Michael Bates

A friend recently posted a photo showing a large and longstanding pothole, aka chuckhole, aka chughole, that had been declared Lake DOT, with waterfront property for sale:

BBC Radio 4's long wave (LW) service, which reaches the British Isles and much of northern Europe from a 500,000 Watt transmitter on 198 kHz (and

SQ 845 is a half-measure, but this half-measure is better than none. The Oklahoma Constitution grants a formal role to the Oklahoma Bar Association, a

Once again, Oklahoma voters are being asked to place a lengthy and detailed piece of legislation in our State Constitution which properly belongs in a more easily amendable statute. The Constitution withholds the authority to regulate and adjust exemptions, valuations, and tax rates except as very specifically provided in bloated Article X. Nevertheless, State Question 847 would grant all Oklahomans additional protection against tax increases by inflation and would expand the universe of senior citizens granted additional relief. For that reason, I'm voting YES on SQ 847.

Tulsa's Mean Girls clique, the group of four city councilwomen who text each other during meetings to mock citizens and fellow councilors, were the only four yes votes on Wednesday to create an independent commission to pass judgment on Tulsa's police officers. The proposed ordinance failed by a vote of 4-4-1:

All Oklahoma voters will have 9 judicial retention questions on the November 3, 2026, ballot. Unlike district judges, where competitors run in non-partisan elections, justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and judges on the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals are appointed, but face a yes-or-no retention ballot every six years. (I think unopposed district judges should also face a retention ballot.)

your county's early voting locations on Wednesday, October 28, through Friday, October 30, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tulsa County will have in-person absentee voting at four locations:

Two district judgeships will be on all of Tulsa and Pawnee Counties' November 3, 2026, ballots. Voters in the eastern Tulsa County portion of the City of Tulsa and Tulsa County north of the City of Tulsa (Skiatook, Collinsville, Sperry, Owasso) will have a third judicial choice to make.

The City of Tulsa is asking voters to approve doubling the hotel tax rate in order to pay for deferred maintenance for the BOK Center and the Arvest Convention Center. At the same time, the voters, unwittingly, would be giving a massive and undeserved pay raise to the Tulsa Regional Chamber. Tulsa voters should give a big thumbs-down to the Chamberpots and insist that the City make better use of the money it already has.

While any given RINO is usually better than any given Democrat, the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction this year is a different matter. I'm crossing party lines to vote for the principled and more conservative candidate in the race, the Rev. Dr. Jennettie Marshall