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Bobby Koefer, steel guitar wizard, RIP
Steel guitarist Bobby Koefer, one of the last surviving members of the Texas Playboys who recorded and toured with Bob Wills, has died at the age of 95. Here is Bobby's obituary, written by western swing historian Buddy McPeters for publication here at BatesLine: John Robert 'Bobby' Koefer, passed away...
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...
Oklahoma school primary 2023
Tuesday, Februrary 14, 2023, is the annual school primary for all Oklahoma public school districts. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can view your sample ballot and find the address of your polling place at the Oklahoma Voter Portal. At least one school board seat in...
Oklahoma Election 2022: BatesLine ballot card
In-person absentee voting will be available at in every county on Wednesday through Friday, November 2 - 4, 2022 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. In most counties, this will be at the County Election Board office or...
Another wasteful special election
This is not what democracy looks like. Sixteen Oklahoma jurisdictions -- Sapulpa, Pawhuska, other cities and towns, two school districts, a technology (vo-tech) district, and a county -- had propositions on the ballot today. Mostly bond issues, I suspect. State law allows for 11 election dates in odd-numbered years, and...
Bob Gregory: A tribute from his son
After I posted my tribute in memory of Bob Gregory, I received an email from his son, Jason Pitcock, who included a copy of the eulogy he wrote for his dad and delivered at his service. What an amazing life he led! Like Bob Gregory's work, Jason's tribute to his...
The Oklahoma Oilfield Blues
Dale Ingram posted the cover of this piece of sheet music from 1920 on the "Oklahoma History -- People, Places, Things" Facebook group. He was kind enough to send me the two inside pages, too. "The Oklahoma Oilfield Blues" was written by Jack Randolph (lyrics) and John F. Carroll...
Osage County District Court: Re-elect Judge John Kane
We'll start our review of judicial races with an easy one, albeit one that is just outside Tulsa County, although it covers portions of the cities of Tulsa, Skiatook, and Sand Springs. Judicial District 10 consists of Osage County, and it has exactly one district judge. Like all 77...
American Indian Cultural Center and Museum: Leave it to local funding
Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) calls shenanigans on dumping more money in the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum (AICCM) money pit: Several days ago the State Senate approved Senate Bill 1651 in another attempt to use taxpayer funds to complete the construction of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum...
Oklahoma election 2012 absentee voting options
If you're a registered Oklahoma voter and want to vote, but circumstances will have you away from your polling place all day election day, you have two options. Absentee in person: The easy option is to go to your county election board during "absentee in-person" voting hours: Friday, November 2,...
Ray Price, B. J. Thomas, Ray Stevens performing free in the Osage
In case you missed it: In the coming weeks, Osage Casinos are bringing in three legendary singers for free, all-ages concerts. This Friday, May 4, 2012, Ray Price will be performing at the Osage Casino west of Bartlesville. Ray Price was a pioneer of the honky-tonk sound in the 1950s;...
Tulsa 2011 primary: Early voting underway
If you want to vote in the Tulsa City Council primary election, but think you might not make it to the polls next Tuesday, September 13, 2011, you have the opportunity to vote absentee-in-person today, September 9, and Monday, September 12, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. at your county...
Bob Wills Osage County ranch in quiet title suit
I'm working on analyzing the C-1 forms submitted by candidates for Tulsa City Council. In the process of locating real residential addresses for donors who insist on listing their business addresses, I needed to look at Osage County land records, and while I was there, on a whim I searched...
Review: Texas Playboys at Bob Wills Birthday
An orphaned draft, found and published April 12, 2024: I had apparently intended to write a review of the 2010 Bob Wills Birthday Bash at Cain's Ballroom, but got no further than to record that night's line-up and set list. Vocalists are shown in parentheses; songs without vocalists are instrumentals....
Bringing Losha back to the Paytons' place
There are over a million orphaned children in Russia. One of them is named Losha Sokolov. He is 12 years old, and he lives in an orphanage in Chuvashia. As a 10 year old, he came on his own to the orphanage, where he hoped to have clothing and food....
Worn out
I have several new entries in work, but I'm too beat to finish any of them. It was a fun weekend, but a long one. On Saturday morning, my oldest son was one of a number of Barthelmes Conservatory students to perform in a program for the OK Mozart festival...
Riley's pro-life reversal
As you've heard by now, SB 714, which would have gotten Oklahoma taxpayers out of the abortion business, was vetoed by Gov. Brad Henry. Although the bill passed with a veto-proof majority in both houses, it was close enough that the defection of one senator, Shawnee Democrat Charlie Laster (405-521-5539),...
Comparing apples to apples on gas prices
Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren of the Cato Institute write that Americans shouldn't get their knickers in a twist over the price of fuel: In truth, gasoline prices today are taking less of a bite from our pocketbooks than has been the norm since World War II. For instance,...
Funnelling into Owasso
Another interesting controversy this week, complete with machinations by the city legal department, disagreement between the majority of the Councilors and the Mayor, and ties to Vision 2025. I'd like to try to sort it all out for you, but that's more than I've got time for at the moment....
Big Indian coming to Tulsa?
There's a press conference tomorrow at 2:30 at the Central Library with sculptor Shan Gray, and it's almost certainly going to be to announce that the monumental statue "The American" will be built in Tulsa. Where in Tulsa remains an open question, with some contending for the Osage Hills, some...
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