Friday Dumpster Fire (4)

Welcome to the Friday Dumpster Fire.

Before we get to tossing some news stories onto the trash heap, let’s take a look at some Ogle Mole dispatches:

• I’ve heard Joleen Chaney is making a slow go of it as Communications Director at OSDE. One Mole described it as they’re paying someone to just sit in a room and be bored. If that’s true, and as a person who did that at a medical lab for six years, I wish Joleen the best of luck creating a blog!

• According to the Ogle Mole Network, Jose Cruz – the State Rep. who resigned after making a creepy, drunken, very aggressive move on a married lobbyist at a party – may be considering a comeback. He’s been spotted at various Democratic events, and may be eyeing the seat Forrest Bennett resigned from to be a union boss. 

• A public defender reached out to warn me that Sarah Polston – the wealthy lady who was recently sentenced to a lengthy prison term as a result of the accident that nearly killed a 20-year-old woman – will likely only serve half of her sentence because she pled guilty to what’s considered a nonviolent crime. 

With those notes out of the way, here’s a rundown of stories that caught my eye, but I never got around to covering. 

Corruption remains color-blind…

In today’s reminder that grift is a universal language, the executive director of BLM OKC has been federally charged with wire fraud and money laundering after allegedly funneling millions in donations toward personal use instead of, you know, the actual mission.

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Good News! Tyson Chicken threatens to leave Oklahoma!

This story kind of reminds me of what it's like when a girl you don’t like breaks up with you:

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for Gentner Drummond to turn up the heat on that lawsuit and get them out of here! Seriously, don’t let the door to the chicken coop hit you on the way out! Maybe after they leave, the Illinois River won’t be such a shit creek. 

On the topic of shitty companies…

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Oklahoma’s Chinese-owned farmland ban somehow has a VIP lane…

Oklahoma lawmakers passed a law to block Chinese ownership of farmland — big scary threat, “protect our soil,” all that. Yet somehow that same law doesn’t apply to Smithfield Foods, the massive pork company owned by China’s WH Group, which still farms over 2,500 acres in northwest Oklahoma just fine.

So if you’re keeping score: foreign farmland is a threat unless it’s owned by a giant pork producer with deep lobbying cash and political ties, in which case it’s totally cool. Corruption and selective enforcement remain bipartisan hobbies here in the Sooner State.

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Stitt appoints a competent human to lead the Tourism Dept…

Congrats go out to former Lost Ogle Show guest Amy Blackburn! She was recently named the new Executive Director of the Oklahoma Tourism Department. 

I don’t want to throw Amy under the bus, but I actually like this hire! She has experience working in state government, is nice, and, best of all, doesn’t appear to be a right-wing grifter! Let’s just hope she doesn’t give any fat IT projects to KJ-103!

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Former OSU Basketball To Serve Prison Time in Indonesia

Jarred Shaw – a former OSU basketball player – spent a couple of years in Stillwater during the early 2010s playing for the Cowboys, but will now spend roughly two years in an Indonesian prison after being convicted of smuggling cannabis gummies into the country. I guess it beats the death penalty.

On the bright side, at least he’s already got experience serving extended time in places most people are desperate to escape.

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Stitt Lets Hypocrisy Shine in Semafor Interview

If you read this KOSU report about Stitt’s comments, you’d think he was boldly criticizing President Trump. I guess he was – but he managed to be a massive hypocrite in the process:

Yeah, Stitt – the guy who picks fights with Native tribes, public schools, trans kids, fire departments, law enforcement agencies, etc. for political gain – is now criticizing our demented president for doing the exact same thing. Good to know.

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Warr Acres City Councilman Is A Sick Creep 

I’d like to say I hope he spends a long time in jail, but with the inconsistent way Oklahoma judges and prosecutors go after rapists and pedophiles, he may only get a slap on the wrist and community service. 

On that note…

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Ron Durbin shames Stillwater rapist…

This Ron Durbin guy isn’t my cup of tea, but kudos to him for heckling and shaming Jesse Butler – the Stillwater rapist who won’t do any jail time – as he left the Payne County courthouse last week: 

Once again, I’m not a big fan of the guy, but I’m glad we have at least one person in this state to shame the rapists who aren’t held accountable by the law.

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Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.