance to win raffle prizes at this family-friendly event, 2-4 p.m. Oct. 19. Palomar: Oklahoma City’s Family Justice Center, 1140 N. Hudson Ave., 405-552-1010, palomarokc. org. SAT

The Floor Show see a live mural painting and drag performances by Topatio, Tape, Jalika, Mulan, Q and Oliver, presented in conjunction with Lyric Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show, 5 p.m.-midnight Oct. 18. Plaza District, 1618 N. Gatewood Ave., 405-426-7812, plazadistrict.org. FRI

The Long Hello local stand-up comic Wampus Reynolds will perform a half-hour set at this show also featuring BradChad Porter, Cameron Brewer and Adrian Corwin, 7-10 p.m. Oct. 18. Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman, 405-673-4931, opolis.org. FRI

Fall Harvest Fest a festival featuring pumpkin carving, a chili cook-off, games, local beer and more, 2-5 p.m.

Oct. 20. Delmar Gardens Food Truck Park, 1225 SW 2nd St., 405-232-6506, delmargardensokc.com. SUN Historic Black Towns Honors 13 a dinner honoring the volunteers in the towns of Brooksville, Boley, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Redbird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tulahassee and Vernon, 7 p.m. Oct. 18. Quail Creek Golf & Country Club, 3501 Quail Creek Road, 405-751-0811, quailcreekgcc.com. FRI

Mike Epps: Funny as Ish a comedy show featuring Gary Owen, Bruce Bruce, Mark Curry and guest host Sommore, Oct. 19. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. SAT Paseo Plunge Listening Room a live musical performance by Kirk Saffle paired with a reading from a local author, 7 p.m. Oct. 17. The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo St., 405-315-6224, paseoplunge.org. THU

Industry Flea an open-air market featuring local vintage shops and artisans with food trucks and live music, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 19. Industry Flea, 399 NW 10th St., industryflea.com. SAT

OktoBEARfest an evening of craft beer benefitting Vital Ground Foundation, an organization working to increase grizzly bear habitats, 5-11 p.m. Oct. 19. Anthem Brewing Company, 908 SW Fourth St., 405-604-0446, anthembrewing.com. SAT Pooches on the Patio bring your best friend to this dog-friendly happy hour with drink specials, appetizers

Hello, Dolly! the story of widowed matchmaker Dolly Levi as she hunts for a bride for “half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder, through Oct. 20. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter. com. TUE-SUN Holmes & Watson playwright Jeffrey Hatcher’s mystery thriller tasks Arthur Conan Doyle’s Dr. Watson with determining whether any of three asylum inmates claiming to be the famous detective Sherlock Holmes is telling the truth, Oct. 18-Nov. 9. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare. com. FRI-SAT

Dream Action Oklahoma Gala celebrate “10 years of resilience” at this fundraiser benefitting this organization dedicated to creating queer- and immigrant-led spaces and addressing obstacles faced by immigrant communities, 6-9 p.m. Oct. 17. Cantera Event Center, 1 SE 59th St. Suite E, 405-367-1082. THU

A Night in the Life: The Swinging Sixties a 1960sthemed fundraising gala benefitting the Oklahoma Historical Society and hosted by Ronnie Kaye, 7-10 p.m.

Oct. 18. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. FRI

PERFORMING ARTS

Story Time with Britt’s Bookworms enjoy snacks, crafts and story time, 10:30-11:30 a.m. first and third Thursday of every month. Thrive Mama Collective, 1745 NW 16th St., 405-356-6262. THU

Colin Kaepernick Paint & Sip create a painting of the athlete and activist and enjoy food and drinks at this art event, 6-9 p.m. Oct. 20. Oblivion Art Bar, 5841 NW 10th St., facebook.com/oblivionartbar. SUN

Midtown Walkabout see live art demonstrations, shop local vendors and more at this neighborhood block party, 2-6 p.m. Oct. 19. Midtown OKC, NW Eighth St., 405-235-3500, midtownokc.com. SAT

Wizarding Prep School children ages 4-5 can learn about animals, hear stories about magical adventures and explore science at this fall break camp, 9 a.m.-noon Oct. 17-18. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. THU-FRI

Princess the musical duo explores toxic masculinity through a sci-fi themed concept album and animated video, Oct. 23. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. WED

Period Day Last year, federal prisons made menstrual pads and tampons free to inmates, but the long-overdue policy change only affected fewer than 10 percent of the female prisoner population. State prisons and local prisons — not to mention public schools and health departments — across the country haven’t adopted the policy. On National Period Day, activists will gather at locations nationwide to demand clean and healthy hygiene products are made available for free at prisons, schools and health departments because period poverty — which can force women to choose between buying food and buying tampons — is real, but it shouldn’t be.

The demonstration is 1 p.m. Saturday at the Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N Lincoln Blvd. Admission is free. Visit period.org. SATURDAY Photo bigstock.com

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS!

Stockyards Stampede a family-friend event featuring live entertainment, carriage rides, chuck wagon demonstrations, children’s activities and more, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 19. Stockyards City, 1307 S. Agnew Ave., 405235-7267, stockyardscity.org. SAT Street Fight Radio a live presentation by the antiestablishment comedy radio show, also featuring a performance by New York City-based standup comic Kath Barbadoro, 8-11 p.m. Oct. 16. 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., 405-463-0470, 51stspeakeasy.com. WED

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91.7 OKC | 107.5 TULSA | KOSU.ORG

continued from page 23

C A L E N DA R

WE ARE NPR.

CALENDAR The Tempest Prospero the magician shipwrecks his enemies on an enchanted island in this fantasy by William Shakespeare, through Oct. 26. Shakespeare on Paseo, 2920 Paseo St., 405-235-3700, oklahomashakespeare.org. THU-SAT

ACTIVE Haunted Ghost Tour a guided bicycle tour of spooky Oklahoma City sites led by supernatural historian Jeff Provine, 7-9 p.m.

Oct. 19. Ride OKC, 301 W Reno Ave., rideokc.com. SAT Hot Chocolate 15K/5K compete in either a 15K or a 5K race benefitting Make-A-Wish, 7 a.m.-noon Oct. 20.

Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, okcballparkevents.com. SUN Open Streets in South OKC take advantage of motor-vehicle-free streets to walk, bike, run, or skate; leashed pets, strollers, walkers and wheelchairs welcome, 1-5 p.m. Oct. 20. Historic Capitol Hill, 319 SW 25th St., 405-632-0133, historiccapitolhill.com. SUN Twisted Coyote Brew Crew a weekly 3-mile group run for all ability levels with a beer tasting to follow; bring your own safety lights, 6 p.m. Mondays. Twisted Spike Brewing Co., 1 NW 10th St., 405-301-3467, twistedspike. com. MON Yoga class instructors from Gold’s Gym present a free weekly yoga class; bring your own yoga mat and water, 6-7 p.m. Mondays through Oct. 28. Scissortail Park, 300 SW Seventh St., 405-445-7080, scissortailpark.org. MON

VISUAL ARTS Colors of Clay an exhibition of clay pots, bowls, pitchers and jars created by Native American artists, through May 10, 2021. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. FRI Figures & Landscapes: The Art of Carol Armstrong an exhibition of works by the Oklahoma Governor’s Art Award winning painter, through Nov. 2.

The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. FRI-SAT Forms for Language: An Exhibition by Gyöngy Laky an exhibition of the mixed-media artist’s sculptures, constructed from wood, wire, screws, nails and other found items, through Oct. 31. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-9995, 1ne3.org. THU Kirigami Desk Sculptures workshop learn about this variation of origami that includes paper cutting at this workshop led by artist Malcolm Zachariah. 1-4 p.m.

Oct. 19. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-8159995, 1ne3.org. SAT Oklahoma Red Dirt Artists an exhibition of paintings and photographs by Jack Fowler, Rea Baldridge, Joseph Mills and Romy Owens, through Oct. 31. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery. com. FRI-THU Seeds of Being an exhibition examining the evolution of art created by Indigenous groups in North America, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. WED-MON Thoughts on Africa an exhibition of Don Nevard’s photographs of native African wildlife, through Oct. 31.

Inasmuch Foundation Gallery at Oklahoma City Community College, 7777 S. May Avenue, 4056827579. SAT-THU The Wounded Eye an exhibition of works by photographer, singer, poet and guitarist Cherryl Seard, through Nov. 2. Nappy Roots, 3705 Springlake Drive, 405-8960203, facebook.com/pg/nappyrootsbooks. FRI-SAT

Submissions must be received

by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

For OKG live music

see page 27 24

O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

MUSIC

EVENT

Mt. Terror plays The Premature E-Jack-O-Lantern Party 9 p.m. Saturday at The Paramount Room with The Sweet Talkers and Fresh Juice Party. | Photo provided

Pitter patter Letterkenny-themed Halloween show The Premature E-Jack-O-Lantern Party combines music, comedy and “sexy dancing.” By Jeremy Martin

In the 2017 Letterkenny episode “The Haunting of MoDean’s II,” Wayne, to much delight, references an annual preHalloween party called “Premature Ejacu-lantern.” Letterkenny fan and Mt. Terror synthesizer player Jeremiah Holland, who named his own event after the joke, said he was surprised how many people get the reference.

“There’s a lot more people that like that show than I thought,” Holland said of the Canadian comedy that’s been building a cult following in the U.S. “I thought it was just, like, my own secret.”

The Premature E-Jack-O-Lantern Party is 9 p.m. Saturday at The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave. In addition to live performances by local bands Mt. Terror, The Sweet Talkers and Fresh Juice Party, the show’s flyer also promises comedy, a costume contest and “sexy dancing.” Holland said partygoers should Mt. Terror released “How to Be a Bomb” and “Future Coast” in 2018. | Image provided

expect “all the standard Halloween stuff, slightly-Letterkenny themed,” and added that Mt. Terror’s performance will include some sort of visual elements “even if it’s just a smoke machine.”

“We might have some tricks up our sleeve,” Holland said.

Mt. Terror, which released a doublesided single comprising “How to Be a Bomb” and “Future Coast” in May of 2018, is currently working on an EP after experimenting with different sounds and approaches.

Completely, perfectly executed music is not always what, artistically, makes an impact.

Jeremiah Holland “It was kind of one of those things where I had thought about trying to change some of the format, and I went through all of these ideas and then basically came full circle back to the exact same thing that we’ve been doing, and I decided that we were going to just lean into that and start working,” Holland said. “We wanted this project to be kind of upbeat, fun, dance-y. For me, it’s always just been about Brennan Barnes is, I think, an absolute genius songwriter, and I want to get his music created and out there. It’s been some pretty intense ups and downs in the

process, but it’s still worth it to me.”

Though vocalist and organist Barnes, who formerly fronted Deerpeople, is primarily in charge of the band’s musical direction, Holland said the interplay between all of the members is crucial.

“It’s this weird thing where we all are necessary,” Holland said. “It’s a super interesting dynamic, because I feel like, even though he writes the songs, he wouldn’t be doing it with anybody else. It’s a weird dynamic, but it works. And I think, after several years, I’ve figured out how to approach it, and how to do it effectively, and then hopefully, get some more traction.”

While Holland said he tends to be a perfectionist, he is learning to stop worrying and love the dynamic that led to “How to Be a Bomb,” which required him to switch from the guitar to the synthesizer.

“If something doesn’t work, I want to change it and do something different or add something or take something,” Holland said. “I was, in the past, kind of getting trapped in that idea, but I kind of let go of that and have just stopped trying to change what we are. I’m a guitar player playing synths, and Katie [Bouknight] is a violinist playing bass.

So when we’re not the best synth player and bass player in the city, I’m like, ‘Why don’t I try to go get the best bass player and synth player in the city?’ but that’s the thing about our music. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Completely, perfectly executed music is not always what, artistically, makes an impact. …

I guess we’ll just embrace what we are and see where that takes us. … I think there’s some satisfaction or a tension that gets released with having to do something you’re not very good at.”

In an interview with Oklahoma Gazette in April, Barnes said he wanted to move to a synth-based sound because he has trouble finding the guitar exciting at this point in music history.

“We don’t have a guitar player at all in Mt. Terror, which is nice,” Barnes said. “It’s kind of what I always wanted, and you can kind of tell that’s what I always wanted, because in Deerpeople the guitar parts were never very guitary. … I think that’s the direction that even rock music, in a weird way, is moving. I feel like just everything had been done on guitar by, like, 1979, so you’re just recycling all this guitar stuff.”

Though Holland said he is more proficient on guitar, as a former Navy pilot he does find something familiar about the Behringer DeepMind analog synthesizer he picked after trying out several other models.

“I do like the buttons and all the knobs,” Holland said. “And I still have a lot of those synths so if I can get a synth-lord station going, that’s kind of reminiscent of being in a jet and having all the buttons and stuff to tweak and modulate, which I enjoy. That’s a lot of fun. … That may be a theme for me. I like playing with the buttons.”

When asked if he finds any part of music scary, Holland — playing a Halloween show in a band called Mt. Terror — laughed.

“All of life is kind of creepy these days,” Holland said.

Standup comic Matt Raney, who recently won the annual Funniest Person in OKC contest, is also scheduled to perform. Raney said being afraid is an important part of his creative process.

“I know if a joke scares me, then it’s probably a joke I need to work with,” Raney said. “I like a good scary joke — scary in the sense that it might backfire and they might hate you. Those are fun.

That’s the ultimate scare, to be scared that the way I’m phrasing this might really come off as offensive. It’s like a dance. You’re going to say some fucked up shit, but you hope you might be able to slide it under the radar. … It’s the, ‘Am I going to get away with this or not?’ that’s scary.”

Performing at a show that also features music adds a new fear, as well.

“There’s going to be more attractive people at this show than at a comedy show,” Raney said, “so the new rule is, ‘Don’t do anything embarrassing in front of this more attractive audience.’”

Admission is free. Visit facebook. com/theparamountroom.

The Premature E-Jack-O-Lantern Party 9 p.m. Saturday The Paramount Room 701 W. Sheridan Ave. facebook.com/theparamountroom Free

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EVENT

MUSIC

Dancing days

Daybreak Festival brings three days of electronic dance music to Byars. By Jeremy Martin

To be honest, if the organizers behind Daybreak Festival were making a playlist instead of scheduling a lineup, electronic dance music (EDM) might not be their first choice.

“I don’t know that much about electronic dance music,” said Darren Bond, owner of Big Creek Events, the venue for the inaugural festival. “I have listened to some of it, but, to be honest with you, if I said I knew a lot about it, it would be kind of telling you something that’s not true.”

But Bond added, EDM fans are a “crowd that shows up and has fun.”

Presented by Landrunners event promotion and featuring a lineup of more than 75 EDM acts headlined by Kayzo, Herobust, Zeds Dead and Ekali, Daybreak runs Oct. 24-26 at Big Creek Events, County Road 143, in Byars.

Landrunners venue manager Mikael Gravitt, who helped produce Mystik Sanctuary music festival at OKC Downtown Airpark in 2014, said EDM fans are underserved in the region.

“We felt like Oklahoma as a whole needed an EDM festival,” Gravitt said.

“There hasn’t been anything quite this caliber targeted towards EDM music, to my knowledge, unless I’m missing something. … It was something that we kind of wanted to give to the Oklahoma EDM scene specifically.”

Gravitt said the enthusiasm EDM fans have for the music is contagious and the community they create around it is uplifting.

“Kids, I feel like, in any specific genre of music, they kind of coordinate themselves and classify themselves as a family, whether that be country, red dirt, jam, rock ’n’ roll, hip hop, EDM,” Gravitt said. “Whenever the show starts, I never even really look at the stage. Turning around and seeing 2,000; 4,000; 5,000; up to 10,000 people … watching all those specific groups of people just forget about everything on the outside and all enjoy the same thing, it’s really kind of a magical experience.

There’s nothing else like it in the world to me. … I think it’s just something that these kids deserve, at the end of the day.”

Bond said he’s been too busy “building roads, putting in pipes and fences … growing grass” and installing other additional infrastructure required to host a music festival of this magnitude at Big Creek — a venue that typically hosts weddings, proms and other private events — to do much research on the music featured at Daybreak, but as a devoted music fan, he said he recognizes a kindred zeal in EDM fans.

There hasn’t been anything quite this caliber targeted towards EDM music, to my knowledge, unless I’m missing something … It was something that we kind of wanted to give to the Oklahoma EDM scene specifically.

Mikael Gravitt “They’re passionate about their music, too,” Bond said. “Even a person of my advanced age of 58 who is not into EDM in a big way, you just appreciate the authenticity and the motivation when people are really into their music.”

So, for the uninitiated, whether they’ve been preoccupied fitting pipes or watching grass grow, here’s some brief info about Daybreak’s headlining acts.

Born in Houston but based in Los Angeles, Kayzo — aka Hayden Capuozzo — mixes elements of (to name a few) dubstep, electro, trap, R&B and hardcore (both happy and Ekali is scheduled to headline Daybreak Oct. 26. | Photo provided

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the other kind), for a hyperactive listening experience that feels like it should count as your cardio for the day. Released in August, Kayzo’s Unleashed features guest appearances by Blessthefall, Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire, ALRT and more. Music and culture blog Dancing Astronaut praised Kayzo’s “aggressive sound” and said his “chaotic” live shows are a “bass spectacle … sure to push the limits of the venue’s speakers.”

Atlanta producer Herobust — aka Hayden Kramer — might have given us the perfect description of his bass-heavy Southern rap-influenced style with the single “Dumb Lit,” released in August.

Built around brief vocal samples, tracks such as “Bruh,” “WTF” and “Skurt Reynolds” take a high-tech, maximalist approach to minimalism like glowstick waving, beat-dropping descendants of Steve Reich’s “Come Out.” In an interview with Insomniac, Kramer said his style combines all his favorite genres.

“What you’re hearing come out of me is just really an amalgamation of all the music I’m around, and because I legitimately like it, I’m going to throw it in,” Kramer said. “I couldn’t even stop it.”

Named after a line from the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction, Toronto duo Zeds Dead (Zachary RappRovan and Dylan Mamid) cruise from a hard-hitting hip-hop beat to an ethereal groove as stylishly and smoothly as Bruce Willis on that Harley-Davidson chopper. EDM.com calls Zeds Dead “one of the most influential names in the electronic music space,” and DROELOE collaboration “Stars Tonight,” released in June, extends that space from the dancefloor to the cosmos.

Vancouver artist Ekali’s 2015 single “Unfaith” should sound familiar to fans of Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which samples the song in “Preach” and “Wednesday Night Interlude.”

Attentive listening to Ekali’s single “Be Fine” (featuring Wafia), released in September, reveals sophisticated compositional complexity beneath the glossy surface of the catchy beat.

Daybreak Festival is Oct. 24-26 at Big Creek Events in Byars, a venue that typically hosts weddings and proms. | Photo provided

In addition to musical entertainment provided by these artists, Daybreak will also offers visitors a fleshed-out themepark-inspired backstory echoing The War of the Worlds, Night of the Living Dead and Zombieland.

“Basically, the idea is that this alien spacecraft has crashed on the farm, and a virus has spread from the aliens and created a zombie apocalypse,” Bond said. “We’re going to have a very Halloween-oriented festival with people walking around in whatever costume they choose to walk around in, but specifically, we’ve got, I think, in the neighborhood of 40-plus volunteers who are going to be dressed as ghouls of one variety or the other.”

But in the case of an actual crisis, Gravitt said organizers, after months of preparation and coordinating with state authorities, have contingencies in place to ensure everyone’s safety.

“We have emergency plans, anywhere from tornadoes to lightning, fires, rain, hail storms,”Gravitt said.

“There are a lot of guidelines that we use, from not just our own internal company, but also national companies that have multiple of these events every year. They basically set the standard for protocol, and then we kind of adapt it based upon our specific venue. … I feel, in this case, we have all of our ducks in a row.”

The festival also features interactive visual art installations and a costume contest. Tickets are $20-$299. Two-day pass holders can camp on-site for free.

Visit daybreakfestival.com.

Daybreak Festival Oct. 24-26 Big Creek Events County Road 143, Byars daybreakfestival.com $20-$299

LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

WEDNESDAY, MAY. 8 Gunna/Shy Glizzy/Lil Keed, Bricktown Events Center. HIP-HOP The Psychedelic Furs, Tower Theatre. ROCK

Oklahoma City Community College Performing Arts Series Presents Adam Ledbetter Ensemble/Chanda Graham, Artspace at Untitled. JAZZ The Big News/Be Like Max, Blue Note Lounge.

PUNK

Buddy South, Bedlam Bar-B-Q. COUNTRY/ROCK The Damn Quails, The Blue Door. COUNTRY Gemi X/Apollo/Mike Cloud, 89th Street-OKC. HIP-HOP

Kevin Fowler, Riverwind Casino. COUNTRY

Sawyer Fredericks, Opolis. FOLK

Schat & The Skeleton Trees/Wicked Shimmies/ Stone Tide, Bison Witches Bar & Deli. ROCK

Scarlett O’Hara/Letters to a Friend, Your Mom’s Place. METAL/HARDCORE

SUNDAY, MAY. 12

Whitechapel/Dying Fetus, Diamond Ballroom.

METAL

MGMT/Warpaint, The Criterion. ROCK

THURSDAY, MAY. 9 Girlpool/Hatchie/Pigments, 89th Street-OKC.

Jim James/Amo Amo, Tower Theatre. ROCK

MONDAY, MAY. 13 Blessthefall/Palisades/Slaves, 89th Street-OKC. MEATL/HARDCORE

Jason Hunt, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

ROCK

Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26 at 8:00 p.m. tickets.occc.edu • Box Office (405) 682-7579 Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater • 7777 South May Avenue

Mad Honey It’s probably too easy to call Mad Honey’s debut EP Theories, released Oct. 11, “cinematic” for its wide-screen, high-res production; vocalist Tiff Sutcliffe’s emotive voice; and the rewarding arc of its track sequencing, so instead, let’s think of it as a piece of augmented reality merging humanity and technology to create an immersive experience you don’t mind getting lost inside of — dream pop in the most satisfying sense. Nashville-based Veaux (formerly Medic) and locals Gloom Cruise share the bill. The show is 8-11 p.m. Friday at The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave. Admission is $5. Call 405-532-6376 or visit theparamountroom.com. FRIDAY Photo provided

Hot House Band, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. JAZZ

TUESDAY, MAY. 14

KALO/Beth Lee/Chris Duarte, VZD’s Restaurant & Bar. BLUES/ROCK

Alicia Witt, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Missio, Tower Theatre. ELECTRONIC

COUNTRY

Country Clique, Friends Restaurant & Club.

Old 97s/Bob Schneider/The Bottle Rockets, The Jones Assembly. COUNTRY/ROCK

Death Angel/Arkhon/Malicyde, 89th Street-OKC.

Shelby Phelps/Dylan Nagode, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Café. ACOUSTIC

Kyle Reid, Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails. SINGER/

METAL

SONGWRITER

FRIDAY, MAY. 10 Blanke, OKC Farmers Market. ELECTRONIC Bonnie Bishop, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Elizabeth Wise, Main Street Event Center. BLUES KOA/Via The Verge/Perseus, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK

Levi Parham/Kinsey Charles/Jason Scott, 51st Street Speakeasy. SINGER/SONGWRITER Shooter Jennings, Tower Theatre. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Splatter/Death Squad/Amenaza, Blue Note Lounge. HARDCORE

SATURDAY, MAY. 11

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS!

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9

27

BEND A LITTLE EASIER For the entire month of October, buy one bottle of Muscle & Joint Capsules, get one half o.

Our capsules are designed to loosen up our rigid form, even when the shifting seasons have our joints popping. The combination of glucosamine, curcumin, piperine, and white willow provides a holistic boost to the active lifestyle. Live your best life.

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CANNABIS

THE HIGH CULTURE

THC

Growing pains David Donnell has been trying to get his cannabis grow off the ground for over a year but said the city of Piedmont is holding a grudge. By Matt Dinger

David Donnell was one of the first Oklahomans to receive his commercial growing license but still has not been able to harvest a single crop.

Euno Grow received its approval last September, and then Donnell went about getting the city of Piedmont to sign off on his remodeling permit.

“We have 35 acres. It’s a naturally secure location. The only way in is across a gated bridge on a long road up to our property,” Donnell said. “I obtained my building permit from the city of Piedmont in January. I told them I was building some rooms out in my garage. We have a kind of a big metal building. Half of it’s our house; the other half is a shop/garage area. … The community development supervisor basically pulled out the forms, she checked the boxes, said that would be a residential remodel and that was pretty much it. I didn’t tell them what I was going to do. It wasn’t required. They didn’t ask.”

Donnell began construction. Weeks later, Piedmont’s city council passed Ordinance 660, which regulated cannabis businesses in the city. The ordinance states that commercial grows must be located in areas zoned for agricultural use in the city. Euno Grow is zoned for agricultural use.

“They set the rules and regulations and permits and all that. We had no knowledge of that. They never posted it on the website. No one knew about this, this new ordinance. In mid-March, the inspector came out and delivered a new building permit application that included commercial marijuana estab-

lishments, which required all this additional information like building plans, engineer drawings,” Donnell said. “The city inspector did that inspection and gave me the little green approval inspection card and then turned around and handed me what is called a notice of stop work order, and I said, ‘What’s this for?’

And he said, ‘You can’t be doing that.’ I said, ‘Doing what?’ and he said, ‘You can’t be growing.’ While we were under construction, we had our grow tents out in the area, keeping our genetics alive and doing some testing on some strains.

And he said we couldn’t be growing, and I said ‘Yes, I can. I have gotten state license to do so.’ And he said, ‘No, you don’t have a city permit.’”

A few days later, a Piedmont police officer came to his house and issued a municipal complaint.

“Defendant has not obtained a marijuana commercial grower and business license through the city of Piedmont as of April 26, 2019. Defendant is growing on this date,” the complaint reads.

The case was continued until July.

Meanwhile, Ordinance 660 was then amended on June 24, stating that growing operations must now be located in commercial or industrial zones. Donnell said he was not notified of the change.

“We were agricultural originally.

That’s what it said in the ordinance, and they changed it in June for some reason,” Donnell said. “Finally, there was communication between our attorneys and the prosecuting attorney, and they basically said, ‘Look, they don’t like your client. There’s like a vendetta

against them or something. They’ve basically vowed that we would never be approved or get a license.’”

Donnell continued to go back and forth with the city of Piedmont, jumping through all the hoops required of him to get square with it.

“I have a state license to be doing what I’m doing,” Donnell said. “We have provided and supply them with everything they’ve demanded this whole time. When we went in to [submit an application] in the middle of September, they rejected it on the spot.”

We have done everything asked of us. They just don’t want us there.

J. Blake Johnson In a letter on City of Piedmont letterhead dated Sept. 24, community development supervisor Kayla Cornett wrote, “It has come to our attention that work is continuing to proceed on the marijuana growing facility. … Due to not having appropriate permits and licensing to do so, the City of Piedmont requests that all work and growth ceases until the issue is resolved. This issue needs to be resolved by October 15, 2019, otherwise the City of Piedmont will pursue it with the District Court.”

Cornett declined to comment on the basis that it is a legal issue. Piedmont’s city attorney did not return a request for comment.

Donnell’s attorney, J. Blake Johnson, has never seen anything like it.

“Literally never, in my experience, working with dozens, if not hundreds, of local authorities at the municipal or county level have I encountered this level of obstruction,” Johnson said.

“They have changed the rules mid-game

from left David Donnell and Dan Donnell | Photo Alexa Ace

on multiple occasions and refused a reasonable request that we be excepted from those rules, at least until such time that we can make reasonable efforts to comply. And let me add also that, in my experience, again dealing with a lot of local authorities, it is highly unusual to prohibit cultivation in an agricultural zone in the first place. The fact that our dispute with the city on this issue had already begun prior to them making that change in the ordinance is highly suspicious to me. Knowing that they have an applicant for permit in an [agricultural] zone that they have already made efforts to prevent from operating there, that they would prevent the cultivation of an agricultural commodity in an agricultural zone, is already highly suspicious, especially as compared to almost any other jurisdiction.

“To be clear, we absolutely don’t want to litigate. It’s not in anyone’s benefit.

It’s not in the interest of our clients, for whom it will cost time, money and considerable stress, and it’s not in the interests of the city of Piedmont, who, as a review of any public record will indicate, is resource-starved to begin with and doesn’t need to accrue unnecessary litigation expenses. We do not want to litigate, but we obviously cannot walk away from a half a million-dollar investment in this facility or the literal millions of dollars in anticipated [return on investment]. We earnestly have endeavored at every turn to comply with every lawful request that has been made by the city, and some that I’m not sure are lawful. We have paid permit fees that I believe are onerous. We have made improvements or sought certifications that we believe were unnecessary, all at our own considerable expense. We have done everything asked of us. They just don’t want us there.”

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Stable market

While cannabis prices have dropped in the past year, they have remained fairly constant for most of 2019. By Matt Dinger

While prices in the Oklahoma medical cannabis market seemed to be dipping in the spring, six months later, they have held steady and, in some cases, have risen.

A multitude of factors are responsible for the stagnation in sticker prices, according to dispensary owners and budtenders.

Gary “Turbo” Webb manages Green Plus, 1120 S. Air Depot Blvd., Suite 10, in Midwest City. He previously worked at the company’s location in south Oklahoma City. He said growers are still asking about $2,400 per pound of lowerquality cannabis and between $2,800 and $3,200 per pound for top-shelf.

“I think that all of that is very likely to change here in the coming weeks,” Webb said. “There’s a lot of outdoor that has already been up for harvest and is already out there on the market.

More of it’s on its way, and apparently there’s a lot from everything that I’m hearing. There’s going to be a ton of it.

So I don’t know if we’re going to neces-

sarily have any kind of a shortage on cannabis in general, but on really quality, pretty cannabis, shelf cannabis like the stuff that all the customers are griping at us that they want, that’s going to be pretty tough to come by.

One thing I’ve seen is that dispensaries have done nothing but go down in their pricing. And the pricing for product has done nothing but go up, so our profit margins have shrunk.”

Part of that has to do with the amount of competition for product. He said there are 13 other dispensaries within two miles of his location.

“About two months ago, we went through a dry spell here in Oklahoma where flower was getting increasingly tough to find, and pricing shot up on it all,” Webb said. “A lot of stores went dry or had one strain, two strains, four strains

EvErything Gary “Turbo” Webb | Photo Alexa Ace

max, and we try to base our business on no less than nine or 10. It started a pricing war where we’re trying to have to keep pace in competition with these other stores.”

Oklahoma patients are consuming a large amount of cannabis, he said, and the resulting demand is spiking prices.

The program has just passed the milestone of 200,000 patients just shy of a year of the date when dispensaries began to be able to sell THC products legally.

Fair prices

In southeast Oklahoma City, brothers Seany and Kelby Valdez own and operate Oklahoma Kind Connection, 3535 N. Shields Blvd. They opened their dispensary in mid-April.

Its pricing has stayed about the same, they said, starting at $8 a gram and going up to $15. It has always carried a large number of flower strains. Currently, it stocks just over 40 different types of flower.

The pricing for product has done nothing but go up, so our profit margins have shrunk.

Gary “Turbo” Webb “As we get into the first year of legalization, we feel like we’re competitive with the selection, the variety and the quality that we offer,” Seany Valdez said.

“Since the patient cannot smoke before purchasing, it has to have a great nose on it. The terpene profile has to be there, the structure, and at the end of the day, how much we have to pay for it. Growers that are growing high-quality stuff demand more for their product because it’s sought-after. We have seen some changes recently with the ‘unity bill’ coming into effect and the testing results being a requirement as well as some other growers who may or may not have been doing things by the book have started to fall off and quality has gotten a little more scarce. We’ve seen them go up, I wouldn’t say significantly, but I wouldn’t say it’s unnoticeable either.”

Kelby Valdez stressed that they try to keep prices fair.

“If buy something for a certain amount of money, I have to sell it here in order to stay open. But I don’t want t o be greedy. I don’t want to take two times the amount that I paid. I don’t want to

take three times the amount that I paid, and that’s why all of our pricing is the way that it is, just because it’s fair for everyone. It’s not going to put someone in a bind to try it.”

A patient convinced them to create a “private reserve” shelf priced at $20 a gram for connoisseur flower, but there are only a handful of strains on the shelf at that price point.

“We had people asking for a certain strain that we wanted to try, and we had to pay a lot of money for it. It wasn’t something that we bought a lot of,” Kelby Valdez said. “It’s really hard to find a strain like that or find a flower like that that is purchasable. Most growers will want to keep it for themselves or it’d be spoken for. …

Once we’re able to find weed of that quality and caliber all the time, we’ll probably dissolve the shelf completely. As the market matures and the growers get more experience, the private reserve will go away because the price will get competitive enough.”

Seany Valdez also expects to see prices drop in the near future due to large harvests coming to market.

“I’m hoping that the prices will soon go down with some of these bigger grows that I’ve heard and seen that were coming into play,” he said. “I’ve gotten word from some bigger growers that are supposed to be pulling down quality flower that are supposed to be lowering the prices to the market, and that was their goal, to come in with a large surplus of quality to get these high tickets out of the market and get everyone competing at a lower price point.”

No matter the prices, Oklahomans are now just under a year out from a completely different business model when it came to acquiring their cannabis.

“That scenario where you had to call a guy, he said he’d be there in 20 minutes. Two hours later, he’s still not there. Then he ghosts you for two days, and then when you finally see him, he’s like, ‘Hey, you still want that?’” Webb said. “You want to be pissed off and tell him to go fuck off, but you’re like ‘Yes, of course I still want that.’ There’s a lot of these people that have never experienced that, so just the appreciation of the experience of getting to walk into a dispensary and have the selection that you do, outdoor or not, is something that I think everybody should be a little more thankful for.”

Oklahoma cannabis prices have stayed constant over the last six months. | Bigstock.com

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O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Homework: “I have thousands of opinions still— but that is down from millions—and, as always, I know nothing.” So said Harold Brodkey. And you?

FreeWillAstrology.com ARIES (March 21-April 19)

“We can’t change anything until we get some fresh ideas, until we begin to see things differently,” wrote Aries psychologist James Hillman. I agree. And that’s very good news for you Aries people. In my view, you are more attracted to and excited by fresh ideas than any other sign of the zodiac. That’s why you have the potential to become master initiators of transformation. One of my favorite types of plot twists in your life story occurs when you seek out fresh ideas and initiate transformations not only in your own behalf, but also for those you care about. I bet the coming weeks will bring at least one of those plot twists.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Metaphorically speaking, Taurus, you are now crossing a bridge. Behind you is the intriguing past; in front of you, the even more intriguing future. You can still decide to return to where you came from. Or else you could pick up your pace, and race ahead at twice the speed. You might even make the choice to linger on the bridge for a while; to survey the vast vistas that are visible and contemplate more leisurely the transition you’re making. Only you know what’s best for you, of course. But if you asked me, I’d be in favor of lingering on the bridge for a while.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

As I write this, I’m sitting in a café near two women at another table. One sports a gold cashmere headscarf and pentagram necklace. The other wears a dark blue pantsuit and a silver broach that’s the glyph for Gemini the Twins.

HeadScarf shuffles a deck of Tarot cards and asks PantSuit what she’d like to find out during the divination she is about to receive. “I would very much like you to tell me what I really really want,” PantSuit says with a chuckle.

“I’m sure that once I find out that big secret, I’ll be able to accomplish wonders.” I hope the rest of you Geminis will be on a similar mission in the coming weeks. Do whatever it takes to get very clear about what you want most.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates was meandering through an Athenian marketplace, gazing at the appealing and expensive items for sale. “How many things there are in this world that I do not want,” he exclaimed with satisfaction. I recommend you cultivate that liberated attitude. Now is a perfect time to celebrate the fact that there are countless treasures and pleasures you don’t need in order to be charmed and cheerful about your life. For extra credit, add this nuance from Henry David Thoreau: People are rich in proportion to the number of things they can afford to let alone.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

I invite you to try this exercise. Imagine that one springtime you grow a garden filled with flowers that rabbits like to nibble: petunias, marigolds, gazanias, and pansies. This is a place whose only purpose is to give gifts to a wild, sweet part of nature. It’s blithely impractical. You do it for your own senseless, secret joy.

It appeals to the dreamy lover of life in you. Got all that, Leo? Now, in accordance with current astrological omens, I suggest you actually try to fulfill a fantasy comparable to that one in the coming weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

and the ability to solve any riddle. One of its ingredients was honey. In Slavic folklore, raskovnik is an herb with the magic power to unlock what’s locked and uncover hidden treasures. It’s not a four-leaf clover, but resembles it. I invite you Libras to fantasize about using these three marvels. To do so will potentize your imagination, thereby boosting the cosmic forces that will be working in your favor to enhance your awareness, confer inspiration, solve riddles, unlock what’s locked, and find hidden treasures.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Inventor Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) was a visionary genius in numerous fields, including architecture, design, engineering, and futurism. In the course of earning 40 honorary doctorates, he traveled widely. It was his custom to wear three watches, each set to a different time: one to the zone where he currently was, another to where he had recently departed, and a third to where he would journey next. “I know that I am not a category,” he wrote. “I am not a thing—a noun. I seem to be a verb.” I recommend his approach to you in the coming weeks, Scorpio. Be a verb! Allow your identity to be fluid, your plans adjustable, your ideas subject to constant revision.

My Virgo friend Lola got a text-message from her Scorpio buddy Tanya. “Why don’t you come over and chill with me and my demons? It’ll be entertaining, I promise! My inner jerks are howlingly funny tonight.” Here’s what Lola texted back: “Thanks but no thanks, sweetie. I’ve been making big breakthroughs with my own demons— giving them the attention they crave without caving in to their outrageous demands—and for now I need to work on stabilizing our new relationship. I can’t risk bringing extra demons into the mix.” I suspect this is an accurate description of what could be happening for you, Virgo.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

In ancient holy texts from India, soma was said to be a drink that enhanced awareness and alertness. According to modern scholars, it may have been a blend of poppy, ephedra, and cannabis. In Norse mythology, the beverage called the Mead of Suttungr conferred poetic inspiration

“Art is good for my soul precisely because it reminds me that we have souls in the first place,” said actress Tilda Swinton. How about you, Sagittarius? What reminds you that you have a soul in the first place? Beloved animals? Favorite music? A stroll amidst natural wonders? Unpredictable, fascinating sexual experiences?

The vivid and mysterious dreams you have at night?

Whatever stimuli bring you into visceral communion with your soul, I urge you to seek them out in abundance.

It’s Soul-Cherishing and Soul-Enhancing Time for you.

The coming weeks will be a favorable time to arrange a series of high-level meetings between your body, mind, and soul. You might even consider staging an extravagant conference-like festival and festival-like conference.

The astrological omens suggest that your body, mind,

and soul are now primed to reveal choice secrets and tips to each other. They are all more willing and eager than usual to come up with productive new synergies that will enable each to function with more panache and effectiveness.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

“I believe in inhabiting contradictions,” writes Aquarian author and activist Angela Davis. “I believe in making contradictions productive, not in having to choose one side or the other side. As opposed to choosing either or choosing both.” I think Davis’s approach will work well for you in the coming weeks. It’s not just that the contradictions will be tolerable; they will be downright fertile, generous, and beneficent. So welcome them; honor them; allow them to bless you with their tricky opportunities and unexpected solutions.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Piscean pianist Frédéric Chopin (1801–1849) was a poetic genius whose music was full of sweetness and grace.

“Without equal in his generation,” said more than one critic. Today, more than 170 years after his death, his work remains popular. Recently an Italian sound designer named Remo de Vico created an original new Chopin piece that featured all 21 of the master’s piano nocturnes being played simultaneously. (You can hear it here: tinyurl.com/NewChopin.) As you might imagine, it’s a gorgeous mess, too crammed with notes to truly be enjoyable, but interesting nevertheless. I’ll counsel you to avoid a similar fate in the coming weeks, Pisces. It’s fine to be extravagant and expansive and mulitfaceted; just don’t overdo it.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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PUZZLES NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS | 1020

By Howard Barkin and Victor Barocas Puzzles edited by Will Shortz

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1 What helicopter rotors do 5 “____ to Psyche” 8 Bartók and Lugosi 13 Seven Sisters school that went coed in 1969 19 Famous feature of the Florence Cathedral 20 Romulus, exempli gratia 21 It goes up with alcohol consumption 23 Cereal mascot since 1933 24 NYC-based dance troupe 25 [PREVIOUS] Memoirist 26 Psalm 63 opening 28 Unable to choose 30 Blood drive worker 31 On the way 32 Many 34 Tactless 36 Marsh flora 38 Rapper Lil ____ X 39 [NEXT] Journalist and author 42 Maui setting: Abbr.

44 Downwind 45 Mimic 46 Quarry, e.g.

47 Raise one’s spirits 49 Weighed on 51 Gangster’s gun 52 Large print source 54 Org. for the Demon Deacons and Blue Devils 55 [PREVIOUS] Sci-fi author 58 Observance on Yom Kippur or during Ramadan 61 H.S. class for future engineers, say 62 Spoke with a forked tongue 63 Guides of a sort 64 “From where I sit,” briefly 65 Increases 66 Word appearing on only one current U.S. coin (the nickel) 67 Bit 68 Yonder 72 Medium on display at Brickworld 73 [NEXT] Famed rights advocate 75 Agcy. that supports entrepreneurs 77 Many a middle schooler 78 Sounds during a strep test 79 1976 hit whose title is sung just before the line “Take it easy” 84 Buenos ____ 85 Sis’s sib 86 Isn’t in the black 87 Information on a game box 88 The so-called “winter blues,” for short 89 [PREVIOUS] Noted politician and orator 93 “Honor”-able org.

95 Gush 97 Largest cell in the human body 98 Got by 99 Yeats’s homeland 101 Brings up 103 Award for Best Moment, e.g.

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33 Part of a Swiss bank account 35 One good at reading emotions 37 Boating hazard 40 Something a house might be built on 41 Epigrammatic 43 Brand in the dessert aisle DOWN 47 Clue collectors, for short 1 MS. units 48 Grow a fondness for 2 Site of the first Ironman race (1978) 50 Grub 3 Words accompanying “Uh-oh!” 51 Assoc.

4 Moved, as in a greenhouse 52 Includes surreptitiously 5 ____ pro nobis 53 Melds 6 Factor affecting a bond’s rating 55 Left on board 7 Took by threat 56 High percentage of criminals?

8 Actor on Time’s list of the 100 57 No longer green, say most important people of the 58 Popular sans-serif typeface 20th century 59 Truism based on a line by 9 California’s ____ River Gertrude Stein 10 Reclined 60 Major source of coffee beans 11 Hex’d 61 Mass-produced response?

12 Playing on both sides 63 Inspiration for a horror movie?

13 “I ____” (sticker message) 64 Nobelist Pavlov 14 “I’ll take that as ____” 66 Hammer feature 15 Parts of a portfolio: Abbr.

68 U.K. honours 16 Iconic environmental book 69 Choreographer Twyla 17 Maker of the classic Radarange 70 Trio often heard in December 18 Concludes one’s case 71 Northern borders?

22 “Ghosts” playwright 74 Can’t do without 27 Forest mother 75 Runners support it 29 River through Dortmund 76 Place of security 32 Model of vengeful obsession 79 What causes a will-o’-the-wisp

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80 Ann and Andy, notably 81 The King of Latin Pop 82 Popular sports news website 83 ExxonMobil abroad 85 Promise 86 Heavy responsibility 89 Comment following an unrepentant admission 90 Symbolic socioeconomic divider 91 Less bumpy 92 Suffix with sex or text 93 Get the show on the road 94 Número de Maravillas del Mundo Antiguo 96 Get one’s hair just right 100 Bits of work 102 Something a cobbler may hold 104 “It’s fun to stay at the ____” (1978 hit lyric) 107 Miracle-____ 108 Org. for docs 110 Bit of animation 112 About one-quarter of a high school: Abbr.

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O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle No. 1013 , which appeared in the October 9 issue.

P A S S G O

U P H I L L

T R I B A L

W H I M

T H E T A

H O R S Y

E A S E D U P

I N R E P O S E

C O M M O N E R

T S I L P O F E S S W I E D E C E M O S U T R N O T A L I S A M E R E I T I C O C H A M R A E C

S E T T O O R D E R T I D A L A L E

L A H O R E

E V E N K E E A L S K S O C F U B S A O L I O G L J O L O O S

W E D E O N K E L E O P A D K E N D E D W I E A N E G A R T Y

A S F O R F R E T S C A N H U E

W A S A B I

O N T R O N E R T

E T C T H E N Y T E S A R O N U T H D E O A O R R S S T

L U T E S S T A C K A R E A S

E L F B I M I N A L R L S T O H O D I C I E A N J A U R R N U T S E T H S S A U F M I W R

R E I N D E E R

G A D G E T R Y

S P E E D E R

S N A P E

A C H E D

Y E A R

E T H A N E

M A O R I S

E R N E S T

CLASSIFIEDS

MUSIC

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS

NOW HIRING Full & Part time positions

CLASSIFIEDS

Chef, Kitchen, Front of House, Catering & Dish MUST L V E BAR-B-Q!

HOMES

Please apply in person between 1PM & 2PM weekdays

Physician-Cardiologist.

Duties incl, w/out limitation (a) examination, treatment & diagnosis of patients, (b) prep’n & completion of appropriate medical records, (c) supv’n of nursing staff & other personnel, (d) participation in health plans approved by employer, & (e) such other duties & responsibilities as are generally performed & provided by physicians in the care & treatment of patients & the admin & operation of a cardiovascular medical practice. Will work in multiple worksites incl OKC & Ardmore, OK. Must have an M.D. or D.O. in medicine, surgery, or related field or foreign equiv. Must have or be eligible for Board Certification in Internal Medicine & Cardiovascular Medicine. Must have or be eligible for OK State Medical Licensure. Must have legal authority to work in the US. Send Resume to: H.R., OHH Physicians LLC, 4050 W. Memorial Rd, OKC, OK 73120. EOE.

List your event in

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O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 9

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