Reporter

Going Ape! A baby chimpanzee is the newest addition to the troop of chimps at the Tulsa Zoo. Alvin and Jodi are the proud parents of this baby girl born on Saturday, February 17th. This new arrival is now the 11th chimp born here at the Zoo!

The infant chimp is a welcome addition to the Zoo's family of primates. This birth is momentous since the Zoo's chimp troop is regulated by the SSP or Species Survival Plan. The SSP monitors and regulates the breeding of chimpanzees at AZA accredited zoos, to which the Tulsa Zoo is a member. Only the SSP may determine when, where and with whom breeding may occur. Zookeepers confirmed Jodi's pregnancy after administering a human pregnancy test.

Come see the baby and support the Zoo.

MLK, Jr. Events Rescheduled. Due to the ice and snowstorm that blanketed the city over the period that included the scheduled Martin Luther King, Jr. parade on Mon., Jan. 15, the event was postponed and is now rescheduled for 2pm on Sat., March 31.

The parade will begin at Pine & Cincinnati and travel to the Greenwood district downtown. On Sunday, April 1, there will still be a candlelight vigil march proceeding south from 7th & Cincinnati.

Please bring your own flashlight. After the march, there will be a memorial service at Boston Avenue Methodist Church, 1301 S. Boston. It will begin at 6pm.

Host an Exchange Student! World Heritage Student Exchange Program, a public benefit organization, is seeking local host families for high school boys and girls from France, Germany, Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Denmark and Italy.

Students are already awaiting word on their host family for the 2007-2008 academic school year. Host families provide room, board and guidance for a teenager living thousands of miles from home. Couples, single parents, and families with or without children in the home are all encouraged to apply.

The exchange students arrive from their home country shortly before school begins Fall 2007. Each World Heritage student is fully insured, brings his/her own personal spending money and expects to bear his/her share of household responsibilities, as well as being included in normal family activities and lifestyles.

Celebrate the New Year by choosing to host an exchange student.

Think Summer. Now is your chance to be part of a Tulsa tradition in performing arts: SummerStage.

SummerStage is a performing arts festival held at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center for nine weeks during the months of June, July and Aug. The festival consists of local productions that include musicals, plays, dances, music concerts, cabaret theater, children's and family shows and comedy. The festival includes 25-30 individual productions.

Applicants who are committed to the performing arts and to being part of a balanced and entertaining festival are needed. SummerStage welcomes local and area community arts organizations as well as individual artists and strives to offer quality, diverse and innovative programs that appeal to all segments of the Tulsa community.

SummerStage is presented by the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust. For more information and guidelines, please email Shirley Elliott at HYPERLINK "mailto:selliott@cityoftulsa.org" selliott@cityoftulsa.org or call 596-7122.

'87 Rogers Reunion. The Will Rogers High School Class of 1987 members is attempting contact lost classmates. If you, or someone you know, graduated from that class, please register for the 20-year reunion at HYPERLINK "http://www.willrogershighschool.com"; www.willrogershighschool.com, or call 260-2736.

Ciao, Household Pollutants. The Metropolitan Environmental trust is gearing up for its semiannual Household Pollutant Collection Event March 24-25 at the Tulsa Fairgrounds, Gate 7. The two-day event is coordinated by The M.e.t. with help from the City of Tulsa, Tulsa Fire Department, Tulsa Police Bomb Squad and volunteers from local schools and area organizations.

Items accepted at the event include household cleaners, yard chemicals, pesticides, acids, solvents, oil based paint, thinners, aerosol paint, hobby paint flammable liquids, smoke alarms, thermostats, oil, antifreeze, small caliber ammunition and all types of batteries. Items not accepted include latex paint, tires and commercially generated waste.

The M.e.t. recommends residents do an inventory of pesticides, chemicals and cleaners in their home and garage prior to the event and box up those items that are old or unusable. Keep these items in a cool, dry place away from pets and children until the event. Transport items to the fairgrounds in the trunk of a car or pick up bed to avoid spillage or contamination.

The Household Pollutant Collection Event is 10am-3pm March 24-25 at the Tulsa Fairgrounds, Gate 7 off 15th Street near Driller's Stadium. Gates close promptly at 3pm. each day. For more information about the event or for recycling information, call The M.e.t. at 584-0584 or visit HYPERLINK "http://www.MetRecycle.com"; www.MetRecycle.com.

Steven Fendt Joins PAC. Steven J. Fendt has been named Assistant Director of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. His hiring fills a position made available early last summer with the retirement of longtime City employee John Couey.

Fendt began work with the PAC in the ticket office in 1985. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Management and Promotion. Following graduation, he worked for the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater in Lincolnshire, IL, before coming to Tulsa.

He has served as the PAC's ticket office manager for 21 years, overseeing business that generated up to $10 million in annual ticket sales. He has extensive experience in management, computers and ticketing systems and has contributed his talents to numerous theatrical productions, both in front of the curtain as well as backstage.

The performing Arts Center's assistant director is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the facility. Those duties include handling the booking calendar, helping plan and monitor the annual budget and supervising the ticket office, maintenance and technical theatre personnel.

Be Safe. The United States Senate has designated March 11-17 as National Safe Place Week, as have local Tulsa County Mayors. This commemorative week highlights the innovative Safe Place program, which exemplifies how communities can collaborate to provide help and safety to children and teens facing abuse, neglect or serious family problems.

In Tulsa County, the Safe Place program was started in 1991 by Youth Services of Tulsa, and has since served over 1,000 young people. QuikTrip Stores, Tulsa Transit buses, the YST shelter and fire stations throughout Tulsa County are designated Safe Place sites for youth in crisis. These sites, identified by the diamond-shaped, yellow and black Safe Place sign, are conveniently located in neighborhoods where youth live.

Any young person in a crisis situation can walk in and ask an employee for help. The YST shelter will be contacted, and within minutes a Safe Place volunteer arrives to meet with the youth. Counseling and shelter are made available if needed. Volunteers also visit area middle and high school classrooms, presenting anti-victimization and Safe Place information to area students.

As part of the National Safe Place Week activities, Youth Services of Tulsa will host its annual Safe Place poster contest awards ceremony. This event will be held at the YST Activity Center, 311 S. Madison, on March 13 from 6:30-7:30pm. Safe Place Volunteers, sites and poster contest winners will be recognized. Winning poster entries will be displayed on area billboards and city buses.

Safe Place is currently in over 700 communities in 37 sates. National Safe Place Week brings attention to and heightens awareness of the Safe Place program that has already helped over 96,640 young people in crisis. National Safe Place Week recognizes the 17,860 businesses and thousands of volunteers nationally who give their time, resources and energy to make our country a safer place for young people.

HUD Helps Homeless. Homeless programs throughout Oklahoma will receive $6.9 million in grants awarded today by US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. Nationwide, $1.4 billion in HUD grants will support a record 5,300 local programs, providing critically needed emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent support for more than 150,000 individuals and families.

Since 2001, HUD has awarded approximately $9 billion in funding to state and local communities to support the housing and service needs of homeless persons and families. Next year, President Bush is proposing a record level of funding to house and service homeless persons and families. The FY 2008 Budget seeks more than $1.6 billion through HUD's Continuum of Care and Emergency Shelter Grant Programs. For a complete local summary of funding award, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.hud.gov"; www.hud.gov.

A Reason to Celebrate. Northeast Oklahoma's largest Eastern Catholic community will enter a new era on April 15 with the consecration of its permanent home.

The Most Reverend Robert Shaheen, Bishop of the Diocese of Our Lady of Lebanon of St. Louis, will celebrate the dedication ceremony and Mass at the recently constructed St. Therese of the Child Jesus Maronite Catholic Church at 11am.

St. Therese, located at 8315 S. 107th E. Ave., formerly celebrated Mass at the Parish of the Church of the Madeline until construction was completed on its new building in late 2006.

Maronites comprise the majority of Lebanese Christians and have played a significant role in Northeastern Oklahoma since before statehood.

St. Therese is the only Maronite Catholic Church in Oklahoma. The Maronite Mass dates directly to the 4th and 5th centuries in Galilee and Canaan. Celebrated in ancient Syriac/Aramaic as well as in English, it is one of 22 liturgical traditions within the Catholic Church, including the more familiar Roman rite. Its sacraments are recognized by the Vatican and are available to Catholics worldwide.

According to Father Elias Abi Sarkis, dedication of the new church is a watershed event for the Eastern Catholic tradition in Oklahoma. "The Eastern Catholic Church is not well known in Northeastern Oklahoma and we look forward to being a home for both natives to the area as well as for those who come from the Middle East. We pray that we might serve as a place for those who have left the faith to return."

For more information, contact Father Elias Abi Sarkis at 872-7400 or (678) 772-8708.

Broken Ground. Mayor Kathy Taylor and local philanthropists joined Tulsa Ballet Artistic Director, Marcello Angelini, to break ground on a multi-million dollar renovation and expansion of the organization's facilities at a press conference on Mon., Feb. 26 at 4512 S. Peoria Ave. in Tulsa.

Joining Mayor Taylor and Angelini for the ceremonial groundbreaking were SemGroup CEO Tom Kivisto, his wife Julie Kivisto, Ray Tullius, a Trustee of the Mabee Foundation and Jackie Kouri, Tulsa Ballet's Vice President of the Exceeding Expectations Campaign.

The $4.56 million renovation and expansion is a three-phase project with the first phase having been completed in Aug. 2006. The first phase included the construction of a fourth dance studio and renovation of the dancer's lounge and dressing rooms along with the building's kitchen facility. The second phase will begin this month and will be completed by Aug. It includes the addition of two more studios and office space to be used by the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education.

The third and largest phase of the construction will include a new administration wing and the Kivisto Performance Hall. This 250-seat theater will provide an in-house performance venue and allow Tulsa Ballet to stage an additional dance series to the five per year it currently offers. When the space is not in use by the Tulsa Ballet Company, it will be used for educational purposes and available for rental to community organizations.

Prior to the early '90s, Tulsa Ballet was housed in four different locations, one for costumes, scenery, studio/rehearsal space, and administrative offices. That all changed in 1992, when Tulsa Ballet made a move cited in The New York Times as a "reason to rejoice" and as one of the top ten most memorable events in dance for the year.

That year, after completing a $2.8 million capital campaign, Tulsa Ballet purchased the building it currently occupies, as well as the attached strip mall and surrounding land. The building is approximately 48,000 square feet, including five rental spaces adjacent to the Tulsa Ballet facility, which occupy about 10,000 square feet. Tulsa Ballet also owns the 7.29 acres on which the building resides, with the building and parking occupying approximately 4 acres. The remaining land is leased to two companies who have developed the land for their own use. Tulsa Ballet receives income from these leased spaces to offset maintenance and other facility expenses.

The facility was built in 1950 as an elementary school. Tulsa Ballet purchased the building in 1990 and spent $800,000 on only necessary renovations. These renovations consisted of separately zoning the use classification of the building, minimal plumbing and roofing, and reusing existing electrical heat. A conscious decision was made to focus spending on creating programs that would generate income rather than on maintenance that was not absolutely necessary. It was known at that time that future improvements would be required. This includes needed repairs to the roof, a new heating, ventilating and air conditioning system (HVAC), as well as some new equipment, furniture and minor updating.

The current renovation and expansion of the facility will include replacing failing heating and cooling equipment with a new geothermal system. The geothermal system will use deep ground water temperature to minimize the use of fossil fuels. The system will be similar to those increasingly used in school applications both to protect the environment and to minimize operating costs.

The project is being shepherded by architect, Kathleen Page, with Consynsus. Manhattan Construction is the project manager and the entire endeavor is made possible through generous donations to Tulsa Ballet's Exceeding Expectations campaign. Major donors to this effort include SemGroup L.P., Kivisto Family Foundation, J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, ONEOK, Kathy and Markus Hilti, George Kaiser Family Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation.

In order to qualify for the Kresge challenge grant of $400,000, Tulsa Ballet has 13 months to generate $1 million dollars to its Campaign. The Kresge Foundation is a national foundation with $3 billion in assets. Through its grant making programs, The Kresge Foundation seeks to strengthen nonprofit organizations by catalyzing their growth, connecting them to their stakeholders, and challenging greater support through grants.