On Jan. 9, U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, established that he is willing to say just about anything to divert attention from the multiple investigations into possible Russian collusion with the Donald Trump campaign and that passing campaign data to alleged Russian agents is nothing to worry about. A slipshod redaction job on one of […]
Commentary
Commentary: Blocked intersections
On Dec. 19, U.S. district judge Joe Heaton ruled that Oklahoma City’s anti-panhandling ordinance is constitutional. The ordinance, as it was originally written, was designed to clear medians of individuals asking for money at OKC’s busy intersections, but after receiving pushback from organizations that work with the city’s homeless as well as a lawsuit from […]
Commentary: Fighting hate
In November 2018, former Oklahoma Gazette reporter Ben Luschen found one while hiking near Cushing and took a photo on his cellphone. Then, shortly before Christmas, the sticker for the white identitarian/hate group Identity Evropa began appearing in prominent locations throughout the Oklahoma City metro area, showing up in Midtown, Nichols Hills, downtown Edmond and […]
Legislative malpractice
One might think that legislation to end a program that provides vital services to thousands of Oklahoma’s poorest women and children would deserve the utmost care and discernment. But with all the assiduity of a third-grader the day before summer break, Sen. Paul Scott, R-Duncan, threw together Senate Bill 40, which cuts the safety net […]
Commentary: Taking shots
Just 10 months ago, a child in Norman was diagnosed with an entirely preventable disease, one for which a vaccine was developed 55 years ago. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the disease to be eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, but 18 years later, Oklahoma Department of Health was forced to issue a […]
