Kurt Hochenauer

There’s been a lot of talk recently about wind turbines and natural gas and how they fit into Oklahoma’s future. T. Boone Pickens, a political conservative and one of Oklahoma State University’s important benefactors, wants Oklahomans and Americans to lasso the prairie winds for electricity and build cars to run on natural gas, which burns […]

Oklahoma should be trying to make college affordable for as many of its residents as possible, yet the state continues to drastically raise tuition rates.  Virtually every leader in the state publicly agrees we cannot expand the economy and improve the quality of life without higher education. Why then does Oklahoma make it more difficult […]

When the Oklahoma Legislature declined to give the state’s teachers raises this session, it didn’t seem to make much news. After all, the mantra went, everyone must make sacrifices. Revenues are down, the overall economy is flat and many parts of the country are in recession. So the politicos passed a disingenuously named “maintenance-of-effort” or […]

Doesn’t everything happening in the metro seem bifurcated these days? Bifurcated is a word that fits. It simply means divided into two camps. In terms of Oklahoma City, it means recent events here ” good or bad, depending on your point of view ” are sending mixed signals. There are wonderful developments in the metropolitan […]

So far Oklahoma has escaped the major economic downturn faced in many areas of the country because of the foreclosure and banking crisis, but state revenues are down because of recent tax cuts. Government leaders should prepare for the worst. The state should not hesitate to use its $571 million “rainy day fund” as leaders […]

An Oklahoma House bill called “The Religious Viewpoints Anti-discrimination Act” is just another deceptive initiative to further erode the country’s constitutionally guaranteed separation of church and state.   The bill could ultimately lead to a myriad of lawsuits and administrative problems in state schools.   State Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, who has promoted religion-based […]

Oklahoma’s reputation as a state dominated by good ol’ boy politics and corruption lives on in the 21st century. This reputation is rooted in the state’s historical legacy of corruption.   This politics-as-usual in Oklahoma can seem highly entertaining as absurdist theater or deeply depressing depending on one’s particular cynicism level on any given day, […]

Should Oklahoma City voters approve an extension of a penny sales tax to fund improvements to the Ford Center so the city can have its own NBA team?   There is little doubt the city is ready for the big leagues. It proved this when it became the temporary home of the New Orleans Hornets […]

Oklahoma’s new illegal immigration bill, considered one of the strictest such laws in the country, should become a catalyst for state leaders from diverse political backgrounds to come together to oppose it and educate the public about its unintended effects.   Those leaders opposed to House Bill 1804, now the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection […]

When city officials recently dedicated a Bricktown alley in honor of The Flaming Lips, they did more than just honor a local rock band that has become world famous.   They also sent this clear and long overdue message to the city’s artistic and creative community: We want you here.   Just a few years […]