In accordance with journalism’s “Man Bites Dog” rule, Oklahoma has been making national headlines recently for — get this — actually letting people out of prison. First, as reported on Nov. 4 by CNN, the state released more than 460 nonviolent inmates before their original sentences were completed in the largest single-day mass commutation in […]
Chicken Fried News
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Chicken-Fried News: Highway robbery
The day after Oklahoma celebrated the birthday of its favorite son Will Rogers, two Republican lawmakers filed a bill to essentially spit all over part of his legacy. You can’t make this stuff up. Sens. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) and Marty Quinn (R-Claremore) want to rename part of historic Route 66, aka Will Rogers Highway, […]
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Chicken-Fried News: What’s beef?
After Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 392, prohibiting “certain misleading or deceptive practices” in labeling meat products, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association released a celebratory statement. “SB 392 would ensure that packaging of lab cultured, and plant substitute products may not pirate the term ‘beef,’” said association executive vice president Michael Kelsey in April. But The […]
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Chicken-Fried News: I am the law
Every high school student reading David Thoreau’s Walden has probably fantasized about leaving society behind and living off the land. What if you wanted to consume public utilities and drive on streets paved with taxpayer dollars but don’t want to contribute to the greater good and also be above the law? Well that, dear readers, […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Gambling problem
Last year, the tribal nations operating Oklahoma’s more than 100 casinos paid $139 million to the state in “exclusivity fees,” according to Associated Press, but Gov. Kevin “Never Count Your Money When You’re Sitting at the Table” Stitt wants to raise the stakes. The fees — currently 4-10 percent of the casinos’ net revenue paid […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Shell shocked
Believe it or not, plastic straws aren’t the only things harming and killing turtles. Along with a host of other plastic products and lax regulations on huge corporations, a massive illegal turtle trade network — yes, a black market for turtles — is also a major threat. In fact, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Broken justice
Remember in 2016 when Oklahoma overwhelmingly voted in favor of State Question 780, which allows the more than 60,000 Oklahomans convicted of simple drug possession to seek parole and expunge felony drug possession? It wasn’t until 2019 that Gov. Kevin Stitt retroactively signed the state question into law. The state district attorney’s association and local […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Red erring
Who knew picking the color of a car could be such a big deal. Megan Simpson, former Oklahoma Department of Public Safety assistant commissioner, was tasked with just that earlier this year, so she picked bright Victory Red for her new state-provided Chevy Tahoe. “Yes, I know it’s not the typical color,” she wrote in […]
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Chicken-Fried News: What would you say you do here?
In the 1999 cult classic film Office Space, a pair of business consultants both named Bob are brought in to help a software company downsize. It leads to the invariable question, “What would you say you do here?” If the same question was posed to members of the Oklahoma Legislature, we’d probably get a lot […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Who’s watching?
The 1.5 million viewers who watched Watchmen premiere on HBO earlier this month saw a recreation of a defining moment in Tulsa’s history and heard songs from the 1943 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!, but we’re guessing the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department was less than thrilled about it. “HBO’s Watchmen opens in 1921 […]