February 8, 2020 Issue, Page 1 of 10

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Weekend Edition Commissioners approve lease, bid for pickups By Don Munsch, Editor Elk City City Commissioners had a relatively light agenda Monday for their first meeting in February. The commission approved: — A lease agreement between the city and J&M MX Park for the moto-cross track. —A bid from Barber Dyson Ford for two new unused 4 from “Little Shop of Horrors” on Monday night. The musical will be performed Feb. 14-16 at ton crew can four-wheel drive drive pickups for the parks the Kelli O’Hara Center of Performing Arts. Staff photo by Don Munsch. department and fleet department for $32,642 each. “We have three mechanics and two mechanic pickups,” said Larry Hart, operations supervisor for the fleet depart- ment. “Obviously, the third pickup would make us more Elk City High student ready productive, give us more mobility and we could divide and conquer much better. So that’s the purpose behind that. It took us almost a year to get that third mechanic, to serve ‘Horrors’ who starts Wednesday, so it will certainly make things a By Don Munsch, Editor hearsals resumed when school resumed in January. The mu- lot more productive for us if we get that pickup.” Elk City High School actors want to feed a good time sical features a large puppet that can pull in a normal-sized The parks department will use its new pickup for vari- to the audience that sees “Little Shop of Horrors,” set for adult. ous purposes, too. a three-day running beginning Friday at the Kelli O’Hara “It’s fun, it’s challenging,” Daubenspeck said about the — A change order for Hellas Construction Inc. for the Center of Performing Arts. production. “‘There’s a lot of props. We had to drive down to synthetic turf project for an amount not to exceed $40,000. “Little Shop” features a plot centering on a human blood- McKinney, Texas, to get [the puppets].” The costs will be for any additional turf to be determined and flesh-eating plant in a flower shop. Shop employee Sey- The puppets were rented for $3,000. Daubenspeck se- once on-site turf is utilized, a city change order document mour cultivates the beast. He names the plant Audrey II, lected the production based on which students attending the stated. The adjustments are related to shortening the in- after his coworker, Audrey. As the story unfolds, Seymour school the previous year could play the parts. field arc to the required radius from the pitching rubber eventually learns about the plant’s origins. “And they still have to audition,” she said. and infield diamonds changing to required widths to ac- ‘The play was performed Off-Broadway and on Broadway Rex Carver, who plays Seymour, said his character is a commodate bases. and two movies were made, with the first released in 1960 nerdy guy who develops a hobby of liking strange plants, — Declaring surplus 14 wooden shelving units with and the second in 1986. and Audrey II eventually gets out of control. Britney Reyna varying height and length, three rectangular tables, one Lori Daubenspeck, co-choir director at the ECHS, directs and Hannah White play Audrey and said they like the char- round table and one metal desk from the Elk City Carn- the musical and described it as having dark comedy/science acter’s foibles. Audrey can be over-dramatic, for instance. egie Youth Library. fiction qualities. “Little Shop” will be performed at 7 p.m. “Little Shop” can appeal to a broad audience. Each of the ‘The furniture ordered for the children’s library is due Feb. 14-15 and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 16. students extolled the music in the production. in the next week, said librarian DeAun Ivester. So the “Tt is about a little shop on Skid Row that’s about to close “Tt’s a little different from our last one,” Carver said about library can sell or dispose of the items that are already its doors,” she said after rehearsal Monday evening. “Little Shop,” comparing it to “Shrek,” which is aimed more See Commission page 2. The plant only grows by eating blood and stays alive by toward children. “This one, no matter how old you are, you eating people. The main leads for the production started can come get something out of it.” Senate acquits Trump in working on the play during Christmas break, and then re- See Horrors page 2. impeachment trial; Prather finds humor in real-life stories Romney breaks with GOP By Don Munsch, Editor Chad Prather does a comedy routine, but he doesn’t do the to vote for conviction usual array of jokes or one-liners that other comedians do. Prather would rather tell stories and let the humor come Lucas, Lankford decry naturally. His “Star Spangled Banter Comedy Tour” makes a stop at ‘partisan’ impeachment 7 p.m. March 13 at the Kelli O’Hara Center of Performing Arts in Elk City. By Jennifer Haberkorn and Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles During a phone interview Tuesday, Prather, who lives in Times Burleson, Texas [south of Fort Worth], discussed how he WASHINGTON _ The Senate on Wednesday acquitted views his craft. President Donald Trump of abusing the power of his office “T still don’t see myself necessarily as a joke-teller or a and obstructing Congress’ investigation into his conduct, guy who gives one liners,” he said. “I try to tell real-life ending the third presidential impeachment trial in American stories and then mix the humor into it, so that it’s something history. that people relate to and see themselves in. And it seems Republicans and Democrats had appeared to be marching to translate very well because I have the ability to twist a toward an entirely party-line vote. But Sen. Mitt Romney, phrase and be very descriptive in ways that people haven’t R-Utah, the party's presidential candidate eight years ago, thought of or is something that they find creative and there’s became the only GOP lawmaker to join Democrats in vot- a lot of inherent humor built into that. And I think that that’s Entertainer Chad Prather will perform March ing to convict the president for what he called "an appalling what people find appealing.” 13 in Elk City. Tickets can be found here: abuse of public trust." Just being himself as he told stories was his goal when he https://elkcityschools.com/32434_1. Photo For Trump, the Senate verdict allows him to declare vic- first got on stage, discovering if people laugh, then great. submitted. tory as he turns toward a reelection bid. But unlike any pres- “Thankfully, they laugh,” he said. ident in modern history, he will run under the stigma having Prather was doing corporate sales for a Fortune 300 com- periences. been impeached by the House - a move with unknown po- pany before his current career. “Again, I was always on a stage somewhere and I was litical consequence. “T have been on stage in some form or fashion pretty much known as a guy who could tell stories and make people Moreover, although Romney stood alone among Republi- my entire life, from athletics to actual theater stuff,” he said. laugh, and one thing led to another,” he said. “I’ve pretty cans in voting to convict Trump, he had company among his In the corporate world, he said he had the wit and the hu- much spent my entire life on some form of a stage.” party's senators in rejecting Trump's repeated claim that his mor to makes sales happen and build relationships. He has had the current show on the road going on six actions were "perfect." More than a half dozen Republican “Tt was a pretty easy transition into the world of entertain- years. He has enjoyed the ride. senators have said they believe Trump's actions regarding ment from there,” he said. “I never expected it, of course, “T can’t imagine doing anything else,” he said. Ukraine were wrong, although they felt the conduct should but the signs were always there.” He has a daily podcast on television - “The Chad Prather not result in his removal from office. Prather has traveled around the world and done humani- Show” on BlazeTV - and he does other work, but being able The Senate voted 48-52 on the first article of impeach- tarian aid and mission work. He did that on and off for 20 to be in front of a live audience, “there’s nothing like it,” he ment, abuse of power, and 47-53 on the second article, ob years, and when he came back to the U.S., he had a lot of said. See Impeachment page 2. organizations that invited him to discuss his stories and ex- See Prather page 2. Vol. 118, No. 11 Mail delivery View online . (LENE ‘ vs / 28 75 cents, 10 pgs. 580.225.3000 elkcityoknews.com