Oklahoma City spraygrounds open Saturday because of @okcparks
I am so excited. My duaghter, who is 2 1/2, loves the spraygrounds. I was just chatting with a friend who recently moved to Oklahoma from out of state. She has a young daughter, too, and I was bragging to her about the city’s spraygrounds. They’re always clean, safe and fun. Thumbs up, Oklahoma City Parks Department. I mean, seriously. Look at this picture from Oklahoman Photographer Paul Hellstern. Adorable, people.
Spraygrounds are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from Saturday to Sept. 3. The best part: they’re free. I mean, you’re already paying for them with your tax dollars, so you might as well take advantage of them, right? Here are the locations:
Douglass Park, 900 Frederick Douglass Ave
E.B. Jeffrey Park, 1300 N. Meridian
Harvest Hills Park, 8235 NW 104th
Lippert Park, 5501 S. Shartel Ave.
Macklanburg Park, 2234 NW 117 St
McCracken Park, 425 SE 64 Street
McKinley Park, 1300 N McKinley Ave
Melrose Park, 7800 Melrose Lane
Memorial Park, 1152 NW 36th St
North Highland Park, 8200 N Harvey Ave
Reed Park, 1218 N May Ave
Schilling Park, 601 SE 25
Sellers Park, 8301 S Villa
Taylor Park, 1115 SW 70 St
Wiley Post Park, 1705 S Robinson Ave
Youngs Park, 4610 S Youngs BlvdNew this year: Minnis Lakeview Park, 12520 NE 36th St
Oklahoma City Bricktown shooting video after Thunder-Lakers game
The last video I posted of a post-Thunder celebration was of people dancing. This is of people getting arrested.
This shooting shocked a lot of people, but do you know what? People get shot every day in this city. Let’s get mad about that, too.
Thunder dance party in the streets of Oklahoma City
Oh my word – I wish I had been there!
Fun Facts: Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is Sunday, so let’s celebrate with fun info from the U.S. Census!
85.4 million: Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2009.
4 million: Number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 who gave birth in the past 12 months.
53: Percentage of 15- to 50-year-old women who were mothers in 2010.
Source: Fertility of American Women: 2010
81: Percentage of women who had become mothers by age 40 to 44 as of 2010. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group had given birth.
2.5: The total fertility rate or number of births in 2009 per woman in Utah (based on current birth rates by age), which led the nation. At the other end of the spectrum is Vermont, with a total fertility rate of 1.6 births per woman.
94: The percentage of the 37.8 million mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2004, who lived with their biological children only. In addition, 3 percent lived with any stepchildren, 2 percent with any adopted children and less than 1 percent with any foster children.
20: Percentage of all women age 15 to 44 who have had two children. About 47 percent had no children, 17 percent had one, 10 percent had three and about 5 percent had four or more.
4.13 million: Number of births registered in the United States in 2009. Of this number, 409,840 were to teens 15 to 19 and 7,934 to women age 45 to 54.
25.1: Average age of women in 2008 when they gave birth for the first time, up from 25.0 years in 2006 and 2007. The mean age from 2007 to 2008 reflects, in part, the relatively large decline in births to women under age 25 compared with the small decline for women in the 25-39 age bracket.
55: Percentage of mothers with a birth in 2010 who were in the labor force. This decreased from from 57 percent in 2008.
27.3: The percentage of mothers who had given birth in the past 12 months who had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Among states, New Hampshire had the highest percentage of recent mothers in this category with 48 percent. Mothers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland also had percentages higher than the national average.
83: Percentage of women age 15 to 44 with at least a high school diploma who gave birth in the last year. For women age 30 to 44, the figure was 90 percent.
Jacob and Isabella: The most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively, in 2010.
73: Number of births in the past year per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 with a graduate or professional degree. The number per 1,000 for women whose highest level of education was a bachelor’s degree was 59.7.
17,124: Number of florist establishments nationwide in 2009. The 75,855 employees in floral shops across our nation will be especially busy preparing, selling and delivering floral arrangements for Mother’s Day.
11,044: Number of employees of the 99 greeting-card publishing establishments in 2009.
14,279: The number of cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores nationwide in 2009. Perfume is a popular gift given on Mother’s Day.
24,973: Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2009 — the place to purchase necklaces, earrings and other timeless pieces for mom.
5 million: Number of stay-at-home moms in 2011 — same as in 2010 and down from 5.1 million in 2009 and 5.3 million in 2008 (the estimates for 2010 and 2009 are not statistically different). In 2011, 23 percent of married-couple family groups with children under 15 had a stay-at-home mother, up from 21 percent in 2000. In 2007, before the recession, stay-at-home mothers were found in 24 percent of married-couple family groups with children under 15.
Fun Facts: Cindo de Mayo
In honor of the Mexican holiday, the U.S. Census has released some interesting stats related to Mexican culture.
31.8 million: The number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin, according to the 2010 Census. These residents accounted for about three-quarters (63 percent) of the 50.5 million Hispanics and increased 54 percent, growing from 20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010.
25.5: Median age of people in the United States of Mexican origin. The total Hispanic population had a median age of 27.2 and for the total population it was 37.2.
61: Percentage of the Mexican-origin population in the United States that resided in California(11.4 million) and Texas (8.0 million) in 2010.
40: Number of states in which the Mexican-origin population represented the largest Hispanic group, according to the 2010 Census. More than half these states were in the South and West regions of the country, two in the Northeast region, and in all 12 states in the Midwest region.
685,000: Number of U.S. military veterans of Mexican origin.
1.5 million: Number of people of Mexican descent 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. This included about 404,000 who had a graduate or professional degree.
34: Percentage of married-couple families, with own children younger than 18, among households with a householder of Mexican origin. For all households, the corresponding percentage was 20 percent.
4.2 people: Average size of families with a householder of Mexican origin in 2010. The average size of all families was 3.2 people.
67.8: Percentage 16 and older of Mexican origin in the labor force. The percentage was 64 percent for the population as a whole.
16.2: Percentage of civilians employed 16 years and older of Mexican origin who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations. In addition, 27 percent worked in service occupations; 21 percent in sales and office occupations; 18 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations; and 18 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.
$39,264: Median family income in 2010 for households with a householder of Mexican origin. For the population as a whole, the corresponding amount was $60,609.
26.6 percent: Poverty rate in 2010 for all people of Mexican heritage. For the population as a whole, the corresponding rate was 15.3 percent.
24.2 percent: Poverty rate in 2010 for all families of Mexican heritage. For all families, the corresponding family poverty rate was 11.3 percent.
49.2: Percentage of householders of Mexican origin in occupied housing units who owned the home in which they lived. This compared with 65.4 percent for the population as a whole.
11.7 million: Number of Mexican-born U.S. residents in 2010, representing 29 percent of the foreign-born population.
75.3: Percentage of Mexican-origin people who spoke a language other than English at home; among these people, 36 percent spoke English less than “very well.” Among the population as a whole, the corresponding figures were 21 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
$460.6 billion: The value of total goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2011. Mexico was our nation’s third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China. The leading U.S. export commodity to Mexico in 2011 was unleaded gasoline ($11.6 billion); the leading U.S. import commodity from Mexico in 2011 was crude petroleum ($29.9 billion).
1 million: Number of firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2007. They accounted for 45.8 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms. Mexicans led all Hispanic subgroups.
$154.9 billion: Sales and receipts for firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2007, 44.2 percent of all Hispanic-owned firm receipts.
47.8: Percentage increase in the number of businesses owned by people of Mexican origin between 2002 and 2007.
70.5: Percent of all Mexican-owned U.S. businesses in either California or Texas in 2007. California had the most Mexican-owned U.S. firms (36.1 percent), followed by Texas (34.4 percent) and Arizona (4.1 percent).
16.5 percent: Ratio of Mexican-owned firms to all firms in Texas, which led all states. New Mexico was next (15.1 percent), followed by California (10.9 percent), Arizona (8.6 percent) and Nevada (4.9 percent).
32.3 percent: Percentage of Mexican-owned U.S. firms in the construction and repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sectors. Mexican-owned firms accounted for 5.1 percent of all U.S. businesses in these sectors.
$100.4 million: Product shipment value of tamales and other Mexican food specialties (not frozen or canned) produced in the United States in 2002.
$48.9 million: Product shipment value of frozen enchiladas produced in the United States in 2002. Frozen tortilla shipments were valued even higher at $156 million.
374: Number of U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments in 2008. The establishments that produce this unleavened flat bread employed 16,311 people. Tortillas, the principal food of the Aztecs, are known as the “bread of Mexico.” One in three of these establishments was in Texas.
Fun Facts: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Here are some fun facts about the Asian population in America in honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, courtesy the U.S. Census.
17.3 million: The estimated number of U.S. residents of Asian descent, according to the 2010 Census. This group comprised 5.6 percent of the total population.
5.6 million: The Asian alone or in combination population in California; the state had the largest Asian population in the 2010 Census, followed by New York (1.6 million). Hawaii had the highest proportion of Asians (57 percent).
46: Percentage growth of the Asian alone or in combination population between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, which was more than any other major race group.
3.8 million: Number of Asians of Chinese, except Taiwanese, descent in the U.S. in 2010. Chinese-Americans were the largest Asian group, followed by Filipinos (3.4 million), Asian Indians (3.2 million), Vietnamese (1.7 million), Koreans (1.7 million) and Japanese (1.3 million). These estimates represent the number of people who reported a specific Asian group alone, and people who reported that Asian group in combination with one or more other Asian groups or races.
$67,022: Median household income for single-race Asians in 2010.
12 percent: The poverty rate for single-race Asians in 2010, not statistically different from the 2009 poverty rate. Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic whites, for blacks and for Hispanics.
18 percent: Percentage of single-race Asians without health insurance coverage in 2010, up from 16.5 percent in 2009.
50 percent: The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who had a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education. This compared with 28 percent for all Americans 25 and older.
85 percent: The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma. This is not statistically different from the percentage for the total population or the percentage of Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone, 86 and 87 percent respectively.
20 percent: The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who had a graduate (e.g., master’s or doctorate) or professional degree. This compared with 10 percent for all Americans 25 and older.
589,000: How many more single-race Asians voted in the 2008 presidential election than in the 2004 election. All in all, 48 percent of Asians turned out to vote in 2008 — up 4 percentage points from 2004. A total of 3.4 million Asians voted.
1.5 million: Number of businesses owned by Asian-Americans in 2007, an increase of 40.4 percent from 2002.
$506 billion: Total receipts of businesses owned by Asian-Americans, up 54.9 percent from 2002. In 2007, 44.7 percent of Asian-owned businesses were in repair and maintenance; personal and laundry services; professional, scientific and technical services; and retail trade.
47: Percentage of businesses in Hawaii owned by people of Asian descent. It was 14.9 percent in California and 10.1 percent in New York.
508,969: California had the most Asian-owned firms at 508,969 (32.8 percent of all such firms), followed by New York with 196,825 (12.7 percent) and Texas with 114,297 (7.4 percent).
2.8 million: The number of people 5 and older who spoke Chinese at home in 2010. After Spanish, Chinese was the most widely spoken non-English language in the country. Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean were each spoken at home by more than 1 million people.
265,200: The number of single-race Asian military veterans. About one in three veterans was 65 years and older.
48 percent: The proportion of civilian employed single-race Asians 16 and older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations, such as financial managers, engineers, teachers and registered nurses. Additionally, 17 percent worked in service occupations, 22 percent in sales and office occupations and 10 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.
80: Percentage of Asians living in a household with Internet use — the highest rate among race and ethnic groups.
35.4: Median age of the single-race Asian population in 2010. The corresponding figure was 37.2 years for the population as a whole.
22: Percent of the single-race Asian population that was under age 18 in 2010 while 9.4 percent was 65 or older.
1.2 million: The number of U.S. residents who said they were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, either alone or in combination with one or more additional races, according to the 2010 Census. This group comprised 0.4 percent of the total population. More than half of all people who identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander reported multiple races (56 percent). Hawaii had the largest population of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders among the alone or in combination population with 356,000, followed by California (286,000). Hawaii had the largest proportion of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (26 percent).
40: Percentage growth of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.
$52,776: The median income of households headed by single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
18.8 percent: The poverty rate for those who classified themselves as single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.
17: The percentage without health insurance for single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
15: The percentage of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older who had a bachelor’s degree or higher. This compared with 28 percent for the total population.
87: The percentage of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma. This is not statistically different from either the percentage for the total population, 86 percent, or the percentage of Asian alone, 85 percent.
4: The percentage of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older who had obtained a graduate or professional degree. This compared with 10 percent for the total population this age.
37,687: The number of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses in 2007, up 30.2 percent from 2002.
$6.3 billion: Total receipts of these businesses, up 47.7 percent from 2002.
45: The percent of all Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned business revenue that construction and retail trade accounted for.
10: The percent of businesses in Hawaii owned by Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders, highest among all states.
27,800: The number of single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander military veterans. About one in five veterans was 65 years and older.
26 percent: The proportion of civilian employed single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 16 and older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations, such as financial managers, engineers, teachers and registered nurses (not statistically different from service and sales occupations). Additionally, 24 percent worked in service occupations, while 27 percent worked in sales and office occupations and 14 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.
28.9: The median age of the single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population in 2010. The median age was 37.2 for the population as a whole.
29: Percentage of the single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population that was under age 18 in 2010 while 5.8 percent was 65 or older.
Video Sunday: the commercial that makes me cry
Oklahoma City YWCA celebrates store anniversary
Want to help women and look fabulous? Here’s how:
Our Sister’s Closet, the upscale retail shop of the YWCA, will celebrate its 5th anniversary this Thursday, April 26. The SW Oklahoma City location, 2209 W. 1-240 Service Road, will be hosting a special guest at 7 p.m. to celebrate.
“Queen Mum” Patsy Smith from the Consumer Queen organization will make a presentation to share tips on frugal shopping, couponing and give ideas on how to save and shop wisely.
“Our Sisters’ Closet is not only a money saving shop, but it is also one of the revenue generating opportunities for the YWCA Oklahoma City,” said Deb Stanaland, Chief Support Services Officer. “The whole idea of this store is to generate money to provide to other services in the agency, which we have done over the last five years.”
In addition to the Consumer Queen presentation, both Our Sisters’ Closet locations will have specials and discounts throughout the day. People can enter to win a $50 gift card, and the SW Oklahoma City store will remain open for late-night shopping from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“We have provided clothing and household items to more than 2,000 women and children since we opened the doors five years ago,” said Cindy Reynolds, Director of Retail Operations. “One thing that makes us special is once someone comes into our stores, they become loyal because of who we are, what we do and the services we provide.”
All revenue from both Our Sisters’ Closet locations benefits the YWCA shelter for battered women and children. The Edmond store, 101 E. Hurd, is open Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The SW Oklahoma City store is open Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Clothing, accessories and household goods donations can be made at both stores.
For more information on the YWCA’s resale shops visit www.ywca.org/OurSistersCloset.
Why Ron Artest is a horrible human being
Video Sunday: Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum remembrance ceremony
Also, click here to read a lovely story by Bryan Painter.
