News
Rachael Cervenka
With a controversial bill seeking to eliminate state funding to the arts apparently dead for the upcoming legislative session, Oklahoma Arts Council officials say they are beyond grateful for the vast amount of support they received statewide in response to the legislation.

CFN
Gazette staff
Last week, Chicken-Fried News took note of some of the more, um, interesting bills filed for the Oklahoma legislative session, which begins Monday.

News
Clifton Adcock
Gov. Mary Fallin laid out her vision for Oklahoma in her annual State of the State address today, calling for cuts in the income tax rate, a plan for health care and repairs to the Capitol.

News
Jerry Bohnen
Commemorate, observe or celebrate the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme court decision, Roe v. Wade: It’s what millions of Americans have done over the past several weeks.

Letters to the Editor
Douglas Mock, Joseph Thai and Tom Boyd
Two “new” bills filed with the state Legislature recently are dog-eared twin parcels of anti-science boilerplate based on model language from the creationist Discovery Institute (in Seattle). This is an annual rite of winter: Legislative sponsors proclaim laudable goals (“academic freedom” and “critical thinking”) with a wink and nod that fool no one except perhaps innocent schoolchildren. The goal is to promote the teaching of religion as science in public school science classrooms.

Commentary
Mike Brake
The renewed push to legalize the medical use of marijuana in Oklahoma takes the same misguided approach used by other states, including California. If, indeed, there is legitimate therapeutic value in pot — a contention with limited anecdotal evidence — setting up an ad hoc network of authorized growers and dispensers is the wrong way to go. Medical pot, if it’s ever legalized, should undergo rigorous clinical trials and be carefully regulated like every other drug

CFN
Gazette staff
People have been getting hitched for centuries. You know the drill: The bride and groom recite vows, sign a contract and voilà! But that’s just not enough for state Sen. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate, whose Senate Bill 105 seeks to make “covenant marriage” a legally recognized option.

News
Tim Farley
Lobbyists and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are gearing up for a fight over the repeal of a pre-emption law that would give Oklahoma municipalities the authority to pass more restrictive anti-smoking measures than the state allows.

News
Phil Bacharach
A state Senate committee today snuffed out a bill that would have allowed local governments to establish anti-tobacco ordinances more restrictive than what's currently set by the state.