Randall Turk

On a weekday last spring, the Oklahoma Legislature decided what would become of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum. It authorized a $25 million bond package, ensuring the funding will not be relegated to the shards of Wall Street. Instead, the bonds will go “native,” to be marketed within the state and sold to […]

Like bubbles rising through a glass of champagne, Oklahoma’s fledgling wineries are taking several paths to achieve the same purpose ” no matter how odd the environment for them. Owners and representatives of the state’s wineries still surviving tough state liquor regulations met Aug. 26 with staff of the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission […]

Oklahoma winemakers are tantalizingly close to bringing the fruits of their labor to market. The tiny state wine industry has been struggling for years for the right to ship wine directly to:” retailers, ” restaurants, ” bars and ” individual consumers. “We’re still working on it,” said Rep. Danny Morgan, D-Prague. “We’re as close (to […]

The Legislature is considering another law that could produce the knockout blow to smoking in public places. For the estimated three out of four Oklahomans who do not smoke, it could be the second lucky strike. Senate Bill 1875 cleared the Senate Business and Labor Committee on Feb. 25 and is bound for the Senate […]

Oklahoma forms the low-slung buckle on the proposed “NAFTA Superhighway,” a vast interstate transportation and communications belt that would cut through America’s midsection and connect Mexico with Canada. The superhighway could include automobile, trucking and rail traffic, along with oil and gas pipelines and power and electronic data transmission lines to increase the flow of […]

Many Norman residents believe the city needs a new public library, but nobody knows:” what it will cost, ” how it will be financed or ” whether public money can be better spent elsewhere. Built in the Sixties at W. Gray Street and N. Webster Avenue downtown, the current library has fallen victim to:” disrepair, […]

Michael Givel and his wife, Rebecca Sherry, have found themselves ensnared in Oklahoma Tax Commission proceedings over a tax credit for their 2006 Toyota Prius. The OTC is relying on obsolete data for the Prius to offer a tax credit substantially less than state tax regulations authorize, they maintain. And Givel, a University of Oklahoma […]

Voters in Edmond and Norman recently elected mayors whose priorities place “quality-of-life” issues ahead of “growth at any cost.” In a March 6 Norman primary, University of Oklahoma political science professor Cindy Rosenthal defeated two challengers for the post. And in Edmond’s April 3 runoff, retired federal personnel manager Dan O’Neil carried all four city […]