News;Ben Fenwick

In their new book, “Books on Trial: Red Scare in the Heartland” from the University of Oklahoma Press, professors Shirley and Wayne Wiegand recount the 1940 arrest and trial of four people for their activities involving communist books. “The social and economic instability of the 1930s ” the Great Depression ” caused the down-and-out to […]

The Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns Flat is going full throttle to lure space travel and rocket-launching businesses to western Oklahoma. “Because of this facility, we have (a) world of opportunity,” said Bill Khourie, executive director of the Oklahoma Space Industrial Development Authority. At OSIDA’s last board meeting, Khourie announced the spaceport is up and running, […]

Merit pay for teachers ” now being called “performance pay” ” is not a replacement for across-the-board pay raises, according to education experts brought in to testify before Oklahoma’s House Education Committee. House Speaker Lance Cargill, who announced the series of committee hearings in August, sat among legislators for the testimony of educators and others […]

Here’s a recent arrival from south of the border that has Oklahomans scrambling to get one: the chiminea. Chimineas ” as well as a variety of other fire pits ” can be had throughout the metro area. Kathy Emmert, owner of Statuary World Patio & Fireside, said the cooler weather has a lot of customers […]

Oklahoma State Treasurer Scott Meacham said he studied the coal vs. gas argument for several months after he first heard about Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.’s proposal to build a massive coal-fired plant near Red Rock. Finally, he gave Chesapeake Energy Corp. a call. “I “¦ said, ‘I think you guys are on the right […]

One Oklahoma City advertising agency handled the ads for each side in the coal vs. gas fight over a new state power plant. Oklahoma State Treasurer Scott Meacham said ad agency Ackerman McQueen called him immediately after he told an executive at Chesapeake Energy that he would advocate against a proposed $1.87 billion dollar coal […]

Each year in September, the population of one part of Oklahoma City swells by hundreds of thousands for 11 days. In 2006, a million people attended the 100th State Fair of Oklahoma ” and this year, it’s expected that the Centennial Expo version of the state fair will top 1 million in attendance. All patrolled […]

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission Monday implied it would reject an application by Oklahoma Gas and Electric to build a $1.87 billion dollar coal-fired electric plant.   During deliberations in instructing staff to prepare an order, the commission indicated that such an order ” to be issued possibly by next week ” would reject the plant, […]

ere certified police officers, although one had been only a month out of training. The other was a five-year veteran of the Noble police force.   “I felt that I had no choice in filing the charges,” he said. “? Ben Fenwick  

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.  […]