AAA: More Sooners to hit the road this holdiay vs. `99

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 17, 2000

AAA Oklahoma estimates that 11 percent of the state's population will travel 100 or more miles from home over the Thanksgiving weekend.

AAA expects 372,000 Sooners to hit the highway, an increase of 5 percent from 1999.

A record 38.9 million American plan a Thanksgiving holiday trip of 100 miles or more over the holiday. Of the projected nationwide travelers, 81 percent plan to travel by motor vehicle with the remainder traveling by airplane, train or bus.

"We expect record volumes this Thanksgiving despite soaring fuel costs that will make travel more expensive for both motorists and air passengers," said Pat Doherty, president and CEO of AAA Oklahoma.

Average Oklahoma gasoline prices continue to change daily and are at about the same point as a month ago -- $1.40 per gallon statewide. Prices are about 10 cents per gallon lower in some metropolitan areas.

A boost to Tulsa

The winner of the biggest purse in the 2001 U.S. Open will be Tulsa's economy, a tournament official says.

Tiger mania is expected to generate $27 million to $28 million in new money when the U.S. Open comes to Southern Hills Country Club on June 11.

The influx of golf fans looking to see if Tiger Woods can defend his national title should have a ripple effect of between $68 million and $70 million for the city and its merchants, U.S. Open General Chairman Al Bush said.

"The impact will be staggering," he said to the members of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. "But, it has not come about without much lobbying to sell Tulsa. Our biggest hurdle was selling Tulsa's identity."

More than 60,000 tickets for the event were requested through a lottery. Bush said 35,000 tickets to individuals and companies were eventually granted.

More than 150 golfers will be vying for a total purse of $4.5 million to $5 million, he said.

He described the extensive upgrades at the course, including irrigation and drainage improvements. Bush, who is retired from Tulsa- based Williams, said one downside is that the city has only three "full-service" hotels. "Adequate arrangements are being made to accommodate everyone, however," he said.

E-mail and open records

State Attorney General Drew Edmondson this week gave officials a brief lesson on the Open Meeting and Open Records Act that included a warning about electronic mail.

Edmondson was among the speakers at the daylong workshop in Oklahoma City sponsored by the Oklahoma Municipal League for those responsible for their agencies' records.

The e-mail issue drew the most interest among the 200 county clerks, school superintendents, police officers and public relations staffers, who were told that every e-mail they send is a public record.

"I threw out e-mails because if it's not on your radar screen it should be," he said.

Edmondson said he expects that as technology becomes more widely used, officials will ask questions like whether a board can meet in an Internet chat room. He thinks the answer would be no.

Other questions included whether a clerk can ask a person to fill out a form with a name, address and reason for wanting the record before it is given to them.

The law does not require filling out a form to receive public records, Edmondson said. "They don't even have to give you their name," he said.

He said the agency may want to know if a person plans to use the record for profit, because the law allows an agency to charge a fee to businesses or individuals that use the records commercially.

Union favors SBC request

In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, the Communications Workers of America urged approval of SBC's request to enter the long-distance markets in Oklahoma and Kansas.

Based on San Antonio-based SBC's entry into the Texas long- distance market, CWA said in the filing that consumers in Kansas and Oklahoma would see lower prices and new service offerings, especially in the case of residential customers. The move would also create good, high-wage jobs in these states, a major goal of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the union stated.

CWA represents 6,000 SBC employees in Oklahoma and Kansas and 126,000 SBC employees nationwide. CWA is the world's largest telecommunications union, representing a total of 740,000 workers overall.

Long sues for libel

Veteran Sen. Lewis Long Jr., D-Glenpool, has sued the Christian Coalition for libeling him by claiming he voted to de-criminalize sodomy and bestiality.

Long, who has served in the Senate since 1989, lost his bid for re- election last week to Republican Nancy Riley. Long received 12,376 votes to Riley's 12,641.

In his petition filed with the Tulsa County District Court, Long's attorney Steven Hickman, Tulsa, said that the organization's "2000 Christian Coalition Voter Guide" contained the "false, malicious and unprivileged" allegation that the senator supports legalization of sodomy and bestiality.

"As a result, plaintiff has suffered a diminishing of public confidence, has been injured in his occupation and, has, indeed, lost the seat he held in the State Senate, District 37, has been exposed to public hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy, and has suffered and will suffer emotional and financial distress," the court was told.