The Chickasaw Nation has been at the forefront of the pushback against Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, which at its core, is about money. Prior to the McGirt decision, Stitt’s attempt to renegotiate the gaming compacts between the tribal nations and the state, which expired in 2019 as he was taking office, did not go well. Oklahoma is home to the most Indian Casinos and Gaming Centers in the country. As Stitt pushed to increase the state’s share and mimic the agreements reflected in other states, the tribes objected to both the terms and the timeline.
National and state headlines may lead Oklahoma parents to fear “woke” indoctrination in public schools is inevitable and cannot be stopped. That’s not the case. Actions taken in recent years are bearing fruit.
A 2021 law, HB 1775, banned classroom instruction or staff training that advocates that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Thanks to that law, State Board of Education was recently able to penalize both Tulsa Public Schools and the Mustang district for violating the anti-Critical Race Theory law.
Updated: The Tulsa County Election Board has received and forwarded complaints to law enforcement that County Commissioner District 3 Candidate Bob Jack’s campaign mailer in mid-June was illegal ballot harvesting. Multiple complaints have been forwarded to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office. Tulsa Today reported June 20th that Jack’s mailer violated privacy and risked identity theft, but the story keeps growing.
Update 1: Rachel Roberts, Director of Communications for the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General today notified Tulsa Today that they, “received a recusal from DA Kunzweiler’s office and we are in the process of assigning the case to another DA for review,”
The official definitions of “Absentee Ballot Harvesting” include, “Partially or fully completing an application for an absentee ballot on behalf of another person without that person’s prior consent.” Bob Jack’s campaign mailed absentee ballot applications to voters that included their full legal names, addresses and birthdays completed on the form without their “prior consent.”
On October 13, 1981, Gertrude Marshall Blakey, a wealthy 73-year-old Tulsan, was attacked in the doorway of her home at 1843 East 31st Place. Forty years later, it remains an unsolved open case of homicide.
Her grandson and family trustee, Marshall Johnson (age 47) has independently investigated the murder since 2008. He says, “the court system has been used to hinder my investigation of Gertrude Blakey’s murder.” To that point, Johnson was accused July 21, 2021, of stalking by Tulsa Judge Millie E. Otey and her husband attorney Sam P. Daniel III who have lived in Blakey’s former home since her death.
Johnson left a message on Daniel’s business phone. Johnson and Daniel’s characterization of the call dramatically differ, but both agree the call was a decade after any previous contact.
In an exclusive interview, this writer called Daniel who said, “I just want this guy to leave us alone. But if he is calling you to continue this harassment then I am going to do something about it. I don’t know what, but I take this very seriously. I have put up with this for a long time as well as have several other very prominent attorneys and government officials in this town. I don’t want to tell you how to do your business, but I would definitely ask you not to publish anything about this. This is a very problematic situation.”
A billion here and a billion there of wasted money! Over the last many years, certain special interest groups have managed to ride the coattails of Oklahoma taxpayers to great profits.
As a free market capitalist, I am always in favor of entrepreneurs making tremendous profits when they provide great products and services to customers. However, I cringe when hardworking Oklahomans pay up big time for special interest groups to fuel the gravy train of subsidized revenues. And people wonder why we can’t pay our teachers enough or we’re still forced to require taxes on personal income!
