Supporting the Space Shuttle’s First Mission

As I look back from where I am in retirement, after spending thirtyone years supporting and leading testing at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), I can reflect on one event I feel especially proud to have been part of.

Adventures with Allie

My son turned 1.I knew his first birthday would make me sentimental. I expected a few tears, maybe a dramatic stare out the window, maybe a moment where I looked at him and wondered how time had the absolute nerve to keep moving.

’Twas the Night Before the Fourth in the Cimarron Valley

’Twas the night before the Fourth in the Cimarron Valley, And all through the towns, folks were ready to rally.The flags were all hung from the porches with care, Waving proud in the warm Oklahoma air.

Freedom Is Noisy!

A republic, if we can keep it. This Fourth of July, Americans celebrate a milestone unlike any before it, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Adventures with Allie

The Fourth of July has always smelled like something.When I was little, it smelled like desert dust and hot pavement. It smelled like sunscreen, smoke and whatever kind of trouble children could find when they were handed sparklers, firecrackers and far too much freedom.

Revolving Door Debates over Education Reform

Legislative decisions in regard to literacy rates and how to improve the educational system appears to be a revolving door of the same arguments.

Adventures with Allie

Oklahoma’s closed primary system is not just some insidebaseball election rule most people can afford to ignore.It is a real problem, and it needs to be fixed.The usual defense is that voters should not be able to help choose another party’s nominee. Democrats should not pick Republican candidates.

For the Children

Oklahoma continues to lag in child wellbeing, but improvement possible As the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) works to improve the quality of life for children, data drives our efforts.The Annie E.

The price of losing local news

For years, those of us in the newspaper industry have been warning that when a community loses its local newspaper, it loses a part of itself.It loses the reporter sitting quietly in the gallery at the city commission meeting. It loses the seasoned writer chronicling a state championship season.

Do more

Someone once told me that people just want to be heard. Well, while that may be true in theory, turning it into a governmental practice doesn’t really do much for citizens.Most of us have experienced the frustration of feeling ignored, dismissed or overlooked. We want our concerns acknowledged.