Search this site
Matching entries from BatesLine
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...
Are charter schools "state actors"?
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board has authorized an explicitly Roman Catholic virtual charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, to begin operation in the 2024-2025 school year. Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a pretend-conservative and Biden for President donor who won the GOP nomination with the help...
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...
Wagoner County sales tax election, March 5, 2024
In addition to Oklahoma's presidential preference primary on March 5, 2024, a small number of local jurisdictions will have propositions: Haskell, Norman, Oilton (2), Dewey County, Logan County (3), McIntosh County, Major County, and Sharon-Mutual Public Schools (Dewey & Woodward Counties). One school district, Mannsville in Carter & Johnston Counties,...
The impact of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine
I recently responded to an appeal from the Internet Archive, seeking testimonials about the value of their Wayback Machine, the tool that allows researchers to go back to earlier snapshots of webpages, including many from long-gone websites. Here's what I wrote: Tell us about the first time you used the...
Read the Psalms monthly in 2024
For your consideration during New Year's Resolution Season: A little over a year ago, I decided I needed to do a better job of feeding my mind and spirit. I notice that my bedtime habit of listening to old British radio comedies (particularly Hancock's Half Hour) to help me drift...
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...
<em>Urban Tulsa Weekly</em> and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Dusted off from the drafts pile: Occasionally I dump links and quotes in a blog draft on a particular topic just to have a record, with the possibility of expanding later into an actual published entry. Rarely does the published entry happen, but here's how "winning columnists" Barry Friedman and...
Tulsa school board 2024 candidates
Here's a brief introduction to the six candidates running for three seats Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education, drawing on public information, including filing information, voter registration records, and social media accounts. All addresses are in the City of Tulsa. Because there are only two candidates in each race, each...
A bidding prayer for Christmas, A. D. 2023
Edited from the version originally published on December 25, 2012 Merry Christmas to anyone who happens by BatesLine today. This Advent (2023) I renewed an earlier attempt to turn the 4-arm, 5-globe reproduction Victorian streetlamp in front of our house into a kind of Advent candelabra. I installed three purple...
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...
Hern amendment blocks funding for Confucius Classrooms
An appropriations amendment by Oklahoma 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern to prevent federal funding for Confucius Classrooms in K-12 was approved by voice vote by the U. S. House of Representatives on November 14, 2023. The one-sentence provision would amend H.R. 5894, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human...
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,...
Four-part harmony singing and music education in worship
A follow-up to a recent post about Charles Spurgeon's essay on music in worship. Brian Sauvé, a pastor and hymnwriter, posted recently on Twitter about his church's approach to music in worship: I get this question enough that it's probably worth posting about it separately: "How do you do...
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
Improve Our Tulsa: Tulsa's Underpants Gnomes promise to fix homelessness
A dialogue pertinent to the August 8, 2023, City of Tulsa special election: "Homeless problem in Tulsa seems worse than ever and all over the city, not just downtown." "Don't worry, GT has a plan." "What's the plan?" "$75 million." "To do what?" "We don't know yet." "How do...
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...
Stitt saves anti-SLAPP law
Monday, May 22, 2023, Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed HB 1236, a bill that, by the change of a single word, would have significantly neutered Oklahoma's deterrent against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). Deep-pocketed and powerful public figures have used meritless lawsuits to punish critics and chill free speech. The...
Augustine Christian Academy open house
Augustine Christian Academy, Tulsa's pioneering classical Christian college preparatory school, is holding an open house for grades K-12 tomorrow, Friday, March 3, 2023, from 4 pm to 7 pm. The school is located at 6310 E. 30th Street, just west of Sheridan. ACA was founded as St. Augustine Academy in...
Feed Subscription
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries matching 'EDS'. [What is this?]
