Anna Ngo

Congrats to Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his appearance on the cover of TIME this week! In a week when our city made its debut among the world’s top 100 sports cities, this is another reminder of how Oklahoma City’s brand is rising on the global stage. Full cover story: time.com/article/2026/10/08/…

In 2009, the voters of OKC approved a whitewater course in MAPS 3. That course would open in 2016 as the only one west of the Mississippi River, and it positioned RIVERSPORT as an international paddlesport destination that can uniquely host both flatwater and whitewater events. In 2028, that whitewater course will host six events of the Los Angeles Olympics. In 2025, the voters of OKC made another commitment to continue improving the course and the amenities for spectators. The State of Oklahoma, through the Department of Commerce, is also contributing to this project. This week, the City Council approved the plans for those improvements. The improvements include: - Construction of a large pavilion on the island between the two whitewater racing channels that will include an event space, food and beverage service, restrooms, storage, and shaded spectator seating with a capacity of 2,500 people (not to be confused with the temporary Olympic grandstands that will seat 8,000 in 2028). - Improved site wayfinding, venue signage and lighting. - Enhanced AV and broadcast capabilities to support media coverage. - Installation of On-Venue Results (OVR) technology for competition timing. Though of course these improvements will be useful in 2028, they are really intended to maintain our status as one of the paddlesport capitals of the world for decades to come.

Today I’m in San Diego at the Fall Leadership Meeting of @usmayors, where we are being hosted by USCM President and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. As always, great conversations, including a gathering that included our police chiefs, visits with key members of Congress, and discussions about housing and other important topics.

Today we formally launched the Team OKC organization and its brand! Team OKC is the local organization, led by Michael Byrnes, that will spearhead our hosting of two sports and seven events in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics! Sign up at the web site below to stay in touch! TeamOKC2028.com

Top 75 player of all time. MVP. Olympic champion. All Star. Triple-double king. And someday, a Hall of Famer. The people of Oklahoma City salute Russell Westbrook on his legendary career, which now belongs to the ages. The next chapter begins now, and we look forward to the work we will do together. #WhyNot

Today at my State of the City address, it was my honor to reintroduce the people of Oklahoma City to our soccer team. I’ll share more in the days ahead from my State of the City address, as we touched upon some very important topics. But right now, I have to share today’s big reveal. In a world that wants to divide us, our teams bring us together. And in Oklahoma City, where we have worked together for years to find common purpose and overcome the things that could divide us, we consistently stand together, united as One OKC. We welcome the OKC UNITED to our stable of teams that represent our great city. The team name United exists throughout the world of soccer and is steeped in tradition, but it means something more in the home of One OKC. The state of our city is united, and now, so is our soccer team.

Tonight we celebrated our city’s affection for Thunder champion Isaiah Joe as his foundation supported Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Other sports legends were there to support the cause, including Basketball Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore. Though Isaiah now heads to Detroit, he always has a home in OKC.

Robert’s got your new issue of Curbside Chronicle… #1OKC