A review shows a sharp decline in Oklahoma corporate income tax collections in the past four years is due in part to income tax deductions by oil and gas companies that won’t pay corporate taxes for years to come due in part to state laws. It would appear wind farms aren’t the only ones using …
March 19, 2018 archive
Inhofe and Lankford Among Senators Opposed to a Russian Pipeline to Germany
Oklahoma U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford were among 39 senators who signed a bipartisan letter last week opposing the Nord Stream II pipeline that will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany. In the letter sent to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, the senators urged them …
Consumers’ Group Takes 30-year old Rate Case to US Supreme Court
The members who make up the group Oklahomans Against Bribery have formally gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in their fight to return billions of dollars in a nearly 30-year old bribed Corporation Commission case involving AT and T. The group challenged rulings from the Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Supreme Court in which a …
Gasoline Prices Jump Slightly in Oklahoma
Gasoline prices at the pump jumped about 2 cents a gallon in the past week reaching a price of $2.34 a gallon according to AAA Oklahoma. The average puts Oklahoma in the top ten for cheapest gasoline in the country. The State’s average is 8th lowest while Missouri’s $2.26 is lowest. Oklahoma’s average compares to …
Yukon Schools Receive $200,000 from EPA
The Yukon School District is the only school system in the state to receive part of $8.7 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to replace or retrofit hundreds of older diesel school buses. Yukon’s share of the money totals $200,000 which will help replace 10 buses in the school district’s fleet. The EPA announced …
Court Ruling Could Lead to More Robocalls on Your Smartphone
Those firms making annoying robocalls on smartphones just got more leeway and power in doing what they do. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against part of a Federal Communications Commission regulation aimed at cutting down on the automated phone solicitations. The rules targeted calls generated by auto-dialing devices …
Scott Pruitt’s Political Ambitions Get National Attention
EPA Czar Scott Pruitt might not be liked by environmentalists and critics of the Trump White House, but he’s supported by conservatives. And even the New York Times paints the former Oklahoma Attorney General as a man with strong political ambitions. Strong enough to maybe make a run for the U.S. Senate or governor in …
Texas Chemical Plant Fire Being Allowed to Burn Out
Firefighters indicated they plan to let a chemical plant fire burn itself out near the north Texas town of Cresson before beginning any search for a worker missing since last Thursday’s explosion. Bob Cornett is the Mayor and also Assistant Fire Chief in the town about 25 miles southwest of Fort Worth. He said conditions …
Cash Distribution Announced by Tulsa’s NGL Energy Partners
The Board of Directors of Tulsa-based NGL Energy Partners LP announced it has declared a cash distribution for holders of its Class B notes. The distribution will be paid for the quarter ending March 31, 2018 to holders of the Partnership’s 9.00″ Class B Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units. The distribution of $0.5625 …
Earthquake Rattled South Central Kansas
South central Kansas was rattled again by another earthquake over the weekend. The Saturday night earthquake rattled the city of Hutchinson, located about 45 miles northwest of Wichita. It was recorded at 9:17 p.m. with an epicenter four miles northwest of Hutchinson near the residential community of Careyville. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter …