OKC FRIDAY Vol. 55 No. 15 • One Section • 14 pages • August 27, 2021
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Village inks deal with Midwest City for jail services
Afghan women business owners are in danger
By Eric Oesch Staff Writer
By Vicki Clark Gourley Publisher
The Village City Council met before a packed house of residents and media members last week as they addressed two agenda items that have drawn the attention of many during recent months. The council voted unanimously to approve a Jail Services Agreement with the City of Midwest City to end a decades long association The Village has had with the embattled Oklahoma County Detention Center. During the past year,council members voted twice to table a long-standing agreement with Oklahoma County for jail services citing concerns for the safety of their municipal offenders. Vice-Mayor Adam Graham has been working on a solution for the city’s predicament for nearly a year while corresponding with OK County jail officials. “I have always known of the constant issues that have continued at the county jail for many years,” Graham said of reports of unsanitary conditions, bedbugs, suicides, and deaths at the county facility. “I’ve spoken with former correction employees, seen footage, and frankly the nine lives lost just this year from inhumane treatment under the current trust’s leadership was enough for me. “At the start of 2020 I was becoming more concerned with the Jail Trust’s inability to handle the COVID outbreak in the jail,” he said. “The issue was preventing many individuals
Dozens of Afghan women entrepreneurs have visited Oklahoma City with the Peace Through Business program. We have hosted them in our homes, mentored them in our businesses, attended luncheons with them, taken them shopping and even held a style show for them. Now they are in grave danger of being beaten, or even killed. Terri Neese founded Peace Through Business in 2005 at the request of thenPresident George Bush and his wife Laura. Literally hundreds of women have studied in their country and founded successful businesses. Every year, the top 15 come to Dallas and Oklahoma City.
See VILLAGE, Page 7
On the steps of the Oklahoma Capitol, Peace Through Business women from Afghanistan and Rwanda tour the legislature with their Oklahoma City mentors. The PTB women have founded successful businesses doing everything from making soccer balls for the European leagues to making designer clothing. Now, after America’s abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan, Founder Terri Neese has not been able to get them out of the country, but she is working on it.
See WOMEN, Page 5
Redbud race director says she has her dream job By Rose Lane Editor
KRISTIN HERSOM Redbud Race Director
Redbud Classic Race Director Kristin Hersom says she’s living the dream. And, she’s working hard at it as the 2021 classic is set for Sept. 11-12. Normally a first-of-April event, Redbud was postponed in the spring
of 2020 due to COVID. Kristin formerly worked for the YMCA and with the MAPS 3 Health and Wellness Center. “When the opening came up (for race director), I got really excited,” she said. “I told my husband, ‘This is the perfect job for me.’” Growing up, Kristin said
Master Class is set to open Sept. 15 at Myriad Gardens Patrons are invited to take a seat in the classroom of an opera legend this fall, as Lyric returns to the Myriad Botanical Gardens Water Stage to present the Tony Award-winning play Master Class. Performances are slated Sept. 15 through Oct. 3. Written by American playwright Terrence McNally, the production is presented as a fictional master class taught by larger-than-life opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s.
Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, Callas retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Featuring excerpts from famous operas sung live by her students, Callas shares with us the rewards and sacrifices taken in the name of art. Master Class is directed by Lyric’s Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron. See LYRIC, Page 5
she played sports— mostly softball. Her mom was very active. Most days she was up and on the treadmill by 5 a.m. “She was a big influence that I know I had to stay active,” Kristin said. Running the Redbud to train for the Oklahoma City National Memorial Half
Marathon, she said she was pregnant. Her doctor told her to keep going and albeit slower than what she would have liked, Kristin did complete the half marathon. “Now, I want to make sure my children know how important it is to stay active See REDBUD, Page 7
FRIDAY’s
Rescue Dog of the Week Daxon was brought to The Village shelter at 6-weeks-old. He went straight into a foster home and has been there for six weeks. He is now neutered, current on puppy vaccinations, 17 pounds and is a medium-energy pup. He would be great with children and other dogs. He has had the benefit of being around two nice dogs who have taught him to be a good boy. Call Cheryl at (405) 922-6542. There is a rehoming fee.
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