OKC FRIDAY Vol. 53 No. 6 • Two Sections • 18 Pages June 14, 2019
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Village adds more bite to dangerous animal ordinance By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer
A Full House: Three Kings and two Queens Above: Kings Lee Allan Smith, left, 2019 King Bill Lance and former Governor George Nigh, with two of this year’s Beauties, Patti Mellow, left, and Kay Manning, celebrate the success of the 2019 Oklahoma Senior Follies at the cast and sponsors wrap party. The gala dinner is hosted annually by former King Dick Sias, below left, with NYC Metropolitan Opera legendary diva Leona Mitchell, who performed in the Senior Follies this year. Sias’ party began with celebratory glasses of Veuve Clicquot champagne served for toasts. The cast, sponsors and guests enjoyed a buffet dinner of lamb chops, Dijon glazed beef tenderloins, shrimp, smoked salmon and caviar served with cheeses, grilled vegetables and fresh mushrooms and fettuccine served at tables around the indoor swimming pool. Bouquets of colorful spring flowers and roses centered each table and were later presented to the 2019 Beauties. See more photos on Page 2.
Two dog attacks last year within a span of 11 days, particularly one that resulted in the fatal mauling of a beloved pet Papillon, has resulted in major revisions to The Village City Code chapter that regulates animal ownership and control. Ordinance 746, adopted unanimously by the City Council, strengthens some provisions of the code while also giving the municipal judge more latitude when passing judgment in dog attack cases. One change to the code was in terminology: from a “vicious” animal to a “dangerous” animal. Ordinance 746 is “a recognition that dogs pose a risk under certain conditions. It’s not a moral judgment, it’s a practical judgment,” City Attorney Leslie Batchelor told the council. “You have to remember: dogs are animals,” she said during a council study session last September. An animal is considered to be dangerous if “without provocation” it “attacks and makes physical contact with a person, dog or cat, with the intent to cause harm or the infliction of serious injury.” An animal deemed by the municipal judge to be dangerous cannot be kept in The Village; it must be either euthanized or banished permanently from the city limits. However, the owner may appeal the municipal judge’s decision to Oklahoma County District Court within 10 days. If an animal is determined to be potentially dangerous, the municipal judge now has the discretion to impose one or more of 15 See VILLAGE, Page 3
Nichols Hills city leaders find $768k in budget savings By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer The Nichols Hills city budget for the new fiscal year is 6 percent lower than the current budget of municipal revenues and
expenditures. The City Council approved a budget of $11,877,470 for Fiscal Year 2020, which is $767,840 less than the $12,645,317 budget for FY 2019. Nevertheless, no decline in city services is anticipated, City
Manager Shane Pate said. “We found some savings” in the current budget, such as when the city switched insurance carriers to the Oklahoma Mutual Assurance Group (OMAG) for liability and workers’ compensation insurance.
Officer takes ‘protect and serve’ seriously By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer
home of the woman, who is in her mid-80s, Cpl. James to check on her McGinley of the welfare. Nichols Hills “She didn’t have enough Police Department can money to buy add “Good food, gas, or to Samaritan” to his pay her utility McGINLEY bills,” he said. job title. The Oklahoma The officer Corporation Commission contacted the pastor of the recently alerted the church the woman attends NHPD that an elderly “and informed him of her Nichols Hills resident was circumstances,” Nichols having some financial difHills Police Chief Steven Cox said. McGinley also ficulties. McGinley drove to the put the woman in contact
with the Oklahoma County Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) group. The officer has since met with the SALT coordinator and has maintained contact with the indigent woman. McGinley also asked his police department colleagues if they would donate some money “so that she could buy some groceries.” NHPD employees contributed $125, Cox said. McGinley used $25 to See OFFICER, Page 3
That cut “about $28,000,” Pate said. OMAG is a self-insured municipal pool. OMAG’s bill for workers’ compensation insurance in FY 2020 for 80 Nichols Hills city employees See NHILLS, Page 9
FRIDAY’s
Dog of the Week Belle Harlow Hinton is the sweetest 1-year-old Border Collie Mix. She is the dogger of Kevin and Becca Hinton. She is able to sit, stay, lay down, get a beer and play hide and seek. “We are now trying to teach her the value of a dollar,” the Hintons said. Email Dog of the Week, Baby of the Week and Cat of the Week submissions to rose@okcfriday.com. Submissions are used in the order they are received.
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