Search this site
Matching entries from BatesLine
Are charter schools "state actors"?
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board has authorized an explicitly Roman Catholic virtual charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, to begin operation in the 2024-2025 school year. Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a pretend-conservative and Biden for President donor who won the GOP nomination with the help...
February 13, 2024, Oklahoma school primary
ELECTION RESULTS: Tulsa County school district bond issues all passed by a wide margin, each proposition exceeding 80% in favor. School bond issues fell short of the 60% threshold in Canute, Krebs, Silo, and Tupelo. In Boswell, Tuttle, and Weleetka school districts, a majority of voters voted against the bond...
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...
Oklahoma Primary 2022: Statewide races
Somewhat short takes on the races for Oklahoma statewide office on the June 28, 2022, Republican primary ballot. Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell did not draw a primary opponent, and Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready has been re-elected without opposition. I've endorsed John O'Connor for Attorney General in a separate entry....
Tulsa's Gathering Place sues Shawnee coffeehouse
See the end of this post for an update with the lawsuit's resolution. Tulsa's Gathering Place, LLC, has filed a lawsuit in federal court against a family-owned coffeehouse in Shawnee, Oklahoma, 90 miles away. The trademark complaint, filed on Friday, September 24, 2021, in the Western District of Oklahoma, claims...
2021 School & Municipal General Election: BatesLine ballot card
Below are my thoughts on some of the races in the Oklahoma school board and municipal general election on April 6, 2021, along with links to candidate websites, social media profiles, and candidate forums for elections and bond issues on Tuesday's ballot in Tulsa County.
2021 School, City, and Special Primary: BatesLine ballot card
Polls are open today until 7 p.m. The Oklahoma State Election Board's online voter tool will let you know where to vote and will show you a sample of the ballot you'll see. Below are my thoughts on some of the races in the Oklahoma school board primary election and...
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...
Oklahoma Primary 2020: BatesLine ballot card
Here are the candidates I'm recommending in the Oklahoma primary elections on June 30, 2020, plus links to detailed analysis and recommendations from other trusted voices.
No on SQ802: Obamacare Medicaid expansion
The only state question on the June 30, 2020, primary ballot is Oklahoma State Question 802. This would create a new Constitutional Amendment, Article XXV-A, requiring the State of Oklahoma to offer Obamacare Medicaid expansion coverage to anyone below a certain income, regardless of the person's work or family status....
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...
Tulsa animal ordinance rewrite slights public input
UPDATE 2020/04/27: CCP Bat Virus has delayed the Tulsa City Council's final vote on the new animal ordinance, which is now set for the regular council meeting on May 11, 2020, 5 p.m., at City Hall. If you raise backyard poultry in the City of Tulsa, if you sell...
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...
BatesLine retrospective: The "bickering Tulsa City Councilors" narrative
In writing the previous entry about the Covington Catholic High School students, I wrote about how local Tulsa media pushed a narrative that Tulsa City Councilors, particularly those elected with grassroots support over the objections of the chamber of commerce, developers, and other special interest groups, were bickering troublemakers. This...
Can the blogosphere be reconnected?
Some recent articles have had me thinking about blogs, what we had, what we lost, and how we might be able to get it back. As massive social media sites have brought the global conversation under centralized control, concentrating the power to exclude people and opinions in the hands of...
What is the Republican Party?
Tom Nichols, a prominent "Never Trumper," and author of The Death of Expertise, has written an op-ed for The Atlantic to explain why he's leaving the Republican Party. It's hard to take Mr. Expert seriously when he uses the "GOP" as the subject of a sentence, as an entity with...
Oklahoma primary 2018 results: Runoffs galore
I'll be on with Pat Campbell on 1170 KFAQ at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning to discuss tonight's results. We are headed for runoffs galore. As I write this a bit after 11 p.m., Kevin Stitt is leading Todd Lamb for the second spot in the runoff by about 2400 votes....
Feed Subscription
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries matching 'special interest groups'. [What is this?]
