OK C CIVIC LIFE
Aero tradition ending
Southwest Airlines began flying between Oklahoma City and Dallas on April 1, 1980. That ends in January, when the airline suspends daily flights between Will Rogers World Airport and Dallas' Love Field. Southwest inaugurated OKC-DAL service with $37 one-way weekday fares, $24 evenings and weekends. Service began with seven daily weekday round trips. Will Rogers' spokeswoman Karen Carney says OKC-DAL has been a low-performing route for a while. Southwest is starting daily service to Nashville and adding daily flights to Phoenix Sky Harbor and Houston Hobby. Carney said she thinks “in the long run there will be a greater breadth of connecting opportunities” for Oklahoma City passengers.
Of note: Southwest President Howard D. Putnam told the Oklahoma City Rotary Club in remarks on the day service began that his airline was “in mass transit, the commuter business.”
Sales tax `a mixed bag'
Sales tax growth slowed for the second consecutive month in Oklahoma City in August, up 1% from the same month last year. That was short of projections for 3.2% growth for the month. General fund sales tax revenue is running around $775,000 below target through the first two months of the fiscal year. On the opposite side of the ledger, use tax is $1.7 million above target, up 20.5% from this time last year.
Reservoirs brimming
With drought creeping back into central Oklahoma, figures show Oklahoma City's reservoirs are in good shape. As of Friday, Lake Hefner was at 102% of full, Lake Stanley Draper at 94%, Lake Overholser at 105%, Canton Lake at 100%, Lake Atoka at 74%, and McGee Creek Reservoir at 95%. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows Cleveland and Canadian counties on the verge of moderate drought with abnormally dry conditions edging into Oklahoma County from the south and west.
Play draws council members
In their capacity as overseers of city facilities, Oklahoma City Council members can get free tickets to events at venues including Chesapeake Energy Arena, Civic Center Music Hall and Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. With the Thunder's early exit from the NBA playoffs, the summer's hottest ticket was “Hamilton” at the Civic Center, and that did not go unnoticed at City Hall. The city council office issued “Hamilton” tickets to Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper, Ward 3 Councilman Larry McAtee, Ward 4 Councilman Todd Stone, Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice, and Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher, according to city records.
Of note: The Civic Center Foundation executive director declined to reveal financials on the play's three-week run but tickets were scarce and ranged to $400.
They said it
“We're looking for an opportunity to really have the story of Oklahoma City's fullest history memorialized and conveyed, not only for this generation but for generations to come.”
— The Rev. Lee Cooper Jr., in remarks to the city council urging it to support $25 million from MAPS 4 for the Clara Luper Civil Rights Museum. Cooper distributed letters of support from several northeast-side pastors, saying they and many others “represent thousands of voters in northeast Oklahoma City” who are asking the council to approve museum funding. “It's an investment that this city owes to northeast Oklahoma City,” he said.
Present/absent
Mayor David Holt and all eight city council members attended the Aug. 6 special meeting to hear MAPS 4 presentations, and also were present for last week's regular meeting.
Calendar
The city council meets at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 27 at City Hall, 200 N Walker Ave.