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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...
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...
Oklahoma 2022: Tulsa area legislative races
Two State Senate districts and six State House districts that overlap with Tulsa County have general elections on November 8, 2022. Neighboring counties add in four additional State House seats. Here's an overview with my recommendations in six of the races; details after the jump, and more to be added....
Oklahoma Primary 2022: Tulsa area county & legislative races
More short takes on races for county offices, Tulsa area legislative seats, and judicial races. There isn't a primary in two of the Tulsa County races up this year: County Treasurer John Fothergill did not draw an opponent at all, and District 1 County Commissoner Stan Sallee is unopposed for...
Tulsa redecorates Golden Driller, begs for Tesla
It's cringe-worthy. Some persons, apparently with the permission of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, painted the Tesla logo on the chest of the Golden Driller, and painted the name Tesla on his belt buckle, over the word Tulsa. If that weren't bad enough, used some kind of wrap to...
Christian parenting: Immunizing against baptized liberalism, training the mind and the sentiments, and the call to heroism
One of the biggest fears of any Christian parent is that his child will abandon the faith in which he was raised once he's away from home. Some charismatic peer or professor will attempt to convert him to a new religion, which could be anything from a different branch of...
David Brumbaugh, RIP
Oklahoma State Representative David Brumbaugh died Saturday night, April 15, 2017, of a heart attack. Brumbaugh, a Republican who had represented House District 76 in Broken Arrow since his first election in 2010 and chaired the House Republican Caucus, was 56 years old. He is survived by his wife and...
Oklahoma Election 2014: judicial retention ballot
Three justices of the State Supreme Court (Reif, Colbert, Watt), one justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals (Lumpkin), and five justices of the Court of Civil Appeals (Goodman, Wiseman, Barnes, Rapp, Goree) will be on Tuesday's ballot. Oklahoma has a two-path appellate system: Criminal cases are appealed to the...
Bartlett Jr boots Riverside sidewalks
It has been the City of Tulsa's policy for at least 15 years to build sidewalks when rebuilding arterial streets. During the recent reconstruction of Yale Avenue between 21st and 31st Streets, utilities were moved and sidewalks were built on both sides of the street, allowing safe passage for pedestrians...
Oklahoma's electrocutioner, Rich Owens
Larry Harnisch, a local history blogger in Los Angeles, has reposted a 1948 Daily Oklahoman profile of Rich Owens, who built Oklahoma's first electric chair and ran it for 33 years at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Reporter Ray Parr had gone to visit Owens at his home in McAlester...
<em>In tenebris</em>
(There are a fair number of stream-of-consciousness reminiscences in this piece, so to simplify matters, the main thread of last Friday's story is in normal text, and the flashbacks are in italics.) My feet hit the floor at 4:15 a.m. Eastern time Good Friday morning; pitch black outside. After a...
My election day
In case you were wondering: 6:00 am -- Up after a night of tossing and turning, during which I dream of total on-air collapse: I don't get my database stuff finished, I can't keep up with the precincts as they come in, I have nothing coherent to say. 6:20 am...
The Roth-McClendon connection
In my column endorsing Dana Murphy in the short-term Corporation Commission race, I wrote about the mutual back-scratching relationship between Chesapeake Energy head Aubrey McClendon and Corporation Commission seat-warmer Jim Roth. 1. McClendon helped Roth get elected to the Oklahoma County Commission. 2. Roth built a bridge in the middle...
Down with the gummint!
I very nearly turned my column this week into a sociological study of the denizens of Tulsa's Money Belt and how their behavior is shaped by peer pressure and fear of ostracism. In connection with the Great Plains Airlines bailout, I was thinking about a friend who asked me if...
Arkansas River roundtable
It's always fascinating when you get civic and business leaders speaking more candidly than they normally would in public. Back in February, the Journal Record published a transcript of a panel discussion concerning Arkansas River development in Tulsa. It was the Square Feet Real Estate Roundtable, and the discussion involved...
<em>Preposterous Papa</em>: Max Meyer's rules for tourist court clerks
In memory of Max Meyer and the natural stone tourist court he built on Route 66 north of Kellyville, an excerpt from Preposterous Papa by Lewis Meyer (pp. 99 - 102, 132-135): Papa was a compulsive builder. He went on building binges the way an alcoholic goes on drinking sprees....
Bates Motel really existed (sort of), right here in Tulsa
(Image originally from AlanOfTulsa on fotothing.com; direct link to photo.) One more Route 66 related entry. Someone called alanoftulsa posted this postcard with the following info on the TulsaNow forum. The doings at cousin Norman's place almost sound tame compared to the real-life Bates Tourist Hotel. Because of the conditions...
Condemning TU: University of Tulsa benefits from city's abuse of eminent domain
An edited version of this piece was published in the August 9, 2006, issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly. The edited, published version of the piece is online in the Internet Archive. Posted on the web April 28, 2013. Condemning TU By Michael D. Bates Usually it's the daily paper's editorial...
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