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Ron DeSantis for President
In my pre-presidential primary post, I provide a detailed explanation of the delegate allocation process for Oklahoma. As I mentioned in the same post, I am voting for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Oklahoma Republican Primary. A BatesLine reader asked me why the names of so many candidates...
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...
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...
Al Clauser and His Oklahoma Outlaws and Patti Page
Another blog article started long ago, July 26, 2021, but never quite finished, until now. In 1982, Oklahoma was celebrating its 75th anniversary, the Diamond Jubilee of statehood, and it was one of the focuses (along with Korea) of the Smithsonian Institution's 1982 Festival of American Folklife. The program book...
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.
Segregation by Design: Greenwood and I-244
Tulsa is the focus of another recent article from a UK newspaper website: A story in the Guardian Online about the impact of expressway construction on Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood, and the possibility of reviving the neighborhood by removing the north leg of the Inner Dispersal Loop. Twenty-five years before Don...
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...
BatesLine 20th anniversary
First-ever Wayback Machine snapshot of BatesLine.com, from August 5, 2003 Twenty years ago today at 6:01 am, the first blog entry at batesline.com came into being, an automatically generated entry proclaiming, "MovableType 2.63 has been successfully installed!" The first blog entry authored by a human followed at 12:22 pm,...
Tulsa Classical Academy hiring teachers
Tulsa Classical Academy, Oklahoma's first classical charter school, will open its doors to students from kindergarten to 8th grade this August for the 2023-2024 school year. TCA will add a grade a year in subsequent school years, becoming a full K-12 school with our first graduating class in 2028. Tulsa...
ahha closes, OKPOP delayed: Is Tulsa's oligarchy competent?
Looks like Tulsa's billionaire overlords aren't as competent as they pretend to be. If they're going to insist on being in charge and push us to elect their minions, couldn't they at least show some signs of competence? And maybe a little frugality along the way?
Gone and forgotten (or not)
If you knew how quickly people would forget you after your death, you would not seek in your life to please anyone but God. -- John Chrysostom I shared that memeified quote on FB recently, and it spawned a few other thoughts. In central Europe, at least, you only rent...
Re-elect Governor Kevin Stitt
Oklahoma hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office since 2006. Since 2004, every county in Oklahoma has given a plurality of its vote in every presidential election to the Republican nominee. Voter registration, a lagging indicator, continues to trend toward the GOP across the state, most strongly in southeastern Oklahoma,...
Chinese Communist-funded program on Tulsa school board agenda
The Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education, at a special meeting tomorrow, Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 1 p.m., will consider accepting a grant from a non-profit funded and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party for a Chinese language learning program at Booker T. Washington High School. Here is...
Fox 23 investigation: Tulsa fair board planning skyride demolition since 2019
Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, also known as the Fair Board, has been discussing demolition of the historic Expo Square skyride since 2019, according to open-records research by Fox 23 reporter Spencer Humphrey, presented in a report on the July 7, 2022, newscast. (The text version of the story is...
John O'Connor for Attorney General
The 2022 Republican primary for Oklahoma Attorney General pits appointed conservative incumbent John O'Connor against 2018 loser Gentner Drummond. The nominee will face a Libertarian in November. I endorse John O'Connor for Attorney General, a conservative Oklahomans can trust to defend our laws and our rights. John O'Connor was...
Oklahoma Primary 2022: Statewide races
Somewhat short takes on the races for Oklahoma statewide office on the June 28, 2022, Republican primary ballot. Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell did not draw a primary opponent, and Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready has been re-elected without opposition. I've endorsed John O'Connor for Attorney General in a separate entry....
Howard Johnson's on Oklahoma turnpikes
The last surviving Howard Johnson's restaurant, located in Lake George, New York, was recently found to have closed, evidently for good. An enthusiast, Alyssa Kelly, reported on Facebook over Memorial Day weekend that there were cobwebs on the door, a for-lease sign out front, and all the furnishings and...
Tulsa in the 1920 Official Automobile Blue Book
Before Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System, before state highway officials collaborated to create a national highway numbering system in 1926, motorists traveling cross-country followed turn-by-turn directions contained in the Official Automobile Blue Book. These books are a time capsule of transportation history, not only mentioning routes, but road conditions, locations of...
2022 Tulsa School Board campaign contributions: Keller, Lamkin backed by leftist establishment donors
Campaign contribution reports show that the two registered Democrats running for Tulsa school board, District 4 incumbent Shawna Keller and Susan Lamkin, running for the open District 7 seat, are heavily backed by Tulsa's leftist establishment -- the band of philanthropists, politicians, and their hangers-on who hate Oklahoma's conservative values...
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