The planned location for the $252 million convention center, the former Fred Jones automobile dealership property across Reno Avenue from Myriad Botanical Gardens, is north of the boundary that currently defines the Core to Shore Urban Renewal Plan area. In order to buy the property, however, the city must redraw the plan’s boundaries to include […]
politics
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DHS needs meaningful oversight
SQ 765 is aimed at bringing long-overdue reforms at the Department of Human Services, which impacts more lives than almost any other agency. In the last decade, news headlines have exposed case after case of tragedy and failure by DHS. It’s clear that change is needed. Every department, program, and employee needs to be scrutinized […]
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Easy ethics
Marilyn Hughes Credit: Mark Hancock Oklahoma Ethics Commission Executive Director Marilyn Hughes and Ethics Commission General Counsel Rebecca Adams provided an overview and some practice filling out the new forms required of certain municipal and local candidates. In 2013, Oklahoma City voters will go to the polls to elect council wards 1, 3, 4 and […]
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Democrats step up
For some time now, one narrative has been that the Democrats here have been splintered by differences and lacked a central message that resonated with voters. No one can deny that after the Republican statewide sweep in 2010, things looked particularly bleak for progressives. But that was before the 2012 legislative session, when progressives rallied […]
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The girl from Madill
Credit: Brad Gregg State Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, first met Janna Little in Boston in 1987, when he was at Harvard University and she was attending Wellesley College. The Okie expatriates became fast friends. After graduation, they wound up working together in the Washington, D.C., office of then-U.S. Rep. Bill Brewster, D-Marietta. “She is charming, […]
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Rumble at the runoff
Credit: Brad Gregg That’s a rhetorical question, of course. The answer is: damn near everyone. When lawmaker and alleged briber Terrill, R-Moore, announced he was not running for reelection, three Republicans squared off in the June 26 primary. The results forced a Tuesday runoff in which Moore businessman Mark McBride faces Norman resident Paula Sullivan. […]
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Race to 88
Kay Floyd Kay Floyd came in first in the Democratic primary in June, but was unable to avoid a runoff against Mike Dover, who ran second. The victor of Tuesday’s runoff will face Republican candidate Aaron Kaspereit in the Nov. 8 general election. McAffrey gave up the seat earlier this year when he won a […]
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A tale of two Toms
Tom Coburn credit: Mark Hancock If you picked Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, move to the head of the class. The plainspoken, sometimes grim physician, nicknamed “Dr. No” by his Senate colleagues for his penchant for holding up seemingly innocuous items, is the answer to all of the above. It’s among the reasons he is routinely […]
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Not so hot
Credit: Brad Gregg July was the hottest month in the U.S. since records began in 1895. Our fair state alone broke 64 heat records last month, which followed on the heels of Oklahoma’s warmest spring ever recorded, according to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. And the warning bells about climate change have been sounding louder. Koch-funded […]
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Party down
Credit: Brad Gregg Republican voters have had the largest net growth of all political parties in the state since June 1 of this year. Democrats, who have held the most registered voters for many decades, only do so now by a small margin. Also outpacing Democrats in growth are Independent voters, an interesting development since […]