By Shana Adkisson, The Norman Transcript
My parents raised me right. Mom taught me it was polite to always say “please” and “thank you.” Dad educated me on the funnier things in life, and made me realize Boxcar Willie and Elvis were among some of the greatest performers to ever live. I think I’m most grateful they took time to make sure I realized I wasn’t a human being unless I took responsibility for my actions. Good or bad.

By John M Wylie II, Oologah Lake Leader
Last week's order by the Oklahoma Supreme Court pulling court documents off the Internet and stripping key information from paper documents filed in court is both frightening and outrageous. It is bad enough that the justices tried to create a closed court system that would please Adolph Hitler or Josef Stalin.

By Christine Reid, Kingfisher Times & Free Press
By all accounts, Charlotte Ann has gone through some rough patches in her 49 years.  She was born the sixth of seven children to a working class family - a sweet-spirited, adorable youngster who blossomed into a pretty, vivacious teenager with a definite preference for partying over studying.

By Wayne Trotter, The Countywide & Sun (Tecumseh)
We know there are some people in Tecumseh who are not happy with the City Council’s 3-2 decision to keep Jim Thompson as city manager. We understand the way they feel and why they feel that way. We’re sure some of them are on the blogs right now making their points.… Our message to these people is simple: Cool it. Mr. Thompson has been put on notice and you can bet he knows it.

By Jeff Mullin, Enid News & Eagle
With apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson: Half an aisle, half an aisle, half an aisle onward, all in the valley of debt rode the 600, "Forward the Black Friday Brigade, charge for the toy department," he said, into the valley of debt rode the 600.

By Randy Cowling, Owasso Reporter
Elected officials take an oath when they take office. This oath is a solemn pledge to the citizens they represent and serve. When an elected official ignores the oath for personal or unknown reasons, the public should lose trust in that official. On Tuesday evening councilor D. J. Gall did just that. 

By John M. Wylie II, Oologah Lake Leader
When James and Alison say "I do" on Sunday afternoon, it will be the happy ending to a saga that began in 1971, long before either was born.

By David Stringer, The Norman Transcript
Let's call this a mid-term grade for Congress on the Wall Street bailout/rescue bill. We'll give them an F. As far as we're concerned they've failed horribly. The only reason we don't just fail them now is that there are signs they'll actually pull this off.

By Wayne Trotter, Countywide & Sun (Tecumseh)
Do you wake up in the morning hearing voices that sound eerily like they're coming straight from Chris Matthews or Rush Limbaugh? Are you a Republican who keeps seeing Barack Obama in your dreams or a Democrat who's beginning to believe the woman driving that flashy car on the other side of the four-way stop is actually Sarah Palin? Have you made the Gallup or Rasmussen tracking polls your home page? Don't fret, friend. You don't have to rush out to the doctor's office. There's nothing much wrong with you. You don't need some expensive new pill that your insurance won't cover anyway. You're simply suffering from Citizen Reactive Aggravation Political Syndrome, better known as CRAPS.

By Jeff Mullin, Enid News & Eagle
"It is well that war is so terrible," renowned Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee said in 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, "otherwise we would grow too fond of it." Former first lady Barbara Bush put it much more succinctly, "War is not nice." Wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan are taking their toll, not only in terms of those killed and wounded in battle, but those who lose the battle with their troubled psyches, as well.

By Barb Walter, The Hennessey Clipper
My Daddy's birthday is today. He would've been 96 and upset that I used a calculator to figure that out. Daddy was a stickler for being able to do math in your head. He also believed that minding your own business was next to godliness. Momma was the flip-side of that coin. That's why I remember the civil rights sit-ins in Oklahoma City 50 years ago.

By Jeff Mullin, Enid News & Eagle
In 1911, when American aviation was in its infancy, Clyde Cessna, an Enid automobile dealer, built his first airplane. Aviation and Enid have been inexorably linked ever since.

By Rusty Ferguson, The Cleveland American
I’ve grown accustomed to the sight of his car parked along the street next to our house. Seeing him share the oversized recliner in my den is nothing unusual.

By Wayne Trotter, Countywide & Sun (Tecumseh)
No one could accuse Tom Schrzan, Shawnee’s most colorful and outspoken city commissioner, of playing election-year politics with the Police Department because he’s not running for re-election from Ward 2. But it doesn’t stretch credibility...

By Shana Adkisson, The Norman Transcript
My parents raised me right. Mom taught me it was polite to always say "please" and "thank you." Dad educated me on the funnier things in life, and made me realize Boxcar Willie and Elvis were among some of the greatest performers to ever live.

By Jeff Mullin, Enid News & Eagle
Washington, D.C., attorney and author Stephen W. Comiskey once said, "You can delegate authority, but not responsibility." Harry Truman, the plain-spoken Missouri haberdasher who went on to be president, put it more succinctly. "The buck stops here."

By David Gerard, Muskogee Phoenix
In response to a question about what kind of city he would like Muskogee to be, mayoral candidate John Tyler Hammons said he would like it to be a happy city.

By Patti Marshall, Countywide & Sun
With warm weather comes a horrible thought. I need a new bathing suit. Swim suit shopping is on my list of top ten most self-humiliating acts only second to public hot flashes and just above my normally quiet child telling the person in front of us on the grocery checkout that his mommy wears really big underwear.

By J. Leland Gourley, OKC Friday
Oklahoma's lawmakers were among the first in the nation to enact what we call our "Quality Jobs" act. Since then, some other states have also passed similar legislation.

By Jeff Mullin, Enid News & Eagle
Illegal immigration is, everyone agrees, a problem in the United States. According to the Web site immigrationcounters.com, there are 21.4 million illegal immigrants in the United States. In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration in Oklahoma, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, authored House Bill 1804, which was passed last session and went into effect Nov. 1.

By Andy Rieger, The Norman Transcript
The year was 1947 and post-war England needed even more of our help. Americans and their British counterparts had fought the good fight together and won a war that would change the world forever. This time, however, it was the pen not the sword that was needed to make and seal lasting friendships.

By John M. Wylie II, Oologah Lake Leader
Last week’s order by the Oklahoma Supreme Court pulling court documents off the Internet and stripping key information from paper documents filed in court is both frightening and outrageous.

By Barbara Vice, Drumright Gusher
I never liked wearing thongs. The darn things have a tendency to crawl up your nether regions, not to mention leave you feeling half-naked under a summer skirt…

By Tom Muchmore, Ponca City News
They are at it again and it is getting old. The desire for the government to control our behavior is apparently too strong for legislators to resist. The latest is Senate Bill 1875 which would ban smoking in all kinds of places.

By Wayne Trotter, Tecumseh Countywide News
Jeff and Lori McMahan have a lot of friends and supporters in Pottawatomie County. Despite clear signals that things were headed in that direction, most were shocked and disappointed Friday when a federal indictment was issued alleging that Oklahoma's state auditor and his wife engaged in what amounts to influence peddling.

By Gloria Trotter, Tecumseh Countywide News
Presidential politics has become all about the labels, and that’s just wrong. For the next nine or tenth months, this labeling is going to reach a fever pitch as the presidential campaign intensifies.