Enid, Oklahoma - News, Events and Photos

Something to do!

Friday night is the first Storm game starting at 7:05 pm at the Mark Price Arena. Be there!

The 40th Festival of the Arts is going on in donwtown OKC. Visual arts, culinary arts, performing arts and more! Fun for the entire family. Take an umbrella.

Saturday is the March of Dimes Walk at 10am (depending on the rain conditions). Meet on the courthouse lawn and show your support.

Saturday night is the 2nd Annual Coffeehouse Poetry Adult Night at the Gaslight Theatre. Call 234-2307 for more details.

The first organizational and planning meeting for the 2006 Scare on the Square will be Monday, May 8, 2006 at 7 p.m. at the Gazebo on the Courthouse Lawn. Scare on the Square is an old fashioned downtown Halloween festival with Enid's only night time parade, a Halloween Queen pageant, costume contests, trick or treating, and all that is a fun Halloween. It's fun for all ages.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Gated Community Solution!

There have been many discussions lately about Enid's first gated community. Some people feel a gated community is for snob, elitists that want to keep the rif-raf out of their neighborhoods. Then there is another side that has been complaining lately about keeping our neighborhoods nice and trying to make Enid a better place to live.

Well, I may have the solution to both sides!! I say we build MORE gated communities! I would suggest that the city pass a bond to build a gated community just outside the city limits. I would pay a higher tax and help fund this project. The new gated community could have an eight foot cinder block wall built entirely around it. There would be limited access and a guard at the gate. I would not be opposed to building these houses for free and helping local residents move at no cost. The residents of this gated community could pay a monthly rent to help offset the cost.

Who would get to live in this new area? Here are the requirements I recommend for those leaving the city limits and moving to the new gated community:

1. Must have at least one car parked in the front yard or a car on blocks in the back.
2. Should have more than one appliance or large sectional on the front porch.
3. Must have two or more old tires stacked along side the house.
4. Grass should not be cut lower than ankle deep if ever cut at all.
5. Can have no less than four barking dogs.
6. Should have a minimum of ten random objects laying around the yard.
7. Should have at least three different varieties of shingle or a blue tarp on the roof.
8. Oil slick in the driveway should be at least 5' x 5'.
9. Needs to have a chain link fence in the front yard with at least 18 toddler toys.
10. Must have a non-working Weber grill in the front yard.

I think if the rich can build their own gated community and live the way that they want to, other groups of people should have the same opportunity. And what about all those old folks getting together living in the same community? Sounds like an elite group to me.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Happy Earth Day!!

Get out there and plant a flower today!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Salvation Army Drop Off Closed

The Salvation Army Family Center on the corner of Garriott and Oakwood (the old Gene's Restaurant and Pet Supply store) has closed it's doors. Please do not drop off donations at that location. Donations should be taken to 516 N. Independence.

We've also noticed that Zino's Italian Restaurant on Garriott has been closed for the past several days. Does anyone have any scoop?

Monday, April 17, 2006

Tax Freedom Day is April 14 in Oklahoma

The national "Tax Freedom Day" will fall on April 26 this year, according to the Tax Foundation's annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes.

The calculation compares the number of days Americans work to pay taxes to the number of days they work to support themselves. So it will take the average American working until April 26 just to make enough money to pay their taxes. In 2006, Americans will work 77 days to afford their federal taxes and 39 more days to afford state and local taxes. After that you may make enough to buy a tank of gas!

According to the findings, even after all the tax cuts that the federal government has passed recently, Americans will still spend more on taxes than they spend on food, clothing and housing combined. Go figure!

Oklahoma is one of the states with the lightest total tax burdens so our Tax Freedom Day is actually on April 14. The reason is that Oklahoma's average income is lower and we pay most of our federal income taxes at lower rates.

Now get out there and mail that tax return! Taxes are due today!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

When is Easter Anyway?

Have you ever wondered why Easter is sometimes in March and other times in April? I've finally discovered the most direct description of when Easter is. Here goes:

Easter Sunday is first Sunday after the Paschal full moon. The Paschal full moon is the first Ecclesiastical full moon after march 20th.

Who knew? And I thought it was something complicated.

Have a Good Friday and Happy Easter All!

Construction About Town...

You most likely don't recognize this street. Say good-bye to four-wheeling on west Cherokee! The humps and bumbs on Cherokee are gone and residents now have a flat, smooth rode once again. Kudos to the city for ironing this out (so to speak).

There are goings on at Champlin Pool. The big dirt spot in the front is where the kiddie pool was once located. Look for improvements coming soon.

This house on west Garriott is being demolished. Watch for major construction going on as they prepare to widen Owen K. Garriott between Johnson and Van Buren.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Train Depot

Here's a photo of the old train depot on east Garriott. The old buidlings that blocked it's view from the corner of Grand and Garriott have been torn down (including the old R&R Bar). Does anyone know what the plans are for the building?

Thursday, April 06, 2006

The Youngblood Hotel

The Continental North building at one time was the Youngblood Hotel. This postcard photograph shows it in it's glory days.

The Youngblood Hotel was the center of activity for much of downtown Enid. Many high profile events were held at the Youngblood and it was the mecca for entertainment, society events and even was known to house a lady of the evening or two.

If you have a memory of the Youngblood Hotel leave a story in the comment section below.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Tattoos and Taxes

Oklahoma is the only state in the nation that has a ban on tattooing. But Monday, the state House panel passed legislation that would license and regulate tattoo artists and parlors in the state. By a 15-to-7 vote, the House Health and Human Services Committee sent the Senate-passed measure to the full House for a vote. If approved there, the measure goes back to the Senate. Possible amendments include prohibiting anyone under 18 from getting a tattoo or having a body piercing procedure and prohibiting tattoo and body piercing parlors from locating within one thousand feet of a church, school or playground.

The House also voted Monday to give Oklahomans a sales tax holiday on back-to-school clothing and supplies each August. The House voted 87-to-10 for a Senate-passed bill that exempts taxes on the sale of clothing or footwear costing less than 100-dollars during the first weekend in August. The measure now goes to a joint House-Senate conference committee.

Contact these guys if you have questions:

Senator Patrick Anderson (Republican)
State Senate
2300 North Lincoln Boulevard, Room 520
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Phone: (405) 521-5630
Fax: (405) 530-2321

Representative Mike Jackson (Republican)
State Representative
2300 North Lincoln Boulevard, Room 338
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Phone: (405) 557-7317
Fax: (405) 557-7351

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Spring Forward!

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday for Enid, Oklahoma and you will either lose an hour of sleep or find yourself an hour behind. Set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed tonight if you don't want to be late to church on Sunday.

It is also a good time to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors.

DST ends on Oct. 29 when the country returns to Standard Time. Congress has passed a law extending the dates of Daylight Saving Time, but it won't take effect until 2007. DST will then start three weeks earlier, on March 11, and will end one week later, on Nov. 4.