There’s a misconception that all Lebanese-Americans in Oklahoma City are related. Perhaps it is because greetings are commonly accompanied by a kiss, family or not. Perhaps it is because the annual Mediterranean Food Fest at St. Elijah Church shows…
Yes, you should do nice things for mom year-round, and you definitely shouldn’t wait ‘til Mother’s Day to tell her how awesome she is, but on Mother’s Day you get a chance to really shine, and even outdo your…
Like true sisters, Allison Belanger and Dr. Brooke Storer, an OB-GYN, have always looked out for each other. When Belanger was going through sorority rush at the University of Oklahoma, Storer paved the way for her at Kappa Alpha…
Steve Boaldin, 59, sits at the bar of his Edmond home to eat in the silence only an early dawn can provide, his mind elsewhere. He looks across the kitchen at a blank canvas inside a cluttered backroom lined…
A few months after banker H.E. “Gene” Rainbolt was born in 1929, the stock market crashed. Several months later, dust storms enveloped much of his home state. Like so many Oklahomans growing up during the compounded disaster of the…
Veterinarian John Otto did not want to go to prison. In 1996, he was too busy – starting a family, establishing his veterinary practice and volunteering at the Norman Animal Shelter – and had no desire to get involved…
Indian Country faces an ongoing crisis of violence, the rates of which far exceed the general U.S. population. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, indigenous women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the average citizen. …
I’m thrilled to introduce the two women behind Yo, Bro: Lindsay Zodrow and Hayley Owen pack a powerful punch, not only in personality, but in their shared mural and sign painting business. Incredible murals, hand-painted signs, windows and other…
Hans and Torrey Butzer, directors of Oklahoma City-based Butzer Architects and Urbanism, tackle everything together. From marriage to raising children to designing some of Oklahoma City’s most recognizable public spaces, this husband-and-wife team is a true partnership. “We live…
Jakian Parks has already booked his first art installation, and he’s only 19. The south Oklahoma City-born and Yukon-raised photographer came to the attention of Ashley Forrest, co-owner of Forma Optics & Art, via a musician friend. “She…
Bruce Fisher was standing in the Oklahoma History Center amid a collection of artifacts he had assembled to highlight the African-American experience in Oklahoma when serendipity offered him the perfect metaphor to explain the importance of his job as…
The original Classen Inn at 820 N Classen Blvd. opened in 1962. Whatever glory days it might have had are lost to history, as evidenced by the only web search result: news of a prostitution and drug sting in…
Fashion in the 405 is similar to Oklahoma weather – it's only consistency is its lack of a constant. This ever-evolving, never stagnant landscape is hard to navigate, so we asked Brook Balentine-Reust, senior buyer for Cayman’s in Norman…
For Sara Cowan, art and the creative process are about more than just creating something beautiful. While that is true of the result, her passion for creating art and helping others experience it makes the material all the more…
Willis Washington grew up in Oklahoma City’s North Highland neighborhood, just a short distance from a privately owned center called the Santa Fe Fitness & Racquet Club. Washington said he recalls the place, but never thought much about it…
Speaking of the Conklin Crescent fountain pen, Mark Twain said in an endorsement: “I prefer it because it is a profanity saver; it cannot roll off the desk.” The famously irascible Twain – who else could think of saving…
While working on a master’s degree in 1974, Bob Blackburn made an minor, yet significant, decision to peruse the research collections at the Oklahoma Historical Society for an article he was writing. Blackburn, now the agency’s director, recalls…
Nearly two decades after graduating from University of Oklahoma, moving to Los Angeles and going on to appear in series such as Fresh Off the Boat, Two and a Half Men and Mad Men, actress-producer Rachel Cannon, saw a…
Five days after he was sworn into office, on Jan. 25, 2017, President Donald Trump issued two executive orders that limited immigration from seven countries and codified his promise to build a massive wall along the United States’ southern…
The leaves have fallen from the trees and Oklahoma's less-than-subtle breezes are signaling the onset of winter. Instead of riding out the season binging sitcoms under a blanket, now more than ever is a great time to celebrate the…
Human trafficking happens every day in the 405. Sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Adults and children. Women, girls, men, non-binary folks. Right here, by the hundreds. People are sold for sex or trapped in involuntary servitude – a sterilized…
Five days after he was sworn into office, on Jan. 25, 2017, President Donald Trump issued two executive orders that limited immigration from seven countries and codified his promise to build a massive wall along the United States’ southern…
In 2010, Ladonna felt alone for the first time in 52 years. Multiple family illnesses led to untimely deaths, leaving her to fend for herself despite her own struggles with bipolar disorder, severe social anxiety and eventually multiple sclerosis.…
