Will Edmond voters turn down a new public safety center?
By now you know that Edmond taxpayers will go to the polls in Nov to vote on a $31.5 million Public Safety Center.
A new center will house the police headquarters, 911 communication center and emergency management operations.
But not everyone is excited about spending the money on the center or its proposed location at Main and Kelly.
As a matter of fact Edmond attorney Barry Rice is leading the charge to get voters to turn down the proposed center. In the weeks to leading to the election, I’ll be asking you what you think on the proposed center and interviewing key leaders on both sides of the issue.
For now here is a copy of a letter from Rice that is asking voters to vote no.
Dear Edmond Citizen:
The Edmond City Council’s proposal for a new public safety center is straight out of the sixties as far as city planning goes. It is an example of abusive public spending and irresponsible planning. It does nothing for the new urbanism most progressive cities are now pursuing to improve their downtowns.
Bumper Stickers Say A Lot About A Person
Bumper stickers tell a lot about drivers
I’m not a bumper sticker type of guy. I don’t have one on my car, but I do like to read them on other vehicles.
You can learn a lot about a perfect stranger just by the bumper sticker on their car. I can tell what college team they support, their religious view or political affiliation.
I can tell you if they have an honor student or a student who can beat up the other person’s honor student. I know if you belong to a fraternity or sorority, and I can tell if you have a sense of humor.
Oddly, I haven’t seen a lot of presidential campaign stickers around Edmond lately. But I have seen a collection of interesting stickers in the past few days.
This sticker was on an Acura: “Shhh! I’m Listening To A Book.”
The driver of this car obviously was not a morning person: “Give Me Coffee And No One Gets Hurt.”
The guy behind the wheel of this car is either having marital problems or soon will be: “My Wife’s Other Car Is A Broom.”
This sticker was on the back of a Volkswagen bug: “Honk If You Love Peace And Quiet.”
I couldn’t agree more with the sentiments expressed on this sticker: “Hang Up And Drive.”
Edmond Cops Are Watching You In School Zones
Diana Baldwin’s story on the Edmond police receiving a grant from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office to crack down on speeders in school zones has drawn readers’ comments.
Grant Zellner of Edmond said, “If safety, and safety alone was the issue, the police car would park, lights on, on the side of the road at the beginning of the school zone.”
“All the Edmond police I saw were hiding in a parking lot behind shrubs or something, just trying to pick people off. Now, I’m pleasantly surprised that they gave so many warnings, but still. I never speed, but with school zones being only 200 yards long, only in force for 2 hours in a 24-hour day during 177 of 365 days, and with some school zones being on streets where you can’t see the school at all because it’s actually a couple of blocks away, I’ve found myself speeding in school zones many times accidentally. I hope I never merit a $244 ticket,” Zellner wrote.
Is Michael Phelps The Greatest Olympic Athlete?
No doubt Edmond residents were glued to their seats this last week as American swimmer Michael Phelps not only tore down swimming records but did it on his way to eight gold medals, a record for one Olympics.
His feat broke the record held by Mark Spitz since 1976- something pundits thought would never happen.
But is Phelps the greatest Olympic athlete ever? Sports columns and talk shows are filled with debate. Is Phelps the greatest? Greater than Jim Thorpe, greater than Carl Lewis, greater than Nadia Comaneci? Remember Jesse Owens? I think the easiest way to settle this is to choose your words carefully.
Naming someone the greatest of all time is subjective. We all have biases, prejudices and favorites when considering which is the toughest sport – therefore some may say naming the greatest might depend on the physicality of the contest.
For example: if a football player is an athlete, would you consider a golfer to also be one? The similarity is they compete but one is a member of a team and must train months to be in shape to play in a game that is punishing on the body. The golfer competes against the course but his or her training is completely different and the demand on the body is not as severe. So does the golfer depend on athleticism or skill? I say its more skill. Hand and eye coordination, balance, swing. Take for instance golfer John Daly. Is he an athlete or someone with great skill?
No one would say Daly has an athletic body or is in any kind of shape except bad. But he sure can hit the ball. So do you count out the competitor because his or her contest is not as physically demanding? It’s all subjective.
So is Phelps the greatest? Right now, yes he is, until someone can top his feat of 8 gold medals in one Olympics. But for the sake of keeping the peace, lets say he is the most celebrated and decorated and has the most face time on American TV of any athlete.
OK. One more clip of me on youtube.
Here’ s one more clip from the cable comedy special I made in 1982 with the morning Funny Club on KLTE. See if you can name the guy I am trying to sell an organ in this clip.
