Swadley Free To Go
Brent Swadley, founder of the Swadley’s Bar-B-Q chain of restaurants, finally had to face the music for his six felony convictions in the State’s fraud case related to the now defunct Foggy Bottom Kitchens. Judge Cindy Truong handed down a devastating six-year suspended sentence, meaning after 144 days in county jail and a punch in the face, Swadley is free to go. He’ll have to do community service and repay $1.2 million plus a $50,000 fee, so basically a tithe on what he actually stole. We guess the message is if you steal enough, you’re a businessman.
Charter Schools
A federal judge has ruled that the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board cannot exclude religious schools from the charter program based on religious affiliation. According to reporting from KOKH Fox 25, “U.S. District Judge David L. Russell said the board cannot ‘single out religious schools for exclusion solely because of their religious character.’” The ruling was in reference to Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School, but the Supreme Court of the U.S. declined in May 2025 to overturn an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that proposed Catholic charter school St. Isidore not receive a charter, closing the door at least temporarily for religious charter schools in the U.S. Supporters of Ben Gamla are arguing that the religious character should not exclude the school from the program, and we’re excited to see what happens when the Satanic Temple or a local Wiccan coven decides to apply for a charter under the same auspices.
Craig Groeschel and Tim Tebow
Celebrity pastor Craig Groeschel and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow made the news when podcaster extraordinaire and bane of at least one NBA owner Pablo Torre and Mother Jones magazine revealed that the two were accepting large speaking fees for their work with Life Surge, which we were surprised to learn is not the name of a Life.Church small group program, but is in fact a Christian leadership and wealth series of stadium events. Both evangelical leaders were apparently surprised to learn that Jesus did not charge 50,000 shekels for the Sermon on the Mount, and given the reporting that Life Surge encouraged attendees to spend well beyond their means for wealth training, including “paying for the courses by opening interest-free credit cards, taking out home equity loans, or even cashing in their 401Ks (per Mother Jones)” both men quickly canceled upcoming speaking engagements with Life Surge.
This article appears in Fall Flavors.