Night Food Market in Downtown OKC

[bombermwc]

And as for the fair, each truck is inspected by various departments before they are allowed to open. Believe it or not, we're not at the top of the heavy handed inspector lists here in OK either. I'd actually be more likely to trust a fair truck because they get inspected so often that it's easier for them to just follow the most strict law and do that everywhere they go. Now the food quality may not be very high, but that's another story. Compare that to a truck here in town that only gets inspected on occassion. I'm not saying they aren't safe by any means, but it's just different. When you have eyes on you at all times, it's a less "relaxed" environment.

I'm still not seeing any conspiracy here either. I'm seeing a lot of bad luck for an even that attracted attention because: 1 - it's a new idea so it's interesting 2 - was known to not have a permit to gather 3 - was discussed online a lot on threads like this, so our readers apparently are part of some of the groups involved (both regulatory and participatory). Could it all have been done with more tact on part of the agencies...for sure. Does that equate to a state conspiracy to shut the event down...no.

[Roadhawg]

Prime example of this guy and the entire ABLE cult thinking they are above the law. Something has got to be done about this.

I don't believe they broke any laws did they?

[urbanity]

Midtown mayhem

Inspectors shuttered a new night food market just as it started. Witnesses say there were mistakes on both sides.

http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/ar...wn-mayhem.html

[George]

On a somewhat related topic, a report was just published entitled "Streets of Dreams - How Cities Can Create Economic Opportunity By Knocking Down Protectionist Barriers to Street Vending". The report examines the common types of vending regulations found in 50 major cities (including OKC) and suggests ways to free up this area of the food market.

Some background on the report can be found in this Washington Post article.

Don't know anything about the publishers of the report, The Institute for Justice, but they refer to themselves as "our nation's only libertarian public interest law firm" and state they actively support "the right to earn an honest living, private property rights, and the right to free speech."

[MustangGT]

"Only Liberterian Law Firm "is a huge stretch of reality. As to the crdeibility of the WP?????

[Edgar]

kudos to the Gazette for breaking the night down. It's becoming the city's news source. There is a huge void there.

[Steve]

Seriously? There was nothing in that Gazette story I've not had out for the past two weeks ...

[BBatesokc]

Seriously? There was nothing in that Gazette story I've not had out for the past two weeks ...

Steve, from what I recall, I agree.... Nothing new in the story and I find it laughable any source could be considered "... the city's news source" when they only publish once a week. Fun features and event info - but a 'news source' - just barely.

That said, I read the Gazette all the time, I just don't consider it a regular news source. But they do occasionally have some great feature stories.

I tried to go re-read the article, but I got this instead.... YIKES.....

[Edgar]

Didn't know the operators permit denied. Sorry if I missed that. Like virtually all conspiracies, turns out to be bofos all around. gazette free to report on items dok won't touch, like when Dr Shadid outed Larry Nichols. Only dok mention, a tacky ed. Think you all are short selling the freedom the writers at the Gazette enjoy.

[Steve]

Edgar, I had the information about the permits two weeks ago. As for the Oklahoman's editorial page, that's like tying my coverage to the comics page. Two totally different animals. As for news judgment, etc., no, I don't agree with every call made by various editors. That's life at a newspaper. I take my best shot at things. But I don't own the paper, the ink or the servers. If you don't like how the paper is covering a topic, I've always encouraged folks to contact editors and say so.
But please.... are you seriously saying I've fallen short on this story? (And I've got more coming).

[urbanity]

BBatesokc,

The site is now repaired after locating and extracting the malware code. After Google’s “spiders” visit the site, you will no longer get the popup warnings.

[Edgar]

See it now Steve. You're cool guy. No one holds you responsible for the ed page. Like the CJR put it, "sure some reporters are embarrassed by the editorial page, but like the stockyard workers, no longer notice the smell." Just nice we have another option that is free to report. And some great feature stories like BB pointed out.

[BBatesokc]

BBatesokc,

The site is now repaired after locating and extracting the malware code. After Google’s “spiders” visit the site, you will no longer get the popup warnings.

Thanks.

[Steve]

Edgar, be careful of what you read, no matter the source. Not saying everything in that story was wrong - some of it was right. But it had a lot of suspect sources (including one disgraced ex-reporter who made up news stories, was extremely unethical, and made my life hell when I started blowing the whistle). I can assure you that despite complaints, valid or not valid, about The Oklahoman, it was not and is not the worst in America. I should know - I worked at the Edmond Sun.

[MustangGT]

I should know - I worked at the Edmond Sun.

Thankfully you escaped from that unethical den of inequity. Whenever I think of that screed the thought of hellfire comes to mind.

[Larry OKC]

I agree the vast majority of the Gazette's story was already reported in the pages of the Oklahoman. They did have some more details about the repeated statements from officials that this was the first stop on a Citywide/Southside crackdown. Hopefully Steve will have a more indepth look at it. That said, for a weekly paper, they do somehow manage to get a story printed in advance of the daily paper.

I did find this part of the Gazette story interesting:

“We had all those inspectors because we were getting ready to do hundreds of mobile vendors on the south side,” Monks said. “It’s unfortunate that it looked like something it wasn’t. We really regret that because we’re just out to make sure food is safe.”

The health department inspected approximately 26 mobile food vendors on the south side that night, Monks said, and shut 10 of them down for violations ranging from allowing wastewater to flow out onto the street to not having hand-washing facilities. The city inspectors, meanwhile, cited four south-side vendors for unsafe electrical wiring and four for no outdoor sellers’ license.

Not exactly the hundreds they mentioned....

[kevinpate]

Maybe they meant they were going to inspect hundreds of burritos?

[Jim Kyle]

Edgar, be careful of what you read, no matter the source. Not saying everything in that story was wrong - some of it was right. But it had a lot of suspect sources (including one disgraced ex-reporter who made up news stories, was extremely unethical, and made my life hell when I started blowing the whistle). I can assure you that despite complaints, valid or not valid, about The Oklahoman, it was not and is not the worst in America. I should know - I worked at the Edmond Sun.

It's not even in the top two, Steve. I broke in at the Ardmoreite.

And it was a wise man who observed "Believe none of what you read, and only half of what you see." Even the best reporting goes nowhere if the story ends up being spiked...

[Steve]

Amen Jim.

[MikeOKC]

Not to mention that CJR article was from the late nineties! There have been vast improvements at The Oklahoman since then. I don't agree with everything at The Oklahoman either, but it doesn't take much of an eye to notice the paper is a different animal from the one 15 years ago.

[Larry OKC]

MikeOKC: I read that and it noted that the one bright spot was recently departed Ed Kelly. Unfortunately IMO, the Oklahoman went downhill during his tenure. Our favorite reporter, excluded ;-)

[soonerguru]

Not to mention that CJR article was from the late nineties! There have been vast improvements at The Oklahoman since then. I don't agree with everything at The Oklahoman either, but it doesn't take much of an eye to notice the paper is a different animal from the one 15 years ago.

"Vast" improvements? I think a fairer observation would be the paper has made subtle improvements.

It's still a puff piece for the Chamber of Commerce that blacks out critical news stories affecting the pillars of the OKC biz community.

Steve does decent work but the business page is mostly a joke and "investigative reporting" is limited to city and state workers and politicians.

Don't expect to read anything about Aubrey McClendon's imbroglios and other content that may put their friends in a negative light.

None of this even includes discussion of the petty, juvenile editorials.

It's still called the Joke for a reason.

[Steve]

If you don't like what you are or are not reading, please contact the editors.

[soonerguru]

If you don't like what you are or are not reading, please contact the editors.

I did that, many moons ago, sending Jim Standard a politely worded missive about one of his pieces. He sent me a kind but completely patronizing response. My question is, "why bother?"

It is what it is and if stories are spiked they're going to continue to get spiked. There was zero investigative coverage of the Momentum fiasco (possibly because newspaper ownership may have been involved on some level).

Editors often feel justified further when they receive reader response -- even if critical.

[Steve]

Sooner, "many moons ago" was back in the 1980s, since Jim Standard's tenure as executive editor ended the year I was hired - 1990! (he continued as a columnist until the mid-1990s before fully retiring, and died last year). There has been a complete change in the newsroom leadership since then, and there are, at best, just a few people period who around back in 1990 (myself included).
When readers don't complain to editors about decisions they make on news coverage, isn't that essentially endorsing their decisions? I'm not going to try to sway you Sooner. It's not my job to be an apologist for any newspaper or news organization. But if you don't like the decisions they're making, you have a choice - don't read it and ignore it, or get online and incessantly complain, or give constructive feedback that might lead to changes in editorial decisions.
You're also wrong about The Oklahoman's coverage of the Momentum group - Michael Baker did quite a few stories delving into the anonymous donations, etc. You might not have thought it was enough, but you are very wrong in saying it was ignored.
Now, all this having been said, I'm not saying the paper makes all the right decisions. That's why I'm imploring people to email the top editors at The Oklahoman and let them know when you think coverage is out of whack. Thanks to email, it's easier than ever (at least as easy as posting here at OKC Talk).
The Oklahoman has a new publisher and new top editor. Communicate or stay quiet. It's a simple choice.