Oklahoma Gazette August Issue

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INSIDE

COVER Cover Art Best of OKC 2026 NEWS 4

MAZZEI MATH OP-ED

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DEFUNDING SCHOOLS

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CHICKEN FRIED NEWS

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CANDIDATES TAX POLICY

10 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT

EAT & DRINK 11

LEVITY

12 GAZEDIBLES 14 ALCHEMY COCKTAIL 17 SPUNKIE’S SOUL FOOD

ARTS & CULTURE 20 BEST OF OKC WINNERS 23 SCREEN TIME 24 EXHIBIT C GALLERY 29 OG PICKS

SPORTS 31 THUNDER OFF SEASON

FUN 34 PUZZLES 35 ASTROLOGY

OKG A ZE T T E .COM | AU G US T 2026

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OP-ED

NEWS

Mazzei Math

By Drew Williamson

My first real encounter with Mike Mazzei was when a friend sent me a white paper he had authored in late 2022 about economic incentives being offered in the Filmed in Oklahoma Rebate Program and how they ultimately benefited the Oklahoma economy. It was flawed and misleading, claiming the state’s $30 million annual rebate to film generated an ROI of 6.37X our investment, multiplying $30 million into $191,115,275.

Simply stated, it was very misleading by conflating $191,115,275 of potential economic output with ROI. While $191 million in economic output is impressive, the reality is that Oklahoma was losing about 75% of the funds being deployed through film rebates. If we were getting a return on investment of 6.37X annually on this program, our state should invest all we can in film rebates, or perhaps start a private equity fund for Kevin Stitt’s Invest in Oklahoma Act. The report relied on a subjective multiplier from mature production states, which also inflated the outcome. It also did not evaluate alternative uses of the taxpayer dollars in the analysis or provide any sensitivity analysis normally included in these types of reports.

Mazzei’s report was recommending that lawmakers increase the rebate program from $30 million to $100 million annually, and implied the taxpayers would get $637 million in return. Instead, we would have likely lost $75 million, which is what a subsequent review of the same program by the Oklahoma Economic Incentive Commission found.

That’s how Mazzei Math often works: It starts with the answer it wants to achieve and works backward to fit a desired outcome, taxpayers and investors be damned.

While Mazzei’s report started with legitimate data about film production and wages, hotel rooms, catered food and equipment rentals, it then it took the data and made a wild turn to get to the desired result, by using a misleading analysis in order to influence lawmakers.

Luckily, they did not listen, which likely saved Oklahoma taxpayers

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$210 million in wasted tax dollars over the last four years.

Sometimes Mazzei Math uses numbers in a misleading way to persuade voters, such as his campaign trail claim that he saved taxpayers from $11 billion in unfunded pension liabilities through pension reforms he co-authored with Randy McDaniel … failing to mention that the pension system and taxpayers were still on the hook for the unfunded liability. This equates to saying he eliminated $11 billion of debt, even though the debt still must be paid.

Who said math wasn’t fun? In Mazzei’s case, math is a chance to be creative and use his imagination.

Such is the case when it doesn’t get fact-checked or need to add up.

Fast forward to today, and Mazzei Math seems to now change to fit a political script. Back in March, Mazzei stated a proposed smelter in Inola was a “Billion Dollar Boondoggle,” and that our $250 million incentive package was better used elsewhere, because it would only create 1,000 jobs. (Source: OKPoliticsToday.com) A few months later, he reversed his stance on the smelter in a widely publicized flip-flop orchestrated by convicted felon Roger Stone.

Not to let the facts get in the way of a good endorsement, Mazzei Math now claims the smelter will create 10,000 jobs and become 10% of Oklahoma’s economy. (Source: News9. com) That’s an even bigger flip-flop than what he did to get Donald Trump’s approval, and it’s absurd.

Oklahoma’s gross state product (our economy) is almost $300 billion per year. To say the smelter will generate $30 billion per year for Oklahoma is Mazzei Math on steroids.

Perhaps Mazzei’s greatest “math trick” is saying he will eliminate our state income tax and property taxes for seniors and veterans, with the first installment of this plan taking $3 billion from our state’s core services, public schools, career tech and infrastructure. Mazzei Math gets pretty fuzzy when explaining how this gets paid for; offering no specif-

ics, just a bunch of vague generalities and refusing to acknowledge his promised tax cuts are dead on arrival at the Oklahoma Senate chambers.

Mike Mazzei is trying to buy Oklahomans’ votes with math that never adds up. The correct answer to this problem is a vote for Gentner Drummond on Aug. 25.

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OP-ED

“It’s Defunding Schools” What school superintendents are saying about State Question 844

By Andrea Eger Originally published by Oklahoma Watch

Oklahoma voters will decide Aug. 25 whether to allow the state to opt out of paying for one of its longestrunning economic development programs — and school leaders in some of the state’s fastest-growing local economies say the change could end up reducing funding for schools statewide.

State Question 844 would amend the Oklahoma Constitution so the Legislature would no longer be required to reimburse local towns, counties and school districts for

of the reimbursements, but those counties have a disproportionate amount of their ad valorem being waived,” said Pryor Superintendent Lisa Muller. “If this program didn’t exist, we would just collect.”

Voters approved a state question in the mid-1980s to incentivize new or expanded manufacturing facilities with a five-year exemption from local property taxes. That ballot initiative also designated 1% of state income tax collections to be collected in the newly created

Michael Duebelliehn, a contractor with 2 J’s Electric, sands down a piece of conduit at Pryor High School on July 20, 2026. (Judd Slivka/Oklahoma Watch)

property tax revenue they lose out on when new and expanding manufacturing facilities take advantage of the state’s five-year property tax exemption.

Proponents, including House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, said lawmakers need greater control over a reimbursement system they argue has become increasingly expensive and uneven, with only a handful of counties receiving the bulk of payments.

Neither Hilbert nor Paxton were available for interviews for this story.

At the center of the issue are school districts such as Pryor, where major manufacturing investments including an ever-expanding Google data center have generated millions of dollars in property tax exemptions.

“The complaint is that only a few counties are receiving the majority

Ok la homa Ad Va lo r e m Reimbursement Fund, designed to compensate local schools, CareerTech centers, county governments, cities and towns, junior colleges, county health departments, and libraries for the property tax revenue they forgo.

THE LATEST For years, that fund adequately covered reimbursements. But as manufacturing investments accelerated, particularly with large industrial projects and data centers, reimbursement costs outpaced the dedicated funding source.

Last fiscal year, the state paid approximately $88.6 million in reimbursements, including $64 million in supplemental appropriations approved by the Legislature after the dedicated fund fell short. And in the previous decade, manufacturing exemptions required even higher state reimbursements, peaking at $161.2 million in FY2020.

The proposed constitutional amendment states “no individual county shall receive reimbursement in amounts that result in a detriment to the other counties of the state.” Ad valorem reimbursements went to 42 counties last year, but Mayes and Tulsa counties received nearly 60% of the money.

Mayes County Commissioner Steve Grossman said the prospect of a significant change in money available from the state reimbursement fund has taken him by surprise. Little more than one month before the matter goes to a vote of the people, Grossman said he is still studying the matter to try to better understand what it could mean for Mayes County coffers.

“If people in other counties think they’re going to get more, I think they’re mistaken,” Grossman said.

“We’re one county trying to protect what we’ve been getting.”

Public schools are the largest beneficiaries of the Ad Valorem Reimbursement fund. If reimbursements are reduced, school districts that currently receive them would have to cut spending from their general funds, which cover staffing, student programs and other operational expenses, their building funds for utilities, maintenance, and safety costs, and their sinking funds, used to pay for school districts’ long-term capital debt including repayment of voter-approved bond issues.

If state reimbursements were eliminated, local tax entities such as Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools wouldn’t see the immediate benefit of a brand new ammunition plant going into an industrial park within its boundaries, according to Muller.

But for Pryor Public Schools, which received $24 million from the state reimbursement fund for 2025-26, passage of SQ 844 wouldn’t be as simple as waiting five years for tax exemptions to expire and new revenue collections to begin rolling in.

For starters, Ad Valorem Reimbursement funds have made up a significant portion of Pryor’s annual budget for nearly a decade.

And Pryor residents just approved $98 million in bonds, the largest bond election in school district history, which factored in current property valuations. Without being able to rely on the state reimbursement funds for tax exemptions for manufacturing property owners, local property taxes would have to be increased to repay the bond, Muller said.

“We have been very fortunate to benefit from this investment in our community for many years,” Muller said. “For Mayes County, the state question would not just reduce funding for schools, it would also

be a major detriment to roads, bridges, the sheriff’s department, and the Northeast Tech Pryor Campus. But the statewide implications are big if this program is changed. A number of smaller school districts that receive reimbursement funds would likely go back on the state aid formula, diluting available state aid funds for all state aid recipients.”

Currently, the most propertywealthy school districts receive little or no state aid because strong local property tax collections exceed the amount they would otherwise receive through Oklahoma’s equalizing school funding formula.

If the current level of state reimbursement isn’t maintained, some property-wealthy school districts could begin drawing state aid, leaving less money available for schools that have long been dependent on state aid.

Top 10 Counties that received Ad Valorem Reimbursement Fund payments (FY26) Mayes Tulsa Garvin Oklahoma Comanche Garfield Kiowa Okmulgee Muskogee Grady

$35.6 million $16.9 million $4.3 million $3.8 million $3.5 million $2.8 million $2.7 million $2.5 million $2 million $1.7 million

Statewide Total $88.6 million Sou rce: Ok la homa Ta x Commission “The districts that are receiving these reimbursement funds, that windfall allows them to go off the state funding formula more quickly, and that frees up more funding for all of the districts that are on the funding formula,” said Erika Wright, who founded the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition in 2018.

That advocacy group is urging voters to vote no on SQ 844 while it is engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts for the Aug. 25 election, which will also feature a Republican runoff in the state superintendent race.

“Bottom line: Legislative leaders want the ability to not have to pay out those big checks,” said Wright.

“They haven’t created enough detail on what that plan looks like to make any Oklahoman feel confident about letting them put their hand in the cookie jar.”

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NEWS Continued from previous page

company goes and gets this exemption and we’re all for it, because it’s good for everything around here,” Mooney said. “Now, you’ve got a politician talking to a constituency and they’re going to tell them what they want to hear.

We like to cut off basic services for our people. This is no different than defunding the police in 2020.

It’s defunding schools, county government, sheriffs, emergency services.”

Minco Public Schools is already able to afford to pay teachers $5,000 more than the state minimum salary, to maintain class sizes of no more than 15 students and to employ aides in early childhood education classrooms because of expansions in local industry since 2012.

But construction of the massive Rumble Solar project along both sides of the highway leading into town and two battery storage facilities to support it have the 610student school district on track to Chad Wolfe, a kitchen employee at Lincoln Elementary School in Pryor, puts a needing no state aid funding in the tray of frozen tater tots and chicken tenders into an oven before students from a next two years. summer feeding program arrive “Sometimes there’s this view that schools are hoarding money,” Minco really careful with tinkering with It has helped create this climate Superintendent Kevin Sims said. these things too much,” said Sims. of having to foot the bill for this.”

“We are not. We are spending that “The Legislature itself has created money for the benefit of kids. I just a lot more of this through the years. hired a literacy specialist to get the ball rolling for the Legislature’s new literacy goals. If we were just on state aid, I think that would be a lot more difficult.”

With solar farms popping up in multiple counties and other incentive programs designed to attract new business to Oklahoma being created in recent years, Sims said changes such as the ones proposed in SQ 844 risk deterring economic development.

“I think the Legislature has to be

Wright said she has been telling potential voters that the state question would remove constitutional protections for school funding that earlier generations of Oklahoma voters created more than four decades ago. She is very critical of the notion that current state reimbursements are unfair to the 35 counties that currently receive none.

“This isn’t free market at all,” Wright said. “If a community is going to work to get a company there and give whatever local incentives they can, then good for them. I would never expect Noble County to get a small cut of money out of Mayes County. Everybody else isn’t getting those jobs, everybody else is not using their local infrastructure and resources for those companies. The Legislature still wants the companies to come. They want to keep them happy – and the companies win either way.”

For FY26, which ended June 30, Wynnewood Public Schools relied on the Oklahoma Ad Valorem Reimbursement Fund for 16 percent of its general fund because of tax exemptions for a growing refinery owned by CVR Energy. A reduction or elimination of reimbursement funds could put the 630-student school district back on state aid through the school funding formula.

“It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, which government’s good at,” said Wynnewood Superintendent Byron Mooney. “It is ridiculous all the way around and it comes down to the control of the almighty dollar, especially when you start talking about $100 million that they have to reimburse.”

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Epic fail Epic Charter Schools made the news again in July—does it ever miss a month?—and as usual, the news is bad. Per a report to the Statewide Charter Board, reported by Oklahoma Watch, only 0.06% of Epic’s 2025 senior class achieved an ACT score that qualified them for college or university admission without remediation; were accepted; and completed the FAFSA. We’re so used to making fun of the school for its financial shenanigans that we ignored the academics, assuming they would be at least average or so. Epic boasts that its system personalizes the student experience to meet the students’ individual needs. Clearly, the school doesn’t think improved academic outcomes are needed.

One out of four is bad Gubernatorial hopeful Mike Mazzei seems confused about his role on the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Board. Governor Stitt appointed him to the board in March 2023, and since that time, he’s made 10 out of 40 meetings, per reporting by KOSU. (If you went to Epic Charter Schools, that’s 25% or one in four, a failing attendance grade in every school we’re aware of.) It’s possible that Mr. Mazzei misunderstood, and assumed his presence on the board meant he’s already retired; that is of course the most generous interpretation, unless you’re communication advisor Jahan Wilcox, who said it’s “… an unpaid, volunteer position.” So there you have it: Don’t expect him to show up to things he signs up to do unless he’s paid to do them.

With friends like these …

Mazzei’s month wasn’t great as publicity goes. Almost simultaneously, he posted about his endorsement by Republican State Representative Danny Williams (Seminole) as NonDoc was reporting that Williams is under investigation for “improper behavior” toward staff.

No details yet on what this particular improper behavior is, but we’re working for a short list of common and familiar possibilities. Mazzei deleted the post after the news broke, but he won’t be able to delete the subsequent endorsement he received from Williams. That had to feel like the time your grandma accidentally kissed you on the mouth.

Shades of dismay OKC United, our (sort of) new USL team, unveiled the name and colors in July, and while those colors were chosen for their resonance with the Oklahoma sky and weather, thus pink, blue and white, predictably, the self-described alpha male community was not pleased. While the gender reveal jokes are admittedly funny, many men were inexplicably angry at the choice of pink. We’re now waiting for the conspiracy theory that wearing pink leads to ED in men.

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OKG A ZE T T E .COM | AU G US T 2026

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F E AT U R E

NEWS Candidates Talk Tax Policy

By Lionel Ramos Originally published by KOSU

With the August primary runoffs on the horizon, one high-priority issue for Oklahoma voters is tax relief. Here is a summary of the plans leading Republican candidates for governor have, if they win.

Both Gentner Drummond and Mike Mazzei say they want to lower taxes.

Cyndi Munson and independents Robert Brooks, Orlando Lynn Bush and Jerry Griffin.

Mazzei said during a debate hosted by KSWO 7 News and NonDoc in May, Oklahoma needs to lose its personal and corporate income tax rates to stay competitive with our regional neighbors.

The pair support eliminating state income taxes in phases and stronger homestead exemptions for certain groups, and both say they’ll support the state revenue and budget transparency needed to make it happen.

“We’re losing energy companies to Texas. The state of Tennessee has 58% more economic growth than we do. Why?” Mazzei said. “They’re both no-income-tax states. I’m the one guy … who in year one, will ask the legislature to reduce your state income tax from 4.5% to 3% as part one of a three-part plan.”

Their contest in the August 25 runoff will determine the GOP nomination for governor. The winner will be heavily favored in a race against Democrat

The idea, Mazzei said, is to spur economic growth by en-

couraging people and businesses to keep moving to Oklahoma, thereby supplanting any lost revenue from tax cuts with other revenue streams.

Drummond has a fundamentally different approach to economic growth.

“We do that through education, health care and mental health,” he said during the debate. “And the companies will stay in Oklahoma.”

Their visions diverge further around property taxes. Drummond says he will cap property tax increases for seniors and veterans while also protecting local government revenues.

“If Oklahoma can truly afford it, families deserve to keep more of what they earn,” Drummond’s website reads.

“But I will never support tax cuts designed to score political points or create campaign talking points if they jeopardize public safety, education,

infrastructure, or other essential services.”

Mazzei writes on his website that counties and their small towns don’t have an affordability problem, but a spending one, and plans to eliminate property taxes for seniors and vets. It’s the culmination of his three-part plan.

“After years of significant revenue growth from property tax collections, Oklahoma county governments can afford a decrease in tax collections,” Mazzei’s site reads.

“County leaders must make operations more efficient and reduce spending.”

Drummond said during debate that Mazzei’s plan is problematic. It’s a sentiment that’s at least shared by county government officials and representatives.

“We can cut property taxes to zero, as Mr. Mazzei promotes, and we would shut down police forces, county sheriffs,

Republican candidates Mike Mazzei (left) and entner Drummond will compete in a runoff election in August. The winner will face Democratic candidate Cyndi Munson and three independent challengers.

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education, roads and bridges,” Drummond said. “We can’t do that. So when you hear somebody say a plan, hold them to it.”

Mazzei’s plans are, they’ll have to win in November to get started, then negotiate with the state legislature to implement.

Whatever Drummond and

OKG A ZE T T E .COM | AU G US T 2026

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F E AT U R E

NON-PROFIT FOCUS Relationships First RestoreOKC joins a Harvard cohort exploring how relationships— not programs—create meaningful, lasting change for families.

By Julie Porter Scott

This article is sponsored by the Potts Family Foundation

That idea of scaling, however, means something very different at RestoreOKC than it does at many nonprofits. Growth is often measured by bigger

storeOKC’s Director of Education LaTasha Timberlake described as “whole life” needs.

Once basic needs are met, families may need educational

When RestoreOKC leaders arrived at Harvard University in mid-July for the Success Planning Community of Practice, they joined educators, researchers and practitioners from across the country—all exploring the same question: How can communities better support children and families?

The initiative, led by the Institute for Success Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s EdRedesign Lab, selected Restore for its fifth cohort, bringing together organizations to share ideas, strengthen relationship-centered practices and learn from one another.

For RestoreOKC, the invitation affirmed something the Northeast Oklahoma City nonprofit has believed since its founding a decade ago: Lasting change begins with Left to right: Jonah Johnson, Tim Griffin, and LaTasha Timberlake of RestoreOKC; Harold Lee, co-founder of Kidvation Global and a relationships, not programs. YouthTRON partner. Credit: Photo Provided “We’re using very simple tech- Relationship-centered success numbers—more locations, opportunities, creative outlets, niques,” said Chief Strategy planning places trust—not more clients served, more pro- career pathways or stronger Officer Jonah Johnson. “Rela- programs—at the center of grams offered. RestoreOKC’s community connections. Each tionships, listening and re- improving outcomes for chil- leaders see success differently. layer builds upon the last. sponding, and collaborating.” dren and families. Rather than “Typically, scale represents a “We’re able to be more strateThose principles have guided treating family engagement as wider net of service,” Johnson gic,” she said. “Instead of more RestoreOKC’s work since its an abstract goal, the frame- explained. “But for Restore, it’s transactional practices, we can earliest days. Rather than im- work emphasizes practical about going deeper.” greater access and opporting a successful model strategies such as home visits, Instead of expanding into new foster from somewhere else, the or- one-on-one conversations and communities, the organization portunity.” ganization has spent the past intentional partnerships that wants to strengthen outcomes 10 years listening to neighbors, uncover existing strengths. within Northeast Oklahoma Continued on page 19 identifying emerging needs and building responsive pro- The partnership provides the City by addressing what Regrams. What began as com- research and evidence to reinmunity development has force the work the organization grown to include education, has been doing all along. Achealth, housing and workforce cording to the Harvard Gazette, initiatives—not because those “a Harvard-Cornell study areas were part of some long- found that relationship-based range plan, but because resi- personalization improves test dents consistently identified scores, increases high school them as priorities. graduation rates, boosts college Johnson said Restore’s ap- enrollment and contributes to proach is simple: Listen first, greater lifetime earnings.” then build programming “The program is saying, ‘Here’s around what neighbors say the research that supports they need. what you’re doing,’” Johnson That philosophy caught the at- said. “‘Here are some additiontention of the Institute for al tools that can help you scale Jonah Johnson, chief strategy officer for LaTasha Timberlake, director of education RestoreOKC. for RestoreOKC. Success Planning. your impact.’”

Credit: Photo Provided Credit: Photo Provided 10

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F E AT U R E

EAT & DRINK

Breakfast, Levitated

A lovingly restored bungalow brings Portland-inspired breakfast to downtown Norman.

By Julie Porter Scott

Norman has no shortage of breakfast spots. Some are storied and deserving of their mantle. Some are cheesy; some are straight-up dives. They all have their place. But Levity Breakfast House feels just right for this town at this moment.

Housed inside a lovingly reimagined 105-year-old bungalow just north of downtown, Levity is a little bit Norman, a little bit Portland, and a welcome addition to the breakfast scene.

The downtown location offers a welcome alternative to Campus Corner, which has become a microcosm of latestage capitalism, home only to national chains and soaring rents. If you’re wondering where Norman’s creatives, young professionals and families have migrated for coffee and breakfast these days, look no further than downtown generally and Levity specifically. The day I was there, I rubbed elbows with a duo of fashionable elder millennials, a trio who appeared to be retired art professors and roughly half the OU women’s soccer team.

That’s my kind of Norman.

The digs are warm, welcoming and bright. It’s not lost on this reviewer that it is no small feat to take a centenarian house and somehow manage to squeeze in a commercial kitchen while maintaining that Craftsman charm. If the Gibbs architecture kids aren’t getting their waffles here after a late

night in the studio, they’re doubly missing out. It’s a gift to all of us when a new owner preserves a historic building, so I was inclined to be into it long before the first nibbles.

The restaurant is the vision of brothers Jon and Mark Hunnell, who transformed this old house into a lively gathering place. It felt cozy and homey even before I knew the backstory: The Hunnell brothers grew up in Portland, where they taught themselves to make their favorite fare. Jon moved to Norman with his wife and children; a few years later, Mark followed, his family in tow. Levity is the culmination of a childhood dream, and the addition of Chef Luke Fry completed the trifecta. Fry’s well-rounded resume includes stints at Norman’s NOUN Hotel and Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails.

The first thing to order is one of Levity’s house-made scones.

Seasonal flavors rotate, but each starts with the same, distinctively dense and tender crumb. The Maple Bacon Pecan strikes a détente between savory and sweet, while the Blueberry Lemon delivers bright citrus alongside juicy berries for a lighter finish.

Those were both excellent, but my crew all agreed the Peaches & Cream was the standout: Oklahoma summer wrapped in buttery layers. They’re substantial enough to share, though you’ll probably regret doing so after the first bite.

The Scones and Gravy skips

the standard biscuit, opting for a savory three-cheese scone as the base before blanketing it with maple sausage gravy and topping it with two eggs cooked to order. The slight sweetness of the scone plays beautifully against the peppery gravy.

I also loved the Stay Classy Norman breakfast sandwich.

Scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, sharp cheddar and a touch of

garlic aioli come together on a house-made English muffin with a crisp potato cake on the side. It’s familiar enough to satisfy traditionalists while still feeling distinctly housemade from top to bottom.

One of the menu’s biggest surprises is the Avocado Prost.

Knife skills were on full display in the expertly sliced avocado, layered over a toasted Sadee’s Sourdough. It’s finished with house-made roasted cashewpecan pesto, pickled onions, tomatoes, mixed greens and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. When pressed, I would have to say this was, perhaps surprisingly, everyone’s favorite. The place also definitely passes the Portland vibe check when it comes to thoughtfully prepared vegan fare.

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GAZEDIBLES

EAT & DRINK

The Dogs of Summer

By Gazette Staff

Along with burgers, homemade ice cream and watermelon, hot dogs are emblematic of summer cookouts. Misunderstandings about the beloved wieners continue, including disparaging remarks from previous generations about the body parts for sourcing, but the truth is most hot dogs and sausage dogs in restaurants are sourced from premium cuts. While they may not be the most popular items on menus, those who love them really love them, and OKC has enough choices to make the dog lovers very happy.

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Burger Punk—Street Dog. Rachel Cope’s burger joint isn’t just good at burgers. She’s doing her part to alleviate the shortage of great chili cheese dogs in the metro with the Street Dog, featuring housemade chili, Liquid Gold queso and diced white onion. The frank is Nathan’s so it’s all beef, and the queso gives strong nostalgic comfort to those of us who miss mom’s football watch party queso in the Crock-Pot.

Cal’s Chicago Style Eatery— Chicago Dog. This pleasant surprise on the NW Expressway is brought to us by a former Chicagoan who apparently missed the dog carts that dot the streets of home. This is a classic Chicago dog, with sport peppers, relish, mustard, veggies and a pickle spear, of course.

Fassler Hall—Sausage Dog. The good news here, besides the sausages being made inhouse, is that you can pick the one you want to build your dog, and that includes lamb, venison, bratwurst, habanerochicken and even vegan. Load up the extras like sauerkraut, grilled onions, peppers and feta or cheddar to make it just the way you like it.

The Goat Sports Bar—Okie Style Hot Dog. The new addition to Bricktown from Convivial Concepts features excellent food from Chef Carlos Martinez, including his “Okie” take on a classic. The allbeef frank is served with caramelized onions and candied jalapeños. Finding a dog with a spicy kick is difficult in the metro, so the heat from the peppers is very welcome, but you can take them off if it’s not your thing.

Lorena Southern Twist— Conecuh Dog. This modern take on a Southern restaurant has introduced OKC to a staple of SEC football tailgating, the Conecuh sausage.

Chef Cally Johnson uses the hickory-smoked pork sausage from Alabama elsewhere on the menu, too, but for Social Hour, it’s on a bun with fried okra, collard greens and Natty Light mustard.

Ma Der Lao Kitchen—Lao Sausage Dog. During happy hour at Chef Jeff Chanchaleune’s Plaza District spot, diners have the option of a sausage dog made with sai oua, pickled papaya and charred cilantro mayo on a potato roll. It’s a punchy, spicy (if you wish) burst of Lao flavors, and it pairs perfectly with ice cold Beerlao.

Spark—Corny Dog. Another burger joint with a great dog; in this case, it’s the corn dog you should be eating all the time, even when the State Fair is in town. Whatever magic is mixed into the batter is a proprietary secret, but the end result is as if a pancake and fluffy cornbread had a beautiful batter baby, and the pork-beef blend with no fillers from Schwab Meat is a lovely contrast to the hint of corny sweetness in the batter.

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F E AT U R E

EAT & DRINK

Built for Conversation Inside Edmond’s New Alchemy Cocktail Lounge

By James Biscone

George, who grew up in Norman, and Warren, a Jones native, spent the past year and a half traveling together, visiting cocktail lounges in cities like

Brooklyn, San Francisco and Chicago. Rather than seeking recipes to copy, they were studying spaces that made people want to stay.

They returned convinced that Edmond needed something different.

“We wanted a special place that was approachable,” Warren

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BEST SEAFOOD IN OKC

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Every new cocktail lounge promises handcrafted drinks, elevated food and an exceptional atmosphere.

Alchemy Cocktail Lounge in downtown Edmond delivers all three.

But after sitting down with owners Mical George and Liz Warren inside the restored Weathers Appliance building at Main and Broadway, it became clear that cocktails aren’t really what they’re selling: They’re selling conversation.

That may sound strange in reference to a bar with more than 350 spirits, including nearly 100 bourbons and whiskeys, and one of the metro’s most thoughtfully curated cocktail menus. But George insists the drinks are only part of the experience.

“If people don’t feel welcome, they’re not coming back,” he said.

That philosophy is woven into every corner of Alchemy.

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said. “Somewhere people could dress up for a date night or walk in wearing shorts and feel just as comfortable.”

Hospitality, not mixology, became the foundation.

In an era when televisions dominate every wall and live music often competes with conversation, Alchemy intentionally moves in the opposite direction.

There are no televisions. The music is carefully selected and kept at a volume that encourages conversation rather than competing with it. Booths and lounge seating invite guests to linger instead of rushing through a drink before heading somewhere else.

The goal is to build community and welcome conversations; George hopes strangers become neighbors, neighbors become regulars and regulars begin bringing their friends.

That attention to detail extends well beyond the service.

George purchased the historic building and oversaw the entire renovation, stripping away decades of alterations to expose the original brick walls while creating a space that feels as though it has existed for generations.

Anchoring the room is a beautiful

handcrafted walnut bar, the centerpiece of a lounge filled with vintage furnishings, warm lighting and carefully selected décor inspired by the couple’s travels.

Nothing happened by accident … even the bathrooms. George laughed while admitting he wanted guests to leave talking about them. It sounds almost obsessive until you realize that’s exactly the point: The details matter.

Every decision, from the lighting to the furniture to the music, was made with the single purpose of creating a place where people feel comfortable enough to stay for another conversation.

The same philosophy extends behind the bar: General Manager Kaden Fetter, the creative force behind Alchemy’s drink program, has crafted a cocktail menu that balances classics with original creations. The White Roses espresso martini is already becoming a house favorite, while the Old Fashioned showcases the lounge’s extensive bourbon collection with understated confidence.

The kitchen received the same thoughtful treatment. Rather than relying on predictable bar food, George and Warren turned

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to acclaimed Edmond chef Robert Black to help develop the menu.

The result is a collection of elevated small plates designed to complement—not compete with—the cocktails. Even the bread reflects that commitment to quality, arriving fresh from Black’s Twisted Tree Bakery.

Like everything else at Alchemy, the menu is deliberate. Perhaps that’s what makes the lounge feel different.

Downtown Edmond has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade, evolving into one of the metro’s most vibrant dining destinations.

Yet until now, there hasn’t been a place where dinner naturally moves into lingering conversation over thoughtfully crafted cocktails.

George believes Edmond residents shouldn’t have to drive into

Oklahoma City for that experience anymore. Judging by the steady crowds already filling Alchemy, many seem to agree.

Every restaurant talks about creating an experience. Few recognize that the experience begins long before the first sip. It’s found in the greeting at the door; the conversation with a bartender; the comfort of a booth; the warmth of a room designed to slow people down instead of hurrying them along.

That’s what George and Warren have built.

The cocktails may bring people through the door, but if Alchemy succeeds—and early indications suggest it will succeed and thrive—it won’t be because of what’s in the glass. It will be because, in a world increasingly designed to distract us, George and Warren have created a place that reminds us of something we’ve been missing:

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EAT & DRINK

Finally Home From a food truck to Penn Square Mall, Spunkie’s Soul Food finally finds its home at Edmond’s Icehouse Project.

By Julie Porter Scott

For the past seven months, one question has followed DeNoya and Tony Crawford everywhere they go.

“When is Spunkie’s coming back?”

That wait ended July 25, when the beloved soul food restaurant opened inside Edmond’s Icehouse Project after a months-long hiatus that left loyal customers wondering where they could once again find its turkey chops and fried catfish—not to mention the warm welcome that has become just as much a part of the experience as anything on the menu.

For the Crawford family, however, the move represents far more than a new address. It is the latest chapter in a journey that has taken them from a food truck in Maryland to Oklahoma, through the challenges of operating at Penn Square Mall and finally into a space they can truly make their own.

“We just want everyone to feel welcome,” DeNoya said. “That’s what Spunkie’s has always been.”

And it’s true; that philosophy has guided the business from the beginning.

It first opened as a food truck in Clarksburg, Maryland, in 2017 and quickly built a loyal following. When family health concerns brought the Crawfords back to Oklahoma in 2019, they packed up the truck and started over. Rather than struggle, the business found an audience almost immediately.

Then came the pandemic.

While dining rooms closed across the country, Spunkie’s mobile kitchen allowed them to continue serving families during one of the most uncertain periods the restaurant industry has ever faced. That flexibility not only kept the business afloat but helped establish a fiercely loyal customer base.

That loyalty eventually followed the Crawfords into Penn Square Mall, where the restaurant spent three years introducing a new audience to its soul food classics. But despite the success, the Crawfords found themselves dreaming of something different. Room to host a community event. Room for live music.

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Easier access for customers. Most of all, they wanted a place they could truly call their own.

The Icehouse Project, a familyfriendly dining destination in downtown Edmond, offered exactly that. The restored plant has been reimagined as a food hall, bringing together local restaurants, craft beer and community events around a central courtyard.

The move also returns the Crawfords to what they have always loved most about the business: building community. Ask them what makes

Spunkie’s special, and the conversation quickly shifts from food to people. They’ll happily tell you about turkey chops, collard greens, fried fish or macaroni and cheese.

Then there’s the peach cobbler, still made by DeNoya’s mother, who remains an active part of the business well into her 80s. Both Tony and DeNoya become animated when sharing stories about their employees or remembering special moments with customers.

They remember customers by name and often know their regular orders

before they reach the counter. They ask young employees about their grades. They show up to basketball games to cheer on student-athletes who stop by for dinner. Former customers become friends, and friends become family.

That spirit extends well beyond the restaurant’s walls.

Over the years, Spunkie’s has helped feed people experiencing homelessness; donated shoes and school supplies to local students; and looked for opportunities to give back wherever possible. During the pandemic, the Crawfords delivered meals to neighbors who were sick or unable to leave home, believing food was more than a business—it was a way to care for their community.

Today, DeNoya says the response from the Edmond community has been overwhelmingly encouraging.

Neighbors have stopped by just to introduce themselves and say how excited they are to have Spunkie’s in Edmond. Local and civic organizations have welcomed the restaurant, and excitement has steadily grown since the move was announced.

That optimism feels especially fitting at the Icehouse Project, where families and friends can gather, choose from a variety of local restaurants, grab a beer from American Solera and share a meal in the courtyard.

After months away, customers will once again be greeted by familiar faces, comforting food and the unmistakable feeling that they’re more than just another order.

For the Crawford family, that’s always been the recipe. The fried chicken, collard greens and peach cobbler may bring people through the door, but the relationships are the real bread and butter.

“We just love on everyone,” DeNoya said. “It doesn’t matter who you are.”

To stay up-to-date on all things Spunkie’s, follow it on Facebook @ spunkiessoulfoodtruck and on Instagram, @spunkies_soul_food.

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EAT & DRINK F E AT U R E

Breakfast, Levitated

A lovingly restored bungalow brings Portland-inspired breakfast to downtown Norman.

By Julie Porter Scott

that small upgrades—fresh bread, quality ingredients, good seasoning and the care taken in the preparation— Coffee lovers will find can transform everyday prepared espresso drinks favorites. alongside drip coffee and My favorite restaurants and cold brew, but we opted for the iced masala chai tea latte. restaurateurs always make me feel like I’m being It was rich and creamy welcomed into someone’s without being too sweet— home, and Levity feels almost refreshing enough for an Oklahoma summer morning uncannily like that. The while still delivering all that Portland backstory, the tightknit family and the nods to chai goodness. pop culture all made it feel In short, Levity just feels right. Nothing on the menu is like hanging out at my cool trying to reinvent breakfast. cousin’s house—albeit with Almost every offering proves better snacks. Judging by the steady stream of regulars filling its tables each morning, Norman agrees.

Continued from page 11

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NEWS 4 p.m. Engagement opportunities abound; no trip to CamThe partnership also provides bridge required. tools to measure those deeper investments. Restore will work To learn more about RestoreOKC, alongside researchers to develop visit restoreokc.org. meaningful metrics, evaluate outcomes and build systems that extend beyond individual programs or staff members.

“Programs come and go,” Johnson said. “But with strategic systems thinking, ideally these systems outlive the people who originated them.”

Those systems also extend beyond RestoreOKC itself. That collaborative philosophy is reflected in YouthTron, a network of nonprofits serving young people throughout Oklahoma City. These organizations contribute different areas of expertise while working toward shared outcomes. No single organization can meet every need, but together they can create a coordinated system of support that surrounds families rather than leaving them to navigate disconnected services.

Throughout the week, one value that surfaced repeatedly was humility.

“The systems that are being built out of Restore are rooted in humility,” Johnson said. “It’s not about ego. It’s not about individual advancement. It’s really a collective effort to do what’s best for the neighbor.”

That mindset, he believes, is what allows Restore to keep listening instead of assuming it already has the answers. Relationships aren’t built only with the people Restore serves, but also among partner organizations, volunteers and neighbors doing the work together.

Restore will continue working with its cohort through monthly virtual meetings beginning this fall while applying those lessons locally.

For those interested in supporting RestoreOKC, fall offers plenty of opportunities—from donating backpacks or uniforms for the Aug. 6 Back-to-School Bash to attending a September Coffee Tour. Or, add this weekly reminder to your calendar: Eastside Fresh Market, Tuesdays at Continued from page 10

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ARTS & CULTURE FILM

Screen Time Pair these films with dinner for broad date night appeal

By Laron Chapman

Tonight is date night. Wine and warm bread occupy the dinner table. Good vibes flow freely, but come to a screeching halt as a sinking revelation sets in: It is your turn to pick the evening’s entertainment. As the appetizers arrive, your indecision grabs hold of you. The clock is ticking, the dessert menu is out, a crucial choice must be made. Well, fret not: Here are two spectacular selections with cross-gender appeal to save the evening from imminent catastrophe.

The Invite In 2019 actress Olivia Wilde made her directorial mark with the side-splitting buddy-comedy Booksmart. In 2022, she creatively stagnated with her stylish but underwhelming sophomore dystopian thriller Don’t Worry Darling. In 2026 she is back with a vengeance with her Sundance hit dramedy, The Invite. Wilde’s latest effort affirms she is a rare and exciting new voice with a deeply humanist, character-driven and introspective approach to 23

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storytelling.

Based on the Spanish film The People Upstairs, the film presents the hanging-on-by-a-thread married couple Angela (Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogan). Angela is a neurotic stay-at-home wife who spends her time decorating, exploring new dinner recipes and purchasing expensive artwork.

Joe is a disgruntled failed musician-turned-jazz-band-teacher who longs to rejuvenate his artistic career. On one fateful evening, Angela arranges an extravagant dinner party with her promiscuous, enigmat ic neighbors, Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton). As their incongruous personalities clash, secrets, desires, vulnerabilities and uncomfortable truths are exposed in tense and hilarious ways.

What begins as a playful, unpredictable evening qu ic k ly morphs into a profound exploration of self-realization (for both the guests and the hosts).

Skillful, fluid direction; a QUARTET of fantastic, layered performances; a sharp, perceptive and brilliantly comedic script. All of these elements combine in a soufflé of winning ingredients that result in one of the freshest, most thoughtful and uproariously entertaining “adult” films in ages. Through snappy, thoughtful dialogue, intentional art direction and rhythmic camera work, we carefully de-

construct the shared history and relationship dynamics of four vividly realized characters. As a result, we are encouraged to process our own traumas and insecurities in a cathartic, meaningful way.

Wilde deserves all the accolades this film receives.

It is easily one of the year’s best.

The Odyssey We all remember being forced-fed ancient Greek poet Homer’s epic The Odyssey as essential reading in high school. The epic 24-part story that chronicles Odysseus, King of Ithaca, on his perilous, 10-year voyage back home in the bloody aftermath of the Trojan War. After combating mythical creatures, treacherous waters and the weight of his own stubborn ego, Odysseus must reconcile with the consequences of his war-time actions. It is a story that reverberates and endures throughout time, exploring the frailty of man and what it really means to be a hero.

Following the multi-Oscar-winning biopic Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan had the free range and financial resources to tell any story he wanted.

And he chose to follow up his Best Picture winner with an adaptation of a well-known, oft-told literary work. What might have appeared to be an ambitious but fruitless effort proved to be a staggering, multi-million-dollar box office success. Only Nolan could take a narrative we thought we knew front to back and recontextualize it to unearth timely and profound truths that critique our modern society.

Nolan refused to paint Odysseus (powerfully played by Matt Damon) as a one-dimensional, idyllic figure deserving of blind worship or praise. He intuitively understood that there are no real

victors in violent wars, only survivors and collateral damage.

Odysseus’ actions directly affect his wife, Queen Penelope (a brilliant Anne Hathaway), his son, Prince Telemachus (Tom Holland), and the brave men who serve under his self-serving leadership. Be it a giant cyclops, the powerful sorceress Circe (an exceptional Samantha Morton) or the power-hungry suitor Antinous (a menacing Robert Pattinson), Odysseus’ greatest obstacle comes from within—preserving his own humanity and the laws of the gods.

In many ways, this feels like a new generation’s Ben-Hur or Lawrence of Arabia. It is immersive, transporting, engrossing and emotionally stirring. The stacked, uniformly excellent A-list cast, breathtaking set pieces and thunderous score culminate in one of Nolan’s most accomplished works to date. The sheer magnitude of the experience is overwhelming at times, but it finds grace notes to underscore the humanity and lyricism at its core. Peace and serenity collide with brutality and rumination on the internal and external consequences of war. Astonishing.

F E AT U R E

ARTS & CULTURE

Ledger Art’s Living Legacy

by Brian Hearn

A gem in the heart of the booming Horizons District, Exhibit C Gallery is serving up museum-quality exhibitions and a fresh rotation of contemporary First Americans artwork in a spacious, well-lit gallery space situated between the OKANA Resort and the First Americans Museum.

Operated by the Chickasaw Nation, having outgrown its former location in Bricktown, Exhibit C is in the capable hands of Gallery Manager Kristen Gentry, herself a talented artist.

Exhibit C’s newest rotating exhibition, Records and Renderings, centers on 10 different artists who engage, adapt and expand on the historical First American artistic practice known as ledger art. Its origins, in part, were born of the ugly battles between U.S. government forces and the indigenous Southern Plains tribes such as the Cheyenne and Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche and Caddo in the mid-1870s in what would become

western Oklahoma.

When dozens of male tribal members were imprisoned after their tribes were coerced onto government reservations, these former warriors were remarkably provided with reams of discarded ledger paper, often bound in thick volumes, and colored pencils, sometimes even watercolor paints, by their captors.

What emerged was an unusual new art form as these Plains tribal men depicted scenes from battles, hunting, important tribal events, and eventually scenes from everyday life.

Paper was a new medium for these artists. Their style was flat, dynamic and narrative, rooted in hide paintings which would often appear on dwellings like tipis.

Hundreds of these ledgers were created as early as the 1830s, and the practice continued at Indian boarding schools up to

Dylan Cavin, Man from Osagell

the 1910s. They were often broken up after creation, with individual works being sold off and their collective stories disintegrated.

land these records describe is the same land my family occupied for generations,” Cavin explained, “That overlap—between colonial bureaucracy and Indigenous continuity—is where my work lives.”

These days, contemporary First American artists from many tribes produce ledger art with great intentionality and stylistic variation. The vintage paper used is meaningful as an art matrix for materials like graphite, ink and paint to form the images, and furthermore the type of paper selected carries historical and conceptual meanings.

Caddo artist Dolores Purdy, for example, works with hymnal pages specifically referencing Dylan Cavin, OK Scissortail the influence of Christian missionaries among both Dustin Mater’s (Chickasaw) native and removed tribes in works like the diptych Oklahoma.

“Splendor & Escape” are vibrant colorful illustrations Dylan Cavin’s (Choctaw) work of tribal life at the time of “OK Scissortail” superimposes first European contact, in a captivating image of a life- colored pencil and ink over like scissortail flycatcher in elegant handwritten ledger flight against a background pages which the artist of puddled washes in blues allows to bleed through the and greens over an early image. map of the state from the Rand McNally Atlas. We can admire this familiar winged resident’s outsized claws, keen vision and unforgettable Continued on next page. silhouette as an ancient inhabitant of this land. “The O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | A U G U S T 2 0 2 6

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F E AT U R E

ARTS & CULTURE Ledger Art’s Living Legacy

By Brian Hearn

Continued from previous page Candace Shanholtzer (Choctaw) presents realistic colored pencil drawings of full-length profile portraits showing male and female dancers in full regalia over pages from a handwritten ledger. The semitransparent figures seem to materialize above the orderly handwritten columns as if to say, “We are still here and never stopped dancing.”

In a mash-up of ledger art meets mail art, Brent Learned (Cheyenne and Arapaho) stands out for his unprecedented use of dainty White House stationery envelopes which he animates in the traditional flat style. Lokosh (Chickasaw) only came to experimenting with ledger art during the pandemic. “I like the idea of indigenizing things from foreign sources—taking what was once not ours and making it

Halcyon, however, is renewing the practice with scanned ledger pages, threedimensional rendering and digital inkjet prints as in her “Thunder Bison.”

It’s fascinating to see the intergenerational and intertribal interpretations of this rich practice well into this century.

Another original interpretation is the miniature work of Ronnie Morris (Cherokee), who recreates the linear and handwritten character of

Ronnie Morris’s creation

original ledger pages onto earring discs that he adorns with symbolic feathers or pendants.

Brent Learned, Cheyenne Chief

something that reflects who we are as Indigenous people in 2026,” he explained.

George Levi (Cheyenne and Arapaho) holds down the old-school flat style of ledger art he learned from his parents and grandparents.

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There is much to ponder and appreciate in Records and Renderings. The small size of the work invites an intimacy to the layered imagery and tense storytelling. Until the world runs out of paper and colored pencils, ledger art shall continue its lively artistic legacy.

George Levi, Thunder

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MUSIC

ARTS & CULTURE

SHINE on Oklahoma Music Honoring OKC Pathmaker Bryan White

By Brian Maughan

The first country artist to ever have two albums to go platinum on the same day was Oklahoma City’s own Bryan White. After graduating from Putnam City West, White was signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, charting the first two of ultimately 21 songs he would place on the Billboard Country charts.

White also found success writing songs for other top country artists, including Wynonna Judd, Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown, Joe Diffie and LeAnn Rimes. The biggest of these cover songs was “Imagine That,” which became a Top 5 smash for Diamond Rio in 1997. Recently Oklahoma has borrowed that song title to be the motto for our state vehicle tags.

While he charted six number one hits as a solo artist, many believe his chart-topping duet with Shaina Twain is his most famous song. The collaboration on “From This Moment On” was played at as many weddings as it was at country dance halls. Recorded in 1998, Twain said she and her then husband, Mutt Lange, wrote the song with White in mind. She called him while on the road touring.

White still remembers exactly how it unfolded, starting with a call that jolted him awake. “I was asleep on the tour bus in Chicago, Illinois—it was the era of no cell phones,” White says of how it came about. “We had this analog phone on our bus that we only used for emergencies. We got a call on it, and my tour manager came and woke me up, and said, ‘You need to get up.’ I said, ‘What for?’ He said, ‘Just get up, you need to get up … Mutt Lange and Shania Twain are on the phone.’

I was clearing my throat and trying to wrap my mind around why I was talking to Shania Twain and Mutt Lange at 9 o’clock in the morning—because for me, back then, 9 o’clock in the morning was ungodly early!”

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because he was her favorite male country singer. Their song not only became a big U.S. market hit, but also scored high on charts throughout the world.

The video would be played on CMT in constant rotation due to popular demand.

Besides selling more than five million albums worldwide, White has won a Grammy, CMA and an ACM award. In 2015, he received a major career resurgence with “God Gave Me You,” a song he originally released in 1999. Ironically the song became an international hit; in particular topping the charts in the Philippines.

This fall, White will celebrate his 26th wedding anniversary to actress Erika Page White. A star in her own right, she is known for her roles on soap operas like “One Life to Live” and appeared with Bryan on “The Private Lives of Nashville Wives.” She is also an Oklahoma native. They had two sons, Justin and Jackson. The younger son, Jackson, has recently been following in his father’s footsteps by releasing songs online. In 2024, he made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry performing with his dad. This year he appeared on “American Idol” with a Golden Ticket.

Although he was born in Lawton, White grew up in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City / County Historical Society is bestowing its prestigious Pathmaker Award—the highest honor one can receive from the society—to him at the banquet this month.

“This is in recognition of not only his amazing contributions to music, but also for his reputation of being a Goodwill Ambassador, having used his celebrity to help so many wonderful causes all over the United States,” said society board member Kala Beard. The luncheon banquet ceremony will be held Tuesday, April 14, at 11:30AM at the Champion Event Center, 737 S Meridian Ave. Tickets can be purchased

at okchistory.com.

White will be in attendance along with his wife to receive his award, and the public will be able to visit with him following the ceremony.

A full interview can be seen on the SHINE on Oklahoma Music YouTube channel.

Brian Maughan serves as Oklahoma County Commissioner, District 2, and does a series of interviews with Oklahoma music stars for the Oklahoma History Center called SHINE on Oklahoma Music.

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PICKS

CALENDAR - AUGUST

FESTIVALS & FAIRS

FUNDRAISERS

Paseo First Friday Gallery Walk Aug. 7, 6-9pm Paseo Arts District thepaseo.org

Ripples of Hope Breakfast Fundraiser Aug. 18, 7:30-9am - Will Rogers Theatre calmwaters.org

CatVideoFest 2026 August 7-9 & 13 Oklahoma City Museum of Art okcmoa.com Live on the Plaza “SKATE! The Plaza” Aug 14, 5-10pm Plaza District Every second Friday plazadistrict.org

Red Shoe Rendezvous Aug. 29, 6pm - Oklahoma City Convention Center rmhc-okc.org Cocktails & Comedy with Esther Steinberg Aug. 29, 5-8pm Carpenter Square Theatre jewishtheatreok.org

Pakistan Day August 15, 7-11pm Scissortail Park appnaok.org/event-details West Village Fourth Friday Reggae Fest Aug. 28, 6-10pm westvillageokc.com

FARMERS MARKETS Eastside Fresh Market Tuesdays Aug. 5-Sept. 2, 4-7pm Market at Eastpoint facebook.com/eastsidefreshmarket

Wheeler District Farmers Market Aug. 7-28, 6-9pm Every Friday through October wheelerdistrict.com Harrah Farmers Market Aug. 15, Heritage Park facebook.com/Harrah-Farmers-Market

Newcastle 4th Saturday Farmers and Artisans Market Aug. 22, Veterans Park facebook.com/newcastlemarketok

Farmers Market at OAK Saturday, August 29, 9am-1pm Every last Saturday through Oct. oakokc.com/events

FILM ALTERITY – Sci Fi Alien Thriller at Rodeo Cinema Aug. 6, 7pm, Rodeo cinema rodeocinema.org CatVideoFest 2026 August 7-9 & 13 Oklahoma City Museum of Art okcmoa.com

COMEDY John Shack: Trust Issues Aug. 8, 7:30pm Civic Center Music Hall okcciviccenter.com Saturday Night Magic Comedy Show with Jonathan Meyer Aug. 8 - 29, 7-8:30pm Jonathan’s Magic Theater jonathansmagictheatre.com Dave Attell Aug. 14, 8pm - Riverwind Casino riverwind.com Bricktown Comedy bricktowncomedy.com • John Grimes, Aug. 5, 7pm • Emma Willmann, Aug. 6, 7pm • Akaash Singh, Aug. 7 & 8 • Deray Davis, Aug. 14-16 • Leslie Jones, Aug. 21 & 22 • Desi Banks, Aug. 28-30

CatVideoFest is BACK at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art meow! August 7-9

& 13. Photo provided by OKCMOA.

John Mulaney Aug. 20, 8pm OKC Zoo Amphitheatre okczooamp.com

VISUAL ARTS Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival Exhibition Opening Reception Aug. 21, 6-8pm - Oklahoma Contemporary okcontemp.org Chad Mount: Frequency and Perspective Aug. 2 - Sept. 2, 11am-6pm Oklahoma Contemporary okcontemp.org Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures Aug. 2 - Sept. 2, 11am-6pm Oklahoma Contemporary okcontemp.org Joy Richardson Exhibition BancFirst Tower Gallery Opening Reception Aug. 4-Sept. 2, 7am-7pm (Opening Reception Aug. 4, 5-7pm) - BancFirst Tower Underground Gallery howellgallery.com Open Mic Night at Factory Obscura Aug. 6, 7-9:30pm factoryobscura.com Fantasy & Sci-Fi Art Show Aug. 7, 11am-5:30pm Street Smarts Gallery StreetSmartsGallery.com Access for All at OKCMOA Aug. 9, 12-5pm Oklahoma City Museum of Art okcmoa.com

The Outsiders comes to the Civic Center Music Hall Aug. 25-30.

Photo courtesy of OKCBroadway.com 29

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All Those Creative: Season Launch Party Aug. 20, 6-9pm Oklahoma Contemporary okcontemp.org Painting Through the Centuries: An Exhibition Tour Aug. 30, 2-3pm Oklahoma City Museum of Art okcmoa.com

THEATER Sweeney Todd Lyric Theatre Through Aug. 2 Civic Center Music Hall lyrictheatreokc.com HAMILTON Aug. 11 - 23 Civic Center Music Hall okcbroadway.com The Outsiders Aug. 25-30 Civic Center Music Hall okcbroadway.com

SPORTS AQHA Youth World Show Gift Market Aug. 2-9, 10am-6pm State Fair Park aqha.com OKC Comets @ Home AUGUST milb.com/oklahoma-city • Oklahoma City Comets vs.

Albuquerque Isotopes • August 11-13 • Oklahoma City Comets vs. El Paso Chihuahuas • August 25-30 For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

Add your event at okgazette.com/community

Thoroughbred Racing Season Remington Park Racing Casino August 21 - October 10 remingtonpark.com

LIVE MUSIC/ CONCERTS Simple Plan: Bigger Than You Think! Tour - The Sequel!

Aug. 8, 7pm The Zoo Amphitheatre okczooamp.com Live Music at The Vault Aug. 7-29, 9-11pm Tellers at The National thenationalokc.com Tower Theater towertheatreokc.com • Aug. 2, The Robert Cray Band, 8pm • Aug. 8, Only Yesterday – A Softer Side of the 70’s: A Tribute to Carpenters, Anne Murray, and More, • Aug. 15, Pops Concert: John Williams & the American Journey • Aug. 20, Asleep At The Wheel • Aug. 28, Toast To Toby Keith Tribute Smilin’ Vic Aug. 8, 8-9pm University of Central Oklahoma calendar.uco.edu Diamond Ballroom diamondballroom.com • Aug. 7, Chasin’ U – The Morgan Wallen Experience • Aug 15, Battle for Kattfest Finals • Aug. 23, DevilDriver • Aug. 29, Kolby Cooper

Stoney LaRue in concert at the Jones Assembly Stoney LaRue The Jones Assembly Aug. 20. Photo provided by The Jones Assembly.

• • •

Aug. 15, Battle for Kattfest Finals Aug. 23, DevilDriver Aug 29, Kolby Cooper

“The Music of Chick Corea” featuring the Stefan Karlsson Quartet Aug. 14, 8-9pm University of Central Oklahoma calendar.uco.edu

Oklahoma Opry Aug. 8-29, 7-9:30pm ACM @ UCO okopry.org

Beer City Music Hall AUGUST beercitymusichall.com • Aug. 5, Luke Borchelt – The Water Town Tour • Aug. 8, Jabee – Black Future 10 Year Anniversary • Aug. 13, Honky Tonk Circus • Aug. 15, Willow Avalon – Pink Pocket Pistol Tour • Aug. 21, Com Truise • Aug. 28, Good Terms • Aug. 29, PawPaw Rod – Picture Day Tour

La Traviata Aug. 14 - 23, 7:30pm Civic Center Music Hall okcciviccenter.com

Stoney LaRue The Jones Assembly Aug. 20, 6:30pm thejonesassembly.com

Ukulele Jam American Banjo Museum Aug. 15, 1-4pm Every third Saturday. americanbanjomuseum.com

Summer Concert Series Aug. 21, 7-10pm Wheeler Ferris Wheel wheelerdistrict.com

Big Train and the Loco Motives Aug. 15, 9pm-12am Whiskey Chicks Bricktown whiskeychicksok.com

Diamond on the Rocks - A Tribute to Neil Diamond Aug. 22, 7-9pm University of Central Oklahoma calendar.uco.edu

Diamond Ballroom diamondballroom.com • Aug. 7, Chasin’ U – The Morgan Wallen Experience

Diamond Rio Aug. 28, 8pm, Riverwind Casino riverwindcasino.com

Resonant Head resonanthead.com • Aug. 3 - Failure to Cope, Semester Abroad, Vandalia, Piehole • Aug. 7 - Bikini Trill • Aug. 11 - The Montvales • Aug. 15 - Jimmy Ate Me, Delica, Veranda Bandits • Aug. 18 - Surely Tempo • Aug. 21 - Sincere Engineer - The Probable Claws Tour • Aug. 23 - Royale Lynn: The Royale Pain In The A$$ Tour • Aug. 29 - Inside Again - Jacob Beesley and Call Me Sparrow Performing Bo Burnham’s “Inside”

51st Street Speakeasy AUGUST 51stspeakeasy.com • Tuesdays, 7pm, Bruce Benson & Studio B • Wednesdays, 8pm, Kendrick McKinney Trio • Fridays & Saturdays, Live bands downstairs, DJs upstairs

FREE FITNESS barre3 FREE yoga Aug. 26, 6pm - OAK Last Wednesday monthly, May -Oct oakokc.com

A barre3 workout at OAK is FREE every last Wednesday of the month at 6pm. Bring a mat and water. Photo provided by OAK. O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | A U G U S T 2 0 2 6

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SPORTS

SPORTS

2026 Thunder Offseason: The Tough Choices Begin There are few teams in the NBA better off than the Thunder right now.

By David Brandon

MVP-level player? Check.

Good defense? Check. Strong offense? Check. This is a complete team that can contend at the highest level, including for a championship. But coming off a Western Conference Finals loss to the Spurs and facing a rising payroll, 2026 is the first offseason of tough choices for this iteration of the Thunder.

The Offseason Overview Here are the major moves of this Thunder offseason.

Re-signed Isaiah Hartenstein to a smaller deal for more years (3 years, $75 million) Re-signed Kenrich Williams to a slightly smaller one-year deal (1 year, $5 million) Drafted Aday Mara, Bennett Stirtz and Otega Oweh

Traded Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Luguentz Dort for picks.

Every one of these moves is shaped by who the Thunder are currently: a very expensive NBA championship contender.

Second Apron Blues Team payroll matters more than ever in this NBA era.

Salary rules introduced in 2023 imposed major penalties for spending above a point called the “second apron.” A high payroll hurts more than just ownership’s wallet: Trades become difficult, draft picks get worse and the team loses key tools for adding free agents.

In effect, the second apron is

OKC Thunder. Photo by Jimmy Do

close to a hard salary cap for the NBA. It can be exceeded, but doing so puts you in a team-building straitjacket.

The Thunder are an expensive team. They’re locked into paying at least some luxury tax, though they have cut next season’s payroll

from a half-billion dollars to a little over $200 million and ducked under the second apron. This is due to trading away three beloved and useful players in Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Lu Dort, as well as getting Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams to take slight pay cuts.

The rationale is to save now for future spending. In an interview after the Dort trade, Presti commented that “the savings generated this summer, and from being out of the tax the last several years … will allow us to make more basketball-related decisions over the next several years.”

The Thunder will likely have to go over the second apron at some point, and they want to be prepared for it when they do.

OKC Thunder. Photo by Jimmy Do 31

AU G US T 2026 | OKGA ZET T E .COM

The Thunder aren’t the only team cutting costs. No team is above the second apron right now, as New York, San Antonio, Denver, Minnesota,

SPORTS Boston and other contending teams have also made payroll-related moves this offseason. But the Thunder are better positioned than most, largely because of their stockpile of draft picks.

Why The Thunder’s Newest Players Matter Under new NCAA rules, easy transfers and new earning potential mean older basketball players often stay in college and get discovered before the draft. This helps teams like the Thunder.

When a young player is drafted to the NBA with a first-round pick, he is limited to a cost-controlled starting salary. Teams can use this to nab NBA-ready players who

are “old” in college terms (20-24) for cheap, and the Thunder drafted three prospects in this category.

both sides of the ball should translate immediately.

Otega Oweh is a high-motor 6’4” guard who played for Oklahoma and Kentucky. His tenacity and defense bring immediate value, but his offense may require work to reach the pro level.

7’3” center Aday Mara won the NCAA championship with Michigan this year.

His hands are good, and he’s known for his basketball IQ. Speed, conditioning and rebounding are conThese players are technicerns, but he should concally rookies, but they’re all tribute from day one. experienced. The Thunder will be looking for immediAt 6’2” with traditional ate impact as they replace point guard skills and a key rotation pieces. killer outside shot, Bennett Are the Thunder Done?

Stirtz led Iowa to the Elite The Thunder are probably Eight in the NCAA Tourna- done for this offseason, but ment this year. Even with there’s a chance they have his average athleticism, one more move coming. This his shooting and IQ on OKC roster is mostly made

up of guards and centers (or forwards who also play center). If Sam Presti chooses to make another trade, it will likely be for a backup wing player with some size.

The Thunder traded key role players, slashed payroll and added a few rookies this offseason. But even with the hard choices their payroll is forcing, they head into the 2026-2027 season as one of the best teams in the NBA and a true championship contender.

OKC Thunder. Photo by Jimmy Do OKGA ZET T E .COM | AU G US T 2026

32

PUZZLES NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE

RAISING CAPITAL

BY MICHAEL LIEBERMAN / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

ACROSS 75 Egyptian symbol of life 1 Teacher’s summons 76 Exits 6— 77 Allow to enroll 11 Bench press muscle, for short 79 Brand seen on the U.S. World Cup jerseys 14 — 80 Gets more expensive 18 ____ Basin (D.C. attraction) 82 Vague approximation 19 Progeny 85 Restrictive undergarment 20 Didn’t turn away 86 Word employment 22 Texas A&M athlete 88 Pia ____ (brain covering) 23 Prefix with media 89 Pained yelps 24 Person providing a sworn account 90 Linings of nautilus shells 25 ‘‘I really, really appreciate it!’’ 92 Hired detectives, for short 27 Unspoken communication 94 Slow ____ (Asian primate) syst.

97 — 28 After-the-fact discount 98 Prefix with -bar 29 Not fresh 99 — 30 Big movie theater chain 101 Stayed somewhere 31 Website that calls itself ‘‘the temporarily heart of the internet’’ 104 Peak of religion?

32 Paramedic’s skill 106 ‘‘No worries!’’

35 Reward for a good puppy 107 Number ones 37 Harbingers 108 You’re doing it every day 39 One-named singer with the 109 ‘‘I’ll pass’’ 1994 hit ‘‘You Gotta Be’’ 41 Score usually resulting from an 110 Bank offering for a property buyer error, in baseball 111 Roommate who doesn’t pay 44 Like sheep, so to speak rent?

46 Degree holder, informally 112 2000 Christina Aguilera No. 47 Displayed audacity 1 hit 48 The Psychedelic ____ (rock 113 ‘‘T-bone steak, cheese band) eggs and Welch’s ____’’ 49 Poet ____ St. Vincent Millay (Notorious B.I.G.’s breakfast in ‘‘Big Poppa’’) 50 Explosive stuff 51 — DOW N 53 Dancing hippo’s wear in Disney’s ‘‘Fantasia’’ 1 ‘‘Right now!’’

54 — 2 This clue’s number, cubed 55 Actress Shirley of ‘‘The 3 Hairstyle similar to a bowl cut Apartment’’ 4 Top priority on the agenda 57 — 5 Strauss opera inspired by a 59 ‘‘Nice idea!’’

Sophocles tragedy 61 Beethoven’s Third 6 [See title] 62 David Foster Wallace’s ‘‘Tense 7 Baton Rouge institution, Present,’’ e.g. familiarly 63 Conspiring cliques 8 Five Pillars religion 65 Judge of diamond value?

9 Defeat in competition 66 Grab (onto) 10 Mötley Crüe frontman Vince ____ 67 Word order 11 Accepts a deal from the D.A., 69 Britain’s most prestigious say military decoration 12 Spanish folk hero 71 Fantasizes about 73 Block someone’s passage, say 13 Meets head-on?

74 Scribble on, say 14 [See title]

PUBLISHER Red Center Media EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Greg Horton ghorton@okgazette.com PRODUCTION + BUSINESS Angela Clark Little aclarklittle@okgazette.com COMMUNICATIONS + SOCIAL MEDIA Leslie A. Spears lspears@okgazette.com PRODUCTION + DESIGN ASSISTANT Emily Comstock ecomstock@okgazette.com DISTRIBUTION distribution@okgazette.com

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405-528-6000 MEDIA EXECUTIVES

15 Nabokov novel 51 [See title] 52 Puerto ____ 16 Whitesmith’s material 53 Player’s club 17 Doc using an otoscope 54 [See title] 20 TV’s Don Draper and his co-workers 56 Despises 21 Took orders, say 57 [See title] 26 Fortuneteller 58 Brandy letters 30 Calm 60 Artist Chagall 31 ‘‘Star Wars’’ character Kylo 62 Big heads ____ 64 Travel a winding route 32 Plastic cap?

67 They’re at the ends of some 33 Tube-shaped pasta rainbows 34 Do some road maintenance on 68 Test for M.A. seekers 36 Et cetera 69 Explorer da Gama 38 Clear as ____ (not clear) 70 Following behind 40 Western mountain range, 72 Making a comeback informally 73 Ambulance initials 41 Arm bones 76 ‘‘Keep it together!’’

42 Christmas display pieces 77 Summer mo.

43 E.R. V.I.P.s 78 Expression of frustration 45 Classic Italian appetizer 79 Sam Elliott’s role in ‘‘The Big 46 Paper source?

Lebowski’’ 48 Rage 81 Suppressed, as emotions

SUDOKU °12297 MEDIUM Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. printmysudoku.com Grid n°12297 medium

2

3 2

8 6

Puzzle No. 0705 , which appeared in the July 2026 issue.

9

4 6

3 6 7

7 7

Natasha Topinka ntopinka@okgazette.com

87 They’re often covered with dirt

CONTRIBUTORS

91 ____ slalom (event at the Summer Olympics)

WRITERS James Biscone David Brandon Laron Chapman Brian Hearn Brian Maughan Julie Porter Scott

93 Coastal region of ancient Greece 95 The ’gram 96 Pound the pavement?

97 [See title] 98 ‘‘You don’t need to tell me’’ 99 [See title] 100 ____-Ball 101 Any of the U.C.s 102 Cry of playful discovery 103 Q: Why was the road sticky?

A: Traffic ____

Oklahoma Gazette is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers. The cash value of this copy is $1. Persons taking copies of the Oklahoma Gazette from its distribution points for any reason other than their or others’ individual use for reading purposes are subject to prosecution.

First-class mail subscriptions are $35 for one year, and most issues at this rate will arrive 1-2 days after publication.

Please address all unsolicited news items (non-returnable) to the editor. editor@okgazette.com

PHONE (405) 528-6000

www.okgazette.com Copyright © 2025 Red Center Media, LLC All rights reserved.

8 5

9 33

84 Asking for a human’s attention, perhaps

Gina Nichols gnichols@okgazette.com

3701 N. Shartel Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73118-7102

9 5 4

No. 0628

83 ‘‘____ never fly’’

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

8

5

82 It’s in the pipeline

2 7 A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY: AUGUST ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries artist Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles, France, for 15 months in 1888 and 1889. It was the most prolific time of his career. His buoyant genius overflowed, pouring out over 200 paintings, including the lavish *Sunflowers* series. I suspect you will enjoy your own surge of splashy productivity in the coming months. It may not be as manically generative as van Gogh, though. I think your creativity will be rather relaxed and deeply healing. Start planning now for how you want to channel all this imaginative exuberance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I invite you to clear out every fixed idea your mind carries about where you are “supposed” to be. Once you have made that inner space wide and uncluttered, begin a fresh inquiry into the nature of your real home. Use questions like these to navigate: 1.

What’s the first place you think of when you come across the word “sanctuary”? 2. Which environments reliably bring out your brightest, truest qualities? 3. Do you have what you would call power spots? If so, how do they make you feel in your body and psyche? 4. Which locations on Earth fascinate you, even if you have never visited them? 5. Could there be a future dwelling that offers a more peak-level experience of home than the familiar place where tradition now soothes you?

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The brain doesn’t literally multitask. It rapidly shifts attention between tasks, creating the illusion of simultaneity. For many people, each interchange costs mental energy and reduces efficiency. But some brains can switch faster with a lower energy cost, making them better at sustained task-switching. I’m sure you can guess the identity of the zodiac’s number one taskswitcher: you, of course! And the good news is that in the coming weeks, you will be even more adept than usual in wielding your superpower.

One implication is that you will know when not to overdo it and when not to use it trivially. You will be a master of seamless, effective, and

meaningful transitions.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Astronomers know that many stars don’t travel alone. Binary stars orbit each other for eons, their mutual gravity shaping each partner’s destiny. I propose we make this your featured metaphor in the coming months. It will be a favorable time to deemphasize the notion that strength and creative power require complete autonomy. I suspect that flexible, spirited interdependence will generate far better results than lonely self-sufficiency.

Which alliances and relationships will expand your orbit rather than shrink it? Invest in them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Neurologists say that when you vividly imagine performing an action like shooting a basketball or playing piano, your brain activates many of the same networks it uses in real practice. In other words, mental rehearsal can measurably improve your actual performance. Many athletes use this trick. But here’s an interesting twist: Such visualizations work for emotional and social skills too. We can enhance our resilience and better regulate our moods if we practice doing so in the privacy of our imaginations. I bring this to your attention, Leo, because you’re in a period when your fantasy life has extra-robust practical power. I invite you to rehearse being who you want to be in the theater of your mind.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your assignment: Compose a vigorous prayer in which you ask life for something you fear you don’t deserve or are not supposed to want. What is the blessing, healing, or freedom that feels “too much,” “too selfish,” “too late,” or “too impossible” for you to yearn for? Name this prize and how you imagine it might allow you to give more, love more, or live more honestly. You could begin your appeal with these words: “Dear Great Mystery, I’m nervous about asking for this, but I will ask anyway,” and then let your heart speak without editing. Do this at least once every day for ten days.

© Copyright 2026 Rob Brezsny freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In 1848, a Libra-born carpenter named James Marshall discovered a few glittering flakes of gold floating on the American River in California. His find ignited the Gold Rush, drawing hundreds of thousands of people westward. Alas, Marshall himself never became rich from the discovery, though many other people did. I’m hoping and predicting a different outcome when you locate treasure in the coming weeks, Libra. In this instance, you will share in the spoils.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The lyrebird can imitate almost any sound, including chainsaws, car alarms, camera shutters, and other birds’ songs. But they don’t just mimic sounds randomly. They compose elaborate performances, weaving a variety of imitations into complex acoustic tapestries. In a sense, they are remix artists. During the coming weeks, Scorpio, I hope you give yourself permission to resemble a lyrebird. Sample freely from everything you’ve absorbed. Weave your influences into new configurations. Express your imaginative concoctions of repurposed ideas and enchantments. The voice isn’t less yours because it borrows from other voices. Originality is in part about arrangement, not just source material.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Astronauts who have orbited Earth describe the “overview effect.” Viewing the entire globe from high above triggers rich epiphanies and cognitive shifts, providing a visceral sense of the planet’s fragility and unity. Borders dissolve. Conflicts seem absurd. I surmise you are ripe for a similar blessing, Sagittarius. You’ll be able to see your current dramas from expansive vantage points that make their true scale and significance obvious. Armed with these perspectives, you will naturally clarify your priorities and allow petty concerns to fade away.

Without these 14 lives weaving together in the precise ways they did, your unique destiny would never have taken shape. Their choices and challenges helped sculpt your gifts and your rough edges, your cravings and your turn-offs.

The coming weeks will be a ripe astrological moment to get more intimate with this lineage.

As you delve into your family’s stories, you may uncover vital clues for refreshing your views on dilemmas that have dragged on for a while. Are you daring enough to let your sense of “where I come from” evolve—and, with it, your sense of what kind of future you want to create?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to my investigations, there’s a place you need to go, but fear or timidity is holding you back. Where is it? Is it a physical location, a creative risk, a complicated conversation, or a spiritual threshold? Visualize it. Who would you be if you appeared there in your full glory? What do you worry might happen if you do? What interesting future might never bloom if you don’t? I hope you formulate a feisty plan. To begin, write these words: “If I decide to go there anyway, acknowledging my fear but not being controlled by it, what first step will I take and what help will I seek?”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Professional athletes sometimes talk about “winning ugly.”

That’s when they achieve a victory even though they haven’t played their very best. I foresee you using that phrase for yourself soon, after you notch a less-than-pretty but undeniably real success. There’s another expression you might also exemplify, too: “ugly ripe.” Officially, it’s the name of luscious heirloom tomatoes whose lumpy, offbeat forms contrast with the smooth, bland specimens stacked in most supermarket bins. In the coming weeks, it will describe the nonstandard yet succulent flavor of your life.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You are the result of an ancestral crowd: two parents, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents.

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | A U G U S T 2 0 2 6

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