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NO on Oklahoma SQ 820 recreational marijuana legalization
All of Oklahoma's voters have an election on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The only thing on the ballot is State Question 820, which would enact a law to legalize marijuana for any purpose, over and above the "medical" marijuana law, SQ 788, approved by voters in June 2018. I will...
Oklahoma SQ 805: Lighter sentences for career criminals
Oklahoma State Question 805 would insert a new article into the Oklahoma Constitution to ban longer sentences for repeat felony offenders. The question arises from an initiative petition. (UPDATE: On October 30, 2020, I spoke with Jeremie Poplin, filling in for Pat Campbell on Talk Radio 1170 KFAQ, about both...
Tulsa Election 2020, District 4: Kathryn Lyons questionnaire
Back on August 12, I sent the three eligible candidates for City Council District 4 a questionnaire using the email addresses provided in their declarations of candidacy or on their websites. The questionnaire included the 18 questions I asked the mayoral candidates, plus a question about neighborhood conservation districts and...
Tulsa Election 2020: Mayoral candidate questionnaire
Last Wednesday, BatesLine sent a questionnaire to the six serious candidates for Mayor of Tulsa, using the email addresses provided in their declarations of candidacy or on their websites. We sent two reminders. We received replies from three candidates: Craig Immel, Ken Reddick, and Ty Walker. The survey consists of...
2020 Oklahoma Retail Theft Survey
The Oklahoma Retail Crime Association issued its annual retail theft survey today, noting "massive spikes in both the numbers of losses due to theft and the amounts taken" for Oklahoma retailers. Already hard-hit by the growth of online sales and the (hopefully temporary) impact of coronavirus, retailers don't need...
Re-elect District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler
Time is short, but here is a brief explanation of my choice in this race, a reiteration of what I said on KFAQ last week. I thought at the time that Steve Kunzweiler made the right, but uncomfortable, decision in the Shelby case, and I still feel that way, given...
Senators, Governor renege on tax pledge; Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite launched; Ritze harassed by pro-tax rep
Wednesday night the Oklahoma State Senate passed the massive package of tax increases that was approved earlier in the week by the State House, and the bills were signed by Governor Mary Fallin. The largest tax bill, HB1010XX, passed by 36-10, including three Taxpayer Protection Pledge-breakers: State Senators Kim David,...
What I told the <em>Guardian</em> about Oklahoma's budget crisis and what the <em>Grauniad</em> published
If you're wondering why people believe the mainstream news media is more interested in pushing a narrative rather than reporting the facts, I've got a story for you. If you want to know why you shouldn't trust a mainstream news outlet to give you multiple reasoned perspectives on a complex...
Oklahoma SQ 780: Decriminalization of drug possession
UPDATED 2016/11/02: Having completed my analysis of all 23 sections of the SQ 780 legislation, I have revised the introductory text below to provide a better summary of the effect of passing the state question. Oklahoma State Question 780 began life as an initiative petition. Unlike most state questions, its...
9/11, 15 years on
Time flies. The five-year-old boy I took to the zoo -- and kept away from the TV and the radio -- the day the terrorists flew planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center is on his way back to college after a short visit home. Sonia Shah was...
Tulsa District 9: G. T. Bynum ethics complaint
I received an email Monday containing an anonymous ethics complaint that had been filed against Tulsa District 9 City Councilor G. T. Bynum. The text of that complaint, with links to relevant documentation added by me, can be found on the jump page for this article. (For your reference, here...
Phil Lakin and G. T. Bynum: The (as yet) unchallenged
At the end of day one of filing for the 2011 Tulsa city elections, two districts had a single candidate with no announced opponent preparing to enter the race. Phil Lakin is the sole candidate so far in far south Tulsa's District 8. Lakin, CEO of Tulsa Community Foundation and...
2006 State Questions
This morning on KFAQ, in between reports about the host's gastrointestinal health, Sen. Randy Brogdon (a man with the patience of Job) provided an informative overview of the four legislative referenda on next Tuesday's ballot. (Here is a PDF with the language you will see on the ballot.) My brief...
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