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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...
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.
Sapulpa Route 66 Christmas Chute, Rhema Lights final nights
The Route 66 Christmas Chute on Dewey Avenue in downtown Sapulpa, Oklahoma, has just two more nights to run, but it continues to be a popular attraction two months after its opening on November 3, 2022. Ten overhanging steel structures decorated with a variety of themes stand in the...
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 general election: BatesLine ballot card
Published April 3, 2022, postdated to remain at the top of the page until the polls close on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Tuesday, April 5, 2022, is general election day for K-12 school board seats in Oklahoma. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Seats on technology...
2022 School & Municipal Primary Election: BatesLine ballot card
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS UPDATE, with all precincts counted: The conservative, pro-parent school board candidates have either won outright (Debbie Taylor in Broken Arrow) or made it into a runoff (conservative Tim Harris against Susan Lamkin, who had the endorsement of the GKFF-connected incumbent and the support of the TPS establishment; conservative...
Tim Harris for Tulsa School Board
As a prosecutor who has seen the tragic results of failed public schools, as a long-time volunteer serving young people, as an administrator with responsibility over a complex organization, and as a devout Christian husband, father, and grandfather, Tim Harris has the values and experience we need on the Tulsa school board.
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...
Tulsa School Board 2020 campaign contributions and expenditures
UPDATE: Jerry Griffin emails with his complete report, which includes itemized expenditures, and which he says he filed. Either the district clerk's copy got lost, or I overlooked it. I've added the information below. Below are the campaign ethics reports filed with the Tulsa Public Schools district clerk as of...
Why streetcars survived in Boston
It's a commonplace sentiment among fans of streetcars that a cabal of car and tire manufacturers bought out city streetcar systems one by one and shut them down, replacing the wonderful old PCC trolley cars with diesel-belching buses. In reality, there were many factors undermining the popularity and financial feasibility...
Shawnee to Sapulpa by electric interurban
Another interesting map find. This Rand McNally Vest Pocket Map of Oklahoma from 1910 appears to be an earlier map, overprinted in red to show numbers indexed to railway names and parcel companies and to show electric railway lines. The U. S. Post Office did not deliver parcels until January...
Tulsa County plats, indexes online
Exciting news! Yesterday, Tulsa County Clerk Michael Willis announced that subdivision plats for Tulsa County are now online. You no longer have to subject yourself to downtown parking and courthouse metal detectors to access this fascinating trove of Tulsa history. We have a pretty big deal launching in the Tulsa...
Crystal City Amusement Park
Crystal City Amusement Park was on Route 66 (Sapulpa Road, now Southwest Blvd) between 41st Street and 33rd West Avenue. The site is now occupied by the Crystal City Shopping Center (whose name was the nemesis of radio announcers). Crystal City was home to a roller coaster named Zingo,...
Oklahoma FY17 budget agreement announced
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, and House Speaker Jeff Hickman have announced a budget agreement. Under the plan, total appropriations for the 2016-2017 fiscal year (FY17) will be $6,778,186,009, down about 1% from the revised FY16 appropriation of $6,845,994,842, and down about 5% from the...
Cross-country cyclist falls in love with Tulsa
Originally posted on April 3, 2016. Bumped to the top for those who may have missed it during the election. We've been hearing lately that we need dams in our river to attract creative young people to Tulsa. Yeah, no, it doesn't make sense to me either, but given that...
Vision Tulsa, sheriff special election: BatesLine ballot card
Here are my recommended votes in the Tulsa County special election on April 5, 2016, for the unexpired term for Tulsa County Sheriff and county and municipal sales tax propositions. Links lead to more detailed information or earlier blog entries. (This entry may change as I decide to add...
Vision Tulsa and Tulsa County, April 5, 2016, election in a nutshell
Tomorrow, April 5, 2016, voters across Tulsa County have a special election for sheriff and will also vote on the county's sales tax proposal (1/20th of a cent for 15 years) for capital projects. Here's what the white countywide ballot will look like. Voters in several Tulsa County municipalities will...
Tulsa County Sheriff special election ethics filings
Many thanks to the Tulsa County Election Board for providing scans of the campaign contribution filings for the candidates in the special election for Tulsa County Sheriff. (For a brief shining moment, campaign reports for candidates and committees in the state's largest counties were filed electronically with the Oklahoma Ethics...
Tulsa pastor indicted for embezzlement
Indicted for "unlawfully divert[ing] Community Center funds for his own personal benefit in the approximate amount of $933,507.80": Rev. Willard Jones, a pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, faces three counts of wire fraud and one count of tax fraud. FOX23 learned a community center the church built was the vision...
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