Fox 25 Report on Sage Market and Paralogia

**donbroncho** · 02-12-2009, 08:23 PM

Just saw a pretty good report on the opening of the Sage Market and the Paralogia lounge. At the end of it, Jim Cowan was quoted as saying that 6 new openings were coming and 2 have yet to be announced. Sounds intriguing...wonder what they could be. It was a pretty good report and we need to support these places, as they are opening in tough times and I tip my hat to them.

**mecarr** · 02-12-2009, 08:55 PM

Any idea when it's suppose to open?I drove by today but they still had the brown construction paper covering the windows.

**donbroncho** · 02-12-2009, 09:02 PM

They did not say directly. They said work was being done on it and they were pleased with the progress. Their opening date may be for Steve to answer, as he is the guru for all things downtown...

**USG '60** · 02-12-2009, 09:11 PM

opps, how does one delete?

**metro** · 02-13-2009, 07:20 AM

well, I peeked in the windows of Sage a couple days ago, the construction guys had the doors open. It looks like they are still quite a ways off, it looked like they had barely got drywall up, etc. I imagine we're looking at least another month.

**Steve** · 02-13-2009, 08:04 PM

Well Don, that's more pressure you're putting on me, but here goes...
I saw the Smiths (owners of Sage) at last night's book signing. By the way, I know I've said it before, but let me repeat, I can't recall meeting two more genuinely nice people. Anyway, they're looking at being open next month. But don't get too surprised if they run into the same final licencing and permit delays that greet almost every new restaurant (there is a cafe with the market). I'm increasingly amazed by just how sophisticated an operation appears to be in the working with Sage. If someone had told me a year ago this sort of market and cafe would be opening in Deep Deuce or anywhere downtown, I would have been very, very, very skeptical. Fortunately for me, I love to be proven wrong in such instances.
As for the two to be announced ... um, yeah, Jim Cowan's right on that one, except if he's referring to what I think he's referring to, they've not been announced because the deals aren't done.
We could have said at one time that there was also a Planet Hollywood yet to be announced, a Dick Clark's American Bandstand Cafe yet to be announced and a downtown Wal-Mart yet to be announced.
(Yes, there really was such a prospect at one time).

**donbroncho** · 02-14-2009, 04:00 PM

Thanks Steve, hope I didn't put too much pressure on you. And regarding those unannounced projects, just think if the Wal-Mart deal had fallen through. I can imagine reading some of the posts from OKCtalkers about that. Do you think deals will be reached regarding those projects?(if you can't say, I totally understand.)

heres the link to the video on KOKH's website: FOX25

**MikeOKC** · 02-15-2009, 03:46 AM

Originally Posted by Steve

As for the two to be announced ... um, yeah, Jim Cowan's right on that one, except if he's referring to what I think he's referring to, they've not been announced because the deals aren't done.

Hi Steve, Love your blog! Put on your reporters cap on and report what you know. I read the Dallas Morning News everyday and they are always reporting "heard on the street" type stuff. It's not your job to keep the things you hear quiet, in fact it's quite the opposite. You're so great though I have a hard time being critical.

**Steve** · 02-15-2009, 03:31 PM

It's a fine line, Mike. I'd like to think that if you see me writing about it, there's a good chance that either it's going to happen or you'll see in the context of what I'm writing as to whether it probably won't.
As for what I said earlier in this thread:
"We could have said at one time that there was also a Planet Hollywood yet to be announced, a Dick Clark's American Bandstand Cafe yet to be announced and a downtown Wal-Mart yet to be announced."
All of those deals are long dead. Planet Hollywood and Dick Clark's date back to the late 1990s, Wal-Mart was a few years ago.

**MikeOKC** · 02-15-2009, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by Steve

It's a fine line, Mike. I'd like to think that if you see me writing about it, there's a good chance that either it's going to happen or you'll see in the context of what I'm writing as to whether it probably won't.
As for what I said earlier in this thread:
"We could have said at one time that there was also a Planet Hollywood yet to be announced, a Dick Clark's American Bandstand Cafe yet to be announced and a downtown Wal-Mart yet to be announced."
All of those deals are long dead. Planet Hollywood and Dick Clark's date back to the late 1990s, Wal-Mart was a few years ago.

I hear you. But, just as a single out of the blue example, when the media heard all the talk that Evan Bayh was going to be Obama's running mate, they reported it. "Sources say." They turn out to wrong sometimes. But it's not their job to keep it quiet. You sound like you know something but aren't in a position to tell. I argue you are being paid to tell. On the other hand, I also understand the fine line and especially in a community that's more like a big small town in many respects. I do understand that. Whatever calls you have to make like that, you do a great job with what you DO choose to write about. You're one of the few reasons I subscribe to The Oklahoman, on the Kindle now!

**Steve** · 02-15-2009, 07:55 PM

Thanks Mike. It's a balancing act, that's for sure. Do I know something that others don't? Yeah, I do. But it's with strings attached. Sometimes I'm told something on the condition that I can't report it (with the idea I get the scoop) until the deal has reached a certain level.
Other times it's simply a matter of sorting through the clutter. Example: some guys with no visible means of great wealth insisted more than a year ago they were going to build an NFL stadium here in OKC. They sent press releases and wanted coverage. I passed on doing a story.
So far, I've yet to see any work start on that stadium.
But on another "scoop," I worked very hard to get enough comfort in reporting the possibility of a new Devon Energy Tower. I worked months (more than a year) trying to nail it down, and I broke the story several months before Devon officially confirmed that indeed they had such plans.
In that same story I also broke news of SandRidge buying Kerr McGee Tower. And I had one more bit - that American Fidelity Assurance Company was planning on a new downtown corporate hq as well. That last angle had as much sourcing as the other two. And yet I can tell you now that I'm no longer sure about the timing or certainty of that last bit of the story.
Final note: I'm very, very critical of the cable news networks and their judgment. I have old friends who now appear regularly on these channels (one you might remember is former Gazette writer Holly Bailey) and while they are good reporters, the folks in charge of these channels are absolute jokes.
I still recall flipping channels the night Anna Nicole Smith died looking for some real news. I was sickened by one anchor stating, quite seriously, that it was the most important news story in the world.
Um, yeah, right.

So now that we've hijacked this thread, let's see if we can really irk the moderators further...

I'm intrigued by your use of the Kindle. How's it working out? Why did you get it? How do you use it?