After three years of planning and debate, the MAPS 3 streetcar project may soon have a route that travels by all key destinations in downtown and Midto Before that happens, however, a public meeting Monday will give Oklahoma City citizens a chance to comment on the four options consulting firm Jacobs Engineering presented during a […]
politics
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Left and right
A state representative has organized what he promises will be a bipartisan rally Friday evening at the state Capitol to protest potential U.S. involvement in Syria’s bloody civil war. Rep. Paul Wesselhöft, R-Moore, said he hopes to help spur a nationwide antiwar movement in the wake of President Barack Obama’s announcement that he will arm […]
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The good, the bad and the goofy
In other words: situation normal. Thirty-six months from now, you’ll enjoy an average tax reduction of 35 cents a day. Gov. Mary Fallin says that is necessary for Oklahoma to be more attractive to business decision-makers. Thirty-five cents daily more in our pockets with an effective date of 2016 doesn’t meet the smell test. Regardless, […]
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Liberal angst
The statement that “by opposing background checks for gun buyers, Coburn and Inhofe voted in favor of allowing the mentally ill and criminals to buy guns” is pernicious. First, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is still in effect for gun buyers just as it has been since 1994; second, opposition to the legislation […]
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Profile of courage
It concerns me that the majority of U.S. citizens seem fine with the disturbing secret operations and lack of accountability of our government, as well as the ever-increasing rarity of truly objective, investigative reporting. —Jackie Schmid, Oklahoma City
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Remembering segregation
In those days, I was a teenager working as a waitress in the bus station in Checotah. When African Americans got off a bus and came up front to the restaurant section of the bus station for food, I had to tell them, “No.” They had to eat at a counter in back, behind the […]
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Big, bloated government
Let’s start with Mickey’s home in higher education. Unlike most states with a consolidated higher ed system, ours is fragmented, with nearly 30 separate colleges and universities, each with its own president, squadrons of vice presidents, deans, provosts and other administrators and enrollment and business offices. Bring all the two-year colleges under one statewide community […]
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A giant step toward equality
The excitement of that day culminated in an incredible celebration of justice at the Cimarron Alliance Equality Center. Nearly 500 people gathered to laugh, cry, hug one another and lift up the day as a defining moment in American history. The ruling of the court, we all realized, moved the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender […]
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Hurting morale
Credit: Brad Gregg The reason, you ask? (Play along here.) Inhofe was one of the “Gang of 17” senators who voted against a bill by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to remove sexual assault cases from the military chain of command. As a Tulsa World blog recently noted, the advocacy organization is targeting federal lawmakers who […]
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Playing politics with prison
And now, only weeks after session adjourned, the governor has forced out our director, Justin Jones, who served the state and the DOC for 36 years. The reason: He resisted efforts to privatize the state’s prison system. Private prison corporations have deep pockets, and the governor and Republican leadership are only so willing to take […]