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The Tulsa Beacon

 

Ray Carter

Center for Independent Journalism

Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism.

Unregistered Tribal Tags Endanger Police Stitt Warns

Tulsa Beacon

When police pull a car over for even a minor infraction, it can quickly escalate into a life-or-death situation for the officer. In those situations, knowing to whom a car is registered—and if the owner or the car has been associated with serious crimes—is crucial to police. But in Oklahoma, police do not have that…

Bills to bar child access to porn in House and Senate

Tulsa Beacon

After the state of Texas imposed age-verification requirements for porn sites, Pornhub announced it would cease business in the state. Oklahoma could soon join the list of states with similar age-verification laws for porn content. The proposal has received bipartisan support— and surprisingly vocal pushback from some legislators. State Sen. Jerry Alvord and state Rep….

‘How to blow up a pipeline’ is required reading in OU class

Tulsa Beacon

Since its publication in 2021, Andreas Malm’s book How to Blow Up a Pipeline has been a source of controversy. The book encourages environmentalists to engage in acts of violence and destruction that target the oil-and-gas industry. At the University of Oklahoma, the book is required reading for ENGL 5703, a graduate-level seminar on “Special…

Minute of silence for OK schools is recommended

Tulsa Beacon

Endorsing a recommendation drafted by a special committee that reviewed the role of religion in schools, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is encouraging schools to begin each day with a minute of silence in which students can pray if they so desire. “The current national left-wing indoctrination is attempting to destroy religion as…

OU and OSU both embroiled in controversies

Tulsa Beacon

OU defends tuition hike despite record funding, State Senators call for reform The University of Oklahoma’s recent decision to further increase tuition, despite a huge increase in state appropriations, is drawing fire from state Senate leaders and leading to calls for reform, including imposing a legislative freeze on tuition. “The higher education system just received…

Groups across the political-spectrum support Free-Speech lawsuit against OSU

Tulsa Beacon

Earlier this year, Speech First, a national civil-rights organization, sued Oklahoma State University (OSU), saying the university’s harassment, computer, and bias-incidents policies violate students’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Speech First represented three OSU students in the lawsuit who were associated with Speech First but did not identify those students by name. A judge ruled…

2023 legislative session dominated by education

Tulsa Beacon

To a greater degree than in most years, the 2023 session of the Oklahoma Legislature was dominated by one issue. “Education, education, education was the focus for me this year,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City. The session began in February with Gov. Kevin Stitt calling on lawmakers to approve an Education…

OU fights public transparency

Tulsa Beacon

The University of Oklahoma has spent more than $1 million investigating claims of bogus financial reports and sexual harassment by David Boren, its former president who stepped down in 2018, but continues to stonewall efforts to make the findings public. Instead, the university has spent the last two years arguing in court that the Oklahoma…

SPLC says Oklahoma parent organizations are ‘hate’ groups

Tulsa Beacon

At one time, being a member of a hate group meant one was involved in acts of violence, including lynching, as was the case with the Ku Klux Klan. But now the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has redefined the phrase “hate group” to include parents whose only offense is being active in civic affairs…

Oklahoma Supreme Court continues pro-Abortion rulings

Tulsa Beacon

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has declared two state laws restricting abortion to be unconstitutional, citing an earlier ruling in which the court declared abortion is a right granted by the Oklahoma Constitution despite the fact that the state constitution contains no language directly or implicitly addressing abortion. In a March case, Oklahoma Call for Reproductive…