For the Children: The legislative session is moving quickly,  and lawmakers are now busy working in their assigned committees to sort through relevant bills and resolutions. I am pleased to say that o...

If you’re going to achieve your important financial goals, you’ll need to build an appropriate investment portfolio. But that’s only part of the story – because you also need to protect what you have,...

Two Checotah area residents were arrested on child abuse related charges last week. Cassandra Jo Bussey, 35, has been charged with enabling child abuse by injury, harboring a fugitive from justice and...

Life coaches – not surprisingly – strive to improve the quality of life of their clients. And financial professionals essentially embrace the same mission. So, if you decide to hire a financial adviso...

Awe love. So sweet when you’re 16. So intriguing when you’re a teen. Then absolutely a roller coaster as an adult. Nothing more exciting than the honeymoon stage, yet nothing more devastating during t...

For the Children: On Monday, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) and the Oklahoma Women’s Coalition held our second Women and Children First advocacy training program. It was a great even...

John Eric Clark, 33, of Checotah, was charged last week with kidnapping, felony aggravated assault and battery, misdemeanor assault and battery and obstructing an officer. Associate District Judge Bre...

In his State of the Union address, President Trump asked Americans to choose greatness. The guests of the White House depicted that message, too. Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut who planted the American Fl...

My office has heard from a number of constituents recently who are receiving scam phone calls from individuals pretending to be with the Social Security Administration. Thousands of people are victims...

For the Children: We are now at the beginning of the 2019 Oklahoma Legislative Session and Governor Kevin Stitt’s first State of the State address. Lawmakers are holding pre-session budget hearings to...

Historical Comparisons In a recent interview, basketball megastar LeBron James compared NFL owners to plantation slave owners. He was not the first to do so. In fact, it has become a common way to des...

The new Congress brought in many new members to Capitol Hill. Along with it came dozens of progressives, whose liberal ideas and leftist platforms would drive our country straight into socialism. One ...

For the Children: The bill filing deadline has come and gone and we now know what legislative ideas have been submitted by lawmakers.   Our team at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) is ...

Thank you To those who attended my birthday dinner as well as those who were not able to attend, I thank each of you so much for the cards, gifts, and any other act of kindness in making the dinner a ...

In February, TV stations the world over will broadcast the most-watched U.S. football game of the year. But sports fans aren’t the only ones viewing this “big game,” held in Atlanta this year. The two...

For the Children: On Monday, Jan. 14, Oklahoma welcomed in new leadership in our executive branch.   Governor Kevin Stitt was sworn into office and followed the oath with his inaugural speech.   Highl...

As a Cherokee, I’m familiar with the trust responsibility of the federal government to Native Americans. Tribal Nations are sovereign governments that have a unique relationship with the federal gover...

The Oklahoma Tax Commission recently released city sales tax collection figures that primarily represents local tax receipts from November business. Companies that remit more than $2,500 monthly in sa...

Happy New Year! I thought I would start off this year by publishing a story I wrote last year.  Right before I was going to publish it, a bigger story came up and I ended up putting it on the back she...

“At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished...it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back. ~ Denzel Washington” ...