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Tulsa Election 2022: Filing day 2
At the end of the second day (June 14, 2022) of the three-day filing period for the 2022 City of Tulsa election for City Council and City Auditor, only two incumbents remain unopposed: District 3 Councilor Crista Patrick (D) and City Auditor Cathy Champion Carter (D). All nine City Council...
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.
Yes, Prime Minister: School choice and its opponents
A 1988 episode of the BBC political sitcom Yes, Prime Minister provides an humor-laden insight into the motivations and methods of the forces that seek to squelch educational reform. Last December, EdChoice CEO Robert Enlow and Director of Policy Jason Bedrick commented on key clips from the episode and how...
GT Bynum's transgender executive order
I will be on with Pat Campbell on AM 1170 KFAQ tomorrow morning, August 29, 2019, just after the 8 a.m. news, to discuss Tulsa Mayor G. T. Bynum IV's executive order adding gender identity and gender expression to the city's non-discrimination policy. (UPDATE: Here's the podcast of my August...
Look for the Chamber label -- then vote for someone else
It may seem counter-intuitive, but if you're a conservative, the Chamber of Commerce is not your friend. Not the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, not the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, not the Tulsa Regional Chamber. If you're a conservative voting in the Republican primary, look to see whom the Chambers are supporting, then give your vote to some other candidate. If the Chambers are attacking a Republican candidate, she's probably worthy of your enthusiastic backing.
Rex Berry: Anti-2nd-Amendment atheist for Tulsa County sheriff
It's ridiculous. Tomorrow we'll vote for a sheriff to fill the remaining eight months of the unexpired term of Stanley Glanz, and then a week later candidates will file to run for the full four-year term that begins on January 1, 2017. Glanz resigned effective November 1, 2015. Had he...
Donald Trump in Tusla
On Wednesday, I attended the Tulsa rally for presidential candidate Donald Trump with former Alaska Gov. and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, held at ORU's Mabee Center. I was there as a member of the news media; I received an email at 7 pm the night before the event saying that...
Jonathan Gruber? Never heard of him
Jonathan Gruber is the MIT economics professor, often called the "architect of Obamacare," who has said publicly that Obamacare's passage owed much to the "stupidity of the American people" and that its authors necessarily obfuscated the impacts on taxpayers in order to get the bill passed. "Lack of transparency is...
Booker T. Washington High School curriculum, 1921
This Land Press has posted photos of every page of the Booker T. Washington High School Yearbook from 1921, the year of the race riot that destroyed the community which Washington High served. Faculty: Nine men, six women, and all appear to be African-American. Course of Study Freshman Class Latin...
<em>Tulsa World</em> to be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary
The Tulsa World announced today that BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, will buy the newspaper from the Lorton family, with the sale expected to close in March. A sale to Berkshire Hathaway is good news for the employees of the World, at least those involved directly in...
The battle for FreedomWorks
Mother Jones, a left wing magazine, has been reporting on a feud at FreedomWorks between former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the chairman of FreedomWorks, and his allies on one side, and FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe and his supporters on the other. Kibbe and Armey co-wrote Give Us Liberty: A...
Learn Ancient Greek at Augustine Christian Academy
It's back-to-school time for the Bates family. In years past, that applied to our three kids and Mom, who homeschools the youngest two. This year it applies to Dad, too. This morning I taught my first session of Ancient Greek I at Augustine Christian Academy (ACA) as part-time teacher. There...
Santorum the right choice for Oklahoma
I had decided some time ago that when Oklahoma's turn to vote came around, I would cast my vote as necessary to block Mitt Romney's progress toward the Republican nomination. Whoever was ahead of Romney in the polls or the closest to beating him would get my vote. (Dan McLaughlin,...
Tulsa Election 2011: Democrat Suliburk the conservative in District 8
In the previous entry, I mentioned a candidate survey issued by OK-SAFE -- Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise. Say what you will about OK-SAFE and their views, but the group's questionnaire gets into the details of real questions facing City of Tulsa officials, and they allow candidates to respond...
Architecture + Morality
Following a link to a critical article about Glenn Beck, I came across a blog called Architecture + Morality. The blog's tagline: "Musings on Architecture, Urbanism, Politics, Economics and Religion." The two co-bloggers are "relieved debtor" -- a Lutheran pastor -- and "corbusier" -- an architect, both based in the...
9/12 March on Washington; Blogcon overview
Just a quick note to mention that I'll be at the 9/12 March on Washington this afternoon, along with many of the other BlogCon attendees. You can read live updates on the BatesLine Twitter feed and by searching for the hashtag #912dc. A number of us will be shooting video...
To raise Oklahoma per-pupil funding, use school vouchers
Mickey Hepner, Professor of Economics at the University of Central Oklahoma, suggests one way to raise per-pupil school funding, other than raising taxes or cutting non-education spending: Offer vouchers to encourage parents to put their children in private schools. In 2008-2009 Oklahoma education funding averaged $8,006 per student. This figure...
Will Craig County mortgage its future for a community center?
My friend Tyson Wynn has an editorial on WelchOK.com about tomorrow's special election in Craig County to extend a sales tax that currently expires in 2023 to 2040 in order to pay for a new community center. You read that right: They intend to borrow against assumed revenues far into...
Help make a wish come true
A note from Joe Kelley, KRMG Morning Show host and chairman of Oklahoma's Make-A-Wish Foundation: My Friends, Six weeks ago, I accepted the call to become Chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma. As a two-time childhood cancer survivor, the mission of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is very personal to me....
Barbecue conversations: The Fields Downs Randolph building
Photo by Daniel Hickman. On Saturday I went to a barbecue with lots of good food and a wide variety of people. One of the highlights of the day was a lesson in the economics of downtown preservation and demolition. In the midst of a political discussion across the...
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