opinion

The 100 Ideas initiative for Oklahoma ” 100IdeasOK.org ” is in full swing. Around the state, residents are coming together in groups to brainstorm policy ideas for Oklahoma’s future. The inspiration for the 100 Ideas initiative comes from Florida, where former Gov. Jeb Bush sought input to craft a future policy agenda that would outlive […]

I travel a lot, and I’m always amazed at how many people I meet with Oklahoma connections. Years ago, while I was in Moscow, Enid attorney Stephen Jones ” the man who would defend Oklahoma City federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh ” walked up to me and introduced himself. You don’t expect to meet people […]

What does the rest of the country think about Oklahoma in 2007? To answer this question, I recently completed an unofficial and unscientific survey of news stories about Oklahoma found in newspapers and broadcasts across the nation. My methodology was simple: I typed “Oklahoma” into a Google news search and read stories from non-Oklahoman sources. […]

The famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass had it right about education in this often-cited quote: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”   Those words are as true today as in the mid-19th century when Douglass, a former slave, became the conscience of America, standing up boldly in speech after speech […]

Something strange is going on down at the state Capitol, where an Oklahoma artist named Narciso Argüelles has a show of his photography in the North Gallery. Two of his pieces were censored, and then he said he was told to keep quiet about it. The show, called “Human Landscapes,” depicts Chicano people and their […]

I was driving on Interstate 270 in Columbus, Ohio, listening to my favorite talk-radio station, when a news alert interrupted the otherwise mind-numbing droning of the host. The alert indicated that an explosion had taken place in Oklahoma City, and authorities weren’t sure the cause. Something instinctively told me to cancel my appointments for the […]

By now you have seen them on the corner, you have endured the commercials: businesses that promise to give you the cash you need right now, and all you have to do is leave a postdated check for payday. More and more people are beginning to see that these outlets are nothing more than loan […]

August news bulletin: 29 arrested during a drug raid in Clinton. Yippee!   After the raid, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics director was quoted in a press release, saying, “I believe that the ripple effect after the MOT (Mobile Operations Team) unit has conducted an operation will have a paralyzing presence because drug violators will […]

Critics of business and industry love to point out cases of corporate greed. Rarely do they praise industries for doing the right thing. One of Oklahoma’s largest industries is energy, employing tens of thousands of people in high-paying, technologically advanced careers. It’s also generated the revenue to support a lot of farmers, ranchers and private […]

Clean-burning natural gas or abundant, less-expensive coal? The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has been asked to approve a new power plant to be built in Red Rock, a joint venture between OG&E Electric Services and American Electric Power-Public Service of Oklahoma.   As submitted, plans for the $1.8 billion, 950-megawatt generating facility propose it will burn […]