Tulsa District 3 Candidate Void

By Karen O'Brien

The City of Tulsa is holding general elections for mayor, city auditor, and city council on August 27, 2024 with a filing deadline of June 12th. Council District 3, long my home district, has no candidate on the ballot declared at this time. The current Councilor, Crista Patrick, is stepping down, and there appears to be no civic-minded resident willing to step in the void. Not one.

For many years there was a leap frog term exchange between Roscoe Turner and David Patrick as Councilors for the District. After Mr. Patrick’s passing, his daughter Crista took up the mantle. All have advanced growth and fought what negative issues came with that growth.

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Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act Signed

By David Arnett

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law House Bill 3089 Monday. Introduced by Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Tulsa, and sponsored by Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, the act aims to provide financial grants to construct or retrofit homes, making them more resilient against the destructive forces of tornadoes, windstorms and hail.

Under the new law, known as the Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act, grants will be made available by the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) to residential property owners who meet specific eligibility criteria. These criteria include an owner-occupied, single-family primary residence. The grants are intended to help homeowners achieve safety standards outlined by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS).

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The Case for Catoosa’s 911 Dispatch Center

By Rep. Terry O’Donnell

Recently, I participated in a hearing before the 911 Management Authority on behalf of the City of Catoosa. Police Chief Ronnie Benight and I spoke in support of the city’s application to build a 911 dispatch center in its new police/fire station. 

Catoosa submitted its application several months ago, but it was slowed by the Authority’s red tape. In fact, Catoosa’s application was slowed down so much it was in danger of not being approved by the statutory deadline of July 31.

This is a really big deal for our community. Catoosa, in 2022, bonded $20 million for the police/fire station, with $2.2 million of that specified for the 911 dispatch center. Catoosa was very much in peril of losing this application and having to build its dispatch center for nothing.

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Stormy’s Tulsa Attorney

By David Arnett

Update: Editor’s Note: What we believe funny, that two self-aggrandizing disingenuous personalities could find themselves in the passing media slime-light with a Tulsa connection, the daily rag considered serious enough for repeated weekend coverage. Readers are welcome to compare our first report below, but these, “professionally” skilled or not egos have no valued opinions on future and former-President Donald J. Trump. Just to fully inform other media why we didn’t feature their quotes.

Fox News reported Thursday, “Trump defense attorneys on Thursday said Stormy Daniels’ story about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president keeps changing because the affair never happened. 

“Defense attorney for former President Trump Susan Necheles led the continued cross-examination of Daniels Thursday, after her hours-long testimony on Tuesday that prompted the Trump team to motion for a mistrial, calling it “unnecessary” and “prejudicial.” The judge denied the motion. 

“Necheles, during questioning, pointed to a statement Daniels signed in 2018 denying an encounter with Trump ever took place. Daniels said she did not write the statement, but signed it,” the news outlet reported.

Tulsans may have noticed a familiar face in the story with a photo provided by Tulsa’s own Brewster & De Angelis Law Offices.

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School, Student Texts To Include Parents

By David Arnett

The House today adopted Senate amendments to a bill that would require school personnel engaging in electronic or digital communication with a student to include the student’s parent or guardians. House Bill 3958, authored by Rep. Sherrie Conley, R-Newcastle, now moves to the governor. This is good news for Oklahomans raising children.

“There have been absolutely too many reports of inappropriate digital communications shared between educators and students, whether that be inappropriate pictures or texts of a sexual nature,” Conley said. “These have long-term devastating effects for young people and can ruin the lives of educators when they are wrongly accused. It’s our desire that teachers and coaches be able to share homework assignments or team communications freely with their students, but including a parent or guardian protects the students and the educators from any potential impropriety. This also keeps parents fully engaged in their child’s education.”

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