#OKCBOXSCORE
Airport hourly lot scheduled for temporary closure
The hourly parking lot at Will Rogers World Airport will be closed for about two weeks for work on the airport’s new parking system. Once new entrance and exit gates and other equipment are up and running throughout the airport’s garages and lots, prepaid parking, expedited exit lanes, and other amenities will go live. For now, hourly parking will shift to the garage’s lower level.
Run benefits smoke alarm project
The Oklahoma City Fire Department is sponsoring the 5th annual Project Life Run on Sept. 9. Proceeds support the department’s smoke alarm distribution program. Project Life pays for smoke alarms and firefighters install them in residences free of charge. To register, go to www. okc.gov/departments /fire/project-life-run.
Mayoral forum set
Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123 is hosting a public safety forum with mayoral candidates state Sen. David Holt and Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan on Sept. 5. The event will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the FOP lodge, 1624 S Agnew Ave., and is open to the public. It is scheduled one week before the vote on a quarter-cent sales tax increase, intended primarily to fund the hiring of more police officers and firefighters.
Election details: Absentee balloting has begun for the Sept. 12 election. Early voting will be Sept. 7 and 8. Polls will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tweet of the week
“Will you be watching #SolarEclipse2017?.”
— @NewsOK, read eclipse coverage in The Oklahoman and at News OK.com.
They said it
“Motorists are in immediate danger any time they travel that stretch of Triple XXX Road.”
— District 2 Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan, commenting on the decision to close a half-mile stretch of Triple XXX Road north of NE 36 Street, in an area where the North Canadian River is undermining the pavement. An engineering study showed erosion threatens the road with collapse, Maughan said, adding that the river has moved 550 feet to the west in the past 12 years. The danger extends to buried natural gas lines in the area, he said.
Bond summary: Public safety, economic development
Voters will cast ballots Sept. 12 in the 2017 bond election. Thirteen propositions, to be voted on separately, are on the ballot; here’s a summary of police, fire and economic development proposals:
• Public safety: A combined police-fire training center is planned near Interstate 240 and S Air Depot Blvd., at a cost of $47.6 million. Other projects: Replacement of Fire Stations 10, 13 and 31, $17 million; construction of a new hangar for police helicopters at the Southwest Police Briefing Station, SW 54 St. and Portland Ave., near Will Rogers World Airport, $4 million.
• Economic Development:
$60 million, reserved for loans, grants and other incentives to businesses, to encourage creation of jobs through business development and expansion. Learn more online at https://data. okc.gov/ for GO Bond Projects (2017).
Streetcar construction
MAPS 3 streetcar construction is intensifying throughout downtown. For updates, follow @ williamcrum on Twitter and the weekly downtown area traffic advisory online at http://okc.gov.
It’s a fact
Bob Ponkilla, the city treasurer, is new president of the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States & Canada and recently received the organization’s Phillips Award for professional leadership.
Scissortail Park introduction
Maureen Heffernan, Myriad Botanical Gardens executive director, will discuss features of the new MAPS 3 downtown park and lead a conversation on urban park trends, on Sept. 7 at Park House Events Center at Myriad Gardens. The event begins at 6:30 p.m., with Heffernan’s presentation at 7 p.m. followed by a questionand-answer session at 8. The upper section of the 70-acre MAPS 3 downtown park is under construction and expected to open in spring 2019.
Present/absent
Mayor Mick Cornett and seven of the eight city council members attended last week’s meeting. Ward 6 Councilwoman Meg Salyer was away, on personal leave. Looking ahead
The Oklahoma City Council meets at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 29 at City Hall, 200 N Walker Ave.