Norman Farm Market Opens Saturday

Oklahoma's oldest farmer's market opens Saturday for yet another season of delicious homegrown goodies.

The Norman Farm Market is open from 8 a.m. until noon every Saturday and Wednesday from April 4 until Oct. 31. Among the items to be featured during the first few weeks of the market are:

• asparagus


• hothouse tomatoes


• greens


• lettuce


• radishes


• spinach


• herb


• vegetable


• flower bedding plants

Things like honey, herbs, cut flowers, trees, shrubs, perennial and annual plants and hanging baskets will be available all season.

For those of you who suffer from seasonal allergies, buying honey cultivated as close to home as possible can help build immunity against local allergens. Locally grown honey is a miracle drug, and it knocks out a sweet tooth to boot!

For more information, visit the market's Web page by clicking here.

YouTube user "envirohist" posted this video last October from a day at the market. Look at those bell peppers. Yum.

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Lost Pet Report: April 1

One of the public services The Norman Files will provide is information about lost pets. If yours is lost and you think it's in Norman, Okla., (that's our criteria in a nutshell), e-mail us information and a photo to thenormanfiles@gmail.com.

Three lost-dog notices are posted as of Wednesday night at the Homeland grocery store on Main Street:

>> There is a $150 reward for the return of this small, tan chihuahua, belonging to somebody on 12th Street SE. Phone number is 625-9276 if you happen to know where this dog is.

>> A 5 1/2-week old rottweiler puppy was lost on Feb. 20 at about 8:15 p.m. on West Apache Street. This dog was a present for a toddler. No questions asked for his return.

Please call 366-6293 if you know the whereabouts of this pup. The flyer indicated a reward, but TNF has not confirmed that. There was no photo provided.

>> A reward has also been offered for the return of Lucky, a tan and white male pit bull mix. He weighs 70 pounds and is not neutered.

There was no indication on the flyer where it was last seen.

Please call Andrea at 429-3029.

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Obscene, Threatening Communication Reported At Sarkeys

Among the items of interest in the March 31 edition of the University of Oklahoma police report:

OUPD officers were dispatched to the Sarkeys Energy Center because of "obscene/threatening communication." No word as to the nature of the communication.

At 11:49 p.m., a theft was reported at Evans House (Honors housing), located at 1300 Asp Avenue. The report indicates the theft happened between 2:45 and 10 p.m. No word on what was taken.

Police reports are updated each day and posted **only** for that day on the OUPD Web site at http://www.ou.edu/oupd/media.pdf.

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OU, ODOT To Do Road Test On April 23

University and state officials will be testing experimental pavement material along a Norman road starting on April 23.

Norman city officials said Timberdell Road between Asp and Jenkins avenues will be closed to traffic starting at 7 a.m. on April 23 and should reopen by 7 p.m. on April 24.

The University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will be testing the pavement material along a 500-foot-long segment of roadway.

Detour signs will be installed to direct drivers.

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Rock Creek Road Closed In NW Norman

Sanitary sewer line installation will force the closure of part of Rock Creek Road starting on Thursday weather permitting, officials said.

Urban Construction will be installing it along Rock Creek Road between 12th Avenue NW and Stubbeman Avenue as part of the Industrial Interceptor Project.

Norman city officials said it will require about 300 feet of the eastbound south lane of Rock Creek Road to be closed during normal work hours.

The lane will be reopened at night and on weekends, officials said.

City officials expect the project to be completed by 5 p.m. on April 10.

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Flood Bridge To Close On April 1

For those of you who commute to Norman from north of town, perhaps you're used to taking 77 back into town via the Flood Street Bridge.

That option is no longer available starting Wednesday. Construction is expected to last through August 1.

Traffic Tuesday night was already tighter than usual with the closure of an extra lane at about Indian Hills Road. The delay was an extra 12-15 minutes at 7:30 p.m.

Feel free to post a comment letting us know how much the closure of the bridge is adding to your commute.

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Norman's Best 'Easter Egg' Hunt

From the desk of Carol Coles:

Norman’s “Best” Easter Egg Hunt for children 8 and under will take place on Friday, April 3rd at Andrews Park.

Activities, including moon bounces and free pictures with the Easter Bunny (bring your own camera!), will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the Hunt will take place at 6:30 p.m. Ms. Bunny will also be roaming around the park to meet and greet the kids. This event is presented by the Norman Parks & Recreation Department and is sponsored by Ferguson Pontiac, Buick, GMC.

For more information you can call us at 366-5472 or go to www.normanfun.com.

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Skate Park Closed For Maintenance

From the desk of Carol Coles:

The City of Norman Parks and Recreation Department will be performing routine maintenance on the Blake Baldwin Skate Park located in Andrews Park on Friday and Saturday, April 3rd & 4th. The Skate Park will re-open on Sunday, April 5th.

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New Generation Of Neighborhood Journalism In Norman

It's just about midnight in Norman, Okla. Do you know where your children are?

Kidding. However, as promised, a new generation of digital journalism for our wonderful city is born in 'The Norman Files,' an idea I birthed last fall and have recreated this spring.

The publishing format is as a blog, no doubt. However, make no mistake: This is a news site. And, the goal with this site is to provide information, coverage, items of interest to Normanites that might not get as much coverage in mainstream press.

My hope is that 'The Norman Files' is at once quirky, grass-roots and useful.

I'm a journalist by trade, but in this effort, I'll be using the most basic of tools. My vision is that you the fair reader will share what's on your mind, not to mention your photographs and videos, press releases, events, etc.

If there's new construction on your street, I'd like to know about it.

If you've lost a pet, send me a photo and a name, and we'll post it.

If you're trying to raise some money for a good cause, by all means, let us know.

E-mail us anytime at thenormanfiles@gmail.com.

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We're Back April 1: No Foolin'

It's been almost eight months since I temporarily abandoned the idea of a hyperlocal news blog.

It wasn't due to lack of interest on my part or traffic. It was because I knew I didn't have a site put together that would serve the Norman community.

Specifically, I created The Norman Files as a neighborhood news site for those who live close to campus.

Each evening, I'd post and post and post, but the site was lacking several things that could make it not only a resource for visitors, but also more interesting and fresh without me having to slave over it. Ideally, I might post only 1-2 things a night and still have a site of use or interest to the community because of all the other resources.

Long story short, The Norman Files is back starting April 1.

What's new about the site?

• Google Groups linked at the top of the site where you can talk about Norman news, sports, events and review restaurants, bars and stores in the area.


• Links on the left-hand side of the page to useful Norman resources such as city phone numbers, the daily OU police report and even a link where you can go pay your water bill.


• Fresh headlines from other sites, aggregated by Google in the upper-right hand corner, keyword: Norman.


• Social Media. The Norman Files is on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Heck, we're even up to speed with 1995 and have an e-mail address now: thenormanfiles@gmail.com, where you can send us a news-tip or information about your Norman-area event or business.

Maybe once we grow a bit you'd even like to sponsor us.

Baby steps.

Between now and April 1, we'll be tweaking the site and preparing for launch. In the interim, why not check out some of the posts from our first run of The Norman Files from last fall.

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