Ben Fenwick

A judge has ruled that Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart will face trial on felony charges of campaign finance violations, according to the Associated Press.   Oklahoma County Judge James Paddleford said there is sufficient evidence that Rinehart, along with his campaign manager, Tim Pope, will face trial along with a donor who allegedly exceeded […]

The truck en route to the Standard Iron & Metal Co. scrap yard on E. Reno Avenue in Oklahoma City Oct. 16 carried what is purported to be remnants of a Rocketplane design expected to fly from Oklahoma Spaceport to space. The wing-shaped object was painstakingly designed, with figures and numbers inscribed on it, tight […]

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City announced a pledge to resist House Bill 1804, Oklahoma’s new anti-illegal immigration law due to take effect Nov. 1.   Archbishop Eusebius Beltran and members of the Council of Priests supporting this statement will present the following signed pledge of resistance to the law to Gov. Brad Henry on Friday, […]

The Federation for American Immigration Reform ” or FAIR, which helped state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, write Oklahoma’s new law against illegal immigrants ” was funded by a foundation listed as a hate group with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Additionally, the group’s funding by the Pioneer Fund, a controversial not-for-profit foundation, was cited in […]

State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, author of an anti-illegal immigration bill due to become law Nov. 1, said today he was unaware that an organization which helped him write the legislation had financial ties to an alleged hate group. On the Friday before publication, Oklahoma Gazette asked Terrill about his knowledge that the Federation for American […]

NASA officially announced this afternoon it is terminating its contract with Oklahoma City-based Rocketplane Kistler. The company was awarded a $207 million contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in August of 2006 to build an orbital rocket ship capable of carrying cargo to and from the International Space Station. Last month, NASA informed […]

In their new book, “Books on Trial: Red Scare in the Heartland” from the University of Oklahoma Press, professors Shirley and Wayne Wiegand recount the 1940 arrest and trial of four people for their activities involving communist books. “The social and economic instability of the 1930s ” the Great Depression ” caused the down-and-out to […]

Merit pay for teachers ” now being called “performance pay” ” is not a replacement for across-the-board pay raises, according to education experts brought in to testify before Oklahoma’s House Education Committee. House Speaker Lance Cargill, who announced the series of committee hearings in August, sat among legislators for the testimony of educators and others […]

The Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns Flat is going full throttle to lure space travel and rocket-launching businesses to western Oklahoma. “Because of this facility, we have (a) world of opportunity,” said Bill Khourie, executive director of the Oklahoma Space Industrial Development Authority. At OSIDA’s last board meeting, Khourie announced the spaceport is up and running, […]