From the Associated Press:

Property owners forgive Alba plastering posters

By SEAN MURPHY – 3 hours ago

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The owners of property plastered with great white shark posters said Thursday they have little interest in pursuing criminal vandalism charges against actress Jessica Alba, who already has apologized for her role in the stunt.

Oklahoma City police are continuing to investigate the allegations, but haven’t interviewed the 28-year-old co-star of the “Fantastic Four” movies, “Sin City” and “Good Luck Chuck.” Investigators first plan to meet with the property owners to see if they are willing to prosecute, said police Sgt. Gary Knight.

“That’s typical for how we handle all investigations of this nature,” Knight said. “You want to make sure you have a victim that’s willing to prosecute.

“Typically in cases like this if people don’t want to prosecute, often times the case is closed.”

Police found the posters — aimed at raising awareness about the sharks’ declining numbers — glued to a downtown bridge, utility boxes and a billboard for the United Way charity.

Earlier this week, photographs surfaced on a Web site that apparently show Alba hanging some of the posters and posing before the defaced billboard. Alba is in Oklahoma filming “The Killer Inside Me,” which co-stars Casey Affleck and Kate Hudson.

All the property owners contacted by The Associated Press Thursday say they don’t want to see Alba prosecuted.

“It’s not our intent to pursue any type of charges,” said Brian Alford, a spokesman for electric utility Oklahoma Gas & Electric. “I think if we have a cost associated with the removal we would hope to be compensated for that cost, but at this point it’s a lesson learned and we just want to put it behind us.”

Telephone and e-mail messages left Thursday seeking comment from Alba’s publicist about whether she plans to reimburse the property owners or United Way were not returned.

An official with Oklahoma City’s Parks and Recreation Department filed the initial police report, but a city spokeswoman said Thursday they aren’t interested in pursuing criminal charges.

“The apology that she made through her publicist, I think, was enough for us,” said spokeswoman Kristy Yager.

The United Way advertisement, which was donated to the charity by a billboard company, has since been removed.

“Even if we had been paying for the ad, I doubt we would have filed a complaint with the police department,” said Erin Brewer, a spokeswoman for United Way of Central Oklahoma. “I think it would be very generous of her, and certainly we would be honored if she chose to make a contribution.”

Lamar Advertising, which owns the billboard, also said the company doesn’t plan to pursue charges, said Bill Condon, general manager and vice president of the company’s Oklahoma City office.

“I think her comment and what she released seemed pretty sincere,” Condon said.

Under Oklahoma law, maliciously defacing property can be a felony punishable by prison time if the value of the damage exceeds $1,000 or more. City officials placed a preliminary value of the damage at between $500 and $700, and Condon said the damage to the billboard would not exceed $500.

I am moving to Napa Valley in August. I definitely should have already posted this.  I was going to make it the 10th and final item on the list, but I failed to actually plan out the 10 post – it just seemed like a good number.  This will probably be the 8 of 8…so it goes.

Anyway, more about Napa.  After two years of grad school I have now graduated with my Masters in City Planning and also received the Urban Design Certificate.  While I was pursuing that, my wife was busy in culinary school and now needs only an internship to finish her program requirements.  She has been working it out over the last few months and we just recently found out that she got a great internship in Napa – so that is where we are headed!

She is really excited and I am very excited for her.  Still not sure what exactly I will be doing there, but I have a number of leads on jobs (though the job market is very bad) and a few projects I am interested in pursuing.  Her internship will last three months, but we really don’t know how long our ‘grapes of wrath’ experience will last.

When will we make it back to OKC?  Can’t say for sure.  I love Oklahoma City and still want to get back eventually, we will just have to see how it all works out.

If you haven’t heard yet, Jessica Alba is in the Oklahoma City area filming a movie and recently spent some downtime with White Mike plastering posters of great white sharks around downtown in an effort to raise awareness.  The posters were placed on a railroad overpass, an electric box outside the stage center, and on a United Way billboard. The United Way billboard was clearly in bad taste, but the organization itself will likely come out ahead with the publicity generated from this.  And, it could have been worse.

While in Oklahoma City White Mike tweeted:

trying to decide if whitey should go up by memorial, have to go scout it out

Luckily, it appears that at least some good sense prevailed.  If they would have posted anything that was thought to deface the Memorial, both Mike and Alba would have really pissed off not only the people of Oklahoma City, but most of the country.  But they didn’t…

In reality, with the exception of the United Way billboard, the rest of the posters it appears were in more sensible locations that may have actually improved the city’s overall aesthetic.  It’s true, a random poster of a shark on an electric box actually contributes to the urban character of the city. Plus, the city has a received a ton of publicity from the stunt that, at the very least, lets the world know that A-list stars are filming movies in Oklahoma.

From E! News:

Alba’s effort was part of the White Mike conservation campaign, which originated in Los Angeles and late last month expanded to Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and, with help from the actress, Oklahoma City.

Certainly a nice list to be on for a city desperate to attract young creatives! It was illegal, but it was hardly injurious.  Some might say, “Vandalism is vandalism!”.  But they would be wrong.  Just ask Banksy. Or stop and consider how many international news outlets would run a story about you gluing posters around the city.  In the end, Oklahoma City can choose how to spin this.  We can take advantage of the moment to get the message out about the great things happening in OKC and to promote our fledgling film industry.  Or we can decide to make an example out of a celebrity that clearly stepped over the line.  I say, so long as Mike and Alba pays reparations to the United Way for the billboard, we should all leave well enough alone and do all we can to make this a moment where OKC can shine.

O-K-L-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S! I know that is not how the song goes, but it is an amalgamation of locations that I have found myself thinking and living between over the last two years. And it turns out I am not the only one. I recently discovered another couple of Okies in Boston – Chad and Emily Reynolds. And guess what, they blog too! Massahoma, Oklachusetts is a terrific blog that blends Chad and Emily’s sometimes hilarious, sometimes genius (and often both) thoughts on life in Boston, their beautiful son Emmett, cities and urbanity, and their beloved state of Oklachusetts. And the best part is, it looks like they will be moving back to the “western half” of this wonderful state very soon.

Here are a few posts to get you started:

- Disbelief at the Mall

- Making Streets Matter Again

- Three Bedroom Single Family in Edmond, OK

- What’s Your Walk Score?

I have added a section to my blogroll to track some talented young Oklahoman graphic designers. The first three on the (admittedly incomplete) list are all worth checking out.



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