Maritime feeling in the #Tulsa air today. A brisk, cool breeze, moist air but not muggy, is something I associate with the seashore, not landlocked Oklahoma.
Taking a walk in McClure Park and thinking that the paths, the channelization of Mill Creek, the stormwater basins that serve as soccer, softball, and tennis courts, must be over 30 years old now. They were built when I worked nearby and would bring lunch to the park.
In the '70s we would sometimes come to McClure Park to swim in their Olympic-length pool. It was the nearest public pool to far east #Tulsa. Sometimes we'd go a bit farther to the city pool on the west side of Claremore. We swam at the Blue Whale when it was open.
The old rec center was still home to basketball leagues in the '90s and it had a couple of racquetball courts too. Now it's entirely devoted to the Tulsa Glassblowing School.
The squirrels are too chubby or too focused on acorns to get away quickly.
I would drive thru Lee's Chicken, park under a shade tree, listen to Paul Harvey on KGGF, read the paper (before 1992), and sometimes nap. A few more McClure Park photos:
The back of the mid-century modern Rose Bowl, once a bowling alley on Route 66, now a ministry center.
Not remotely as scenic and historical as one of @Towler's West Country photo walks, but hope you enjoyed it just the same.
🧵A #Tulsa mayoral questionnaire for @Monichols and #KarenKeith. I emailed it to their campaign and elected official email addresses, and I've posted it at BatesLine, but I'm posting it here to make sure it doesn't get missed.
@Monichols (Someone will have to let Karen know this is here, since she isn't on Twitter/X.)
My college fraternity used instant runoff voting (IRV aka alternative vote); it's straightforward. Australia has used IRV for a century in the House of Representatives & single-transferable vote (STV) for Senate elections. Ireland has STV for parliament & IRV for president.
In all these cases, the ballots are hand-counted in public.
Ranked-choice voting only specifies the manner of marking the ballots, but you also need to specify the manner of counting the ballots. Is the goal one winner with majority support? Use IRV. Is the aim proportional representation in a multi-member seat? Use STV.
#Tulsa school board election: 4 of 18 precincts reporting, all east of the river (and thus incumbent Woolley's home turf). Woolley leads Buswell 366 to 67. Woolley, the Democrat, also dominated absentee&early voting, 160-29. results.okelections.us/OKER/?elecDate…
In #Bixby, only absentee/early votes are in. Incumbent Matt Dotson leads Julie Bentley, 79-42.
In #Tulsa and #Bixby, challengers are running on platforms supporting transparency and #ParentalRights and opposing obscene materials in school libraries. #okelections
So, basically, OKPOP is an empty shell ("skin and bones") after $30 million ("Phase 1"), and they need another $35 million for Phase 2 -- "displays, exhibitions and programming" -- the stuff people would actually be able to come and see.
The best museum of the history of space travel in the world is @the_cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas, and it started with a planetarium projector in a junior college poultry building. As artifacts were acquired, the facilities were expanded and improved.
#Tulsa leaders don't understand the idea of starting small and growing, probably because most of them inherited their wealth and have never built a business or an organization. They throw piles of tax and foundation money at a big plan and have nothing to show for it.
Smaller venue for Tulsa @Stitt4Gov rally than last night in OKC. Official capacity 338. Masoud Moazami is getting the crowd warmed up.
@Stitt4Gov New @Stitt4Gov vox pop ad. Looks like it will be very effective. Now Eddie Huff is opening the festivities, talking about his experiences as a black American in apartheid South Africa.
@Stitt4Gov Two nights in a row the @Stitt4Gov rally has begun the National Anthem in a singable key. On behalf of bassi, baritones, and alti, thank you!
Listening to @ryanmwalters talking about moving more resources into the classroom, giving student teachers the classroom management training they aren't getting in college, supporting teachers so they can give students the individualized support they need.
Every dollar being spent by the State Department of Education, both appropriated and non-appropriated, will be on the front page of the SDE website if @ryanmwalters is elected State Superintendent.
@ryanmwalters@ryanmwalters talking about a veteran teacher down the hall who mentored him, observed his classes, gave him advice. He wants to pair new teachers with mentors across the state.