Welcome to this week’s subscriber-only TLO Dumpster Fire. Before we get to the links roundup, here are a few notes and blind items…
• According to multiple Moles, it looks like Paycom is undergoing another round of stealth layoffs at its OKC campus. In addition to that, they’re requiring overtime and weekend work for lots of other employees, especially those in the tax department.
• I’m also hearing that Chad Richison and other executives are growing extra paranoid about internal leaks like the ones above, and are looking to implement aggressive measures to stop them.
• State Senator Dave Rader responded to my email from yesterday. We can now confirm that, yes, he did intentionally file a bill that strengthens the constitutional private property rights of all people, regardless of where they live. it was doesn't done out of satire or jest.
Well, it’s good to know there is still one decent Republican left at the Capitol. It’s a shame he’s being term-limited.
Anyway, here’s a roundup of some news stories we could or should have covered this weekend, but didn’t quite get around to.
Ali Meyer is changing her sleep schedule
After years of being chipper in the mornings with Emily Sutton, longtime KFOR anchor Ali Meyer is jumping back to the evening news…
She’s being replaced in the mornings by former evening anchor Adria Goins, who, in this interview, looked less than thrilled by the announcement…
Seriously, Ali has never seemed happier, while Adria is slowly realizing she’ll have to come into work each day at 4:00 a.m. That must suck.
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Vulgar Banksy Visits Oklahoma Capitol
I’ll admit, I kind of chuckled at some of the graffiti that some hooligan tagged our Capitol with, but come on — there are better, more creative ways to protest than vandalizing property. You never hear about MLK or Gandhi leading great graffiti marches.
Plus, I.C.E. — which was the primary target — is a sinister directive spearheaded by our federal despot. If you’re going to vandalize something, at least make sure it’s owned by the feds.
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In non-Islamophobic NIMBY news…
Edmond NIMBYs struck down an apartment complex, because God forbid lower-income people exist within visible range of them. Meanwhile, NIMBYs in Durant valiantly blocked a “potential I.C.E.” facility from opening, which is cool and badass and good for them.
NonDoc — which has curiously all but ignored the Broken Arrow mosque fiasco — covered both in their trademarked fashion:
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Someone’s not getting back their rental deposit!
If your landlord ever complains about a stain on the carpet, just send them this and say, “Perspective.”
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The Muscogee Nation announces a way for people to lose money faster…
Because nothing says fun, excitement, and modern convenience like losing money on the toilet.
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Curbside Chronicle interviews mayoral candidates…
It’s a decent read. In other news, is it weird that the only publication conducting Q&As with mayoral candidates at the moment is a magazine distributed by homeless people standing on street corners? I’m not judging – I think it's cool! – just asking.
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Midwest City closer to getting stuck with old mall…
For the last couple of years, Steve Lackmeyer has been on the case like Hobie on a hoagie, documenting the extensive efforts the city has gone through to take ownership of the dead mall away from a slumlord — something that looks like it has finally happened.
It’s cool that the city is getting the mall, but now what? I guess we’ll wait and see.
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Great news for people who need a billboard to remind them to drink water…
Yep, the attempt by greedy right-wing conservatives to commandeer the TSET board and spend all the trust’s money — which may not be that bad of an idea — has been blocked by the Supreme Court, ensuring the financial firms that manage its multibillion-dollar portfolio will continue to collect their fees.
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County Commissioners Want to Raise Taxes…
I don’t know what the solution is for the Oklahoma County Jail, but instituting another sales tax hike on OKC metro residents isn’t the answer. If there is a solution — and with us allegedly being civilized people there should be — it should involve the state, county, and cities that use the jail.
