Appearing on the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs’ podcast “Weighing In,” NFIB State Director Jerrod Shouse discusses small business owners’ opposition to State Question 832. During the interview, Shouse describes the numerous negative ripple effects State Question 832 will have on the state’s economy, consumers, workers, and Main Street employers.
Are high speed commercial Fiber Optic Lines being installed illegally in Oklahoma to connect multiple data centers? Are public utility rights-of-way being used for private commercial installations without the knowledge or permitting approval of local and state officials? Are Oklahomans being bamboozled by the monied elite for billions of dollars over decades with no compensation provided to local property owners? Could this be happening within clusters of data centers nationwide?
Phyllis Fallen heard a construction crew approaching her property on 660 Road one mile south of the Mayes County-Wagoner County line in Oklahoma. When she stepped outside and asked what they were doing, the crew said they were laying a fiber optic line. No compensation was offered, and no documentation was initially produced.
Tulsa, OK – The Demand Project has released Monday its 2025 Impact Report, highlighting a year of significant progress in prevention and restoration efforts in the fight against child trafficking while also celebrating a strong start to 2026 marked by expanded facilities and services for survivors.
In 2025, increased national attention from traditional and social media brought greater national awareness of the dangers children face online and the growing number of arrests by law enforcement. In response, The Demand Project expanded its reach and strengthened its programs to protect children and support survivors.
It has been the talk of Tulsa since Friday after the close of business. President Donald J. Trump endorsed Mike Mazzei for Oklahoma Governor. On Truth Social, President Trump wrote, “Mike Mazzei has my complete and total endorsement to be the next Governor of Oklahoma — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Forty years ago, Oklahoma learned a hard lesson about local power without oversight. Some now want its schools to return to a system it once abandoned for a reason.
In the early 1980s, the FBI ran an undercover operation in Oklahoma called OKSCAM. What it uncovered was a public corruption scandal remarkable for its sheer scale: at least 230 convictions touching 60 of the state’s 77 counties, all tied to a tidy and depressingly simple scheme (Holloway & Meyers, 1992). Suppliers padded invoices for road-building materials. Commissioners signed off. Kickbacks flowed back. Rinse and repeat.
It is tempting to file OKSCAM under “bad people taking advantage of the system,” close the report, and move on. That is the comfortable reading, and it is the wrong one. The reason it is wrong has very little to do with roads. It is a lesson about what happens when public money is spent where no one independent can see it — and four decades later, that lesson is being relearned in Oklahoma’s public schools.
