BY JANICE FRANCIS-SMITH The Journal Record OKLAHOMA CITY – Movie theaters in Oklaho- ma City were allowed to reopen on May 1, the day af- ter the city’s shelter-in-place order expired, provided they stagger seating to allow for patrons to maintain social distancing. But many theaters took at least a few weeks before reopening to adapt their business model to operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some are just opening their doors now, in time to welcome patrons over the following Labor Day holiday weekend. Construction was nearing completion on the new Flix Brewhouse at 8590 Broadway Extension, in The Half mixed-use development, when the pandemic struck. The combination movie theater and craft beer pub opens Monday, bringing a new business model to Oklahoma City when the theater business as a whole is undergoing drastic change. The first Flix Brewhouse opened in 2011 in the Austin suburb of Round Rock, Texas; the Oklahoma City theater will be the company’s 10th location. Pa- trons can watch first-run movies while enjoying craft beers brewed on-premises. “We are excited to join the Oklahoma City commu- nity and do our part in making the world a happier, craftier place,” Flix General Manager Nick Toros said in a press release announcing the facility would of- ficially open in September. “Especially during a time when so much of the community has suffered from job loss, we look forward to providing our neighbors with jobs in a friendly atmosphere.” As part of its effort to create a safer environment for customers and staff, Flix “invested in an indoor air quality system” built with “Plasma Air bipolar ionization technology, which proactively treats the air in an occupied space,” according to a press release announcing opening day. Just north of Oklahoma City, Showbiz Cinemas Edmond announced the theater will reopen Mon- day with screenings of new Hollywood films, with a maximum attendance in theaters of 50% capacity. The Showbiz facility includes bowling lanes and an arcade, which also will be reopened to the public. “Their reopening follows intensive staff training and implementation of new measures designed to protect both their employees and patrons,” reads the Edmond Economic Development Authority’s an- nouncement that the theater is returning. News in Brief 4A Around Town 6A Week in Review 7A Energy 8A Classifieds 1B Crossword 1B Public Notices 2B A team led by Ahmad Ghassemi conducts a hydraulic fracturing and circulation test on a heated block of rock to simulate reservoir conditions. The large polyaxial test assembly is insulated and covered with blankets to ensure a constant temperature while cold water is circulated through the hydraulic fracture from injection to produc- tion wells. COURTESY PHOTO/OU The exterior of a Flix Brewhouse theater. COURTESY PHOTO/FLIX THEATRE « 2 » Tulsa Regional Tourism establishes Pandemic Partnership Tulsa Regional Tourism has established Tulsa Safely Pandemic Partnership and TulsaSafely.com. OU Health Sciences Center earns record high in grants » p2 New prison phone provider has troubled past » p3 INSIDE Turn to GEOTHERMAL » p12 Turn to THEATERS » p12 VOL. 125 NO. 171 ■ JOURNALRECORD.COM Part of the network 2 SECTIONS ■ MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 ■ $1.00 Y O U R B U S I N E S S I S O U R B U S I N E S S BACK TO THE MOVIES Experts tout potential of geothermal energy BY STEVE METZER The Journal Recor d In the not-too-distant future, when people drill holes deep into the earth to extract energy, it may not be oil or gas, but rather geothermal power they’ll be more likely pursuing – enough actually to satisfy needs of hundreds of millions of Americans and others around the globe, a researcher based at the University of Oklahoma believes. Ahmad Ghassemi, who recently was named to receive a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance research into geothermal well stimulation, said new technologies being developed, likened to fracturing, will be as revolutionary to geothermal as they were to the oil and gas industry. “It will be a game changer,” Ghassemi said in a recent email correspondence with the Journal Record. Geothermal power – harnessed by tapping into heat held below the earth’s surface – has contributed to the world’s energy supply for decades, but it has been vastly underuti- lized, its potential locked away by limitations of the science of extracting heat from rock formations thousands of feet down and under immense pressures. Ghassemi and other researchers for several years have been conducting difficult lab studies, simulating conditions below the earth’s surface and experimenting with ways to stimulate heat extraction from rock under varying conditions. Now, the DOE grant will allow them to move to a new phase of research, to be conducted in the Coso Volcanic Field in eastern California. Geothermal wells in the Coso field date to 1987. Ghas- semi and his Reservoir Geomechanics Research Group, in- cluding postdoctoral and graduate students from OU, will apply what’s been learned in lab studies to increase produc- tion of the wells. They’ll begin by doing extensive geologic IN PRINT. ONLINE. IN PERSON. For subscription information call 1-877-615-9536 2A « August 31, 2020 « T HE J OURNAL R ECORD « journalrecord.com BY JOURNAL RECORD STAFF TULSA – Tulsa Regional Tourism has established Tulsa Safely Pandemic Partnership and TulsaSafely.com. The program was designed to bring Tulsa’s tourism industry businesses together with one message to both local residents and visitors that they are reopening in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s and Tulsa Health Depart- ment’s recommendations. The organi- zation says they are grateful that the program was approved and funded by Tulsa County commissioners through Tulsa County CARES dollars. With more than 60 businesses already signed up, Tulsa Regional Tourism ex- pects hundreds of businesses to become partners over the next few weeks. “Tulsa is such a unique tourism market in that our tourism businesses all work together and support one another,” said Ray Hoyt, president of Tulsa Regional Tourism. “When the pandemic hit, our team almost imme- diately began planning for recovery. We asked ourselves: What work can we do now to ready our destination to come out of this? We identified a need for one, unified message from the in- dustry businesses that are creating safe environments for visitors so folks can easily understand who is working to reopen in a safe way. This united ap- proach reflects the Tulsa community’s heart and vibrancy. When disaster hits, we know we are stronger together.” Tulsa Regional Tourism collaborat- ed with the Tulsa Health Department behind the scenes to establish the program and hosted Dr. Bruce Dart, director of the Health Department, on several industry-wide calls. The Tulsa Safely program is be- ing supported with a digital media campaign that highlights what a visit to Tulsa looks like today, with people wearing masks, socially distanced, and enjoying more outdoor spaces. Many Tulsa-based firms were hired to bring the program together, includ- ing Adam Murphy Photography and Retrospec Films, which brought fresh new imagery into the creative, as well as NPI Corp., which oversaw the col- lateral printing and production. The new logo was designed by Clean Hands Army, and a mix of search, display and video ads are being activated by local agency Rol- lins Communications. The digital campaign drives users to an all-new VisitTulsa.com splash page, designed by Station8 Branding. “The full website is still in de- velopment, but we are very excited about our innovative approach to the new user experience,” said Lauren Snedden, director of marketing and communications for Tulsa Regional Tourism. “The new site will focus on giving users what they expect from a leisure travel website in the pandemic era. We’ll be serving up visually driven recommendations on the best and saf- est experiences for visitors and locals, and aggregating the most robust event listings calendar in town, as events return. Through our role of attracting people to Tulsa, our media objective is to drive awareness and consideration of Tulsa as a destination, connecting to visitors when they decide they’re ready to venture out in this new world for travelers.” Local tourism businesses can join the Tulsa Safely Pandemic Partner- ship on TulsaSafely.com. After agree- ing to adhere to the CDC and THD’s reopening guidelines and becoming a partner, businesses can pick up a 6-inch by 6-inch window cling to dis- play on their front entrances. BY JOURNAL RECORD STAFF OKLAHOMA CITY – The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center earned a record high $190 million in federal and state awards during state fiscal year 2020, a milestone that ad- vances research and other strategies to improve health and well-being among Oklahomans. The total includes $86.3 mil- lion from the National Institutes of Health, considered the gold standard in research funding. The OU Health Sciences Center brings the most NIH funding to Oklahoma through its na- tional centers of excellence, and the total for fiscal year 2020 represents growth of 40% over the previous year. That growth is a testament to the in- novative work taking place across all seven colleges on campus, said Vice President for Research James Tomasek. “Research is a primary mission of the OU Health Sciences Center, with the aim of advancing knowledge and improving the health of the state,” Tomasek said. “As the academic and research partner of OU Medicine, the state’s comprehensive health care sys- tem, a critical component of our strate- gic plan is to make research discoveries that lead to new methods of prevent- ing, diagnosing and treating disease.” Two of the OU Health Sciences Center’s key research areas, cancer and neuroscience/vision, saw a significant increase in grants in fiscal year 2020. The National Cancer Institute awarded $16.1 million, a 26% from the previ- ous fiscal year, and the National Eye Institute awarded $10.9 million, a 62% increase, to the OU Health Sciences Center. Those grants are used for projects ranging from laboratory science to clinical trials, ultimately improving pa- tient care and outcomes at Stephenson Cancer Center and Dean McGee Eye Institute. The OU Health Sciences Center also received $8.3 million from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, an increase of 221% over the previous fiscal year. Much of that research furthers the understand- ing and treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in children and adults at Har- old Hamm Diabetes Center, advancing the search for a cure. One of the largest NIH grants over the past year was a five-year, $11 mil- lion award to create the Oklahoma Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunity, a hub for research into many types of infections and the immune system response, which is critical in facing COVID-19 and other emerging pathogens. This Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence grant establishes multidisciplinary research in Oklaho- ma and enables researchers to compete for additional federal awards. “This grant is an exciting opportu- nity because it will allow us to advance our research through collaborations with scientists in other disciplines and other universities,” said Jimmy Ballard, chair of the Department of Microbiol- ogy and Immunology in the OU Col- lege of Medicine. “But the grant is also significant because a major component of the program is mentoring junior researchers. They will contribute to better patient treatment with their projects, while building their careers and attracting additional grant funding that helps to drive Oklahoma’s eco- nomic growth.” Many of the NIH grants earned by researchers at the OU Health Sciences Center are made possible by a local nonprofit organization – the Presby- terian Health Foundation. Each year, PHF awards millions in grants, which researchers use to further their investi- gations or purchase crucial equipment they would otherwise be unable to acquire. “Our partnership with PHF is indicative of the importance of local funding to the process of research,” Tomasek said. “Because of the generos- ity of entities like PHF, our researchers are able to enhance their investigations and make discoveries that then attract the attention of federal funding sources like the NIH.” Overall, federal funds awarded to the OU Health Sciences Center increased by 43% over the previous fiscal year. Grants from the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration were sec- ond behind the NIH in federal awards to the OU Health Sciences Center. In fiscal year 2020, HRSA awarded several multimillion-dollar grants, including one for suicide prevention strategies in Native American and other com- munities, and another to increase the number of primary care physicians in Oklahoma, particularly in rural, tribal and medically underserved areas. The majority of OU Health Sciences Center research is conducted on the Oklahoma City campus, with a focus on community health research at the Tulsa campus, and expanding research collaborations across the state. Tulsa Regional Tourism establishes Pandemic Partnership OU Health Sciences Center earns record high in grants Dr. Jimmy Ballard. COURTESY PHOTO/OU COL- LEGE OF MEDICINE Businesses that agree to adhere to the CDC and Tulsa Health Department reopening guidelines can pick up a 6-inch by 6-inch window cling to display on their front entrances. COURTESY PHOTO/TULSA REGIONAL TOURISM journalrecord.com » T HE J OURNAL R ECORD » August 31, 2020 » 3A BY KEATON ROSS Oklahoma Watch OKLAHOMA CITY – Inmates in Okla- homa state prisons will soon connect to the outside world through Securus Technolo- gies, a Texas-based prison communications company that has paid out millions over the past four years to settle claims that it illegally recorded phone conversations be- tween inmates and attorneys. Securus also has faced multiple class- action lawsuits from family and friends of inmates who say the company excessively charged them between $9.99 and $14.99 for a 15-minute call. In a July 29 Facebook post, the state Department of Corrections announced Securus won a contract bid and would re- place Global Tel Link as the agency’s inmate phone provider. Securus phone systems are being installed and will be operational in all state facilities by Sept. 4, according to the Corrections Department. Since 2014, attorneys in Kansas, Texas, California and Maine have filed class-action lawsuits that accuse Securus of illegally re- cording their calls with inmates and storing the tapes in an online database accessible to prosecutors. Inmate-attorney phone calls are protected under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Wiretap Act, and may not be monitored or recorded. On Aug. 3, Securus and private prison operator CoreCivic agreed to pay $3.7 mil- lion to settle a lawsuit brought on by 750 Kansas attorneys who say their conversa- tions with inmates at the Leavenworth Correctional Center were recorded. Three attorneys in Maine filed a similar lawsuit on Aug. 12, claiming hundreds of their con- versations with inmates in four county jails were recorded. Robert Cummins, a defense attorney representing the class-action plaintiffs in Maine, said Securus has consistently failed to implement effective security protocols despite facing numerous lawsuits. At the four county jails in Maine, inmate calls with attorneys were automatically recorded and sent to the database unless the attorney called jail administrators and requested an exemption from recording. Cummins said any institution or agency considering doing business with Securus should make “damn sure” that there are rig- id safeguards in place to protect privileged calls from being recorded before agreeing to a contract. “This outlet has been sued every way and Sunday, and they’ve ponied up millions of dollars in compensation,” Cummins told Oklahoma Watch. “I think that tells you a whole lot about what kind of an outlet it is.” Securus has denied wrongdoing in each case, saying attorney phone numbers were not properly entered into their system to be exempt from recording. But after settling with the group of Kansas attorneys ear- lier this month, Securus spokesperson Jade Trombetta said the company would explore ways to enhance privacy protections. “We are troubled by any misuse of our technology, even if unintentional, which is why we are making substantial investments in improvements to our call system that will provide incarcerated individuals and their attorneys even more clarity regarding the status of private or non-private calls,” she said. According to DOC spokesperson Justin Wolf, all Oklahoma state prisons maintain a do-not-record list. Inmates, who may only contact numbers on an approved call list, may request that their attorney’s number be exempt from monitoring. “If they were going to have their attorney call them, they let us know who their attor- ney is and we go through a process to verify that information,” Wolf said. “Then we put them on the do not record list.” Securus is a frequent target of lawsuits from family and friends of inmates, who say their rates are excessive and unreasonable. In August 2017, a federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by four prisoners claiming that Securus, along with its competitor GTL, charged “unreasonable, unjust and exorbitant rates,” and kicked back large commissions to the institutions. In a class-action lawsuit filed last June, family members of prisoners in four differ- ent states accused Securus and Global Tel Link of secretly inflating prices and lying to local governments and its customers about the true cost of calls. According to the plain- tiffs, Securus charged between $9.99 and $14.99 in some facilities just to pick up a call. Though fees and contracts vary by facil- ity, the highest prison phone call rates in Oklahoma are found at a facility that uses Securus services. Family and friends of inmates housed at Davis Correctional Center in Holdenville – a private prison that contracted with Securus prior to the DOC switchover – pay $3.60 for the first minute of a call followed by 11 cents per minute. They must also pay a $3 transac- tion fee to add funds to their account. At state facilities under Global Tel Link, family and friends of inmates paid a flat 20-cent-per-minute rate, meaning a 15-minute phone call would cost $3. When he was housed at Bill Johnson Correctional Center in Alva, Eliza Cordova of Guymon would talk to her boyfriend, Levon Byers, on the phone every day. But after Byers was transferred to Davis, the $6 cost for a 15-minute phone call became overwhelming, and the couple now talks just once per week. “We’ve had to adjust,” Cordova said. “There’s a lot more letter writing now.” After the DOC announced the service provider change on Facebook, family and friends of inmates housed at state prisons expressed worry that rates would go up un- der Securus. According to Wolf, phone call rates at state facilities will actually go down under the new service agreement, with Se- curus charging slightly less than 20 cents per minute with no connection charges or fees. As the coronavirus pandemic disrupted in-person visitation, the Department of Corrections and Global Tel Link began providing one free five-minute call per week to inmates in mid-March. Wolf said those free calls will continue under Securus. This month, Securus issued a press release claiming the company has provided 176 million free minutes of phone connection to inmates during the pandemic. Though the federal government has at- tempted to regulate the cost of prison phone calls, states and private companies like Secu- rus currently have broad discretion on how much to charge for intrastate phone calls. In October 2015, the Federal Commu- nications Commission issued regulations lowering the cost of all prison phone calls to a maximum of 11 cents per minute. The cost for county jails was lowered to 14 to 22 cents per minute, depending on the size of the jail. The Oklahoma Department of Correc- tions and Oklahoma Sheriffs Association submitted testimony opposing the ruling, saying it would severely impact their bud- get. As part of service agreements with pri- vate communications companies, prisons and jails typically receive a commission of profits from inmate calls, which helps fund operations. Under its former contract with GTL, the DOC received 50% of all profits the com- pany generated, amounting to an average of $1.2 million per year. The Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to an open records request seeking a copy of the new contract agreement with Securus. The effort to bring down prison and jail phone costs nationwide ultimately fell short, as the U.S. 10th Circuit of Appeals ruled 2-1 in June 2017 that the FCC did not have the authority to regulate intrastate calls. The rul- ing did not affect interstate calls, which are capped at 21 cents per minute for prepaid calls and 25 cents per minute for collect calls. To get around the high fees many facili- ties charge for intrastate calls, some family members of inmates have resorted to get- ting an out-of-state phone line. Heather Lane of Cushing, whose hus- band is incarcerated at Davis Correctional Facility, went to her phone provider a few years ago and added a line with a Colorado area code. Using the out-of-state number, Lane said she has saved hundreds of dollars. “If I wouldn’t have had the forethought to go onto their (Securus) website and see if they had different rates for different states, then I would be paying a lot more,” Lane said. Though its legal authority on the matter is limited, the FCC is again trying to cor- rect the issue of intrastate calls costing more than local calls. In a July 20 letter to state public service commissioners, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai asked states to consider lowering their prison and jail phone call rates in light of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Pai, intrastate call rates substantially exceed interstate call rates in at least 45 states, and many interstate callers are subject to unrea- sonable first-minute charges. “High rates and charges for inmate call- ing services can impede the ability of these individuals and their families to stay con- nected by making it prohibitively expensive for inmates and their families to stay in touch,” Pai said in the letter. “This can have devastating impacts. Regular contact with family has been shown to reduce inmate recidivism, and children who stay in touch with an incarcerated parent exhibit fewer disruptive and anxious behaviors.” Though her out-of-state number helps reduce costs some, Lane said she still pays Securus hundreds of dollars per month to stay in touch with her husband. New regulations or law changes that lead to lower prison phone rates would be a welcome re- lief, she said. “Phone calls are where we figure out all our household issues and familial issues,” Lane said. “It’s extremely important for us to be able to communicate.” Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that produces in-depth and investigative content on a wide range of issues facing the state. For more Oklahoma Watch content, go to oklahomawatch.org. New prison phone provider has troubled history A telephone inside the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington. PHOTO BY WHITNEY BRYEN/OKLAHOMA WATCH 4A « August 31, 2020 « T HE J OURNAL R ECORD « journalrecord.com OKLAHOMA CITY Panhandle announces two acquisitions Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. has agreed to acquire two packages of mineral and royalty assets totaling 795 net royalty acres in the SCOOP and Haynesville plays from Red Stone Resources for $6.9 million in cash and stock. The purchase price consists of $6.4 million in cash and $500,000 in Panhandle common stock. Oklahoma City-Panhandle plans to raise the cash portion of the purchase price through an underwritten public offering of common stock. “This is an outstanding acquisition for Panhandle that fits very well with our stated strategy to grow the company on an accretive basis,” said Chad Stephens , president and CEO. “These assets are a nice blend of producing properties, near-term development opportunities and upside potential in core areas with active drilling programs by high-quality and well-capitalized operators. It also marks our entry into the Haynesville play of East Texas and Louisiana, which we believe has significant potential and provides good development visibility.” The purchase includes 286 net revenue acres in overriding royalty interests in the Springboard area of Grady County. Panhandle priced its public offering of 5 million shares of common stock at $1.63 per share. The company granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional shares of common stock at the same price. The net proceeds are expected to be $7.2 million. –Staff report OKLAHOMA CITY State, US rig counts both unchanged Oklahoma’s active rig count fo r the week ended Friday was unchanged from the previous week at 11, Baker Hughes reported. Oklahoma had 80 active rigs for the same week in 2019. The highest weekly rig count for Oklahoma this year was 53 for three weeks in January. The lowest rig count for the state in 2019 was 50 and the highest weekly rig count was 140 for the first week of January. The nationwide rig count for the week ended Friday was unchanged at 254, according to Houston-based oil-field services company Baker Hughes. The nationwide rig count was 904 a year earlier. Among other active states, Louisiana was up two rigs to 34. Texas was down one rig to 107 and New Mexico lost one to 46. Alaska, California, Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged. –Staff report OKLAHOMA CITY Feature film begins production Deadly LL LLC has started production on the feature film Cheer for Your Life Filming is scheduled for multiple locations in and around the Oklahoma City area. The film is being produced in association with the Oklahoma Film + Music Office. Cheer for Your Life was written by Lee Gorlitz , directed by Jared Cohn and produced by Daniel Roth and John Mehrer Cheer for Your Life is an independent feature thriller set in the world of high school cheerleaders. The film is the second project the team has produced in Oklahoma since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., and has hired more than 20 local crew members. “We had such a wonderful experience in Oklahoma back in June that we immediately made plans to shoot this film here as well,” said Roth. “The crews are quite experienced and the locals have been nothing but an asset in assisting production.” The Oklahoma Film + Music Office, part of the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, is the administrator for the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program. –Staff report OKLAHOMA CITY Labor law webinars set Crowe & Dunlevy has sc heduled a series of live labor law webinars to address challenges and questions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar sessions are set for noon each Wednesday in September and October, beginning Sept. 2. In the first session, Adam W. Childers , co-chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, will examine the legal pitfalls associated with reductions in force, furloughs and other post-employment pandemic considerations. Other topic include Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act, emergency sick leave and other leave-of-absence issues in the COVID-19 era, Sept. 9; Preventing unintended consequences after receiving a complaint, Sept. 16; COVID-19 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Sept. 23; The impact of social justice movements in the workplace, Sept. 30; What employers must consider when National Guard and other service members return from duty, Oct. 7; OSHA in the time of COVID-19, Oct. 14; How recent Supreme Court decisions will impact future employment law issues, Oct. 21; and Regulatory concerns for employers during an economic downturn, Oct. 28. Each complimentary webinar is pre-approved for one hour of SHRM credit and currently pending HRCI approval. Registered attendees will receive activity IDs by email following each completed webinar. To register and to view the complete schedule of topics and presenters, visit crowedunlevy.com/labor- employment-webinar-series. –Staff report OKLAHOMA CITY Venture forum to feature David Jankowsky David Jankowsky , Francis Renewable Energy of Tulsa, will be the speaker at the Oklahoma Venture Forum Virtual Power lunch on Sept. 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Oklahoma Venture Forum is a nonprofit organization formed in 1987 to encourage economic development in Oklahoma. “We know there’s literally NEWS IN BRIEF Southeastern receives $6,500 aerospace grant from OAC Students at the Take Flight Aviation summer camp in Southeastern State Oklahoma University in Durant. COURTESY PHOTO/ SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN OFFICES Corporate Tower 101 N. Robinson, Suite 101 Oklahoma City, OK 73102 405-235-3100 CAPITOL BUREAU 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Room 431 Oklahoma City, OK 73105 405-524-7777 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Journal Record welcomes original, signed letters of up to 200 words on any public issue. Longer submissions focusing on business topics may be considered for a guest column. Letters may be edited for length, style and content. Submissions must be addressed to The Journal Record and include your name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters submitted become the property of The Journal Record , which retains all rights on if, when or how a submission is published. Submit letters by one of three ways. E-mail: perspectives@journalrecord.com. Fax: 405-278-2890. U.S. Mail: Perspectives, c/o The Journal Record , P.O. Box 26370, Oklahoma City, OK 73126-0370. Mail subscription prices are $229 per year. Newsstand price is $1 per copy. To subscribe, call 1-877-615-9536. Published daily except Saturday, Sunday, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day, with an extra issue in December, by The Journal Record , 101 N. Robinson, Suite 101, Oklahoma City, OK 73102-9020. Periodicals postage paid at Oklahoma City, OK. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BridgeTower Media Subscription Service, P.O. Box 1667, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9936 The Journal Record (ISSN 0737-5468) takes great care to publish all suits, judgments, documents of record and other information. These are not published to affect the credit or standing of the parties named. The publisher shall not be liable for errors in an advertisement including public notices. If there is an error for which the publisher assumes responsibility, that responsibility shall be limited to a single republishing of the advertisement or public notice, or for a suitable adjustment on the billing not to exceed the cost of more than one insertion. DURANT – Southeastern Oklahoma State University received an Aerospace and Aviation Education Program grant in the amount of $6,500 from the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. Thirty-eight organizations were awarded similar grants or contracts totaling more than $330,000 from the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. The commission approved an education grant for Southeastern’s Take Flight Aviation Science Camp. The program is an aerospace education program designed by the Southeastern Aviation Sciences Institute to expose students to aeronautics and flight. “This grant will enable us to continue offering our popular summer flight camp,’’ said Lloyd Sauls, director of the Aviation Sciences Institute. “We look forward to having another successful camp next year, thanks to the support of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission.’’ The camp was not held this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The summer camp will provide students the opportunity to participate in activities that will introduce students to aerodynamics, design and performance, navigation, and weather. It is estimated that 25 students will participate. The weeklong camp allows students to live in residence halls on campus and attend a variety of classes, learning about careers in aviation and the science behind flying aircraft. Students have the opportunity to fly with a staff flight instructor, and the camp is staffed by current Aviation-Professional Pilot majors at Southeastern. –Staff report 1 1 1 1 1 journalrecord.com » T HE J OURNAL R ECORD » August 31, 2020 » 5A going to be hundreds of car manufacturers in the next five, 10 years coming out with electric vehicles, and they would not be able to use the Tesla superchargers, so we solved that problem,” Jankowsky said. “We developed and installed universal chargers, so any car in the world can use them. We solved the range-anxiety issue, meaning no one’s going to buy a car if there’s no infrastructure to fuel them.” The Francis EV Charging Network includes 225 superchargers across the state. “Our largest competitors are definitely not doing 250 charging stations a year, but Oklahoma really has this unique ability or position where we could be the EV capital of the world, both in terms of the technology and manufacturing capabilities to do it here,” said Jankowsky. Registration information for the Zoom event is available at www.ovf.org. –Staff report NORMAN OU starts mandatory diversity training The University of Oklahoma is introducing a required diversity training program for all students, faculty and staff on all three OU campuses. The online training aims to engage participants in a meaningful learning experience with the ultimate goal of fostering a more inclusive campus community. The training course’s educational materials take participants through five learning modules that address topics such as identities, power, privilege and creating a culture of respect. The self-paced course allows individuals to progress through the training on their own schedule. All students, faculty and staff at OU will be required to take the course at least once every three years, with other education and workshop options available annually. “Our university has a dynamic, promising future, but we simply cannot reach our full potential unless we become a true place of belonging where every member of the OU family feels seen, heard and valued,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr . “Involving all students, faculty and staff in this new diversity training program reinforces our belief that we all share the responsibility of advancing fundamental change.” OU is using a training program from Everfi that presents a common framework for all participants, but with content tailored to the student and employee populations. The training includes interactive, scenario-based videos where participants’ choices impact the outcome of a narrative. It also includes a portion that fosters active listening and conversation skills. –Staff report SHAWNEE Diversity consultant to speak at OBU business forum Beverly “B.J.” Glover will be the speaker for the first business forum for the new academic year Friday at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. The forum, presented the Paul Dickinson College of Business, will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium. Business forums are designed to connect students and faculty with business professionals. They typically take place inside Bailey Business Center, the home of the Dickinson College of Business, but have been moved to Raley Chapel this semester to facilitiate physical distancing. The event is free. Face coverings and physical distancing are required. She was a television news anchor, talk show host and had a career in human resources for 25 years. She retired in 2015 from Johnson Controls. She has a master’s degree in human resource development from Villanova University. Glover is the founder and principal of B.J. Glover Learning and Consulting. She is a certified professional coach and a certified equal employment opportunity investigator who investigates cases filed against federal agencies around the country. She currently serves as vice president of community outreach for the Association for Talent Development. She previously served two terms as vice president of diversity for the Oklahoma City Human Resources Society and for the Oklahoma State HR Council. She is also an adjunct professor at Mid-America Christian University, where she teaches courses in human resources. –Staff report TULSA EDS renews line of credit Educational Development Corp. has renewed the line of credit with its lender, MidFirst Bank, for another year with a maximum revolving principal amount of $10 million. “Due to our recent growth, we have generated increased cash flows from operations,” said Randall White , CEO of the Tulsa-based publisher of children’s books. “We ended the month of July with no borrowings on the line of credit and over $23.3 million in cash on our balance sheet. EDC is the exclusive U.S. trade co-publisher of the line of educational children’s books produced in the United Kingdom by Usborne Publishing Ltd. and exclusively publishes books through its ownership of Kane Miller Book Publisher. –Staff report LAWTON Chamber of Commerce VP of communications resigns The Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce announced that Brandi Sims has resigned as vice president of communications and membership. Sharleen Gehers , interim vice president, will assume most of the responsibilities previously fulfilled by Sims. “On behalf of the company, I would like to thank Mrs. Sims for her many years of hard work and dedication to the company during her tenure,” said Sylvia Burgess , interim president and CEO. “Her strong expertise helped to further improve our content and product development.” –Staff report N E W S I N B R I E F Thinning a forest canopy can pay off for landowners About 28% of Oklahoma is forested – some 12 million acres – more than 90% of which is the property of private, non-industrial landowners . PHOTO BY TODD JOHNSON, OSU AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES STILLWATER – Landowners with forested acres can reap some of the most significant benefits from property improvement, creating something of a woodlands wonderland that can promote economic opportunities or just feed the urge to get back to nature, Oklahoma State University experts said. By thinning the forest canopy, more sunlight is allowed to penetrate down to ground level, thereby diversifying the number and types of flowers, shrubs and grasses that grow there. This provides better habitats for wildlife and livestock alike. “The diversity allows a landowner to manage for many different possible land-use objectives, often on the same acreage, especially if prescribed fire is used to maintain the open woodland,” said Dwayne Elmore, OSU Extension wildlife specialist and professor with the university’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. Elmore recently spoke about canopy cover land management on OSU Extension’s agricultural television program Sunup. Among the topics covered in the video segment was the benefit of turning a forest understory into grazable acres. By thinning a forested canopy – called silvopasturing – cattle, goats, sheep and other livestock can consume the grasses growing where once they did not. This can help producers stretch operational feed dollars while livestock benefit from lifesaving shade protection in summer heat and wind breaks against cold winter blasts. “Livestock also can help clear underbrush if that is a management objective,” Elmore said. “Think of it as a squad of four-legged brush-trimmers who work for food and who eventually provide an even greater return on the producer’s investment when they are sold.” Many types of wildlife seek out diverse woodlands as well. For example, white-tailed deer can be found almost everywh