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SJR 34: Oklahoma judicial reform
The Oklahoma State House of Representatives is considering SJR 34, a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to change Oklahoma's nominating process for state appeals courts to match the federal method: Nomination by the chief executive with the advice and consent of the legislature. This would put the entire process of...
Eclipse 2024 notes
Composite image of August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse, Madras, Oregon. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) Monday, April 8, 2024, will be the nearest a total solar eclipse has come to Tulsa in my lifetime. The path of totality stretches from south Texas to northern New England. Oklahoma southeast of...
2024 Tulsa School Board election
Originally posted 2024/03/20. Post-dated to stay at the top of the blog through election day UPDATE 2024/03/26: Tulsa County Election Board has moved Thursday and Friday early voting back to their headquarters at 555 N. Denver. (Earlier information on the state election board website reported that Fair Meadows would be...
2024 Tulsa school board election campaign contributions
Pre-election campaign contributions and expenditures reports
Alinskyite ACTION Tulsa
On Twitter (X), a random reply from a "Progressive Democrat, native born Oklahoman. ELCA Lutheran" condemned my endorsement of KanDee Washington in the Tulsa Public Schools District 2 election, because she didn't attend ACTION Tulsa's "Accountability Session": KanDee Washington is the only candidate not to accept ACTION Tulsa's invitation to...
Christopher Alexander: Finding patterns, and God, in urban design
From the BatesLine Bookshelf, a very occasional feature on authors and books that have influenced me: Christopher Alexander was an architect, but he might more appropriately have been called a philosopher of the built environment. He spent his career trying to describe and name the qualities that make a place...
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys: <br /><em>For the Last Time</em> at 50
Earlier this month was the 50th anniversary of the last time Bob Wills recorded with his legendary band, the Texas Playboys. The sessions that became the album known as For the Last Time were recorded at Sumet-Bernet Studios (aka Sumet Sound Studios), 7027 Twin Hills Avenue, Dallas, on December 3...
2023 Oklahoma school board filing final day
UPDATE: At the close of the filing period, we have three contested races for Tulsa school board, and contests for single seats in Berryhill, Owasso, and Union. The remaining 13 seats (including two each in Keystone and Liberty and the Tulsa Tech Center seat), are uncontested. Maria Mercedes Seidler filed...
Tulsa and Oklahoma historical maps and aerial photos
What was here? Who owned it? What did it look like? There are a number of resources available for reconstructing Oklahoma's geographical past, and they're easier to use than ever. These are my go-tos when researching the history of a neighborhood or answering questions about the past. This is an...
Tulsa 1923 summer fun
What did Tulsans do 100 years ago to escape the summer heat? Some answers can be found in a little clipping I saved during some research on Tulsa's streetcars and electric interurban railroads.
DelGiorno returns to Tulsa radio
UPDATE 2023/11/20: Michael DelGiorno posted on his Facebook page: "Many have asked, so here's the specifics: "Your Morning Show" is now on iHeart app and Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC in Nashville. Starting Monday, December 4th on 1300 The Patriot in Tulsa. And, starting on Monday, January 8th on...
Remembering Jim Mautino
Viewing for James Mautino will be 12 noon - 8 pm, Wednesday, November 1, 2023, and the service 11:30 am, Thursday, November 2, 2023, at Moore's Southlawn Funeral Home. Services will be webcast. Condolences may be left online at www.moorefuneral.com. Former Tulsa City Councilor Jim Mautino passed away last Thursday,...
2023 Tulsa sales tax and bond issues: Seven reasons to vote NO
Here are seven reasons to vote no on <a href="https://www.batesline.com/archives/2023/07/2023-tulsa-sales-tax-bond-issue.html">all four City of Tulsa ballot propositions at the special election next Tuesday, August 8, 2023
2023 Tulsa sales tax & bond issues
City of Tulsa residents will vote on a new sales tax on August 8, 2023. Why are city officials pushing for a new tax more than two years before the current tax expires? Click to read ballot language, ballot resolutions, and lists of "specific" projects.
Oil in Oklahoma: Tulsa TV 50 years ago
I have finally gotten around to reading Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, in anticipation of the Martin Scorsese film to be released in October. I'm about halfway through, and I was skimming ahead. (It's OK. I already knew who the bad guys were.) I was surprised to...
Resources on believers' baptism
A rain-filled mikveh (ritual immersion pool) at Korazim National Park, Israel. Photo © 2023 by Michael D. Bates, all rights reserved. Here are a couple of useful resources that I recently encountered, one very old, one new, in support of the view that Christian baptism is for those only...
2023 School Board election recap
Some thoughts on the April 4, 2023, school board and municipal results, from my live-tweet thread. (ThreadReaderApp unroll here.) At 7:36 pm, early results in the Tulsa school board election came from 4 of the 18 precincts in District 1, all east of the river (and thus incumbent Stacey Woolley's...
2023 Oklahoma school & municipal elections
April 4, 2023, is general election day across Oklahoma for school board races and for municipalities that use the default forms of municipal government established by state statute. Many cities with city charters that define a customized government structure still use the default dates for city elections. As is...
2023 Tulsa School Board campaign finances
The incumbent and challenger in the Tulsa School Board District 1 race have each raised over $50,000 according to campaign contribution and expenditures reports filed with the Tulsa Public Schools district clerk. As of the March 20, 2023, close of the pre-election reporting period, Democrat incumbent Stacey Woolley had raised...
Re-elect Ronda Vuillemont-Smith Tulsa GOP chairman
Tulsa County Republican Chairman Ronda Vuillemont-Smith is seeking a second two-year term in that office. During her first term, Ronda built a record of success in advancing Republican principles and Republican candidates. I first met Ronda sometime around 2010, as she became active in local politics through the Tea Party...
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