Oklahoma County Dist. Judge Tammy Bass-Lesure

The murder trial of white Oklahoma City pharmacist Jerome Eersland, accused of murdering a black 14-year old robbery suspect, could become a nationally watched trial if the Judge Tammy Bass-Lesure allows cameras into a courtroom for the first time in Oklahoma history.

According to reports, both District Attorney David Prater and Defense Counsel Irvin Box have given the thumbs-up to cameras.  It’s a good bet that the local stations, the cable networks and Court TV would be televising parts of the trial live if Judge Bass-Lesure says yes.

Related:

News9.com: NEWS 9 Files Motion to Allow Cameras in Courtroom for Pharmacist’s Trial

Wilson Research Strategies founder and CEO Chris Wilson gives his assessment on the upcoming midterm elections:

“President Obama’s job approval ratings have already fallen below the 60% approval mark that has generally protected the sitting President’s party in Congress. Based on current trends, Obama is likely to have approval ratings in the mid-fifties if not worse.

In the last 60 years Presidents have had approval ratings in the mid 50’s on three separate occasions and their party lost an average of 27 seats in the House.

While it is too early to speak with certainty, the current direction of the political environment appears as though 2010 is shaping up to be a year where the political winds will favor Republicans.

At the very least, the “halo” around the administration is quickly dissipating. Republicans who hope to be successful in 2010 should already be working to test and refine messages that will highlight the differences between a Republican approach to solving national problems and the handouts, bailouts, and takeovers approach that the Big Government Democrats in DC are so passionately pushing today.” Read more…

By Rep. Jason Murphey
I will be hosting a series of Town Hall Meetings across House District 31 this week.

During the last mid-term interim, I conducted a series of these meetings in order to provide updates about both state and local government events and to provide an opportunity for questions and answers so my constituents could be better informed about issues of importance to them.

The meetings were attended by several hundred people and provided another opportunity to see how people felt about the issues at hand. This feedback has allowed me to advocate for issues such as road funding and property tax reform knowing that I was representing the desires of the people. I am also very appreciative to a number of other elected officials who took the time to attend those meetings as guest speakers. Read more…

I was in Oklahoma City over most of the weekend visiting friends in the hospital. I won’t mention their names, but please keep those from our area who are sick or injured in your prayers. It is amazing what the will of people and the spirit can do to heal when there are friends who believe in you. I’m sorry I had to miss a couple of events at home, but I felt that I needed to be at the hospital to be with friends and help those families in need.
Best wishes are to be extended to one of my colleagues who will be leaving the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Ryan McMullen, who shares a portion of Caddo County with me, as well as other parts of the state to the west and north, will be leaving the legislature to take a position in the Presidential administration running the USDA Rural Development Programs. This area is key to providing assistance through grants and loans to rural Oklahoma. Ryan will do an excellent job in this job. Read more…

DURANT, Okla. – Hello again, everyone! The summer generally is a very slow time at the State Capitol. With the legislative session complete, lawmakers return to their districts and their families. The focus of lawmakers’ work becomes constituent service and preparation for the next year’s session of the Legislature.

One of the ways in which we prepare for the next legislative session is through a series of meetings called interim studies. Lawmakers request these studies to get more information on issues; the interim gives us more time for in-depth study. Read more…

Oklahomans for Responsible Government are doing their best to track the millions of borrowed and printed “stimulus” dollars headed for Oklahoma.

From their newsletter:

“The state does have a website devoted to stimulus dollars and it has a section on transparency but frankly, the actual transparency is lacking.  At this moment, it only shows agencies that have received money through April 30^th and we know many more agencies have received money.  In fact, the Department of Transportation says it only has about $80-million left of the more than $300-million received.

Even for those agencies that are shown as receiving money, there is no indication on how much, if any, of the money was spent and if so, what it was spent upon. OFRG contacted the Governor’s office to get the answers to those questions. The Governor’s office told us that Treasurer Scott Meacham is the point-man on stimulus funds, so we contacted his office. That’s when we were told that while the Treasurer’s office dealt with stimulus for the upcoming budget, it was really the State Auditor and Controller’s office that is overseeing money received for the current fiscal year. And that office told us that while there was oversight and that every agency had to eventually report the money received, if we wanted to know how the money was spent, we’d have to contact each agency separately.”

Five thousand Oklahomans brandish signs around the State Capitol’s south steps to protest government spending and bailouts. http://soonerteaparty.org Hat tip: magstertv