Fridayland goes back to school
- Photo by Kimberly Richelle Photography
At left: Seniors Alexa Syler, Spencer Steele, Macie Coate, Caroline Hall, Ellen Shafer and Victoria Cohn welcome freshmen to Casady's Upper Division. At right: Thad Butler, Mason Georgia, and Luke Butler arrive for their first day of classes in the Heritage Hall Upper School. For more Back to School photos, see Pages 2 & 3.
OKC FRIDAY Vol. 54 No. 15 • One Section • 12 pages August 21, 2020
www.okcfriday.com facebook.com/okcfriday OKC’s only locally-owned legal newspaper with all local news Serving Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills, The Village, Quail Creek, The Greens and Gaillardia for 46 years
Bond Payne is Governor Stitt’s chief of staff
Blanketed in service Quarantine doesn’t stop siblings from giving back By Rose Lane Editor When Oklahoma City shut down this spring as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, that wasn’t going to stop students Talal and Dana AlZubi from volunteering.
Talal and Dana Al-Zubi with some of the 50 blankets they have made for Socks for Seniors. The pair will continue assembling the blakets as long as there is a need.
Their mom, Reema Oklah, said their family is used to giving back to the communi-
ty and they wanted to keep going despite the quarantine. “It started over
spring break when schools announced See SERVICE, Page 3
Fridaylander and businessman Bond Payne has been named chief of staff for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt effective Sept. 1. He is the cofounder and chairman of Heritage Trust Company and the vice chairman of Argent Financial Group. “Though it is difficult to leave a company that means so much to me and my family, I am excited about the opportunity I now have to make a difference in a new, broader arena,” Payne said.
BOND PAYNE
“This is a seminal time for Oklahoma and I hope this calling allows me to play a role, however small, in setting our state on course for See PAYNE, Page 3
Village to sell last of 2018 General Obligation bond issue By Rose Lane Editor The Village City Council has agreed to sell the remainder — $3,270,000 — of the $10.38 million in General Obligation bonds approved by voters in January 2018.
Ben Oglesby, the city’s bond advisor, said the city received word several weeks ago from Standard and Poor that its bond rating was reaffirmed at AA. In May 2018, the city sold two-thirds of bonds — or $7,110,00 — at 3.14 percent on a 20-year fixed
interest rate. When the bids were opened for this sale, interest rate offerings ranged from 1.28 percent to 1.54 percent, “very significantly under the rate we got the last time,” Oglesby said. Only one of the four bidders was compliant with the
FRIDAY’s
Dog of the Week Tillie belongs to John and Carol Adams, who live in Quail Creek. She is an 8-year-old rescue from Lake Jackson, Texas. She was sweet and house broken to a fault but very protective of her new mom and dad. Try to give them a hug or shake hands and she will launch a serious attack. Tillie can often be found in the entry hall guarding the front door.
Sponsored by Paulette and Leo Kingston of WePayFast.com
bid instructions, however. That was BOK Financial, who came in at 1.33 percent and received the bid. “I am very pleased with the interest rate,” Oglesby said. “Twenty years at 1.33 percent to me is just phenomenal.” City Manager Bruce
Stone said $880,000 of the money is for parks, particularly Meeker Park and Johnson Park. The rest is for streets, drainage, sidewalks and signalization. Stone said the lion’s share of those funds will go for sidewalks and signalization.
HH wins national championship Heritage Hall is celebrating the addition of its first Harland B. Mitchell National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) policy debate national championship trophy to an already impressive collection of awards and recognitions. A perennial powerhouse, the school’s debate program has racked up numerous awards, including 18 6A OSSAA state championships (10 since 2004). This year’s historic national championship run by the team
of then senior Saif Salim and current senior Sam Ring was made even more memorable because the National High School Debate Tournament was held virtually for the first time. “The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Albuquerque, N.M., but due to the coronavirus pandemic had to be moved online to host individual debate and speech rounds,” said Heritage Hall See HALL, Page 5