Yep, It's Still Cold

Plus an Oklahoma voter registration update

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Yep, It’s Still Cold.

I hope you’re doing okay after the icy plunge Oklahoma went through the last few weeks. It was nice to have a slight warm-up; unfortunately, on Monday, the frigid temperatures, ice, and snow will return to Oklahoma.

That below-zero wind chill was something awful, wasn’t it? It didn’t take long to feel the icy bite on any exposed skin.

We did have one pipe freeze up on us, but when the wind finally stopped blowing, it defrosted okay. So, no calls to the plumber were needed. That’s one profession that was probably in high demand with pipes freezing and bursting throughout the state. So, a thank you to all who were on call during the freeze.

Stay warm, everyone.

Voter Registration Update

The Oklahoma State Elections Board released the latest voter registration numbers. So as of January 15, 2024, Oklahoma has 2,301,188 registered voters. The party breakdown was 1% Libertarian (21,910), 19% Independent (436,041), 28% Democrat (652,611), and 51% Republican (1,190,626).

Oklahoma Registered Voters by Political Party (chart made with Canva)

A few interesting comments on Threads about the party makeup, with some vowing to not bother voting. I can only say, please don’t be dissuaded from voting. There are no small elections, and not all of them are based on party. There are plenty of bond issues, sales tax proposals, state questions, judges, and other non-party local elections for you to vote in.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, Oklahoma has a serious voter participation problem. Close to half of those registered to vote will actually vote. Elections are made by those who vote. If you don’t like the way Oklahoma politics is going, vote. It’s the only way you're going to see change. Convince your friends, family, and neighbors to vote. It’s not how many people make up a party; it’s how many people show up to vote.

Lemmy

I started posting news to the Oklahoma community on Lemmy again, lemmy.sdf.org/c/oklahoma.

Screenshot of lemmy.sdf.org/c/oklahoma

Lemmy is an open-source and federated social link aggregation and discussion platform (more). It’s like Reddit, only not under corporate control; there is no advertising, and it connects with the wider fediverse. You can learn more about Lemmy at join-lemmy.org.

If you’d like an instance (or server) to join, check out the Lemmy Explorer at lemmyverse.net. There, you’ll find a variety of instances and communities to join or follow.

Once you join a server, to find and join our Oklahoma community, search for !oklahoma@lemmy.sdf.org (yes, it's ! on Lemmy not @). You can also follow our community on Mastodon, just search for @oklahoma@lemmy.sdf.org.

Hope you'll give Lemmy a try. You can connect with me there at @blogoklahoma.

In The News

A look at some of the latest headlines from around Oklahoma and beyond.

• Annual Voter Registration Report Reveals Steady Growth | Oklahoma State Elections Board

• Choctaw Nation partners with OSU, CDC to fight tick-borne disease in Southeastern Oklahoma | KGOU

• Former Fairfax (OK) mortuary to become community art space | Osage News

• Rural Oklahoma students await return of Choctaw Nation heirloom seeds from space | KOSU

• Oklahoma Supreme Court hears arguments in Muscogee citizen’s tax case | KGOU

• Oklahoma lawmakers to consider expanding school meal programs, but GOP views vary | Oklahoma Voice

• 'Ridiculous': Oklahoma lawmaker proposes school 'furry' ban, stirring global controversy | KOKH

• Bill would require all Oklahoma voters to re-register | KFOR

• Republican lawmakers aim to modify Oklahoma’s bank blacklist law | Oklahoma Voice

• Vandals knock Choctaw County radio station off the air | KTEN

• A firebombing in Tulsa highlights gaps in Oklahoma hate crime law | The Frontier

• USPS announces upcoming price hike | KFOR

About Oklahoma: Cotton County

Cotton County, Oklahoma

Welcome to Cotton County.

Cotton County is in south-southwestern Oklahoma on the Red River bordering Texas. It was formed well after statehood in 1912 when it was split off from Comanche County. It was named after the county’s cash crop, cotton.

Walters, Oklahoma, in the northwestern part of the county at the intersection of State Highway 53 and State Highway 5 and east of Interstate 44, is the county seat and largest city in the county.

Other notable communities in Cotton County include Temple in the southeastern, and Randlett and Devol in the southwestern parts of the county.

• Established: 1912

• County Seat: Walters, Oklahoma 73572

• Nation:  Kiowa, Comanche, Apache

• Map: Google Maps

• Area: 637 mi² (1,650 km²)

• Population: 5,527 (2020 Census)

• Time Zone: UTC−6 (Central), DST observed

• Area Code: 580

• Congressional District: 4

• State House District: 63

• State Senate District: 31

• Weather: NWS Norman

• Tourism Region: Great Plains Country

• History: Oklahoma Historical Society

• Historic Places: Exploring Oklahoma History

• More Information: Wikipedia

Extras

Here are some more things I hope you'll find interesting.

LEGEND - A DRAGON BALL TALE (FULL FILM) - 2022 STUDIO STRAY DOG

Decoding a Moon Message on a 1980s Computer! Commodore Amiga Moonbounce | Retro Recipes

Harvard's In Trouble for Selling Body Parts | Caitlin Doughty

Lighting Then VS Now: Fire Before Electricity | Townsends

Motörhead – Ace Of Spades (Official Video)

Blog Oklahoma Bonus Playlist on Spotify

Feedback Welcome

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a comment on Substrack, email me at blogoklahoma@blogoklahoma.net, or connect with me at Mastodon at @blogoklahoma@social.tulsa.ok.us or Threads at @blogoklahoma@threads.net.

Have a great week.

– K.