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Rodger Randle: Walt Helmerich rebuffed developer for park site

Walt Helmerich III, whose foundation donated $1 million toward the 1991 purchase of the riverfront property now known as Helmerich Park, and who served on the board of the bank that owned the land, rebuffed an overture from a private developer who wanted to create a "major mixed-use entertainment, recreational,...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 15, 2017 10:48 PM

Dead Dam Vision: Fox23's spiked story

Last week, a local TV station spiked a well-researched news story about funding problems for the proposed south Tulsa / Jenks low-water dam and the awareness of Tulsa elected officials of the problem before they voted to put the proposal on the ballot. The story's sudden withdrawal hints at pressure...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 19, 2016 9:09 PM

Turning the Arkansas River into Joan Rivers

Tomorrow morning (Friday, September 19, 2014) at 8:05 am, I'll be on 1170 KFAQ with Pat Campbell to discuss "improvements" to the Arkansas River, the broad prairie stream that flows through the western and southwestern parts of the city of Tulsa. The "improvements" would involve renovating the Zink Lake dam,...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 18, 2014 8:30 PM

Blair Mansion, Riverside Drive landmark, to be demolished

BatesLine photo, October 15, 2011, All Rights Reserved For over a half-century, motorists driving north on Riverside Drive in Tulsa, after navigating the tricky Midland Valley underpass, were rewarded with the sight of an elegant white mansion across a vast expanse of manicured lawn. Tomorrow, all that will end....

Posted by Michael Bates on January 31, 2014 9:35 PM

Does the Muscogee Creek Nation own the Arkansas River bed?

I speculated a couple of days ago about the possibility that the Muscogee Creek Nation owns the Arkansas River bed and could build a dam there if they pleased (with Corps of Engineers permission). On Facebook, attorney Greg Bledsoe called my attention to additional information that clarifies the status of...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 18, 2013 8:17 AM

Arkansas River dams, again

Here we go again. Officials, led by an alleged fiscal conservative, are pumping us up to raise our taxes to pour concrete in the river. [Tom] Dittus is the managing partner of the Blue Rose Café at 19th and Riverside, and wishes he had some neighbors. "Hopefully people will see...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 16, 2013 11:57 PM

Vision2: Wildlife Department opposes new dams on Arkansas River

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife is opposed to new dams on the Arkansas River, according to a Public Radio Tulsa news story on the impact of low-water dams on the river's water and wild animals. The Tulsa City Council has included $71 million for modifying the Zink Lake dam and...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 3, 2012 4:00 PM

Vision2: Tulsa County's bait-and-switch habit

"I think the worst thing you could do is promise you are going to build something and then not have enough money to build it." -- then Tulsa County Commissioner Bob Dick, July 2003 I had been looking at these items in isolation, but I'm beginning to see a pattern...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 4, 2012 10:47 PM

Planning Tulsa's Riverfront: A Brief History

This is the originally submitted version of a story that was published on January 31, 2007 as the cover story of the February 1-7, 2007, edition of Urban Tulsa Weekly, under the headline "The River Review: Planning Tulsa's Riverfront: A Brief History." The story as published can be found on...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 31, 2007 10:13 PM

River realities: The Arkansas, viewed from an airboat

This is the originally submitted version of a story that was published on September 20, 2006, as my column in the September 21-27, 2006, edition of Urban Tulsa Weekly. The story as published can be found on the Internet Archive. Posted on BatesLine on March 23, 2016. River reality By...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 20, 2006 11:07 PM

No federal money for river

KOTV reported recently that the much heralded river component of "Forfeit 4 Greater Taxes" can't happen because the expected Federal funding won't be available, because of more pressing needs. According to reporter Emory Bryan: The $10 million in the Vision package depends on federal financing, which is not only uncertain...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 31, 2003 10:46 PM