Perhaps not as famous (or infamous?) as the man who squeezed into his ex-wife’s wedding dress, but right up there in oddity, a small Oklahoma college recently auctioned off a year’s worth of tuition on eBay. Schooling at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville found a place on the site’s “other” category alongside voltage converters […]
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Global warming documentary sparks changes in Oklahoma
Members of local environmental group have noticed an increase in membership. Although they’re not sure what the rise can be attributed to, they do know Al Gore’s 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” has sparked more awareness about global warming. “We were really happy to see that someone like Al Gore, who’s a recognized person, […]
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Oklahoma house committee angers state’s American Indian tribes
A bill that the state House’s General Government and Transportation Committee passed last week has ruffled the feathers of many of the state’s American Indian tribes (you know, the people who lived in Oklahoma ” not to mention the nation ” first). House Bill 1423, proposed by Rep. George Faught, R-Muskogee, calls for a recognized […]
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Oklahoma Indian was key to Civil War outcome
Invading the Confederate-held West was not an easy task for the Union. One reason: Stand Watie. In Indian Territory “later Oklahoma ” Watie, a Cherokee, led a minority band of the tribe that had voluntarily signed the removal treaty, agreeing to settle in Oklahoma and give up its lands in the South. […]
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Power to the
Who would have thought after all these grim years of death and destruction fighting religious extremism in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans would be fighting the same war right here in Oklahoma? There have been so many anti-abortion bills introduced in the state Legislature, along with a covenant marriage bill that at […]
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A letter to ‘Indian country’
One of the mysteries to people who study politics is how American Indians vote. American Indians enjoy a unique relationship with the United States, as nations both sovereign yet also subservient to the U.S. national authority. For decades, American Indian citizenship status was in limbo, and it was not until after World War I that […]
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Oklahoma House Speaker’s Ball goes MTV
This year’s Speaker’s Ball, an event sponsored by the speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, had that little touch of MTV, according to a recent story in the Tulsa World. According to the story, the evening had the usual dinner, band and evening dance ” this is a ball, ya know. However, the […]
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Oklahoma’s all-black town of Boley in disrepair
The historic district of Boley made Preservation Oklahoma’s 2007 most-endangered sites list, but one resident claims the Okfuskee County town is not facing extinction. “It’s here,” said Maurice Lee Jr., the 74-year-old owner of a manufacturing company in Boley. “It’s going to stay.” NEEDS MAINTAINENCE Founded in 1903 and incorporated in 1905, […]
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Oklahoma governor’s state of state address channels Chevy Chase
For those who attended the governor’s State of the State address to the Legislature last week, for a brief moment it seemed like an old “Saturday Night Live” skit. For those who are old enough to remember, the brief moment conjured up the first year of “SNL” and funny newsman Chevy Chase. After Gov. […]
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Breast cancer study seeks Oklahoma sisters of survivors
One breast cancer research project hopes to find a cure by studying not women with cancer, but their cancer-free sisters. Since 2004, The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ “Sister Study” has recruited more than 30,000 women to take part. OUT OF OBLIGATIONIn Oklahoma, 288 women are enrolled. One is Melody Miner, […]