Free Republic

More than a month after a new fiscal year began Oct. 1, the House and Senate are still pressing to pass a group of bills to improve veterans’ benefits and health programs, rolling them together in “omnibus” legislative packets. The omnibus bills can then be shaped by final compromises between the two chambers and passed relatively quickly, often by voice vote, so lawmakers can move on to other business. Standing athwart those plans this month, however, is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a family physician whose top goal as a lawmaker has been to slow the rising tide of debt caused,...

Jason Hunt transferred to Texas to be closer to his family. As a boy, Jason Hunt once had to wear silver caps on his front teeth. When he was too timid to smile, his sister, appealing to his love of video games, asked him to show his Ninja Turtle teeth. "He was so embarrassed and such a shy boy," recalled his sister Leila Willingham, 30, of Frederick, Okla. "That was the only way I could make him smile." In high school, Hunt refused to dissect a cat for a class assignment. He was so upset that his mother had to...

Tea Party Express Oklahoma City Photos from November 4, 2009

Sanford Bishop (GA-2) WASHINGTON OFFICE 2429 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC 20515-1002 Phone- (202) 225-3631 Fax- (202) 225-2203 ALBANY OFFICE 235 Roosevelt Avenue Albany Towers, Suite 114 Albany GA 31701 Phone: (229) 439-8067 Fax: (229) 436-2099 COLUMBUS OFFICE 18 Ninth Street, Suite 201 Columbus, GA 31901 Phone: (706) 320-9477 Fax: (706) 320-9479 THOMASVILLE OFFICE 137 East Jackson Street, Thomasville, GA 31792 Phone: (229) 226-7789 Fax: (229) 226-7860 Contact him http://bishop.house.gov/display.cfm?section_id=13 Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sanford-Bishop-Jr/18910585219 Dan Boren (OK-2) Muskogee Office 431 W. Broadway Muskogee, OK 74401 (918) 687-2533 (918) 686-0128 fax Claremore Office 309 W. 1st Street Claremore, OK 74017 (918) 341-9336...

President Barack Obama named University of Oklahoma president David Boren co-chairman of his Intelligence Advisory Board today. But at the tail end of his speech announcing the decision, Obama had this to say: “I thank David for agreeing to serve in this capacity, even as he continues to lead the University of Oklahoma.” Obama added: “And we are sorry about (Sam) Bradford’s shoulder.”

Three Republican lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed Doug Hoffman's third-party campaign for the special House election in New York -- a slap in the face to the party's leadership and the current top brass at the National Republican Congressional Committee. Endorsing Hoffman in the 23rd District contest were Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of California and Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who also served as NRCC chairman from 2006 to 2008. The party's preferred candidate is GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava. Hoffman's name will appear on the upstate ballots as the Conservative Party nominee. The nods from the three...

A stop livestock movement exercise is taking place on the Oklahoma/Kansas border on Oct. 22. The goal is to practice stopping animal movement across borders during times of contagious animal disease. Traffic will be screened at two border locations; one three miles north of Turpin on Highway 83 and the other at the intersection of Highways 160 and 183 near Sitka, Kansas.

A $29 billion trail from the Federal Reserve's bailout of Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns ends in a partially deserted shopping center on a bleak spot on the south side of Oklahoma City. The Fed now owns the Crossroads Mall, a sprawling shopping complex at the junction of Interstate highways 244 and 35, complete with an oil well pumping crude in the car park -- except the Fed does not own the mineral rights.

Oklahoma is getting about $12 million to fight homelessness in the state. Funds will be used for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, which targets those who are newly or nearly homeless and are having trouble coming up with this month's rent, are behind on their utilities, or need help with a car payment. OKLAHOMA CITY -- A common criticism of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been that too much of the money is going to support or expand social programs. No wonder, then, that some people roll their eyes over the fact that $1.5 billion in...

Note: Photo and video included. SNIPPET: "Chadwick Everett Baker, 33, Arrested In Connection With Incident In SE OKC" SNIPPET: "Bomb technicians said the devices were fake but were made to look like pipe bombs."

By Andrew W. Griffin Oklahoma Watchdog Posted: October 16, 2009 Andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org TULSA, Okla. – Former Fourth Congressional District Rep. J.C. Watts told a group of fellow Republicans Thursday night during a “Get Out the Vote” rally, “I’ve been accused of not being black enough.” And, “I’ve been accused of not being pure enough,” he told the gathering hosted by Better Business Bureau President Rick Brinkley and Oklahoma GOP Chairman Gary Jones. The audience included Attorney General candidate Ryan Leonard and Dewey Bartlett, running for Tulsa mayor. Watts, a former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback, said his experience in Congress shaped him and...

OKLAHOMA CITY — The mother of an Oklahoma boy who says he was locked in apartment closets over four years was charged Thursday with 29 counts of child abuse for allegedly torturing and imprisoning him. snip........ McCall was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in New York in 1996 in the death of her 2-year-old daughter and served six months jail time.

OKLAHOMA CITY — As more and more cities and states pass laws banning the use of cell phones – including texting – while driving, this “nanny statism” has finally struck lawmakers in Oklahoma. And that’s unfortunate. Oklahomans tend to pride themselves on the fact that more government intervention is not a good idea. Good old-fashioned common sense is usually acceptable and reasonable laws are followed. Banning cell phones and texting while driving is unreasonable, in the eyes of the Oklahoma Watchdog. Rep. Sue Tibbs, a Tulsa Republican who serves on the House Public Safety Committee, is planning to introduce a...

A Republican businessman cruised to an easy victory Tuesday in an overwhelmingly Democratic state House of Representatives district. • Todd Russ, Republican: 3,029 (55.9%) • Larry Peck, Democrat: 2,388 (44.1%) Results are unofficial until the state Election Board certifies them next week. Todd Russ garnered 55.9 percent of the votes to win the House District 55 seat, which has been held by a Democrat since 1965. He was opposed by Democrat Larry Peck, who recently retired as an agriculture education instructor and FFA adviser at Sentinel High School. Russ’ victory increases the Republican majority in the House to the highest...

OKLAHOMA CITY — Prosecutors are investigating claims that the former head chef and chief groundskeeper at the Oklahoma governor's mansion raped three female prison inmates assigned to work on the mansion's grounds. Neither man has been charged, but the Department of Central Services fired both of them Sept. 29 for violating departmental policies after a three-month Department of Corrections investigation.

New Oklahoma law will publicy post details of women’s abortions online. On Nov. 1, a law in Oklahoma will go into effect that will collect personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and post them on a public website. Implementing the measure will “cost $281,285 the first year and $256,285 each subsequent year.” Here are the first eight questions that women will have to reveal: 1. Date of abortion 2. County in which abortion performed 3. Age of mother 4. Marital status of mother (married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married) 5. Race of mother 6. Years...

A lawsuit challenging a controversial abortion bill was filed Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court. The lawsuit alleges that House Bill 1595 by Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, and Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, covers more than one subject and thus violates the Oklahoma Constitution. The measure requires physicians to provide detailed information to the Oklahoma State Department of Health about the abortions they perform. Information to be reported includes the age, marital status and education level of the woman; the number of previous pregnancies; a reason for the abortion; the method of the abortion and method of payment; the cost of...

The Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., forever changed after the events of April 16, 2007. A student, Seung-Hui Cho, gunned down 27 students and five faculty members before killing himself. Vice President of Student Affairs Lee Bird said shortly after the Virginia Tech incident, OSU expanded its Threat Assessment Team and renamed it the Behavioral Consultation Team. The team is a specially trained group of professional staff members from several university departments with mental health, student development, law enforcement, academic, administrative and legal expertise, according to its Web site. The team investigates and evaluates threats and other concerning behavior...

By Andrew W. Griffin Red Dirt Report, editor Posted: October 7, 2009 reddirtreporter@gmail.com OKLAHOMA CITY – Back in July, we here at Red Dirt Report noted how the radical animal-rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had blood on their hands no thanks to their decision to kill 95 percent of the dogs and cats put in their care in 2008. PETA found homes for less than one out of every 300 animals at their so-called “shelters.” PETA loves animals, right? It’s not looking that way. Just check out the informative website Petakillsanimals.com for more information. And...

Police say three people who robbed a man's Oklahoma flat were caught by his wife in the Philippines, who saw them on the webcam the couple communicate with while apart. Midwest City police Chief Brandon Clabes says officers nabbed the three burglary suspects over the weekend after Maribel Chouinard spotted them and called her husband, an Air Force master sergeant at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. The husband called police, who found two teens near the apartment and later found the third suspect. Mr Clabes says all three were identified from a photo line-up e-mailed to Mrs Chouinard...

By Andrew W. Griffin Oklahoma Watchdog Posted: October 6, 2009 andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org OKLAHOMA CITY – News reports are noting today that thousands of doses of H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine have arrived in Oklahoma and that these initial doses will be in the form of a nasal spray called FluMist, manufactured by MedImmune. The first community to receive shipments of FluMist will be Newcastle, in McClain County. Schools there will be targeted with a mass nasal spray vaccination program there, before it is shipped to other parts of the Sooner State. H.R. Holman, public information officer for the Oklahoma City-County Health Department,...

Storming the Beaches of Norman Norman, Oklahoma, that is. Okay, so there aren’t any real beaches in Norman, Oklahoma. But when Steve Meyer and I went there recently, the Darwinists who have installed themselves as absolute dictators at the University of Oklahoma (OU) made our arrival feel like D-Day. On September 28, Steve gave a talk on his best-selling book Signature in the Cell at the Oklahoma Memorial Union on the OU campus. The following evening, September 29, Steve and I answered questions after a showing of the new film Darwin’s Dilemma at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History,...

By DEON J. HAMPTON World Staff Writer Last Modified: 9/30/2009 7:33 PM A Tulsa police officer shot and killed a dog with a 10-year-old boy standing about three feet away from the animal on Tuesday night, the parent and dog owner told the Tulsa World on Wednesday. The officer arrived to the home in the 2900 block of East 74th Street on a dog barking complaint around 10 p.m., said Julia Wilson, 32. Wilson said the officer knocked on the door, which was answered by her son, and the boxer ran onto the porch barking. As the dog ran through...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign's future grew more unsettled Friday as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to offer his support or express confidence in the embattled Nevada Republican, following additional fallout from Mr. Ensign's affair with a staffer. Asked if Mr. Ensign could be an effective senator in light of ethical questions raised by the New York Times Friday, Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said only: "Sen. Ensign continues to serve. He's a member of the Finance Committee, been active in the discussions there."

NORMAN, Okla. -- The authors of the U.S. Constitution intentionally made it open to interpretation so that it could be adapted to meet changing societal issues, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Thursday in Norman. "I think (they) sensed that they were on the edge of world history, but they were cautious and they knew it was difficult to rise above injustices and inequalities of their own time," said Kennedy, who is often viewed as the swing vote on the Supreme Court. Kennedy addressed about 1,500 University of Oklahoma College of Law alumni and students at the centennial celebration for...

Today AOL is spotlighting Toby Keith's new Music Video 'American Ride' Click to View American Ride Music Video

By Andrew W. Griffin Oklahoma Watchdog Posted: September 30, 2009 andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, said Wednesday he combed through documents from an abandoned local ACORN office because of reports of impropriety at other organization chapters. Oklahoma City-based news and investigative website Red Dirt Report discovered documents in an abandoned local office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in south Oklahoma City’s “Little Mexico” neighborhood. Investigators found computers, hard drives, documents, registration forms, I-9 employment information and boxes with return addresses to ACORN’s New Orleans home office, as well as a regional IRS...

A Republican state legislator released documents Tuesday which he says show the community-organizing group ACORN focused on helping Democrats in three legislative races in the November 2008 election and had developed a game plan to "take power” in Oklahoma within five years. "They say they’re not political, but one of the subdirectories was called political action plans,” Reynolds said. "It was their political plans to take over key targeted races in Oklahoma City to show how powerful they are.” One of the key legislative races mentioned in the documents was the Senate District 43 race involving Reynolds’ brother. State Sen....

STILLWATER, OK -- A professor at OSU received $1.1 million in stimulus to study Alaskan grandparents. The National Science Foundation made the grant possible through their pot of stimulus money. But some Oklahomans say this is just one more example of stimulus waste. For more than ten years Oklahoma State University professor Tammy Henderson has been researching grandparents. She studies their relationships and responsibilities within their families. "This is an opportunity for us to really build a body of research that people will be using far beyond our age," said OSU Associate Professor Tammy Henderson, PhD. Henderson is now continuing...

A Republican state legislator released documents Tuesday which he says show the community-organizing group ACORN focused on helping Democrats in four legislative races in the November 2008 election and had developed a game plan to "take power" in Oklahoma within five years.

April 19, 1995 9:02 a.m. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed, killing 168 people [including 19 children]. Hundreds were injured -- some reports exceed four hundred. It was the worst terror attack on U.S. soil at the time. President Clinton was on the scene within days trying to ease their grief. It was widely reported that militia movement sympathizer, Timothy McVeigh, with the assistance of Terry Nichols, had blown the building up in retaliation for the Waco Massacre. The President blamed "hate radio" for whipping McVeigh up. There was talk of regulating free speech while conservatives distanced themselves...

Henry Bellmon, the Oklahoma farmer who became the state’s first Republican governor and turned his party into a political contender, has died. He was 88. Rural upbringing shapes former governor Henry... 03/01/2009 BILLINGS — They’ve never taken the country out of Henry Louis Bellmon. Don Todd rolled the steering wheel clockwise as he guided the 2005 Dodge... Bellmon’s former chief of staff told The Associated Press the former Oklahoma governor and U.S. Senator has died after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Andrew Tevington said Bellmon died shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday. Bellmon, who sometimes displayed a political independence that...

Mexico's nimble drug cartels are leapfrogging tightened border security and establishing sophisticated marijuana-growing operations in North Texas and Oklahoma, law enforcement officials say. "There is no doubt" that three big marijuana fields uncovered this month in Ellis and Navarro counties "have a tie to the border and a Mexican drug cartel," said a drug investigator for the Department of Public Safety. "They brought the tenders up here from Mexico to do the work.

Intelligent Design Comes to University of Oklahoma With ID Lecture and Screening of Darwin's Dilemma... (Starts tonight!...click excerpt link to learn more)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Long-secret security tapes showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building are blank in the minutes before the blast and appear to have been edited, an attorney who obtained the recordings said Sunday. "The real story is what's missing," said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney....

Police are looking for a man convicted of an Arlington rape more than 10 years ago in connection with the recent rape an 11-year-old girl in Oklahoma City. Melvin Urbina, 33, was sentenced to two years in prison for the 1998 sexual assault of an Arlington woman. He was deported to Mexico after his release in 2001. He returned to the United States illegally and worked in Oklahoma City. Police want to question Urbina about the July 25 sexual assault of a girl who was trying to find some extra chairs for the guests at her godfather’s wedding anniversary party...

Long-secret security tapes showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building are blank in the minutes before the blast and appear to have been edited, an attorney who obtained the recordings said Sunday. The real story is what's missing," said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who obtained the recordings through the federal Freedom of Information Act as part of an unofficial inquiry he is conducting into the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Long-secret security tapes showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building are blank in the minutes before the blast and appear to have been edited, an attorney who obtained the recordings said Sunday. "The real story is what's missing," said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who obtained the recordings through the federal Freedom of Information Act as part of an unofficial inquiry he is conducting into the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

The FBI has released long-secret security tapes that give new glimpses into the chaos during the minutes after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), tells NRO that he plans to “lead a truth squad” at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December. The Oklahoman predicts that he probably will not be welcomed with open arms. Inhofe, as you may remember, led a similar group of conservative legislators in 2003, during the U.N.’s climate-change negotiations in Milan, Italy. “I was the outcast at that time,” recalls Inhofe. “Now, I want to make sure that those attending the Copenhagen conference know what is really happening in...

Federal judge sends Oklahoma sheriff and deputy to jail for two years for pulling over and stealing from drivers. An Oklahoma sheriff and his deputy were sentenced to two years and three months in jail on Tuesday for the crime of stopping and searching motorists so that they could steal their cash. An undercover federal sting operation caught McIntosh County Sheriff Terry Alan Jones, 36, and Under-sheriff Mykol Travis Brookshire, 38, red-handed. The pair were forced to resign their positions in May and plead guilty to Conspiracy Under Color of Law to Interfere with Interstate Commerce. "The court imposed the...

In Oklahoma, Darwinist Choir Sings the Praises of Suppression and Censorship It’s funny how a little thing like a documentary film can send the Darwinist choir into tizzy tantrums. If Darwin’s theory is the be all end all of science, why are they so worried by a small, independent film? Because, it is the power of the ideas in the film that have them scared. The makers of Unlocking the Mystery of Life and The Privileged Planet have produced the third in their trilogy of films about intelligent design, Darwin’s Dilemma The Mystery of the Cambrian Explosion. It’s a fantastic...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today. The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday. Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.

A Moore High School graduate who attended the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship before joining the military has died in Afghanistan. Featured Gallery Advertisement Army 1st Lt. David Timothy Wright II, 26, died Monday. Details of his death were not available from the Department of Defense. His parents, Tim and Michele Wright, issued a statement through Primrose Funeral Service. "We want to say how much we appreciate the prayers and support that has been shown to our family during this very difficult time. David was a true soldier, who cherished the opportunity to fight for his country. "We...

Whoever coined the phrase "big things come in small packages" had in mind people such as Mai Cong Haworth. Although she stands 4 feet 8 inches tall, Haworth's petite frame houses a towering sense of patriotism and love of country. She proved that on Sept. 11, 2001, as she sat in front of a television set and wept at the carnage and destruction from the terrorist attacks. Over the past eight years, Haworth has altered hundreds of uniforms, stitching on the badges, stripes, name tags and insignias on the uniforms, following exact placement guidelines for the respective branch of the...

Army officials still are not releasing any information about the death of a decorated Kansas Army National Guard member nearly two months after his body was found at Fort Sill, Okla. On his 36th birthday, 1st Lt. Jeremy Clawson was found dead July 21 along a road near one of the firing ranges at his post in Fort Sill, Okla., according to The Associated Press. His death is being investigated by the post's Criminal Investigation Division. ----------advertisement----------- After being activated by the Guard in December 2008, 1st Lt. Clawson arrived at Fort Sill in January and was assigned to the...

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren said Congress should use the power of the purse to push the Obama administration to remove so-called czars that do not go through a confirmation process. Boren joined others in criticizing the growing trend to name czars to lead efforts in specific areas. Such officials do not go through oversight hearings or a confirmation vote in the Senate. Boren referred to them as unelected bureaucrats who do not answer to lawmakers. Even though such czars do not go through a confirmation process, Boren cited the “authority’’ that came along with the congressional control over the power...

By Andrew W. Griffin Red Dirt Report, editor Posted: September 4, 2009 reddirtreporter@gmail.com COMMENTARY OKLAHOMA CITY – The more we here at Red Dirt Report learn about President Barack Hussein Obama’s speech to America’s school children (grades 7-12) on September 8, the more alarmed we become. Our “Dear Leader,” (a.k.a. Barry Soetero, a.k.a. “Son of Promise, Child of Hope”) in an unprecedented move by any other president, will be addressing “the youth” with his high-minded notions of globalism, collectivism and swords-into-plowshares-styled hand-holding. Sounds swell, eh? Nothing could be farther from the truth. This creepy, touchy-feely, political “Harmonic Convergence” of Big...

No School September 8th September 8th is a scheduled Site Improvement Day for the Moore Public Schools. As referenced on our school calendar, school is not in session on this date. The district has been advised that President Obama will deliver an address directly to school children on the importance of education. Parents who wish to view the speech with their children may consult the U.S. Education Department's website.

He has been a voice in the wilderness for global warming realists, but now that he's taking on other issues put forth by President Barack Obama, some on the left's network, MSNBC, are suggesting Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., is putting the president's life at risk. Throughout the day of Sept. 3 on MSNBC, the place for liberal politics, a report from the Sept. 2 Tulsa World by Randy Krehbiel was cited and it was suggested Inhofe had gone too far with his criticism of Obama. Both MSNBC hosts David Shuster and Ed Schultz condemned Inhofe's comments that were very unfavorable...