Author's posts
Kansas Residents Fight Injection Well Fearing More Earthquakes in Flint Hills
Earthquakes and wastewater injection wells are attracting more criticism and concern. Sounds like Oklahoma but it’s in Kansas where some of the earthquakes in northern Oklahoma have been felt and caused damage. Last fall’s 5.8 magnitude quake in Pawnee was not only felt but caused some damage in Kansas. But now residents of East Central …
Former Electric Cooperative CEO Avoids Prison Time but Not Jail Time Over Embezzlement
Ten months after he was indicted by a multicounty grand jury on charges of embezzling thousands from the Choctaw Electric Cooperative based in Hugo, former CEO and General Manager Terry Matlock has drawn a 10-year suspended prison sentence. Now 54, Matlock, a former state legislator reached the deal last month after pleading Nolo Contendre and …
New Leadership at Choctaw Electric Cooperative in SE Oklahoma
The merry go-round in leadership at Choctaw Electric Cooperative in Hugo continues with the recent naming of a new CEO and General Manager just a year after the board had hired a new leader. Kooney C. Duncan of Blanchard was named this month to be the new CEO/General Manager. He had been the Commercial and …
Special Session Necessary to Resolve State Government Budget Hole?
Speculation is growing among political observers at the State Capitol that a special session of the legislature is likely because legislators have yet to reach a budget agreement. Political analyst Scott Mitchell is one of them, saying the House is further along than the State Senate. The Tulsa-based Oklahoma Policy Institute also believes lawmakers are …
Energy Company in Fight with Civil Rights Museum Over Unpaid Electric Bills
An interesting story out of North Carolina where Duke Energy, the nation’s largest utility finds itself accused of racism as it tries to force a civil rights museum to cough up more than $18,000 in unpaid electricity bills. The Associated Press reports the utility has already turned off the lights once and is threatening to …
President Nominates Chief of Enforcement at EPA
She was the top attorney for the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee when it was chaired by Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe and now Susan Bodine has been tapped by the President to head the EPA’s enforcement division. Bodine was the committee’s top attorney since January 2015. On Friday, President Trump announced her nomination …
Judge Takes Wind Out of Lawsuit Against City of Hinton
The nationwide wind farm company known as NextEra has lost a federal lawsuit it filed against the city of Hinton after Hinton created an ordinance banning wind farms within 2 miles of the city limits. Oklahoma City U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot issued the ruling on Friday after Hinton city leaders asked to have …
Nation Gains—-Oklahoma Drops in Rig Counts
The latest figures from Baker Hughes Inc. of Houston and the Red Top Rig Report of Wichita, Kansas show the national rig count gained by 8 in the past week while the count in Oklahoma fell by two. Baker Hughes reports the national count is up to 885 including 9 more oil rigs reaching 712 …
Losses Hit Tulsa’s Cypress Energy in First Quarter
Tulsa’s Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. reported this week a drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2017. Total revenues were $64.7 million, down 11.9 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. But Peter C. Boylan III, CELP’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer had an explanation. “As discussed in March, the first quarter is …
Environmental Group Wants Investigation of Scott Pruitt’s Increased Number of Bodyguards
An environmental group is calling on the U.S. EPA to investigate the use of criminal enforcement officers as bodyguards for Administrator Scott Pruitt. It was made by the Environmental Integrity Project whose executive director, Eric Schaeffer says the inspector general should begin the investigation. Schaeffer contends the reassignment of special agents from investigating environmental crimes …