I get a lot of grief for writing so much about Wink Hartman Sr. One person even went so far as to ask how my husband feels about my fascination with him.
Here’s the thing: The reason I write so much about Wink is he’s so involved with so much. There’s his Park City arena, his restaurants and his football team just for starters. And — fair warning — I’m writing about one more of his deals in my column tomorrow.
Wink is also a great quote. Maybe because he’s not beholden to an employer or a board he feels more free to talk. Maybe he’s just a funny person. Either way, he’s usually pretty entertaining.
Even my husband would agree.
UPDATE: The Seattle Times is reporting a settlement has been reached.
The city of Seattle and the Oklahoma City-based owners of the Seattle Supersonics are in settlement talks this afternoon, just hours before a judge is expected to rule whether the club can buy its way out of its lease and move immediately to Oklahoma City.
This has interesting, but admittedly fringe, implications for Wichita. Downtown arena developers have touted the potential pre-season NBA link with an Oklahoma City franchise, and have even raised the possibility of landing a regular season game up here.
Regular season NBA basketball in Wichita sounds like a pipe dream to me, but any kind of partnership with a pro sports franchise can only be good news for the oft- and unjustly-criticized downtown arena.
This morning, I euphorically drove over the newly opened Minisa Bridge. You might wonder what the big deal is unless you’ve been forced to find new routes to and from home every day for months on end.
After I crossed the bridge, I looked ahead on 13th Street and saw there was a train. In years past, this would have led to considerable grumbling on my part followed by a frustrating — and sometimes failed — effort to get around the train. Now, though, the relatively new train overpass lets me sail right through.
And today at noon when I go to pick up my lunch date at Fidelity Bank, I won’t have to take a circuitous route because Waterman behind the Eagle is now open after repairs.
I probably complain as much or more as anyone else about what happens in Wichita and the sometimes seemingly poor choices city leaders make. But I’ve got to hand it to them this time. I appreciate the progress.
Now, if we can just speed construction at Douglas and Hillside, I’ll be a happy woman.