title: Francesca Eastwood

text: Eastwood first appeared on the reality television series "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" when it premiered on May 20, 2012. It focused on her life, and those of her stepmother Dina Eastwood, and her half-sister Morgan Eastwood. During an early episode, she and photographer Tyler Shields, her boyfriend at the time, were filmed burning and destroying a $100,000 Hermès Birkin bag during a photo shoot. When this brought them both death threats and other negative attention, Shields said "People spend $200,000 on an album cover, they spend millions on catering for movies, they spend money to create things--that is all I am doing with this."


title: Francesca Eastwood

text: In 2017, she and her mother Frances Fisher both starred in the acclaimed "Fargo" episode "The Law of Non-Contradiction" as the young and old versions of the same character.


title: Francesca Eastwood

text: On November 17, 2013, Eastwood married 35-year-old Jordan Feldstein, actor Jonah Hill's brother and the manager of Maroon 5, in a small ceremony in Las Vegas. Eight days later, on November 25, Eastwood filed for an annulment of the marriage. Feldstein died in December 2017, when a blood clot from his leg travelled to his lungs.


title: Francesca Eastwood

text: Eastwood was previously in a relationship with Alexander Wraith, a trainer and actor. The two have a son together, Titan Wraith Eastwood.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and is the 8th largest city in the Southern United States. The population grew following the 2010 census and reached 687,725 in the 2020 census. The Oklahoma City metropolitan area had a population of 1,396,445, and the Oklahoma City–Shawnee Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,469,124, making it Oklahoma's largest municipality and metropolitan area by population.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City's city limits extend somewhat into Canadian, Cleveland, and Pottawatomie counties, though much of those areas outside the core Oklahoma County area are suburban tracts or protected rural zones (watershed). The city is the eighth-largest in the United States by area including consolidated city-counties; it is the second-largest, after Houston, not including consolidated cities. The city is also the second largest by area among state capital cities in the United States, after Juneau, Alaska.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City has one of the world's largest livestock markets. Oil, natural gas, petroleum products, and related industries are its economy's largest sector. The city is in the middle of an active oil field and oil derricks dot the capitol grounds. The federal government employs a large number of workers at Tinker Air Force Base and the United States Department of Transportation's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (which house offices of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Department's Enterprise Service Center, respectively).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is on the I-35 Corridor, one of the primary travel corridors south into neighboring Texas and Mexico and north towards Wichita and Kansas City. Located in the state's Frontier Country region, the city's northeast section lies in an ecological region known as the Cross Timbers. The city was founded during the Land Run of 1889 and grew to a population of over 10,000 within hours of its founding. It was the site of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in which 168 people died, the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history until the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Since weather records have been kept beginning in 1890, Oklahoma City has been struck by 14 violent tornadoes, 11 of which were rated F4 or EF4 on the Fujita and Enhanced Fujita scales, and one each rated F5 and EF5.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City was settled on April 22, 1889, when the area known as the "Unassigned Lands" was opened for settlement in an event known as "The Land Run". Some 10,000 homesteaders settled the area that would become the capital of Oklahoma. The town grew quickly; the population doubled between 1890 and 1900. Early leaders of the development of the city included Anton Classen, John Shartel, Henry Overholser, Oscar Ameringer and James W. Maney.


title: Oklahoma City

text: By the time Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, Oklahoma City had surpassed Guthrie, the territorial capital, as the new state's population center and commercial hub. Soon after, the capital was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City was a major stop on Route 66 during the early part of the 20th century; it was prominently mentioned in Bobby Troup's 1946 jazz song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" made famous by artist Nat King Cole.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Before World War II, Oklahoma City developed major stockyards, attracting jobs and revenue formerly in Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska. With the 1928 discovery of oil within the city limits (including under the State Capitol), Oklahoma City became a major center of oil production. Post-war growth accompanied the construction of the Interstate Highway System, which made Oklahoma City a major interchange as the convergence of I-35, I-40, and I-44. It was also aided by the federal development of Tinker Air Force Base.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Patience Latting was elected Mayor of Oklahoma City in 1971, becoming the city's first female mayor. Latting was also the first woman to serve as mayor of a U.S. city with over 350,000 residents.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Like many other American cities, the center city population declined in the 1970s and 1980s as families followed newly constructed highways to move to newer housing in nearby suburbs. Urban renewal projects in the 1970s, including the Pei Plan, removed older structures but failed to spark much new development, leaving the city dotted with vacant lots used for parking. A notable exception was the city's construction of the Myriad Gardens and Crystal Bridge, a botanical garden and modernistic conservatory in the heart of downtown. Architecturally significant historic buildings lost to clearances were the Criterion Theater, the Baum Building, the Hales Building, and the Biltmore Hotel.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In 1993, the city passed a massive redevelopment package known as the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS), intended to rebuild the city's core with civic projects to establish more activities and life to downtown. The city added a new baseball park; a central library; renovations to the civic center, convention center, and fairgrounds; and a water canal in the Bricktown entertainment district. Water taxis transport passengers within the district, adding color and activity along the canal. MAPS has become one of the most successful public-private partnerships undertaken in the U.S., exceeding $3 billion in private investment as of 2010. As a result of MAPS, the population living in downtown housing has exponentially increased, together with the demand for additional residential and retail amenities, such as grocery, services, and shops.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Since the MAPS projects' completion, the downtown area has seen continued development. Several downtown buildings are undergoing renovation/restoration. Notable among these was the restoration of the Skirvin Hotel in 2007. The famed First National Center is being renovated.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Residents of Oklahoma City suffered substantial losses on April 19, 1995, when Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb in front of the Murrah building. The building was destroyed (the remnants of which had to be imploded in a controlled demolition later that year), more than 100 nearby buildings suffered severe damage, and 168 people were killed. The site has been commemorated as the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. Since its opening in 2000, over three million people have visited. Every year on April 19, survivors, families, and friends return to the memorial to read the names of each person lost. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The "Core-to-Shore" project was created to relocate I-40 one mile (1.6 km) south and replace it with a boulevard to create a landscaped entrance to the city. This also allows the central portion of the city to expand south and connect with the shore of the Oklahoma River. Several elements of "Core to Shore" were included in the MAPS 3 proposal approved by voters in late 2009.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City lies along one of the primary corridors into Texas and Mexico, and is a three-hour drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The city is in the Frontier Country region in the center of the state, making it an ideal location for state government.


title: Oklahoma City

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City lies in the Sandstone Hills region of Oklahoma, known for hills of and two species of oak: blackjack oak ("Quercus marilandica") and post oak ("Q. stellata"). The northeastern part of the city and its eastern suburbs fall into an ecological region known as the Cross Timbers.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The city is roughly bisected by the North Canadian River (recently renamed the Oklahoma River inside city limits). The North Canadian once had sufficient flow to flood every year, wreaking destruction on surrounding areas, including the central business district and the original Oklahoma City Zoo. In the 1940s, a dam was built on the river to manage the flood control and reduce its level. In the 1990s, as part of the citywide revitalization project known as MAPS, the city built a series of low-water dams, returning water to the portion of the river flowing near downtown. The city has three large lakes: Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser, in the northwestern quarter of the city; and the largest, Lake Stanley Draper, in the city's sparsely populated far southeast portion.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The population density normally reported for Oklahoma City using the area of its city limits can be misleading. Its urbanized zone covers roughly resulting in a 2013 estimated density of , compared with larger rural watershed areas incorporated by the city, which cover the remaining of the city limits.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City neighborhoods are extremely varied, with affluent historic neighborhoods located next to districts that have not wholly recovered from economic and social decline of the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The city is bisected geographically and culturally by the North Canadian River, which basically divides North Oklahoma City and South Oklahoma City. The north side is characterized by very diverse and fashionable urban neighborhoods near the city center and sprawling suburbs further north. South Oklahoma City is generally more blue collar working class and significantly more industrial, having grown up around the Stockyards and meat packing plants at the turn of the century, and is the center of the city's rapidly growing Latino community.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Downtown Oklahoma City, which has 7,600 residents, is seeing an influx of new private investment and large scale public works projects, which have helped to resuscitate a central business district left almost deserted by the Oil Bust of the early 1980s. The centerpiece of downtown is the newly renovated Crystal Bridge and Myriad Botanical Gardens, one of the few elements of the Pei Plan to be completed. In 2021 a massive new central park will link the gardens near the CBD and the new convention center to be built just south of it to the North Canadian River, as part of a massive works project known as "Core to Shore"; the new park is part of MAPS3, a collection of civic projects funded by a one-cent temporary (seven-year) sales tax increase.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City has a temperate humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa), along with significant continental influences. The city features very hot, humid summers, and cool winters with occasional snowfall. Prolonged and severe droughts (sometimes leading to wildfires in the vicinity), as well as very heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding and flooding, occur with some regularity. Consistent winds, usually from the south or south-southeast during the summer, help temper the hotter weather. Consistent northerly winds during the winter can intensify cold periods. Severe ice storms and snowstorms happen sporadically during the winter.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The average temperature is , with the monthly daily average ranging from in January to in July. Extremes range from on February 12, 1899 to on August 11, 1936, and August 3, 2012; the last sub-zero (Fahrenheit) reading was on February 16, 2021. Temperatures reach on 10.4 days of the year, on nearly 70 days, and fail to rise above freezing on 8.3 days. The city receives about of precipitation annually, of which is snow.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The report "Regional Climate Trends and Scenarios for the U.S. National Climate Assessment" (NCA) from 2013 by NOAA, projects that parts of the Great Plains region can expect up to 30% (high emissions scenario based on CMIP3 and NARCCAP models) increase in extreme precipitation days by mid-century. This definition is based on days receiving more than one inch of rainfall.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City has an active severe weather season from March through June, especially during April and May. Being in the center of what is colloquially referred to as Tornado Alley, it is prone to especially frequent and severe tornadoes, as well as severe hailstorms and occasional derechoes. Tornadoes have occurred in every month of the year and a secondary smaller peak also occurs during autumn, especially October. The Oklahoma City metropolitan area is one of the most tornado-prone major cities in the world, with about 150 tornadoes striking within the city limits since 1890. Since the time weather records have been kept, Oklahoma City has been struck by 13 violent tornadoes, eleven rated F/EF4 and two rated F/EF5.


title: Oklahoma City

text: On May 3, 1999, parts of Oklahoma City and surrounding communities were impacted by a tornado. It was the last U.S. tornado to be given a rating of F5 on the Fujita scale before the Enhanced Fujita scale replaced it in 2007. While the tornado was in the vicinity of Bridge Creek to the southwest, wind speeds of were estimated by a mobile Doppler radar, the highest wind speeds ever recorded on Earth. A second top-of-the-scale tornado occurred on May 20, 2013; South Oklahoma City, along with Newcastle and Moore, was hit by an EF5 tornado. The tornado was wide and killed 23 people. On May 31, less than two weeks after the May 20 event, another outbreak affected the Oklahoma City area. Within Oklahoma City, the system spawned an EF1 and an EF0 tornado, and in El Reno to the west, an EF3 tornado occurred. This lattermost tornado, which was heading in the direction of Oklahoma City before it dissipated, had a width of , making it the widest tornado ever recorded. Additionally, winds in excess of were measured, one of the two highest wind records for a tornado.


title: Oklahoma City

text: With of rainfall, May 2015 was by far Oklahoma City's record-wettest month since record-keeping began in 1890. Across Oklahoma and Texas generally, there was a record flooding in the latter part of the month.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In the 2010 census, there were 579,999 people, 230,233 households, and 144,120 families residing in the city. The population density was 956.4 inhabitants per square mile (321.9/km). There were 256,930 housing units at an average density of 375.9 per square mile (145.1/km).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Of Oklahoma City's 579,999 people, 44,541 reside in Canadian County, 63,723 reside in Cleveland County, 471,671 reside in Oklahoma County, and 64 reside in Pottawatomie County.


title: Oklahoma City

text: There were 230,233 households, 29.4% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. One person households account for 30.5% of all households, and 8.7% of all households had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.11.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The median income for a household in the city was $48,557 and the median income for a family was $62,527. The per capita income for the city was $26,208. 17.1% of the population and 12.4% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.0% of those under the age of 18 and 9.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In the 2000 Census, Oklahoma City's age composition was 25.5% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City has experienced significant population increases since the late 1990s. It is the first city in the state to record a population greater than 600,000 residents. It is also the first city in the Great Plains region to record a population greater than 600,000 residents. It is the largest municipal population of the Great Plains region (Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is the principal city of the eight-county Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area in Central Oklahoma and is the state's largest urbanized area. As of 2015, the metropolitan area was the 41st largest in the nation based on population.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Law enforcement claims Oklahoma City has traditionally been the territory of the notorious Juárez Cartel, but the Sinaloa Cartel has been reported as trying to establish a foothold in Oklahoma City. There are many rival gangs in Oklahoma City, one whose headquarters has been established in the city, the Southside Locos, traditionally known as Sureños.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City also has its share of violent crimes, particularly in the 1970s. The worst occurred in 1978, when six employees of a Sirloin Stockade restaurant on the city's south side were murdered execution-style in the restaurant's freezer. An intensive investigation followed, and the three individuals involved, who also killed three others in Purcell, Oklahoma, were identified. One, Harold Stafford, died in a motorcycle accident in Tulsa not long after the restaurant murders. Another, Verna Stafford, was sentenced to life without parole after being granted a new trial after she had been sentenced to death. Roger Dale Stafford, considered the mastermind of the murder spree, was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1995.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma City Police Department has a uniformed force of 1,169 officers and 300+ civilian employees. The department has a central police station and five substations covering 2,500 police reporting districts that average 1/4 square mile in size.


title: Oklahoma City

text: On April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was destroyed by a fertilizer bomb manufactured and detonated by Timothy McVeigh. The blast and catastrophic collapse killed 168 people and injured over 680. The blast shock-wave destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a 340-meter radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, causing at least an estimated $652 million worth of damage. McVeigh was convicted and subsequently executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The economy of Oklahoma City, once just a regional power center of government and energy exploration, has since diversified to include the sectors of information technology, services, health services, and administration. The city is headquarters to two Fortune 500 companies: Chesapeake Energy and Devon Energy, as well as being home to Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, which is ranked thirteenth on Forbes' list of private companies.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Other major corporations with a large presence (over 1,000 employees) in the city of Oklahoma City include the United Parcel Service, Farmers Insurance Group, Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Deaconess Hospital, Johnson Controls, MidFirst Bank, Rose State College, and Continental Resources.


title: Oklahoma City

text: While not in the city limits, other large employers within the Oklahoma City MSA include United States Air Force – Tinker AFB (27,000); University of Oklahoma (11,900); University of Central Oklahoma (2,900); and Norman Regional Hospital (2,800).


title: Oklahoma City

text: According to the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the metropolitan area's economic output grew by 33% between 2001 and 2005 due chiefly to economic diversification. Its gross metropolitan product (GMP) was $43.1 billion in 2005 and grew to $61.1 billion in 2009. By 2016 the GMP had grown to $73.8 billion.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In 2008, "Forbes" magazine reported that the city had falling unemployment, one of the strongest housing markets in the country and solid growth in energy, agriculture, and manufacturing. However, during the early 1980s, Oklahoma City had one of the worst job and housing markets due to the bankruptcy of Penn Square Bank in 1982 and then the post-1985 crash in oil prices (oil bust).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Business and entertainment districts (and to a lesser extent local neighborhoods) tend to maintain their boundaries and character through the application of zoning regulations and business improvement districts (districts where property owners agree to a property tax surcharge to support additional services for the community). Through zoning regulations, historic districts, and other special zoning districts, including overlay districts, are well established. Oklahoma City has three business improvement districts, including one encompassing the central business district.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center is the new downtown home for the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The museum features visiting exhibits, original selections from its own collection, a theater showing a variety of foreign, independent, and classic films each week, and a restaurant. OKCMOA is also home to the most comprehensive collection of Chihuly glass in the world including the 55-foot Eleanor Blake Kirkpatrick Memorial Tower in the Museum's atrium. The art deco Civic Center Music Hall, which was totally renovated in 2001, has performances from the Oklahoma City Ballet, the Oklahoma City Opera, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and also various concerts and traveling Broadway shows.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Other theaters include Lyric Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, Kirkpatrick Auditorium, the Poteet Theatre, the Oklahoma City Community College Bruce Owen Theater, and the 488-seat Petree Recital Hall, at the Oklahoma City University campus. The university also opened the Wanda L Bass School of Music and auditorium in April 2006.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center (formerly City Arts Center), moved downtown in 2020, near Campbell Art Park at 11th and Broadway, after being at the Oklahoma State Fair fairgrounds since 1989. It features exhibitions, performances, classes, workshops, camps, and weekly programs.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Science Museum Oklahoma (formerly Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space Museum at Omniplex) houses exhibits on science, aviation, and an IMAX theater. The museum formerly housed the International Photography Hall of Fame (IPHF) that exhibits photographs and artifacts from a large collection of cameras and other artifacts preserving the history of photography. IPHF honors those who have made significant contributions to the art and/or science of photography and relocated to St. Louis, Missouri in 2013.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Museum of Osteology houses more than 300 real animal skeletons. Focusing on the form and function of the skeletal system, this museum displays hundreds of skulls and skeletons from all corners of the world. Exhibits include adaptation, locomotion, classification, and diversity of the vertebrate kingdom. The Museum of Osteology is the only one of its kind in America.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum has galleries of western art and is home to the Hall of Great Western Performers. Opening in September 2021, the city will also be home to the First Americans Museum that began construction in 2009 (although completion of the facility has been held up due to insufficient funding), on the south side of Interstate 40, southeast from Bricktown.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma City National Memorial in the northern part of Oklahoma City's downtown was created as the inscription on its eastern gate of the Memorial reads, "to honor the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were changed forever on April 19, 1995"; the memorial was built on the land formerly occupied by the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building complex prior to its 1995 bombing. The outdoor Symbolic Memorial can be visited 24 hours a day for free, and the adjacent Memorial Museum, in the former "Journal Record" building damaged by the bombing, can be entered for a small fee. The site is also home to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a non-partisan, nonprofit think tank devoted to the prevention of terrorism.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The American Banjo Museum in the Bricktown Entertainment district is dedicated to preserving and promoting the music and heritage of the banjo. Its collection is valued at $3.5 million, and an interpretive exhibit tells the evolution of the banjo from its roots in American slavery, to bluegrass, to folk, and to world music.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma History Center is the history museum of the state of Oklahoma. Across the street from the governor's mansion at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in northeast Oklahoma City, the museum opened in 2005 and is operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. It preserves the history of Oklahoma from the prehistoric to the present day.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum contains early colonial firefighting tools, the first fire station in Oklahoma, and modern fire trucks.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is home to several professional sports teams, including the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. The Thunder is the city's second "permanent" major professional sports franchise after the now-defunct AFL Oklahoma Wranglers and is the third major-league team to call the city home when considering the temporary hosting of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 NBA seasons. However, the Thunder were formerly the Sonics prior to the movement of the Sonics to OKC in 2008.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Other professional sports clubs in Oklahoma City include the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Oklahoma City Energy FC of the United Soccer League, and the Crusaders of Oklahoma Rugby Football Club of USA Rugby. The Oklahoma City Blazers, a name used for decades of the city's hockey team in the Central Hockey League has been used for a junior team in the Western States Hockey League since 2014.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Paycom Center in downtown is the main multipurpose arena in the city which hosts concerts, NHL exhibition games, and many of the city's pro sports teams. In 2008, the Oklahoma City Thunder became the major tenant. Nearby in Bricktown, the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark is the home to the city's baseball team, the Dodgers. "The Brick," as it is locally known, is considered one of the finest minor league parks in the nation.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is the annual host of the Big 12 baseball tournament, the World Cup of Softball, and the annual NCAA Women's College World Series. The city has held the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball First and Second round and hosted the Big 12 Men's and women's basketball tournaments in 2007 and 2009. The major universities in the area – University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, and Oklahoma State University – often schedule major basketball games and other sporting events at Paycom Center and Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, although most home games are played at their campus stadiums.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Other major sporting events include Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing circuits at Remington Park and numerous horse shows and equine events that take place at the state fairgrounds each year. There are numerous golf courses and country clubs spread around the city.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The state of Oklahoma hosts a highly competitive high school football culture, with many teams in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) organizes high school football into eight distinct classes based on the size of school enrollment. Beginning with the largest, the classes are: 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, A, B, and C. Class 6A is broken into two divisions. Oklahoma City area schools in this division include Edmond Memorial, Mustang, Moore, Yukon, Deer Creek, Edmond North, Edmond Santa Fe, Norman North, Westmoore, Southmoore, Putnam City North, Norman, Putnam City, Putnam City West, U.S. Grant, Capitol Hill, Northwest Classen, and Midwest City.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA) has called Oklahoma City home since the 2008–09 season, when owner Clay Bennett relocated the franchise from Seattle, Washington. The Thunder play home games at the Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City. The Thunder is known by several nicknames, including "OKC Thunder" and simply "OKC," and its mascot is Rumble the Bison.


title: Oklahoma City

text: After arriving in Oklahoma City for the 2008–09 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder secured a berth (8th) in the 2010 NBA Playoffs the next year after boasting its first 50-win season, winning two games in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2012, Oklahoma City made it to the NBA Finals, but lost to the Miami Heat in five games. In 2013 the Thunder reached the Western Conference semi-finals without All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, who was injured in their first round series against the Houston Rockets, only to lose to the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2014 Oklahoma City again reached the NBA's Western Conference Finals but eventually lost to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma City Thunder has been regarded by sports analysts as one of the elite franchises of the NBA's Western Conference and that of a media darling as the future of the league. Oklahoma City earned Northwest Division titles every year from 2011 to 2014, and again in 2016, and has consistently improved its win record to 59-wins in 2014. The Thunder is led by second year head coach Mark Daigneault and was anchored by All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook prior to a July 2019 trade that sent him to the Houston Rockets.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the NBA's New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to the Ford Center, playing the majority of its home games there during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. The team became the first NBA franchise to play regular-season games in the state of Oklahoma. The team was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets while playing in Oklahoma City.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The team ultimately returned to New Orleans full-time for the 2007–08 season. The Hornets played their final home game in Oklahoma City during the exhibition season on October 9, 2007, against the Houston Rockets.


title: Oklahoma City

text: One of the more prominent landmarks downtown is the Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Botanical Gardens, a large downtown urban park. Designed by I. M. Pei, the Crystal Bridge is a tropical conservatory in the area. The park has an amphitheater, known as the Water Stage. In 2007, following a renovation of the stage, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park relocated to the Myriad Gardens. The Myriad Gardens had a massive renovation in conjunction with the Devon Tower directly north of it.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden is home to numerous natural habitats, WPA era architecture and landscaping, and hosts major touring concerts during the summer at its amphitheater. Oklahoma City also has two amusement parks, Six Flags Frontier City theme park and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oklahoma City water park. Frontier City is an 'Old West'-themed amusement park. The park also features a recreation of a western gunfight at the 'OK Corral' and many shops that line the "Western" town's main street. Frontier City also hosts a national concert circuit at its amphitheater during the summer.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City also has a combination racetrack and casino open year-round, Remington Park, which hosts both Quarter Horse (March – June) and Thoroughbred (August – December) seasons.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Walking trails line Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser in the northwest part of the city and downtown at the canal and the Oklahoma River. The majority of the east shore area is taken up by parks and trails, including a new leashless dog park and the postwar-era Stars and Stripes Park. Lake Stanley Draper is the city's largest and most remote lake.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City has a major park in each quadrant of the city, going back to the first parks masterplan. Will Rogers Park, Lincoln Park, Trosper Park, and Woodson Park were once connected by the Grand Boulevard loop, some sections of which no longer exist. Martin Park Nature Center is a natural habitat in far northwest Oklahoma City. Will Rogers Park is home to the Lycan Conservatory, the Rose Garden, and Butterfly Garden, all built in the WPA era. Oklahoma City is home to the American Banjo Museum, which houses a large collection of highly decorated banjos from the early 20th century and exhibits on the history of the banjo and its place in American history. Concerts and lectures are also held there.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In April 2005, the Oklahoma City Skate Park at Wiley Post Park was renamed the Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park to recognize Mat Hoffman, an Oklahoma City area resident and businessman that was instrumental in the design of the skate park and is a 10-time BMX World Vert champion. In March 2009, the Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park was named by the National Geographic Society Travel Guide as one of the "Ten Best."


title: Oklahoma City

text: The City of Oklahoma City has operated under a council-manager form of city government since 1927. David Holt assumed the office of Mayor on April 10, 2018 after being elected two months earlier. Eight councilpersons represent each of the eight wards of Oklahoma City. The City Council appointed current City Manager Craig Freeman on November 20, 2018. Freeman took office on January 2, 2018, succeeding James D. Couch, who had served in the role since 2000. Prior to becoming City Manager, Craig Freeman served as Finance Director for the city.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Similar to many American cities, Oklahoma City is politically conservative in its suburbs, and liberal in the central city. In the United States House of Representatives, it is represented by Republicans Stephanie Bice and Tom Cole of the 5th and 4th districts, respectively. The city has called on residents to vote for sales tax-based projects to revitalize parts of the city. The Bricktown district is the best example of such an initiative. In the recent MAPS 3 vote, the city's fraternal order of police criticized the project proposals for not doing enough to expand the police presence to keep up with the growing residential population and increased commercial activity. In September 2013, Oklahoma City area attorney David Slane announced he would pursue legal action regarding MAPS3, on claims the multiple projects that made up the plan violate a state constitutional law limiting voter ballot issues to a single subject.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The city is home to several colleges and universities. Oklahoma City University, formerly known as Epworth University, was founded by the United Methodist Church on September 1, 1904, and is known for its performing arts, science, mass communications, business, law, and athletic programs. OCU has its main campus in the north-central section of the city, near the city's Asia District area. OCU Law is located in the Midtown district near downtown, in the old Central High School building.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The University of Oklahoma has several institutions of higher learning in the city and metropolitan area, with OU Medicine and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campuses east of downtown in the Oklahoma Health Center district, and the main campus to the south in the suburb of Norman. OU Medical Center hosts the state's only Level-One trauma center. OU Health Sciences Center is one of the nation's largest independent medical centers, employing more than 12,000 people. OU is one of only four major universities in the nation to operate six medical schools.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The third-largest university in the state, the University of Central Oklahoma, is just north of the city in the suburb of Edmond. Oklahoma Christian University, one of the state's private liberal arts institutions, is just south of the Edmond border, inside the Oklahoma City limits.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City Community College in south Oklahoma City is the second-largest community college in the state. Rose State College is east of Oklahoma City in suburban Midwest City. Oklahoma State University–Oklahoma City is in the "Furniture District" on the Westside. Northeast of the city is Langston University, the state's historically black college (HBCU). Langston also has an urban campus in the eastside section of the city. Southern Nazarene University, which was founded by the Church of the Nazarene, is a university in suburban Bethany, which is surrounded by the Oklahoma City city limits.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Although technically not a university, the FAA's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center has many aspects of an institution of higher learning. Its FAA Academy is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Its Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) has a medical education division responsible for aeromedical education in general as well as the education of aviation medical examiners in the U.S. and 93 other countries. In addition, The National Academy of Science offers Research Associateship Programs for fellowship and other grants for CAMI research.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is home to the state's largest school district, Oklahoma City Public Schools. The district's Classen School of Advanced Studies and Harding Charter Preparatory High School rank high among public schools nationally according to a formula that looks at the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by the school's students divided by the number of graduating seniors. In addition, OKCPS's Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School was named the top middle school in the state according to the Academic Performance Index, and recently received the Blue Ribbon School Award, in 2004 and again in 2011. KIPP Reach College Preparatory School in Oklahoma City received the 2012 National Blue Ribbon along with its school leader, Tracy McDaniel Sr., being awarded the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding Leadership.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, a school for some of the state's most gifted math and science pupils, is also in Oklahoma City.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Due to Oklahoma City's explosive growth, parts of several suburban districts spill into the city, including Putnam City School District in the northwest, Moore Public Schools in the south, and Mid-Del School District in the southeast. The city also boasts a number of private and parochial schools. Casady School and Heritage Hall School are both examples of a private college preparatory school with vigorous academics that range among the top in Oklahoma. Providence Hall is a Protestant school. Two prominent schools of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City include Bishop McGuinness High School and Mount Saint Mary High School. Other private schools include the Advanced Science and Technology Education Center and Crossings Christian School.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City has several public career and technology education schools associated with the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, the largest of which are Metro Technology Center and Francis Tuttle Technology Center.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Private career and technology education schools in Oklahoma City include Oklahoma Technology Institute, Platt College, Vatterott College, and Heritage College. The Dale Rogers Training Center in Oklahoma City is a nonprofit vocational training center for individuals with disabilities.


title: Oklahoma City

text: "The Oklahoman" is Oklahoma City's major daily newspaper and is the most widely circulated in the state. NewsOK.com is the Oklahoman's online presence. "Oklahoma Gazette" is Oklahoma City's independent newsweekly, featuring such staples as local commentary, feature stories, restaurant reviews, and movie listings and music and entertainment. "The Journal Record" is the city's daily business newspaper, and "okcBIZ" is a monthly publication that covers business news affecting those who live and work in Central Oklahoma.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Numerous community and international newspapers cater to the city's ethnic mosaic, such as "The Black Chronicle", headquartered in the Eastside, the OK VIETIMES and "Oklahoma Chinese Times", in Asia District, and various Hispanic community publications. "The Campus" is the student newspaper at Oklahoma City University. Gay publications include "The Gayly Oklahoman".


title: Oklahoma City

text: An upscale lifestyle publication called "405 Magazine" (formerly Slice Magazine) is circulated throughout the metropolitan area. In addition, there is a magazine published by "Back40 Design Group" called "The Edmond Outlook". It contains local commentary and human interest pieces direct-mailed to over 50,000 Edmond residents.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City was home to several pioneers in radio and television broadcasting. Oklahoma City's WKY Radio was the first radio station transmitting west of the Mississippi River and the third radio station in the United States. WKY received its federal license in 1921 and has continually broadcast under the same call letters since 1922. In 1928, WKY was purchased by E.K. Gaylord's Oklahoma Publishing Company and affiliated with the NBC Red Network; in 1949, WKY-TV (channel 4) went on the air and later became the first independently owned television station in the U.S. to broadcast in color. In mid-2002, WKY radio was purchased outright by Citadel Broadcasting, who was bought out by Cumulus Broadcasting in 2011. The Gaylord family earlier sold WKY-TV in 1976, which has gone through a succession of owners (what is now KFOR-TV is owned by Nexstar Media Group as of October 2019).


title: Oklahoma City

text: The major U.S. broadcast television networks have affiliates in the Oklahoma City market (ranked 41st for television by Nielsen and 48th for radio by Arbitron, covering a 34-county area serving the central, north-central and west-central sections of Oklahoma); including NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4), ABC affiliate KOCO-TV (channel 5), CBS affiliate KWTV-DT (channel 9, the flagship of locally based Griffin Communications), PBS station KETA-TV (channel 13, the flagship of the state-run OETA member network), Fox affiliate KOKH-TV (channel 25), CW affiliate KOCB (channel 34), independent station KAUT-TV (channel 43), MyNetworkTV affiliate KSBI-TV (channel 52), and Ion Television owned-and-operated station KOPX-TV (channel 62). The market is also home to several religious stations including TBN owned-and-operated station KTBO-TV (channel 14) and Norman-based Daystar owned-and-operated station KOCM (channel 46).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Despite the market's geographical size, none of the English-language commercial affiliates in the Oklahoma City designated market area operate full-power satellite stations covering the far northwestern part of the state (requiring cable or satellite to view them), though KFOR-TV, KOCO-TV, KWTV-DT, and KOKH-TV each operate low-power translators in that portion of the market. Oklahoma City is one of the few markets between Chicago and Dallas to have affiliates of two or more of the major Spanish-language broadcast networks: Telemundo affiliate KTUZ-TV (channel 30), Woodward-based Univision affiliate KUOK 35 (whose translator KUOK-CD, channel 36, serves the immediate Oklahoma City area), Azteca affiliate KOHC-CD (channel 45) and Estrella TV affiliate KOCY-LD (channel 48).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is protected by the Oklahoma City Fire Department (OKCFD), which employs 1015 paid, professional firefighters. The current Chief of Department is Richard Kelley, the department is also commanded by three Deputy Chiefs, who – along with the department chief – oversee the Operational Services, Prevention Services, and Support Services bureaus. The OKCFD operates out of 37 fire stations throughout the city in six battalions. The OKCFD operates a fire apparatus fleet of 36 engine companies (including 30 paramedic engines), 13 ladder companies, 16 brush pumper units, six water tankers, two hazardous materials units, one Technical Rescue Unit, one Air Supply Unit, six Arson Investigation Units, and one Rehabilitation Unit along with several special units. Each engine Company is staffed with a driver, an officer, and one to two firefighters, while each ladder company is staffed with a driver, an officer, and one firefighter. Minimum staffing each shift is 213 personnel. The Oklahoma City Fire Department responds to over 70,000 emergency calls annually.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is an integral point on the United States Interstate Network, with three major interstate highways – Interstate 35, Interstate 40, and Interstate 44 – bisecting the city. Interstate 240 connects Interstate 40 and Interstate 44 in south Oklahoma City, while Interstate 235 spurs from Interstate 44 in north-central Oklahoma City into downtown.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Major state expressways through the city include Lake Hefner Parkway (SH-74), the Kilpatrick Turnpike, Airport Road (SH-152), and Broadway Extension (US-77) which continues from I-235 connecting Central Oklahoma City to Edmond. Lake Hefner Parkway runs through northwest Oklahoma City, while Airport Road runs through southwest Oklahoma City and leads to Will Rogers World Airport. The Kilpatrick Turnpike loops around north and west Oklahoma City.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City also has several major national and state highways within its city limits. Shields Boulevard (US-77) continues from E.K. Gaylord Boulevard in downtown Oklahoma City and runs south eventually connecting to I-35 near the suburb of Moore, Oklahoma. Northwest Expressway (Oklahoma State Highway 3) runs from North Classen Boulevard in north-central Oklahoma City to the northwestern suburbs.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City is served by two primary airports, Will Rogers World Airport and the much smaller Wiley Post Airport (incidentally, the two honorees died in the same plane crash in Alaska) Will Rogers World Airport is the state's busiest commercial airport, with 4,341,159 passengers served in 2018, a historic record.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Tinker Air Force Base, in southeast Oklahoma City, is the largest military air depot in the nation; a major maintenance and deployment facility for the Navy and the Air Force, and the second largest military institution in the state (after Fort Sill in Lawton).


title: Oklahoma City

text: Amtrak has a station downtown at the Santa Fe Depot, with daily service to Fort Worth and the nation's rail network via the Heartland Flyer. Oklahoma City once was the crossroads of several interstate passenger railroads, at the Santa Fe Depot, the Union Station, and at the station of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. But service at that level has long since been discontinued. However, several proposals to extend the current train service have been made, including a plan to extend the Heartland Flyer to Newton, Kansas, which is currently being connected through Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach. Freight service is provided by BNSF, Union Pacific, and Stillwater Central.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Greyhound and several other intercity bus companies serve Oklahoma City at the Union Bus Station in downtown.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Embark (formerly Metro Transit) is the city's public transit company. The main transfer terminal is downtown at NW 5th Street and Hudson Avenue. Embark maintains limited coverage of the city's main street grid using a hub-and-spoke system from the main terminal, making many journeys impractical due to the rather small number of bus routes offered and that most trips require a transfer downtown. The city has recognized transit as a major issue for the rapidly growing and urbanizing city and has initiated several studies in recent times to improve upon the existing bus system starting with a plan known as the Fixed Guideway Study. This study identified several potential commuter transit routes from the suburbs into downtown OKC as well as feeder-line bus and/or rail routes throughout the city.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Though Oklahoma City has no light rail or commuter rail service, city residents identified improved transit as one of their top priorities, and from the fruits of the Fixed Guideway and other studies city leaders strongly desire to incorporate urban rail transit into the region's future transportation plans. The greater Oklahoma City metropolitan transit plan identified from the Fixed Guideway Study includes a streetcar system in the downtown area, to be fed by enhanced city bus service and commuter rail from the suburbs including Edmond, Norman, and Midwest City. There is a significant push for a commuter rail line connecting downtown OKC with the eastern suburbs of Del City, Midwest City, and Tinker Air Force Base. In addition to commuter rail, a short heritage rail line that would run from Bricktown just a few blocks away from the Amtrak station to the Adventure District in northeast Oklahoma City is under reconstruction.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In December 2009, Oklahoma City voters passed MAPS 3, the $777 million (7-year, 1-cent tax) initiative, which would generate funding (approx. $130 million) for the modern Oklahoma City Streetcar system in downtown Oklahoma City and the establishment of a transit hub.


title: Oklahoma City

text: On September 10, 2013, the federal government announced that Oklahoma City would receive a $13.8-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's TIGER program. This was the first-ever grant for Oklahoma City for a rail-based initiative and is thought to be somewhat of a turning point by city leaders who have applied for grants in the past, only to continuously be denied. It is believed the city will use the TIGER grant along with approximately $10 million from the MAPS 3 Transit budget to revitalize the city's Amtrak station becoming an Intermodal Transportation Hub, taking over the role of the existing transit hub at NW 5th/Hudson Ave.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Construction of the Oklahoma City Streetcar system in Downtown OKC began in early 2017, and the system opened for service in December 2018. Also known as the Maps 3 Streetcar, it connects the areas of Bricktown, Midtown and Downtown. The system serves the greater Downtown area using modern, low-floor streetcars. The initial system consists of two lines that connecting Oklahoma City's Central Business District with the entertainment district, Bricktown, and the Midtown District. Expansion to other districts surrounding downtown as well as more routes in the CBD is already underway.


title: Oklahoma City

text: A 2013 study by Walk Score ranked Oklahoma City the 43rd most walkable out of the 50 largest U.S. cities. Oklahoma City has 18 neighborhoods with a Walk Score above 60, mainly close to the downtown core.


title: Oklahoma City

text: Oklahoma City and the surrounding metropolitan area are home to a number of health care facilities and specialty hospitals. In Oklahoma City's MidTown district near downtown resides the state's oldest and largest single site hospital, St. Anthony Hospital and Physicians Medical Center.


title: Oklahoma City

text: OU Medicine, an academic medical institution on the campus of The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, is home to OU Medical Center. OU Medicine operates Oklahoma's only level-one trauma center at the OU Medical Center and the state's only level-one trauma center for children at Children's Hospital at OU Medicine, both of which are in the Oklahoma Health Center district. Other medical facilities operated by OU Medicine include OU Physicians and OU Children's Physicians, the OU College of Medicine, the Oklahoma Cancer Center and OU Medical Center Edmond, the latter in the northern suburb of Edmond.


title: Oklahoma City

text: INTEGRIS Health owns several hospitals, including INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center, the INTEGRIS Cancer Institute of Oklahoma, and the INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center. INTEGRIS Health operates hospitals, rehabilitation centers, physician clinics, mental health facilities, independent living centers, and home health agencies throughout much of Oklahoma. INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center was named in "U.S. News & World Report"s 2012 list of Best Hospitals. INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center ranks high-performing in the following categories: Cardiology and Heart Surgery; Diabetes and Endocrinology; Ear, Nose and Throat; Gastroenterology; Geriatrics; Nephrology; Orthopedics; Pulmonology and Urology.


title: Oklahoma City

text: The Midwest Regional Medical Center is in the suburb of Midwest City; other major hospitals in the city include the Oklahoma Heart Hospital and the Mercy Health Center. There are 347 physicians for every 100,000 people in the city.


title: Oklahoma City

text: In the American College of Sports Medicine's annual ranking of the United States' 50 most populous metropolitan areas on the basis of community health, Oklahoma City took last place in 2010, falling five places from its 2009 rank of 45. The ACSM's report, published as part of its American Fitness Index program, cited, among other things, the poor diet of residents, low levels of physical fitness, higher incidences of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than the national average, low access to recreational facilities like swimming pools and baseball diamonds, the paucity of parks and low investment by the city in their development, the high percentage of households below the poverty level, and the lack of state-mandated physical education curriculum as contributing factors.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 appearances between 1993 and 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and one of the greatest Manchester United players of all time.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes came through the Manchester United youth academy as one of Fergie's Fledglings, a group of players recruited by Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson. Scholes made his full debut for Manchester United in the 1994–95 season. He went on to make 718 appearances for the club, the third-highest number of appearances by any player for the club. Scholes announced his retirement from playing in May 2011 and was appointed as a coach at Manchester United. He returned to playing in January 2012, and played one more season for the club before retiring again in May 2013. With Manchester United, Scholes won 25 trophies including 11 Premier League titles (more than any other English player) and two UEFA Champions League titles.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes represented the England national team from 1997 to 2004, gaining 66 caps and participating in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, as well as the UEFA Euro 2000 and Euro 2004 tournaments. Scholes announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, citing his family life and his club career with Manchester United as being more important.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Over his career Scholes has received praise from various managers and players, including Xavi, who said in 2014 that Scholes was "the best central midfielder" he had seen in the previous 15 to 20 years, describing him as "a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn't give possession away." Pelé said, "If he was playing with me, I would have scored so many more." Thierry Henry cited Scholes as the greatest player in Premier League history. Scholes was named in the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02) Domestic & Overall Team of the Decade. In 2008, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.


title: Paul Scholes

text: His first managerial position was at Oldham Athletic, for 31 days in February and March 2019. In 2020, he had a short spell as interim manager of Salford City.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. On his mother's side, his grandmother came from Ireland while his grandfather was from Northern Ireland. The family moved to Langley, Greater Manchester, when he was 18 months old, where he lived on Bowness Road and Talkin Drive. He attended the St Mary's RC Primary School in Langley. The first team he played for was Langley Furrow. Scholes also excelled at cricket. At age 14, he began training with Manchester United. He later joined as a trainee upon leaving the Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Middleton during the summer of 1991. In his final term at school, he was selected to represent Great Britain National Schools in football.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes was a member of the Manchester United youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in the 1992–93 season, alongside Phil Neville. Scholes turned professional on 23 July 1993 and was issued with the number 24 shirt, but did not make his breakthrough into the senior squad until the 1994–95 season, when he made seventeen league appearances and scored five goals.


title: Paul Scholes

text: His debut came on 21 September 1994, where he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over Port Vale in the League Cup. His league debut came three days later against Ipswich Town at Portman Road, a game which United lost 3–2 and Scholes scored a consolation goal. He scored two league goals when he came on 10 December when United beat Queens Park Rangers 3–2 at Loftus Road. On 3 January 1995, he got onto the scoresheet at Old Trafford for the first time with the opener in a 2–0 league win over Coventry City. He scored once more that season, in a 3–2 away win over Coventry City on 1 May.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes came on as a substitute in the 1995 FA Cup final against Everton, which United lost 1–0. He came close to scoring twice late in the game, only to be foiled by Neville Southall both times.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In 1995–96, after Mark Hughes moved to Chelsea, Scholes had more first-team opportunities, standing in for the suspended Eric Cantona as Andrew Cole's strike partner for the first two months of the campaign. Scholes scored 14 goals in all competitions as United became the first English team to win the double twice. He picked up another Premier League winners medal in 1996–97 – in this season he changed his shirt number to 18, which he held for the next 15 years.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In the 1996 close season, when United unsuccessfully tried to sign Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers, the Ewood Park club reportedly demanded that United should offer Scholes in exchange if any bid for Shearer from United was to be considered. By this stage, Scholes was rated at £5 million. Shearer, however, never came to Old Trafford, instead joining Newcastle United for £15 million.


title: Paul Scholes

text: After Roy Keane suffered a knee injury in late September 1997 and was ruled out for the rest of the season, Scholes was made a central midfielder in the 1997–98 season. United finished the season without a major trophy, only the second time in the 1990s that this happened.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In 1998–99, Scholes was a key player in Manchester United's Premier League title, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League treble success. He scored one of Manchester United's two goals against Newcastle in the FA Cup final. He also scored an away goal against Inter Milan in the Champions League quarter-final. He came on as a substitute in the second leg of the semi final against Juventus as Sir Alex Ferguson opted for Nicky Butt in the starting line up. He picked up a yellow card which ruled him out of the final victory over Bayern Munich through suspension.


title: Paul Scholes

text: During the 1999–2000 season, Scholes scored one of the finest goals of his career against Bradford City on 25 March 2000. David Beckham took a corner directly to Scholes, who was standing on the edge of the area, who volleyed it in over Dwight Yorke, who was forced to duck. A week later, Scholes scored the first hat-trick of his United career against West Ham United in a 7–1 victory that put United ten points clear.


title: Paul Scholes

text: During the 2001–02 transfer window, United completed the signing of Argentine international Juan Sebastián Verón. In order to accommodate Scholes and Verón, Ferguson persisted with the 4–4–1–1 formation, with Scholes playing at the withdrawn striker role behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, as Roy Keane and Verón played in central midfield (CM). In European away fixtures, Scholes was often played in central midfield alongside Verón as Keane anchored.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes netted a career-high 20 goals in all competitions in the 2002–03 season, including a hat-trick in a 6–2 win against Newcastle. a number that dipped to fourteen the next year. This was despite a career-best four FA Cup goals, in comparison to his total of five FA Cup goals scored in his first nine seasons.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes scored the winning goal in the 2003–04 FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, and played in the final which United won 3–0 against Millwall, his last FA Cup winners medal. He also played in the 2005 FA Cup Final, but saw his penalty saved by Jens Lehmann as they lost to Arsenal in a penalty shootout.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes was ruled out for the second half of the 2005–06 campaign with blurred vision. The cause of this was initially uncertain, sparking fears that it could end his career. He overcame this problem through the beginning of the year and he appeared in United's final game of the season against Charlton Athletic.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 22 October 2006, in the 2–0 victory over Liverpool, Scholes became the ninth United player to play in 500 matches, joining Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes and Ryan Giggs.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes experienced one of his finest seasons in 2006–07, and was included in the PFA Team of the Year, and was shortlisted for the PFA Players' Player of the Year. One of his finest performances of the season came in a 4–1 win against Blackburn Rovers, where United were 1–0 down but Scholes "got hold of the game by the scruff of the neck" and scored the equalising goal. Scholes was dismissed during United's 1–0 away victory over Liverpool on 3 March 2007 for swinging an arm at Xabi Alonso. It marked his first league sending off since April 2005. A month later, he was sent off in the first leg of United's Champions League quarter-final at Roma.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes suffered knee ligament damage during a training session the night before United's Champions League Group F match with Dynamo Kyiv on 23 October 2007, and was out of action until the end of January 2008. He returned as a substitute in United's 3–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the FA Cup. On 23 April 2008, Scholes made his 100th Champions League appearance in a 0–0 draw away to Barcelona in the semi-final first leg, and scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory in the second leg that sent United into the final. During the final against Chelsea, he suffered an injury and received a yellow card after a clash with Claude Makélélé; he was substituted in the 87th minute and did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, which United won 6–5 after drawing 1–1 after extra time. In the 2008 UEFA Super Cup against Zenit Saint Petersburg, Scholes was sent off after he received a second yellow card for a deliberate handball.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 16 February 2010, Scholes scored his third Champions League goal of the season against Milan in a 3–2 win; it was also United's first away goal against Milan. This gave United their first away win over Milan and also made Scholes the first player to score against both Inter Milan and Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League. The goal against AC Milan was Scholes' 25th Champions League goal in total, and with 25 goals to his name, Scholes is the highest goal-scoring central midfielder in Champions League history. On 6 March 2010, Scholes became the 19th player in Premier League history to score 100 goals, and also the third United player after Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney to do so, in the 2009–10 season, netting the only goal in a 1–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium. On 16 April 2010, Scholes signed a new one-year contract with United, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2010–11 season.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes began the 2010–11 season strongly, displaying Man of the Match performances against Chelsea in the 2010 Community Shield on 8 August and eight days later in the opening fixture of the new league campaign against Newcastle United as he assisted two goals in a 3–0 home victory. Scholes scored his 150th goal for United in a 2–2 away draw against Fulham on 22 August; he was also awarded the Premier League Player of the Month for August 2010. In April 2011, Scholes was sent off for a high challenge on Pablo Zabaleta in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City; United went on to lose the fixture 1–0.


title: Paul Scholes

text: He announced his retirement on 31 May 2011, with immediate effect, and joined the coaching staff at Old Trafford.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 5 August 2011, United held a testimonial match to honour his 17 years of service to the club. The match was played at Old Trafford against New York Cosmos. United won the match 6–0, with Scholes opening the scoring with a trademark strike from 25 yards, in front of a sell out 74,731 crowd.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Having been training with Manchester United's reserve team, Scholes' desire to play football returned and he approached Alex Ferguson and assistant manager Mike Phelan with a view to coming out of retirement, possibly for another club if they declined to have him back at United; however, the club had been going through an injury crisis in midfield, and on 8 January 2012, Scholes made his comeback as a substitute in a 3–2 win over neighbours Manchester City in the FA Cup. Since the number 18 shirt had been given to Ashley Young, Scholes wore the number 22 shirt. He made his first start in the next game against Bolton Wanderers, where he scored his first goal since returning in a 3–0 victory at Old Trafford, converting a Wayne Rooney pass; this meant he had scored at least one goal in every season in the Premier League since 1994–95. He scored his second goal since coming back in a 2–1 away win against Norwich City on 26 February, heading home a cross from Nani. On 8 April, he scored in a 2–0 win against Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford, helping United to go eight points clear of rivals Manchester City in the Premier League.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 30 May, Scholes signed a one-year extension with Manchester United, keeping him at the club until summer 2013. He marked his 700th appearance for Manchester United by scoring in a 4–0 win at home to Wigan Athletic on 15 September 2012. This goal meant that he had scored in his 19th consecutive Premier League season, a feat only surpassed by teammate Ryan Giggs, who holds the record of 21 consecutive seasons.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 11 May 2013, Scholes announced that he would make his second and final retirement from football at the end of the season. Scholes made his 499th and final professional league appearance on 19 May 2013 against West Bromwich Albion as a substitute. During the game, Scholes earned his 97th Premier League yellow card, at the time the third most in the history of the Premier League behind Lee Bowyer (102) and Kevin Davies (101).


title: Paul Scholes

text: In August 2018, Scholes briefly came out of retirement from football at the age of 43 and played a match for his son's team, Royton Town of the Manchester Football League Premier Division, against Stockport Georgians. Royton lost the fixture 1–0.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes made his international debut against South Africa in 1997 in a 2–1 friendly win at Old Trafford, and was included in the England squad for the 1998 World Cup. England were grouped with Colombia, Tunisia and Romania. During England's first World Cup group match against Tunisia, Scholes sealed a 2–0 victory with a goal late in the game.


title: Paul Scholes

text: His international career continued after England's elimination from the World Cup by Argentina on penalties in the first knock-out round. On 27 March 1999, Scholes managed a hat-trick for England in a game against Poland. In addition, Scholes scored both goals in England's 2–0 win at Hampden Park over Scotland in the Euro 2000 play-off first leg, sealing a 2–1 aggregate win and qualification for the finals tournament. In a qualifier against Sweden that June, Scholes became the first and last England player to be sent off in an international match at the old Wembley Stadium.


title: Paul Scholes

text: With the turn of the century, Scholes became a prominent player in England's midfield, becoming a first-choice selection for the 2002 World Cup. Immediately prior to Euro 2004, however, Scholes was played out of position on the left midfield to accommodate the pairing of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in central midfield, starting on the left for the last five matches of his international career. Scholes announced his retirement from international football in August 2004, citing his family life and his club career with Manchester United as being more important.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Following the departure of England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2006, there was speculation regarding Scholes making himself available for international duty again under new boss Steve McClaren. In October 2006, McClaren said that he had personally asked Scholes twice to rejoin England, but Scholes declined. In May 2010, McClaren's successor Fabio Capello approached Scholes about a return to international football in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup, but Scholes again rejected the offer, saying he would prefer to spend time with his family. On 7 June 2010, Scholes stated that if Capello had given him more time and asked earlier, he would have probably taken the opportunity. On 27 July 2010, Scholes expressed his disappointment in not taking the opportunity to play at another World Cup, saying he may have made a mistake.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes was highly regarded for his technical skills, and renowned for his accurate passing, intelligent movement and powerful shooting from long range. Though he played mostly as a striker in his youth and early professional career, Scholes matured into a well-rounded, tenacious, and versatile playmaker capable of playing in any midfield position, often alternating between defensive, offensive, wide and playmaking roles, due to his stamina, vision, work-rate, and positional sense. Scholes was renowned for his late attacking runs and ability to combine with teammates, as well as an excellent capacity to read the game and control the tempo of play, which enabled him to function in a deep-seated creative role as well as in a box-to-box role in the centre of the pitch; he played in the centre for much of the earlier part of his career, while he was instead deployed in a deeper role in the later part of his career. Scholes possessed an extraordinary range of passing and frequently initiated dangerous attacking plays after winning back possession.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In an interview with "FourFourTwo", Scholes admitted to not being blessed with notable pace or dribbling skills, and attributed his calmness and ability to retain possession under pressure to having a sharp brain, excellent awareness, and good link-up play. He was also used in a more advanced creative role on occasion, as a deep-lying forward behind an out-and-out striker. At international level, he was also occasionally used out of position on the left flank.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Many of his peers, including Zinedine Zidane and Edgar Davids, have spoken about their admiration for his talent. Former Brazil international Sócrates was quoted as saying, "He is good enough to play for Brazil. I love to watch Scholes, to see him pass, the boy with the red hair and the red shirt." Former France and Arsenal captain Thierry Henry said, "Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Scholes ... He knows how to do everything." When asked about Scholes, Bobby Charlton said, "Paul is always so in control and pin-point accurate with his passing – a beautiful player to watch," while Italian manager Marcello Lippi remarked that Scholes is "an all-round midfielder who possesses quality and character in abundance". In August 2010, BBC football pundit and former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen described Scholes as "one of the top three to five players to have ever played in the Premier League", and commented, "His passing, movement and technique set examples to everyone." Former Manchester United teammate Nani commented, "He's the best midfielder I've ever seen. He can pass, score goals with his left, right, his head – he can do anything." Another one of his former Manchester United teammates, Carlos Tevez, described Scholes as the best passer alongside whom he had ever played.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In February 2011, Barcelona midfielder Xavi rated Scholes as the best player in his position in the past two decades, stating, "A role model. For me, and I really mean this, he's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15, 20 years. He's spectacular, he has it all, the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him." This sentiment was echoed by former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, who considered Scholes to be the best midfielder of his generation. The former Juventus and A.C. Milan midfielder, Andrea Pirlo, speaking ahead of the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, further elaborated on his admiration for Scholes, "I have been so fortunate to have played with so many incredible players throughout my career, but if I could pick one that I never got the chance to play with, it would be Paul Scholes. One of the all-time greats. A genius on the field, but private – no circus around him off it. I have a lot of respect for him." Gareth Southgate said, "You've got very good players and then there are top players. In my time in the England setup, Paul Gascoigne, Paul Scholes and [Wayne] Rooney just had that little bit more than all the others. And we are talking high‑level people there, players like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham."


title: Paul Scholes

text: Many, including Scholes' national teammates, have said that he was one of the few English players capable of "pulling the strings" in midfield, dictating the flow of game where England often have been criticised for being nervous on the ball and giving away possession.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes received frequent criticism for his discipline, particularly regarding his tackling, which was questioned as frequently inept by multiple pundits, fans and Scholes himself. In addition, the potential for malicious intent in some of his tackles has been raised; it has been suggested that he has escaped greater censure due to the admiration that many have for the rest of his game.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes has been criticised for his disciplinary record, amassing the fifth-most yellow cards in Premier League history with 97, and also receiving four red cards. He has also been booked 32 times in the Champions League, surpassed only by Sergio Ramos. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger criticised Scholes' tackling, stating, "For me he was not a fair player. There's a little bit of a darker side in him, sometimes, that I did not like. I respect him highly as a quality player but I did not like some things he did on the football pitch." Scholes said in a BBC Radio 5 Live interview that he was not a bad tackler, but that, "If someone got me early in the game, it was always in the back of my mind that I needed to get them back", and suggested that the bookings he received towards the end of his career were influenced by his reputation.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In 2014, it was announced that Scholes, along with fellow Manchester United legends Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, and Phil Neville, had agreed a deal to purchase Salford City ahead of the 2014–15 season. with plans to get the club to the Football League. The group announced they would take part in a special friendly, with Salford facing a Class of '92 team. On 22 September, the group agreed to sell a 50% stake in the club to billionaire Peter Lim.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Having previously informally helped out Nicky Butt with the Manchester United under-19 team during the first half of the 2013–14 season, Scholes agreed to join the United first-team coaching staff on a temporary basis after the sacking of David Moyes until the end of the season as a favour to friend and former teammate Ryan Giggs, following the latter's appointment as interim player-manager on 23 April 2014.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In January 2015, Scholes and Phil Neville were caretaker managers of Salford for a 2–1 win over Kendal Town, between the dismissal of Phil Power and appointment of Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 19 November 2017, Scholes and his old teammate, Ryan Giggs, were invited to join in training works for PVF Football Academy in Vietnam. With Ryan Giggs, who was chosen to be a development director, Scholes worked as a technical advisor.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 11 February 2019, Scholes was appointed as manager of League Two side Oldham Athletic, having been cleared to take the position by the English Football League in light of his ownership of Salford City. On 14 March, Scholes resigned as manager, having won once in his seven games, following interference from club owner Abdallah Lemsagam in first team affairs.


title: Paul Scholes

text: On 12 October 2020, Scholes was appointed interim head coach of Salford City, following the departure of Graham Alexander. Scholes' first game in charge was a 1–0 defeat to Port Vale on 17 October, and he quickly ruled out taking the position on a permanent basis, citing the need for a more experienced manager. His first win came three days later with a 3–0 win against struggling Southend United. Scholes left the role on 4 November 2020, following the permanent appointment of Richie Wellens to the post.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In July 2014, Scholes became a pundit after signing a four-year deal with BT Sport. He would also be featuring on ITV's coverage of Champions League and England internationals. Scholes previously made an appearance for Sky Sports as a pundit during the 2013–14 season. In August, he agreed to become a columnist for "The Independent". Scholes has been praised for his passionate and no nonsense style of punditry.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes featured in EA Sports' "FIFA" video game series; he was on the cover for the international edition of "FIFA 2001", and was named in the Ultimate Team Legends for "FIFA 17".


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes has endorsed sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Edgar Davids, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".


title: Paul Scholes

text: Along with other United players who won the 1992 FA Youth Cup, Scholes has proposed a university in Greater Manchester, named University Academy 92 which would offer "broader courses than traditional degrees" and attract students who "otherwise might not go on to higher education".


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes is asthmatic, and suffered from Osgood–Schlatter disease (a knee condition that affects young athletes). He married his childhood sweetheart, Claire (née Froggatt), in Wrexham, Wales, in February 1999. They live in the village of Grasscroft in Greater Manchester, and have a daughter and two sons, the younger of whom has autism.


title: Paul Scholes

text: His off-field personality is said by some to be in stark contrast to the attitude of the stereotypical professional footballer. Roy Keane once highlighted that Scholes did not like the "celebrity bullshit" side of professional sports. With regard to his shunning of celebrity, and instead keeping to his intention to solely focus on doing his job ("a professional footballer"), Keane applauded Scholes after his retirement.


title: Paul Scholes

text: Scholes is known to enjoy betting on football. In June 2019, he was fined and warned over his future conduct by The Football Association (FA) after placing bets worth £26,159 on matches during his time as a director of Salford City. At a tribunal, he was found to have placed 140 bets over three-and-a-half years, in contravention of the FA's gambling rules. The FA fined Scholes £8,000 and asked him to contribute to the costs of the tribunal.


title: Paul Scholes

text: In an interview given before Euro 2004, Scholes described his ideal day as "train in the morning, pick up my children from school, play with them, have tea, put them to bed and then watch a bit of TV".


title: Oat

text: The oat ("Avena sativa"), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats are a nutrient-rich food associated with lower blood cholesterol when consumed regularly.


title: Oat

text: Avenins are oat gluten proteins, similar to gliadin in wheat. They can trigger celiac disease in a small proportion of people. Also, oat products are frequently contaminated by other gluten-containing grains, mainly wheat and barley.


title: Oat

text: The wild ancestor of "Avena sativa" and the closely related minor crop "A. byzantina" is "A. sterilis". "A. sterilis" is a wild oat that is naturally hexaploid. Genetic evidence shows the ancestral forms of "A. sterilis" grew in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Oats are usually thought to have emerged as a secondary crop, i.e., derived from a weed of the primary cereal domesticates, then spreading westward into cooler, wetter areas favorable for oats, eventually leading to their domestication in regions of the Middle East and Europe.


title: Oat

text: Oats are best grown in temperate regions. They have a lower summer heat requirement and greater tolerance of rain than other cereals, such as wheat, rye or barley, so they are particularly important in areas with cool, wet summers, such as Northwest Europe and even Iceland. Oats are an annual plant, and can be planted either in autumn/fall (for late summer harvest) or in the spring (for early autumn/fall harvest).


title: Oat

text: In 2017, global production of oats was , a 13% increase over 2016. Production was led by Russia with 21% of the total and Canada with 14% (table). Other substantial producers were Australia, Poland, China, and Finland, each with over .


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The Toyota 4Runner is an SUV manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota and marketed globally since 1984, across five generations. In Japan, it was marketed as the and was withdrawn from the market in 2009. The original 4Runner was a compact SUV and little more than a Toyota Hilux pickup truck with a fiberglass shell over the bed, but the model has since undergone significant independent development into a cross between a compact and a mid-size SUV. All 4Runners have been built in Japan at Toyota's plant in Tahara, Aichi, or at the Hino Motors (a Toyota subsidiary) plant in Hamura.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The name "4Runner" was created by copywriter Robert Nathan with the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising company. The agency held contests to invent new names for Toyota's forthcoming vehicles. The name 4Runner was created as a play on the term "forerunner," since the sport utility vehicle was the first of its kind for Toyota with an emphasis on its 4x4 capability and seating for four.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: For some markets, the Hilux Surf was replaced in 2005 by the similar Fortuner, which is based on the Hilux platform.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: , the 4Runner is marketed in the Bahamas, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, the United States and Venezuela.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The 4Runner came in at number five in a 2019 study by iSeeCars.com ranking the longest-lasting vehicles in the US. The 4Runner had 3.9 percent of vehicles over , according to the study.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The Trekker was one of the first prototype walk through conversions done to Toyota trucks in the early 1980s. They were similar to the successive 4Runner conversions done by Toyota, which started production in 1984, but were designed and built by Winnebago Industries with the approval of Toyota. The Trekker was no longer viable when Toyota started producing the 4Runner in 1984, having in essence acted as a marketing test vehicle for that vehicle.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The Trekker was produced from early 1981 through 1983. The Trekkers were all built on the short wheelbase Hilux chassis. All of the Trekkers were classified as SR5 by both Winnebago and Toyota, regardless of the actual VIN denotation. Originally there were to be a SR5 and Deluxe version of the Trekker, one with vented windows and one without. All 1981 Trekkers had vented canopy windows. Non-vented canopy windows were not installed on the Trekker until the 1982 model year. Unvented windows were installed due to leaking issues of a forward facing vent on the 1981 Trekkers canopy windows rather than the equipment level.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Toyota shipped all trucks from Japan as cab and chassis in order to avoid the 25% assembled truck customs tax. The trucks destined for production as Trekkers were shipped to the dealership handling the national distribution of the Trekker. From there they went to Winnebago to have the Trekker conversion installed, returned after completion to the dealership for national distribution. Most of the Trekker conversions sold went to the west coast of the United States.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The Trekker conversion consisted of a fiberglass tub, bed sides, a non-removable canopy and rear hatch. The kit included a folding rear seat that could be folded forward to lay flat and add cargo space to the back. There was no tailgate on the Trekkers. The factory Toyota vinyl cab headliner was replaced and matched to the custom rear canopy headliner.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: About 1500 of the Trekkers were built and sold in the United States. An additional unknown number of Trekker kits, likely less than 200, were shipped to Canada to be installed on Canadian trucks at the dealerships. 20 to 30 of the Trekker kits were sold and shipped to Saudi Arabia for installation.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: For the first generation N60 series Hilux Surf and export specification 4Runner introduced in 1983, Toyota, instead of developing an entirely new model, modified the existing Hilux (N50/N60/N70) with short-bed pickup body. The Hilux had undergone a major redesign in 1983 for the 1984 model year. Changes included the removal of the panel with integrated rear window from behind the front seats, the addition of rear seats, and a removable fiberglass canopy. The implementation was borrowed from both the second generation Ford Bronco, and the Chevrolet K5 Blazer, both short-bed trucks with removable fiberglass shells over the rear sections and having bench seats installed in the back. Like the Bronco and the Blazer, the Hilux Surf/4Runner also did not have a wall attached to the front section behind front seats as the regular Hilux did. In that sense, all three vehicles were more than simply conventional pickup trucks with a fiberglass shell included.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Thus, the first generation is nearly mechanically identical to the Toyota Hilux. All first generation 4Runners had two doors and were indistinguishable from the pickups from the dashboard forward. Nearly all changes were to the latter half of the body; in fact, because the rear springs were not upgraded to bear the additional weight from the rear seats and fiberglass top, these early models tended to suffer from a sagging rear suspension.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: In North America, they were sold from the 1984½ model year from May 1984. For this first year (March to July 1984 production), all models were equipped with black or white fiberglass tops. An SR5 trim package was offered that upgraded the interior: additional gauges, better fabrics, and a rear seat were standard with the package. All 1984 models were equipped with the carbureted 2.4 L 22R engine and were all available with a four-wheel-drive system that drove the front wheels through a solid front axle.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: 1985 (August 1984 production) saw the arrival of the electronically fuel-injected 2.4 L 22R-E (and 22R-EC with California emissions controls) I4 engine. This upped the horsepower numbers from 100 hp for the 22R, to 116 hp for the 22R-E Engine, though the carbureted engine remained available until 1988. Additionally, rear seats were available in all 1985 4Runner trim levels, not just the more upscale SR5.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: In 1986, the Surf/4Runner underwent a major front suspension design change as it was changed from a solid front axle to the Hi-Trac independent front suspension. Track width was also increased by three inches. These changes made the trucks more comfortable on-road, and improved stability and handling. The new suspension also increased the space in the engine compartment (necessary to fit larger engines, such as the V6 introduced in 1987) but arguably decreased the truck's off-road capabilities. The North American specification Toyota Pickup also adopted this new suspension, but the regular Hilux for other markets at this point retained the more rugged and capable, if less refined, solid axle configuration. With the 1986 update, the Surf/4Runner grille changed from the three segment type to the two segment grille. Tops were color-matched on blue, red and some gold models, while other body colors were still sold with black or white tops.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: A turbocharged version of the 22R-E engine (the 22R-TE) was also introduced in 1986, although this engine is significantly rarer than the base 22R-E. It appears that all turbocharged 4Runner models sold in the US were equipped with an automatic transmission, though a five-speed manual could still be ordered in the turbocharged pickups. Most turbocharged 4Runners were equipped with the SR5 package, and all turbo trucks had as standard a heavier rear differential later used in the V6 model. Low-option models had a small light in the gauge cluster to indicate turbo boost, while more plush vehicles were equipped with an all-digital gauge cluster that included a boost gauge. Turbocharged and naturally aspirated diesel engines were also available in the pickups at this time as well, but it appears that no diesel-powered 4Runners were imported to the United States.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: During 1984 to 1986 many 4Runners were imported to the US without rear seats. With only two seats the vehicle could be classified as a truck (rather than a sport vehicle) and could skirt the higher customs duties placed upon sport and pleasure vehicles. Most had aftermarket seats and seat belts added by North American dealers after they were imported.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: In 1988, the 22R-E engine was joined by an optional 3.0 L V6 engine, the 3VZ-E. This engine was significantly larger and more powerful although not as reliable as the original 4-cylinder offering. Trucks sold with the V6 engine were equipped with the same heavy duty rear differential that was used in the turbocharged trucks, as well as a completely new transmission and transfer case; the transfer case was chain driven, although considered less rugged, created less cab noise than the old gear-driven unit used behind the four-cylinder engine.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: An engine which was not used in the US market and rarely in the Japanese domestic market pickups was the 3Y engine, which was used in place of the 22R engine in New Zealand models, followed more rarely by the 4Y 2.2 L gasoline in later versions. This was a decision by Toyota New Zealand to reduce parts required to be stocked by dealers as no other Toyotas sold in New Zealand at the time utilised the R series engines.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Small cosmetic and option changes were made in 1988 for the 1989 model year, but the model was left largely untouched in anticipation of the replacement model then undergoing final development.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Toyota issued a second generation of Hilux Surf and 4Runner in 1989 for the 1990 model year. Known as the N120/N130 series, these models continued their reliance on the Hilux pickup as a basis. It represented a fundamental departure from the first generation model. Instead of an enhanced pickup truck with fiberglass cap, the new 4Runners featured a freshly designed, full steel integrated body mounted on the existing frame. However, the 4Runner did remain virtually identical to the Hilux from the B-pillars forward. It also gained an all new coil spring rear suspension system, which unfortunately proved to be just as prone to sagging as the leaf springs on the rear of the previous models.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Nearly all second generation 4Runners were four-door models; however, from launch in 1989 to May 1993, a two-door model was also produced. These models are similar to the four-door models of the time in that the bodies were formed as a single unit, instead of the fiberglass tops used in the first generation 4Runners. Two-door cars of the second generation are extremely rare. US sales ended in August 1992, but it continued to be available in the Canadian market through 1993, and Japan until May 1993.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Because the drive train was still developed from the same source, the available engines and drivetrains were identical to the corresponding Hilux. The new 4Runner used the independent front suspension that had been developed on the previous generation. The older style gear driven transfer case was phased out on the V6 models and they now had a chain driven case. The older gear driven case was retained on the 4-cylinder models.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: The Hilux Surf version for the Japanese market was also available with a range of diesel engines, including a 2.4 L turbodiesel "2L-TE" I4 up to 1993, followed by a 3.0 L turbodiesel "1KZ-TE" I4. Small numbers were also made with a normally aspirated 2.8 L diesel "3L" I4, a 2.0 L "3Y" I4 naturally aspirated gasoline engine, and 2.4 L "22R-E" I4 gasoline engine. The majority of gasoline versions of the Hilux Surf received the "3.0 L V6". Various trim levels were offered in Japan ranging from the base model 'SSR' through 'SSR Ltd', 'SSR-V' 'SSR-X' and 'SSR-X Ltd' to the range topping 'SSR-G'.


title: Toyota 4Runner

text: Most other full-body SUVs produced at the time (e.g. Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer) featured tailgates that opened upward with the glass closed. In contrast, the second generation 4Runner carried over the retractable-glass tailgate from the first generation. Opening these tailgates requires first retracting the rear window into the tailgate and then lowering the tailgate much like as on a pickup truck.