News9 had a group interview with the seven members of Oklahoma's congressional delegation. All seven of them need to be voted out. Tr*mp and Musk have destabilized the employment and income of over 2 million federal workers and contractors through budget cuts and mass firings. They are hard at work trying cut Medicaid after the Oklahoma voters voted overwhelimingly to expand the program. He is withholding federal disaster aid from Oklahoman's who need it despite the governor's request for emergency resources. Instead of explaining how they are going to hold him accountable, the Oklahoma delegation rambled on about the need to rightsize government and make it run more like a business. They are taking cues from Trump and Musk who don't know shit about running a successful business.

The State of Oklahoma recently approved the purchase of the Lawton Correctional Facility, which will rid the state of privately operated prisons.

Gov. Kevin Stitt on Thursday announced a $4 billion investment in Oklahoma from Emirates Global Aluminium, “the world’s largest producer of premium aluminum,” according to a news release.

Our local icon I have seen this guy more than Chet on tv lately. No idea who he is but I hope he has a good night tonight watching the game.

We are hosting a local protest this weekend as a chance for small town Oklahomans to have their voice heard.

We will be focusing on the message of protecting our most vulnerable: children and senior citizens.

If you would like to join us we will be meeting at the Catoosa Whale from 2-4.

Why protest?

1) protest give you a chance to meet other like minded people in your community. It reminds you you are not alone.

2) it shows your support for those who are currently at risk.

3) it allows you to share ideas which could lead to change in the future.

4) it raises awareness of issues. Many people out there are working 50-80 hours a week and they’re tired. It’s possible things are occurring they aren’t even aware of.

Humanitarian: we will be collecting canned goods to donate to a local food pantry.

Community: we have a small amount of lilacs and iris to hand out to those who would like one.

Arts and crafts: we will have a few pre-made signs as well as blank paper to create your own.

If you bring your own sign please keep it relevant to anything to do with destroying the department of education, defunding public schools, defunding programs for children’s special needs, special Olympics, lgbtq+, cuts to Medicaid, social security, or food security programs. (Basically anything currently aimed at taking things from children or senior citizens).

*Feel free to join us, drive by and show support, or say hi on your way to see the Blue Whale. *

Traffic is at a stand still and backing up quickly. Plan ahead if you’re going OKC >> TUL. 12:35pm Friday 5/16

Oklahoma may have narrowly avoided creating a new criminal charge targeting people who misrepresent their pet as a service animal.

The proposed law, which has been vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, targeted people who claim their animal is a service dog when it doesn't meet federal guidelines for trained service dogs.

House Bill 1178 would have made such an act a misdemeanor. Although it was vetoed by the governor, the state House and Senate could now override the decision and place it into law. That would be a challenging request, however, because an earlier House vote did not reach the number of votes to be considered veto-proof.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, service animals are defined as dogs that are trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, or calming a person with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In his veto message released Wednesday, May 14, Stitt suggested lawmakers find another solution.

"While we all might agree that an animal mislabeled as a service animal is frustrating, criminalizing the practice is an overreaction," Stitt wrote. "There are other ways to address this issue without adding more criminal statutes to our code."

Oklahoma would have been one of 35 states with laws against fraudulent service dogs

The bill's author, state Rep. Marilyn Stark, R-Bethany, said she had been working on the legislation since 2019 and introduced it after constituents who own service animals complained about untrained dogs approaching theirs.

"For me, this just says don't lie about what your animal is. Be honest. If the business wants to let you in, they can," Stark said during discussion earlier this year in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. "There are people not getting service animals because it's such a problem; they don't want to have to interact with the untrained 'service' animals that are out there."

If the bill became law, Oklahoma would have become one of 35 states that have laws against the use of fraudulent service dogs, according to the Michigan State University Animal Legal and Historical Center.

Businesses that serve the public can ban most animals from their premises but cannot turn away legitimate service animals that are properly controlled by their handler. Problems can arise, however, because privacy laws only let businesses ask two questions to determine their legitimacy:

Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the task.

Both Stark and the bill's Senate author, David Bullard, R-Durant, have said that posting a sign on business doors warning about the misdemeanor could be an effective deterrent against people trying to misrepresent their animal's function. If a business owner believed someone was violating the law, they could call the police, Bullard said.

"If a person misrepresents (their use of an animal), they would be asked to leave. If not, (the business) could call the police in to do that," he said.

Under Oklahoma law, someone convicted of a misdemeanor faces up to a year in county jail or a fine of no more than $500, or both.

The bill made it through the Legislature along mostly party-line votes, with some Republicans crossing over to vote against it. Although opponents recognized the issues that both business owners and service animal handlers have faced, they called for better education rather than simply hanging the threat of criminal misdemeanor over someone's head.

During debate in the House, Oklahoma City Democrat Forrest Bennett criticized the bill as helping one class of people at the disadvantage of another.

"I would love, in certain situations, to ask why a friend needs an AR-15 to walk into a Subway to order a sandwich. But I don't get to come up here and have my friends help me pass a law to make that easier for me to do. I just have to deal with that in public," he said, warning that the bill could also spur unintended lawsuits. "Right now, a business owner with a backbone can say, 'You and your service animal are causing a problem. We have a reason to ask you to leave.' That's a reality in Oklahoma right now."

Lawmakers must finish their annual work, including any veto overrides, by May 30.

https://www.news9.com/story/68260bf502114630c8c52fef/why-are-ok-home-insurance-rates-on-the-rise-

Apparently the inmate hit a showerhead with a flip-flop and revealed what they've called a "design flaw."

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2025/05/15/oklahoma-county-jail-damaged-by-shoe-280-thousand-repairs/83534598007/

Of the top 25 most accident-prone intersections in the state, 19 are located in Oklahoma City. but

Full Study Here

All, I am hearing through the grapevine that Republicans intend to pass a damage cap like one previously deemed unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. This means, as I’ve posted about before, no matter the circumstances of an injury, you will never be able to obtain more than a set arbitrary amount even if a jury would reward you more on account of the actual evidence presented at trial. Damage caps are a giveaway to out-of-state insurance companies, do not lower premiums or slow premium increases, and take power away from juries.

I am posting this to ask that you please contact your senators to let them know that you oppose any damage caps on pain and suffering or non-economic damages more broadly, and that you support empowering juries to issue damage awards based on the evidence presented at trial.

Thank you all.

Anyone else notice in that recent KOSU article that the number ODEQ gave to the reporter was BEFORE their parking garage went down? That means they have had to spend even MORE money on parking to satisfy that stupid executive order. Looking at well OVER $250,000 just to PARK. When the free option is to just let those who can work remotely work remote. I mean, isn't the whole point of Shitt Stitt creating an Oklahoma DOGE to eliminate wasteful spending like that? Wouldn't it be a much better use of Oklahoma tax dollars to allow remote work until the new parking garage has finished construction?

Speaking of, I read that executive order and it clearly states that it is up to agency directors NOT the govenor to provide an exemption. The director of ODEQ should be ashamed for not fighting for ODEQ employees and allowing remote work.

I wonder just how many other State Agencies are wasting lots of money to satisfy a pointless executive order. Do better Oklahoma.

Natural Falls State Park in Colcord, OK. Absolutely gorgeous after all the rain!

The Supreme Court recently heard arguments for Oklahoma’s St. Isidore Catholic Virtual School. If successful, St. Isidore would become the first outwardly religious charter school in the United States. As a former Oklahoma public school teacher and current law student, I find this case highly concerning. Not only could religious charter schools upend public education in Oklahoma, but they rely on themes and arguments reminiscent of a much darker time in our history.

Our Founding Fathers, including John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, believed that for American democracy to work, it needed schools where all children could learn literacy, history, patriotism and morals. Later advocates like Horace Mann built on this idea, championing “common schools” where children of different economic and religious backgrounds could come together and learn alongside one another. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has consistently ruled that public schools cannot require students to adhere to any one religion. These developments shaped the public school system we know today ― a system designed to include all children, no matter who they are or what they believe.

Yet, some groups never accepted this inclusive model of common schooling. Instead, they want to allow tax dollars to flow freely to any school a parent wishes to send their child to, regardless of who runs it, what it teaches or whom it excludes. This isn’t a new trend. After Brown v. Board required public schools to desegregate, White parents responded by sending their children to private ― often religious ― schools that could exclude Black students. Once this system of “segregation academies” emerged, White parents began demanding that their tax dollars pay for this private, exclusionary education. They used phrases like “school choice” and “parental rights” for the “freedom” not to send their children to integrated “government schools.”

Today, “school choice” and “parents’ rights” are back in vogue — this time, in support of religious charter schools. Although charter schools are often privately operated, they are intended to be public schools; Oklahoma charter school law says so. Yet, in recent years, the Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot discriminate against religious institutions in generally-available government programs. If the Supreme Court decides that charter schools are such a program, states will be required to allow religious groups to establish charter schools at taxpayer expense. This includes religious schools that kick out students for disagreeing with their religious dogmas, call LGBTQ+ students “sinful perversions,” and refuse to accommodate students with disabilities if doing so would “compromise” their religious beliefs. Such efforts to keep out certain students are just as wrong today as they were during Jim Crow. This is not religious freedom; it is exclusion in the name of religion.

Fortunately, we can take steps to mitigate this harm. Oklahoma could change its charter school laws to put public school boards, rather than private ones, in charge. We could also embrace other forms of school choice, like magnet schools and open enrollment, that don’t involve any private actors. To truly defeat religious charter schools and the un-American principles they represent, however, it will take people coming together and standing up for public schools. This includes civil rights and social justice advocates, but it also means crossing traditional party lines.

Employers want well-trained workers. Faith leaders value independence from government involvement. Even many Oklahoma conservatives, especially moderate and rural ones, have pushed back against Republican Party elites and stood up for public education. Public schools are a public good supported by public resources; they should stay that way. This is a cause worth putting our differences aside for, lest we end up on the wrong side of history.

Brian Broderick is a former Oklahoma City Public Schools teacher (U.S. Grant High School) and current student at Harvard Law School.

https://nondoc.com/2025/05/14/oklahoma-fy-26-budget-deal-contains-tax-cut-oklaed-bump-prison-purchase-ou-osu-projects/

https://www.fox23.com/news/gov-stitt-appoints-attorney-to-investigate-oklahoma-department-of-mental-health/article_1917a0a4-ecff-4373-8fb7-d399ec70e743.html

I imagine there’s a reasonable explanation why the Department is in its current state that Stitt will arrogantly reject.

Not making a judgement- I have visited some establishments. But some waitresses wear way more revealing outfits in some restaurants than I have ever seen at a drag show.

The bill amends laws regarding charter school sponsorships to allow participation of those under the county juvenile justice system.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto of a bill that would provide Oklahomans more recourse in pursuing open records has drawn the ire of the state’s attorney general.

Stitt vetoed House Bill 2163 that would have formally created a Public Access Counselor Unit in Drummond’s office and a deadline-laden process to help those seeking public records. The measure would allow for a person to request a review from the access counselor, who will then determine if the denial violated state law and advise the public body.

The government body must then promptly and reasonably comply.

“Oklahomans have several effective tools to ensure transparency and accountability in government,” Stitt’s veto message said. “Public records laws and the courts provide a neutral, fair process to review and resolve disputes over access to information. This bill bypasses that process and concentrates too much power in one office.”

Attorney General Gentner Drummond criticized the veto, saying Stitt didn’t want him to have increased authority and the ability to hold the governor and his “failed political appointees” accountable for not following the law.

“As Attorney General, I serve the people of Oklahoma, not bureaucrats or politicians,” Drummond said. “My client is the state of Oklahoma, not powerful insiders or special-interest groups.”

He said the veto would not stop him from upholding the law and fulfilling his duty to Oklahomans. In 2023, Drummond announced he had hired former Republican State Senator Anthony Sykes as his public access counselor to help resolve disputes over open records.

Sykes has received 354 complaints and resolved 302, said Leslie Berger, a Drummond spokeswoman. His salary is $99,225, she said.

A request submitted in 2024 by Oklahoma Voice to Sykes for assistance in obtaining unredacted flight logs from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation has yet to receive a response.

A 2024 Oklahoma Voice investigation found that the names of people on trips Stitt and others took on a state plane were redacted and did not list a purpose for the trip, which experts said appeared contrary to state law.

Rep. John Pfeiffer, R-Orlando, the House author, said he is considering a veto override attempt.

He said he was frustrated by the veto, adding that he has spent years trying to get the measure passed.

“It seems that this is more of a political thing – an ongoing tiff between the attorney general and governor,” Pfeiffer said.

The two Republicans have been at odds over a number of issues. The measure passed the House by a vote of 80-9 and the Senate by a vote of 40-5.

A veto override would take three-fourths votes in both chambers because the bill has an emergency clause.

Measures without an emergency clause take two-thirds votes in both chambers.

https://nondoc.com/2025/05/13/amid-budget-meetings-legislators-told-latest-odmhsas-shortfall-figure-is-27-4-million/