An Oklahoma federal judge ordered former state Sen. Gene Stipe to undergo a mental evaluation at a Missouri federal inmate hospital on Tuesday, records show. According to the ruling filed in the Eastern Oklahoma District Court by U.S. District Judge Ronald White, Stipe appeared disoriented at a probation revocation hearing in Muskogee, prompting the decision. […]
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University of Oklahoma football fan allegedly gets physical with Texas aficionado
A University of Oklahoma fan allegedly assaulted a Texas Longhorns fan by tearing his scrotum in a local bar, according to a recent story. Allen Michael Beckett, 53, faces an aggravated assault and battery charge after the incident, which court docs indicate occurred in June at the Henry Hudsons Pub at 3509 N.W. 58th, […]
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High school football keeps ’em coming back
In today’s world of big-business college football, there remains a certain measure of innocence and purity at the high school level that help define its unwavering popularity. It is witnessed every autumn Friday night by millions of people who lock up their homes and shut down their businesses in time to make the opening kickoff. […]
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State Department of Education releases preliminary School Improvement List
Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sandy Garrett announced today there are 62 state schools on the preliminary 2007 School Improvement List. Schools are placed on the list if the students’ test scores indicate they has not made sufficient adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years and can only be removed from the list if […]
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Woman discharged from military for being gay says experience devastating
Military dismissals on the basis of homosexuality “basically devastates people’s lives,” according to Peggy Johnson, a lesbian and former petty officer second class on the USS Puget Sound. “Individuals and individual personalities handle things differently,” Johnson said. “I kind of struggled. I wound up in Oklahoma and kind of struggled.” With the current war in […]
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New Route 66 landmark combines cutting-edge design with soda
Landmarks must be unmistakable, and with a 66-foot, lighted, steel soda bottle out front, the new Pops gas station/restaurant is a can’t-miss addition to Route 66. Located in Arcadia, just six miles east of Edmond at 660 W. Highway 66, Pops is a streamlined building possessing a Sixties “Jetsons” sensibility, simultaneously futuristic and retro. Pops’ […]
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Some Oklahomans advocate creating U.S. peace department
Under the auspices of a national organization called The Peace Alliance, a local group works tirelessly to convince the public of the need for a U.S. Department of Peace, with a cabinet-level secretary of peace. In 2001 and again in 2003, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio introduced legislation to create a Department of Peace. His […]
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Our cup overflows
I was driving on Interstate 270 in Columbus, Ohio, listening to my favorite talk-radio station, when a news alert interrupted the otherwise mind-numbing droning of the host. The alert indicated that an explosion had taken place in Oklahoma City, and authorities weren’t sure the cause. Something instinctively told me to cancel my appointments for the […]
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Capitol exhibit censored, says artist
A University of Central Oklahoma art instructor has claimed some of his works on display in the state Capitol this summer were censored. Photographer Narciso Argüelles said two of his pieces (above and below) for the “Human Landscapes” exhibit, showing in the North Gallery through Sept. 2, were taken down because they were deemed too political. […]
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Oklahoman loses U.S.’ oldest female Marine veteran
The United States’ oldest female veteran of the Marines ” an Oklahoma woman ” died in Owasso this August. Ninety-seven-year-old Maye Ryan passed away Aug. 13, following a brief hospital stay after she broke her hip in a fall, according to the Tulsa World. Born May 18, 1910, in Red Oak, she graduated […]