A city council member and a former state legislator will face off to see who fills the vacant Oklahoma County Commission board seat. After all precincts reported in tonight, Oklahoma City Councilwoman Willa Johnson held off a crowded field to win the Democratic nomination, while Forrest Claunch easily took the Republican nomination. Claunch, the former member […]
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HHS secretary touts safety of U.S. food supply during OKC visit
With a pineapple in one hand, and a banana in the other, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services proclaimed America is the best place to eat. “The reality is we have the safest (food) supplies in the United States,” Sec. Michael Leavitt said. “To maintain safety, we have to improve.” Leavitt is […]
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Oklahoma County District 1 candidates weigh in on budget board issue
Prior to Tuesday’s primary, Oklahoma Gazette asked each Oklahoma County commissioner candidate, “Do you support the reinstitution of the Oklahoma County Budget Board?” The board, comprised of all county elected officials, determines the county’s budget each year. It was eliminated two years and reinstated this summer. RESPONSESBart Bates, Democrat (top left)“I support the Budget Board. That […]
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OKC woman shoots to top of figure modeling world
A year ago, Melissa Pearo didn’t even know what a figure model competition was. Recently, she turned pro. “It’s never happened. I’ve been doing it for 25 years and I’ve turned seven of them pro, but I’ve never seen it in 10 months,” said her trainer, Howard Huddleston. “That’s nuts.” Ironically, all Pearo wanted to […]
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Oklahoma golf patron Jimmie Austin passes away
The University of Oklahoma family lost one of its most generous supporters and visionaries this past weekend when Jimmie Austin passed away at age 90. Austin, a native of Sasakwa and longtime Seminole oilman, donated $1 million of the $4 million needed to redesign the OU course in 1996. “Mr. Austin meant so much to […]
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Questionable Judgments
Probation-Happy Judges: Judge Angelo DiCamillo of Camden, N.J., thought probation (and $750 restitution) was enough for six teenagers in June, even though they had wrecked a family’s home during a party ($18,000 damages), urinated and defecated on the furniture and (except for one boy) declined to apologize. Also in June, Judge Harold Kahn of San […]
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Henry announces federal flood assistance available for Oklahoma, Cleveland counties
Gov. Brad Henry announced today federal authorities have approved 15 counties “? including Oklahoma and Cleveland “? for individual assistance following flooding and other severe weather earlier this spring and summer. “This designation will provide much-needed help to hard-hit areas across the state,” Henry said in a statement. “We are still compiling damage assessments […]
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Just Can’t Stop Myself
“Bishop” Anthony Owens, 35, of Duluth, Ga., out of prison less than two years following a bigamy sentence, was arrested in April on suspicion of agreeing to marry four more women. Owens said that maybe he “misunderstood” Mormon teachings. Kylie Wilson, 28, was convicted in June in Brisbane, Australia, of stabbing her friend Daniel Blair […]
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Hank Thompson’s baseball skills hampered by alcoholism
Oklahoma City native Hank Thompson helped break down baseball’s color barrier. Unfortunately, his success during nine Major League seasons from 1947-56 and four earlier campaigns with the legendary Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues was tainted by his off-the-field conduct. Ironically, Thompson played his first organized game of baseball while serving a six-month sentence […]
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Latest Religious Messages
Egypt’s Muslims are growing weary of the number of specific religious edicts (“fatwas”) issued by the country’s clerics, including two recent, highly controversial ones, according to a June New York Times dispatch from Cairo. Ezzat Atiya, a lecturer at the prestigious al-Azhar Islamic University, had declared that men can be permitted to see unrelated women […]