BizzBuzz

Read All About It. Alex Adwan, who spent more than 30 years at the Tulsa World before retiring as senior editor in 1998, will be honored as a Tulsa Press Club Media Icon at a special event to be held at the Press Club, 415 S. Boston, the evening of Thursday, Feb. 24.

Recognition of Adwan as a Media Icon will cap off an evening in which Tulsa's favorite print, radio and television journalists will be presented with the first ever Tulsa Press Club Newsie Awards.

The final ballot for the first ever Newsies Awards is set and ready to roll. Tulsa is invited to sign on surveymonkey.com/s/newsieballot to vote for their favorite local journalists, including UTW's Mike Easterling. Ballots will only be accepted through Feb. 4, so don't delay.

Tickets for the event are available to the public. The event will run from 6:30-8:30pm. Reservations can be made by calling 918-583-7737.

World Peace. Following the wave of suicides of young people who have been bullied and links between hate speech and the tragic Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson, Open Table UCC, an Owasso church dedicated to social justice and peace, is teaming up with internationally known, activist musicians, Emma's Revolution, to work on solutions. Musicians Pat Humphries and Sandy O. will be in Tulsa Saturday, Feb. 5 to lead a workshop and discussion, "Non-violent advocacy in a violent world," from 2-4pm.

Emma's Revolution uses the power of music to promote peace and justice, the environment, human rights, and women's and LGBTQ issues. They will lead the discussion on how to advocate for change without resorting to violence. Tulsa area experts will join them to describe their efforts to work for change in such areas as bullying prevention, local food insecurity and community development in north Tulsa.

There will be a benefit concert following the workshop. Both events take place at the Fellowship Congregational Church UCC, 2900 S. Harvard Ave. The concert begins at 7pm and tickets are $18-20. For more information, call Rev. Melinda Foster at 918-609-6292.

Movin' On Up. Tulsa International Mayfest has recently added two new board members: Frances Bevel of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and Lindsay Boyles of IBM Business Consulting Services.

Frances Bevel is a native of Louisiana and moved to Tulsa in 2008. With a demonstrated background in leadership, planning, and teamwork in the nonprofit sector, Bevel is now the Special Events Manager of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, where she focuses on such events as Empty Bowls, Recipe to End Hunger, Restaurant Week and the Panera Hunger Run to name a few.

Frances is the co-chair of the Mayfest Youth Art Gallery and a member of Leadership Tulsa, Class 43 and is committed to the betterment of the Tulsa community.

Lindsay Boyles is from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. She graduated magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University in 2005, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Economics.

Lindsay is also the chair of the VIP area of Mayfest.

Fueling Up. In the wake of the Environmental Protection Agency's decision last Friday to allow cars and trucks made since 2001 to use a blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline -- a fuel known as E15 -- AAA is urging gasoline retailers in Oklahoma to voluntarily put labels on their pumps informing motorists precisely what type of fuel their pumps dispense.

"Stations are currently required to label pumps that deliver ethanol-laced fuel but these labels do not have to reveal what percentage of the fuel is ethanol," said Chuck Mai, spokesman for AAA Oklahoma. "Although we haven't received any reports that E15 is being sold in Oklahoma yet, there's no doubt it's on its way here. Consumers deserve to know exactly what they're buying."

Previously, the maximum amount of ethanol that could be blended with gasoline was 10 percent, a fuel called E10. The EPA now says their studies have shown that E15 is safe for all model year 2001 and newer cars and light-duty trucks, although the EPA has refused to release the actual test data used to make that decision.

"When E10 first hit the state a couple of years ago, Oklahomans were caught by surprise," Mai said. "No one knew E10 was being sold here until motorists started complaining of suddenly getting poorer fuel economy. And then it took action by the Oklahoma Legislature to force stations to label their pumps. This time, we're hoping retailers will act on their own to label their E15 pumps."

Last fall, the EPA proposed a labeling change for the pumps of stations carrying the higher ethanol blend but it remains unclear when a final regulation outlining new pump labeling requirements will be issued, if at all.

The EPA waiver allowing E15 does not include use of the blend in motorcycles, heavy-duty trucks and non-road engines.