Observations...

According to the Oklahoma District Court Records web site, the trial of John Special, accused of negligent homicide in a boating accident in July 2006 on Grand Lake, will begin Monday at 9 a.m...We made a quick trip to Dallas early this week. As we got away from Grove the price of gasoline dropped steadily all the way, until it reached $2.48 a gallon in Dallas, almost 40 cents cheaper. How is that? We walked through a real grocery store and drooled over the seafood selection; ate a great burger at Snuffer's and stopped in McAlester at the Western Sizzlin Steakhouse. Wish we had one of those in Grove, a great concept...The tour guides at Pensacola Dam this summer gave more than 7,000 visitors a tour of the powerhouse, up 31% from 2006 and 117% from 2004, when professional senior citizens were first used to give tours, says GRDA...City officials are trying to figure out the best trees to plant in the middle of the new sidewalks downtown. They need a slow growing tree with not much root system, so as to not destroy the sidewalks. How about a Japanese Bonsai?...Speaking of downtown, it's time for the city to take on absentee property owners of dilapidated buildings, mostly empty, boarded up, fire hazards. The owners should be forced to repair and rent them out, or take them down...During the budget process last May, Council deleted a request by the police department for a pedestrian crosswalk signal. Maybe they should think about restoring that item now that people will be returning downtown again...