North OKC
The National Institutes of Health awarded two grants worth a total of $26.3 million to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for research into anthrax and to help train new scientists. Each grant will allow scientists to continue research started in 2004 and 2005, and keep them working through 2014.

In the first project – courtesy of a $14.5 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – seven scientists will spend the next five years exploring the natural immune responses to Bacillus anthracis, the infectious agent that causes anthrax. 
The grant covers three specific projects at OMRF:

• OMRF’s Mark Coggeshall will study how components of the anthrax bacteria contribute to the sepsis-like features that infected people show.
• Dr. Judith James will investigate antibody response to the anthrax vaccine to learn what constitutes a “good” antibody, who makes good antibodies, and whether antibodies gathered from vaccinated soldiers can protect animals from being infected by anthrax.
• Dr. John Harley is scanning every gene in human DNA to see which genes are present in those who make good antibodies after being vaccinated against anthrax.

The grant will also fund collaborations with scientists at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Boston University and University of Chicago that will examine how anthrax spores move from the lung to the bloodstream, test vaccine formulations and isolate individual antibody molecules from vaccinated people.

105degrees, a raw-food cafe, boutique shop and academy from Mathew Kenney and Dara Prentice, recently opened its doors at Classen Curve, 5820 N Classen Blvd., Ste. 1. The 3,500-square-foot facility features an open kitchen and dining room where patrons may watch living cuisine being prepared, an oval wine and juice bar, a boutique-style shop where natural and raw lifestyle products may be purchased, and a culinary academy where the a team of chefs offer public culinary instruction and training.
                                                 
Laredo’s Mexican Restaurant opened its doors at 5111 N Classen Blvd. Restaurant hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Bricktown
The American Banjo Museum, 9 E Sheridan Ave., a $5 million, 21,000-square-foot facility, is now open to the public. The museum contains more than 300 instruments, the largest collection on public display in the world. Examples include replicas of primitive banjos developed by African slaves in the Old South; minstrel-age instruments from the 19th century; post-WWII-era instruments used in bluegrass, folk and world music; and a core collection of ornately decorated banjos made in America during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and ’30s.   

A special gallery in the museum will spotlight a large collection of Gibson Mastertone banjos, manufactured during the company’s golden years of the 1920s and ’30s, including an extremely rare, pre-war Gibson five-string banjo valued at more than $175,000.

The second floor will be home to the museum’s centerpiece collection of more than 200 four-string banjos from the Jazz Era.

Rooster’s Chicken and Beer restaurant and bar will open for business this month at 115 E Reno Ave., Ste. B, at the site formerly occupied by Boone’s General Store at the national historic Wells Fargo and Company Livery Stable building. The venue will have only two items on the menu: chicken and beer. The facility will seat 120 patrons.

Downtown OKC
Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department recently released its Fall Foliage Tours brochure. The department mapped out 14 different driving routes for viewing the fall color change across the state.

The foliage brochure includes such drives as the Talimena National Scenic Byway through the Ouachita National Forest in southeastern Oklahoma, and western Oklahoma’s Red Rock Canyon route, near Hinton, which showcases striking color contrasts due to the area’s sugar maples. Other paths are also charted in the brochure, helping visitors find and experience unique treks where the vibrant foliage may surprise them.

Norman
Victoria’s The Pasta Shop, 327 White, on Campus Corner recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Restaurant owner Chris Roth says the restaurant’s atmosphere and great food is what brings people back on a regular basis.

“The same great group of people have dined with us for years,” Roth says. “They are more than customers now, they are friends.”