Free Republic

Columba Bush, the wife of expected Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush, continued to increase her public profile this week with an op-ed on domestic violence in Iowa's biggest newspaper. Her Des Moines Register op-ed asked readers to offer their support for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, where Bush writes she spent "quality time" on Friday. "It was inspiring to learn from our domestic violence leaders about the transforming process that Iowa implemented to maximize limited financial resources while creating a regional-based comprehensive service delivery program for domestic violence survivors and their children," she wrote.

Great news about one of my favorite Republican governors, Mary Fallin.Excerpt: If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to overturn the millennia-long definition of marriage, Oklahoma clergy will not have to be concerned that they will be forced to perform such ceremonies.On May 1, Governor Mary Fallin signed a law that would allow ministers to exercise their religious beliefs on marriage and decline to “wed” same-sex couples.Governor Fallin’s office said in a press release that H.B. 1007 is “a bill protecting religious leaders from being compelled to perform marriages that are in direct contradiction to their religious beliefs.”The law says that...

Sign up here to learn how you can attend the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, in Oklahoma City, where Senator Ted Cruz is giving the keynote address and where participants will be voting in an important straw poll.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The road to the White House goes through downtown Oklahoma City this week as hopefuls in the crowded Republican field audition on a stage ideally suited for their messages about military power, religious liberty and energy independence. Eleven Republicans with presidential aspirations — including some who have not officially declared their candidacy — will speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which begins at the Cox Convention Center on Thursday and ends Saturday with the release of a straw poll. “This is a huge event for Oklahoma City,” said Gov. Mary Fallin, who will address the conference and introduce some...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) applauds the passage of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on Thursday after a week of debate and consideration by both parties. Sen. Cruz introduced or cosponsored more than a dozen amendments that were successfully adopted by the committee. “Congress’ first priority is to provide for the national defense and ensure our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have everything they need to defend our freedom,” said Sen. Cruz. “I am grateful for the committee’s support for my amendments, including measures that will ensure...

Animal rights activists are blasting a top-ranked Oklahoma charter school after its students were seen on video using dead cats to act out dance moves, set to the jingle used in commercials for Meow Mix cat food.

The medical examiner has released the autopsy for a man shot and killed by a Tulsa County reserve deputy. Eric Courtney Harris' death is ruled a homicide by gunshot wound, the report states. Harris, 44, died April 2, 2015, after Reserve Deputy Bob Bates said he accidentally fired his gun instead of his Taser during an arrest. The report states Harris was shot in the right axilla or armpit. The bullet passed through his right rib cage to his left, fracturing ribs on both sides. Both lungs collapsed, the medical examiner's report states.

A 33-year-old Oklahoma man has been charged with killing his stepfather by giving him an atomic wedgie, that caused the victim to suffocate on his own underwear. He pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree manslaughter.[snip] An atomic wedgie is the slang name for an extreme version of the common underwear-yanking prank that bullies are known to use in schools across America. Oklahoma Medical Examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliott said the cause of death was asphyxiation and blunt force trauma after the elastic band was stretched too tightly over St. Clair's neck. Pottawatomie County Sheriff Deputy Travis Palmer said Davis and St....

OKLAHOMA CITY - New information is coming out regarding the rookie Oklahoma City police officer who was beaten by a suspect with his own baton following a burglary on the northwest side of the metro. An armed witness may have been the only thing that kept that officer from a more serious beating, or worse. It happened just after 2 p.m. Tuesday in the 2800 block of W. Park Pl. Rookie Officer Adam Eller and field training officer Sgt. Michael Lambert were responding to the burglary call. ... During the chase the two officers became separated. Eller found himself alone...

A rookie Oklahoma City police officer became separated from his partner during a foot pursuit and managed to close in on the robbery suspect they were chasing. The suspect managed to get control of the officer’s baton and started striking him in the head repeatedly, and the incident might have become another murder of an officer in the line of duty if it wasn’t for an armed citizen stepping in to save the day: It happened just after 2 p.m. Tuesday in the 2800 block of W. Park Pl. Rookie Officer Adam Eller and field training officer Sgt. Michael Lambert...

Churchgoers were upset Sunday morning when they discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary vandalized with black spray paint.The defacement of the shrine at St. Thomas More University Parish and Student Center, 100 E Stinson, near the University of Oklahoma, likely happened overnight.Those in attendance were shocked by the vandalism and offended by a sign left on the statue, church officials said.“It was very disturbing to a lot of people and very deliberate,” said Lisa Schmidt, administrative assistant to the pastor.“As a parishioner and as a Catholic, I would invite them to learn more about why we revere the Mother...

There's a new hazard in the Heartland.  The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently released a map highlighting the future risk for man-made earthquakes, and up to eight states have an increased chance to see ground shaking.  Azle, Texas, which had no recorded quakes for 150 years, felt 27 tremors from November 2013 to January 2014. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex continues to feel regular earthquakes. As Science Magazine reports, earthquakes hit areas of Kansas bordering Oklahoma 192 times in the last two years; the same counties were only hit twice in the preceding 35 years.  For the most part, the scientific...

From crime to labor issues to an intricate military coup of the entire United States, conspiracy theories are flying around the closed Wal-Mart supercenters in Tulsa and elsewhere. The official reason for the sudden closure of the store at Admiral Place and Memorial Drive last week was two years of plumbing issues that would take six months to fix. That was the same reason given for each of the four other Wal-Mart locations, which all closed at the same time with just a few hours’ notice. The other stores are in Brandon, Florida; Pico Rivera, California; Midland, Texas; and Livingston,...

In rural Pottawotamie county in Oklahoma, the Sheriff appreciates the efforts of armed citizens.  I was able to get in touch with the elder Alvin Cleere.   His son had captured a burglar by being observant.   The son, also named Alvin, had noticed a pickup truck at an property were it did not belong.  He checked things out and found that the truck was loaded with stolen goods.   From kfor.com: He discovered the truck was loaded with stolen property, matresses, fixtures- even a kitchen sink. This fed up crime fighter pulled the 45 from his pickup. “That...

The state House defeated a resolution Tuesday that would have added Oklahoma to the list of states petitioning Congress for a convention to alter the U.S. Constitution. Senate Joint Resolution 4, which failed 42-56, was intended to have the state participate in a convention that may propose “amendments to the United States Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the term of office for its officials and members of Congress.” Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, said the imperative to balance the federal budget outweighs the numerous questions...

In November of 2011, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake ripped through the small Oklahoma town of Prague, damaging more than a dozen homes and toppling a turret on a St. Gregory's University building in nearby Shawnee. It was the worst of three large quakes to strike the area over several days, and it still as ranks as the worst Oklahoma has ever experienced. Since then, hundreds more have rattled the state, racking up millions of dollars in damages and unleashing a political and financial maelstrom. Until 2008, Oklahoma typically had one or two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater per year,...

Abandoning years of official skepticism, Oklahoma’s government on Tuesday embraced a scientific consensus that earthquakes rocking the state are largely caused by the underground disposal of billions of barrels of wastewater from oil and gas wells.The state’s energy and environment cabinet introduced a website detailing the evidence behind that conclusion Tuesday, including links to expert studies of Oklahoma’s quakes. The site includes an interactive map that plots not only earthquake locations, but also the sites of more than 3,000 active wastewater-injection wells.The website coincided with a statement by the state-run Oklahoma Geological Survey that it “considers it very likely” that...

In Oklahoma, Judge Thad Balkman ruled in favor of second amendment supporters when he issued a tempory restraining order to prevent the City of Norman from enforcing a ban on the carry of weapons during the Norman Music Festival.   The city argued that it was not banning weapons; only that the private organization that it had given control of city streets and sidewalks was banning arms.   From newsok.com: Bateman and Assistant City Attorney Rick Knighton argued that the festival operators essentially lease a three- or four-block area from the city for the special event. By doing so, they...

(CNN)—Twenty years ago, on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a massive truck bomb in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The attack killed 168 men, women and children, injured hundreds more, and remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. The attack's aftermath saw a storm of media coverage with themes such as "attack on the heartland" and America's "lost innocence." In fact, the bombing took the country by surprise. It wasn't simply the scale of the tragedy that drew attention, but the fact that the bombing exposed something new: American citizens targeting their...

CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. —The fight to let Oklahomans carry their guns to the Norman Music Festival is over. A judge decided that licensed gun owners will be allowed to carry their guns to this year’s music festival without fear of being asked to leave, or being ticketed, and that the city of Norman cannot enforce their "no guns" request. "It’s really disappointing," Peaches Amspacher said. "I worry about what’s going to happen to the Norman Music Fest now.” Amspacher came to the courthouse Friday in hopes that she would see guns banned from the Norman Music Festival. But now, for...