#OKCBOXSCORE
‘Community cats’ measure passes
Oklahoma City will spend the next year measuring effectiveness of an ordinance intended to reduce the numbers of “community cats.” Passed Tuesday, the ordinance is aimed at reducing the cost of caring for and euthanizing cats at the Animal Shelter, while making sure cats returned to neighborhoods have been spayed or neutered and vaccinated against rabies. A goal is to reduce the Animal Shelter’s euthanasia rate from 40 percent to 25 percent. A memo from the city manager estimated the city has 97,000 free-roaming cats that are cared for in neighborhoods but do not have a particular owner.
Tweet of the week
“If you’re an @OGandE residential customer, your bills are going up about $9.60/month because of higher fuel costs”
— @NewsOKEnergy. Read the latest Oklahoma energy coverage at NewsOK.com.
Quote of the week
“It really is a success. It’s not a full success yet, but we’re in that range and there are less people being incarcerated on Oklahoma City charges today.”
— City Manager Jim Couch, commenting on reductions in the cost of Oklahoma City’s contract for cells for city prisoners in the Oklahoma County jail. Oklahoma City’s Municipal Court is finding alternatives to jail for offenders who are indigent and cannot pay fines. The 2017-18
contract is $1.4 million.
By the numbers
• 119: Average daily number of prisoners Oklahoma City estimated it would confine at the Oklahoma County jail last fiscal year, for an overall cost of $2 million.
• 79: Average daily number of prisoners Oklahoma City estimates it will confine at the Oklahoma County jail this fiscal year.
• $42.88: Daily rate Oklahoma County will charge Oklahoma City, per prisoner, to hold city prisoners in the county jail in 2017-18.
Streetcar construction
MAPS 3 streetcar construction is intensifying throughout downtown. For updates, follow @williamcrum on Twitter and the weekly downtown area traffic advisory at http://okc. gov. Track installation was 19 percent complete as of last week. Plans are to finish construction in Bricktown in the next six weeks.
It’s a fact
Oklahoma City streetcars are expected to begin arriving from Brookville Equipment Corp. in Pennsylvania at a pace of about one per week starting in late October.
Present/absent
Mayor Mick Cornett and the eight city council members attended last week’s meeting.
Looking ahead
The Oklahoma City Council meets at 8:30 a.m. July 18 at City Hall, 200 N Walker.
Garth’s fans urged to carpool
Garth Brooks’ concerts Friday and Saturday are expected to put pressure on parking in downtown Oklahoma City. Brooks is playing two shows Friday evening and matinee and evening shows Saturday at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Parking officials expect fans will be arriving for the late shows before the early shows end; they’re urging fans to carpool to assure everyone can find a spot to park. There are just under 15,000 spaces downtown, excluding on-street parking and garages closed to the public.
Record breaker: More than 50,000 tickets have been sold for Brooks’ concerts at the ‘Peake.