Oklahoma might soon see a return to its roots as a major hemp-producing state thanks to the 2018 farm bill. Last year, Oklahoma passed the industrial hemp pilot program, which was covered under the 2014 farm bill. Beginning in May, hemp growers would have to partner with a college or university to be able to […]
Oklahoma legislature
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Chicken-Fried News: Walkout block-out
Last year’s nine-day teacher walkout made national headlines, drawing tens of thousands of teachers and supporters to the state Capitol where they demonstrated their support for increasing public education funding. The monetary outcome fell far short of what educators requested, largely because legislators preferred to compare teachers to whining children rather than consider even for […]
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Chicken-Fried News: 2018 takeout
Fallin away The queen is dead; long live the king. Mary Fallin’s eight-year reign of terror over the state is over, and her successor Kevin Stitt is a political outsider who campaigned on his version of “drain the swamp” but has surrounded himself with insiders during his transition to the Governor’s Mansion. Oh, Gov. Fallin, […]
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Chicken-Fried News: To the rescue
Teachers, Restore Oklahoma Now has got your back. Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite!, the group backed by former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, does not. The Coburn-endorsed group has likely been the cause of nightmares and sleepless nights for the state’s teachers. We at Chicken-Fried News can only imagine the number of teachers who wake up in a […]
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Primary issues
An unprecedented number of Oklahomans are running for office, from the U.S. House of Representatives and governor to state Legislature and local district attorney posts. In total, 794 candidates threw their hats into the ring during candidate filing April 11-13 at the state Capitol. This year’s candidate filing came on the heels of a historic […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Video daze
It is unlikely Rep. Kevin McDugle, Broken Arrow Republican and former drill sergeant, has ever regretted a social media posting more than a now-deleted video of his personalized message to protesting teachers who have been critical of his education-funding voting decisions. The Legislature preemptively passed a modest teacher raise bill before the statewide public educator […]
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Chicken-Fried News: High-fives?
Lawmakers do deserve a pat on the back for passage of the first legislative state tax increase in 28 years. Educators and public employees deserve praise for applying pressure to get the two parties to reach a compromise and ultimately put up the votes to approve the revenue package. With that said, Chicken-Fried News has […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Cracking jokes
State-funded agencies are bracing for yet another round of cuts so they aren’t broke by April.
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Chicken-Fried News: Droppin’ in
Gov. Mary Fallin recently confronted Dallas ISD at its recruiting booth in an Oklahoma City hotel and put the Legislature on blast for not raising teacher pay.