Comm. Todd Hiett Resignation Demand

Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, today released a statement calling on Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett to resign based on allegations of sexual molestation and public drunkenness.

“My fellow Oklahomans, it is time we demand more accountability from our elected officials chosen to represent the people and the great State of Oklahoma. I have been very disappointed and disgusted by the reported actions of Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett. He has been accused by two witnesses from the Kansas Corporation Commission of groping a man while attending a regulatory conference in Minnesota earlier this summer. Hiett admitted to misusing alcohol to combat stress, saying he has no memory of the incident but that he is appalled and ashamed by his actions. His statements appear to confirm the accusations.

“Representing Oklahoma at an out-of-state event, Commissioner Hiett was so intoxicated that he cannot remember sexually assaulting an individual attending the conference? It is my understanding that additional reports of similar sorts of behavior by Commissioner Hiett are surfacing,” Humphrey wrote.

Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett
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Mayoral Candidate Refuses Inquiry

Updated: A report on Tulsa Mayoral Candidate Brent VanNorman apparently angered Candidate Karen Keith so much that she ran from this reporter in public. It was sad. We have been associates for over twenty-years in media, on stage together in several Gridiron Shows, and co-workers when I served as Public Information Officer for the now complete Tulsa County Vision 2025 program approved by voters in 2003. Keith should have known; refusing an interview only makes reporting more likely to be critical.

After noting that Keith did not attend a nonpartisan Women For Tulsa event, the June 23 story continued, “Demonstrating both command of municipal history and the current failures of the Bynum Administration, VanNorman provides a dramatic difference with Keith who has publicly supported open borders, public health lockdowns and LGBTQ(+whatever) agendas.”

When crafting those words, I mistakenly believed Keith’s media background would inform her that those topics would be reviewed during the campaign. Her reaction, however, was that of just another thin-skinned ego-driven politician dedicated to avoiding substantive coverage. However, citizens of Tulsa expect more from candidates for mayor and regular readers have concerns about Karen Keith.

Karen Keith (Photo from KarenKeith.org)
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ESG Lawsuit Highlights Issues

In 2022, Oklahoma lawmakers passed the “Energy Discrimination Elimination Act” (EDEA), which requires the state treasurer to identify firms that embrace “Environmental Social Governance” (ESG) policies. Those pro-ESG firms are barred from receiving state contracts, including management of state pension funds.

Opponents of the law have pushed back and obtained an injunction preventing its enforcement.

But an unrelated class-action lawsuit targeting American Airlines’ use of pro-ESG firms to manage its employees’ pensions shows some retired workers agree with Oklahoma lawmakers.

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“Hillbilly Elegy” & Vice Presidency

We were excited to sit in the President’s box at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee when Sen. JD Vance gave his acceptance speech.

That evening, we noticed a woman sitting in the front row who we didn’t recognize. Imagine our surprise when he introduced her as his mother, Beverly Vance, who is now ten years free from heroin addiction. We all applauded her, and it was deeply emotional to see her on stage with the rest of the family after his speech.

When Vance’s wife Usha Chilukuri Vance introduced him, it was an interesting moment for everyone watching at the convention and at home. Usha Vance is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale University. She earned her master’s degree in philosophy and early modern history at Clare College, Cambridge in England. She was also editor of the Yale Law Reivew before graduating from Yale Law School. While at Yale, she also taught American history as a part of a Yale program at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China.

To say Usha Vance is impressive understates just how well JD Vance married (as he himself admits).

“Hillbilly Elegy” is a remarkable movie based on JD Vance’s own memoir.
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