Commentary

Prior to the onset of the legislative session in Oklahoma, the buzz was all about our potential to lead the nation in renewable energy development and its economic impact on our state. Capacity crowds at the Oklahoma Wind Energy Conference in December illustrated the desire of thousands of Oklahomans to participate in the new energy […]

American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma. United Way of Central Oklahoma. Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. OPUBCO Communications Group? Would the parent company of The Oklahoman, the state’s largest-circulation newspaper, join the list of area nonprofits? What about Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., owner of The Edmond Sun, The Norman Transcript and 12 other Oklahoma newspapers? […]

Tyson Foods recently announced it is shifting production from its Ponca City processed meat plant to three plants outside the state. Production will be moved to plants in Buffalo, N.Y., Cherokee, Iowa, and Houston. A total of 580 local workers will be cut because of the closure. The announcement comes on top of Conoco Phillips […]

Using gaming revenues to prop up a fundamental tenet of state government is foolish. I voted against the lottery. With that said, we need to change the way the lottery operates both to get our money’s worth and to restore trust in flawed promises by politicians who made bold statements to get elected. We have […]

“Anything can have happened in Oklahoma. Practically everything has.” I underlined those sentences when I read them because this is the state I know, love and have such hopes for. Not because it’s perfect ” probably precisely because it isn’t. It is still a work in progress. And we all get to participate in creating […]

Senate Bill 834, currently pending in the Oklahoma Legislature, would gradually exempt Oklahoma school districts from state mandates and allow local districts to manage, develop and take responsibility for the success and failure of their curriculum. Deregulation of Oklahoma’s public school curriculum is a good thing for Oklahoma teachers. Allowing teachers to teach based on […]

A GOP-sponsored bill deregulating schools is a dangerous measure that could lower academic standards and increase class sizes in the state’s schools. Its stated intent is to empower school districts, but Senate Bill 834, sponsored by Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, could ultimately reduce the quality of education received by the state’s children. Under the measure, […]

Virtually everyone seems to agree earmarks are part of the problem with the out-of-control spending in Washington. Yet, Oklahoma’s lawmakers tucked $68 million worth of earmarks into the recently approved $410 billion spending package. In total, the package contained nearly 9,000 earmarks worth more than nearly $8 billion. The United States Office of Management and […]

A few years ago, France decided to ban the hijab, the Muslim head scarf, in its public schools. This set off a wave of protests by the country’s Muslim population. In recent years, religion has once again become a point of public disagreement and, at times, conflict in Europe.  At the time this decision about […]