Brad Banks Runs for Midtown House Seat

Campaigning to represent House District 70 in midtown Tulsa, Brad Banks is a fifth-generation native Oklahoma businessman. After earning his civil engineering degree from The University of Texas – San Antonio, Banks focused on infrastructure design and management. He owns and operates Eagle Eye Construction, Inc. (est. 2016) and Bridgewater Engineering, Inc. (est. 2018)

Banks previously served as the Manager of Operations for the City of Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority. Working as the chief engineer for the Port, Banks’ duties included overseeing all the physical operations, security, and capital projects for the 2,500-acre industrial park and river port including roads, rail, docks, warehousing, and cranes.

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OCPA on “Propaganda Theater” Hearing

Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small today issued a statement in response to a false suggestion made about OCPA during a House legislative study on the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC).

During the Oct. 9 meeting, state Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, asked, “My understanding is that opponents to the JNC or people or groups seeking to have the JNC abolished or changed considerably were invited to participate and they either declined or they did not respond. Is that correct? I wanted to make sure that we got that on the record so that we know that this wasn’t stacked.”

State Rep. Erick Harris, an Edmond Republican who ran the study, responded, “That is correct.”

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Oklahoma Campus Radicalism

The nationwide rash of campus radicalism, particularly anti-Semitism, has been disturbing. Even more disturbing is the fact that it is appearing in Oklahoma.

Eyal Yakoby, an incoming Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student who self-describes as being “dedicated to combating Jew-Hate and anti-Americanism,” highlighted an email distributed to students at Oklahoma State University that touted Students for Justice in Palestine (SPJ) events.

“The official diversity committee at Oklahoma State University’s psychology department sent an email soliciting students to participate in the ‘Week of Rage’ sponsored by SJP,” Yakoby wrote. “The first event is on Oct. 7th to celebrate the massacre. This is systemic antisemitism.”

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License Extension: Juvenile Detention

Tulsa County’s probationary license to operate the Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Home has been extended after a state assessment. In a Sept. 30th letter to Juvenile Detention Home management, the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) Office of Public Integrity noted: “The assessment indicated improvement in areas of compliance with contract mandates and state certification standards” the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) wrote in a release today.

The Probationary License is effective through the end of this year. The objective of the BOCC and Juvenile Detention Home management is to continue to improve facility operations and achieve full licensure.

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