holy trinity book ministry distributes nearly 2,000...
TRANSCRIPT
Wednesday, December 20, 2017 28 Pages No. 71 of the 129th Year USPS No. 295-420 50 centswww.kingfisherpress.net
TIMES FREE PRESSEst. April 22, 1889 - Oklahoma’s Oldest Continuously-Published NewspaperKINGFISHER&
[See Ministry Page 14A]
Longtime public servant dies at 86Former Kingfisher mayor and long-
time county treasurer Claudette Brown-lee died Friday, Dec. 15, 2017, at age 86.
Mrs. Brownlee began working in the Kingfisher County Treasurer’s Office as a deputy on March 1, 1956, and then was elected to a number of successive terms as county treasurer, serving from 1979 until her retirement in 1993.
During that period, she also served terms as president of the state County Officers and Deputies Association in 1991 and the state association for coun-ty treasurers in 1987.
She also served on the advisory board for county treasurers for Oklahoma State University.
During her service as a county officer and after her retirement, Mrs. Brownlee was actively involved in federal, state and local politics as well as public service programs.
She and her husband, the late George Brownlee, both held office in the King-fisher County Republican Party, she as secretary and he as treasurer, and they volunteered and hosted fundraising events in the early campaigns of U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and State Rep. Mike Sanders, as well as other candidates.
Mrs. Brownlee was a founding mem-ber of the Kingfisher County Republican Women in 2003, serving as its treasurer for number of years, and then as chair-man of its Americanism committee.
A 1949 graduate of Kingfisher High School, Mrs. Brownlee was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1990 and was named Kingfisher Citizen of the year in 1999 by the Chamber of Commerce.
She served as co-director of the King-fisher Community Foundation and two terms on the Kingfisher Educational Foundation Board, where she was elect-ed secretary.
She also was appointed to the board of regents of Redlands Community Col-lege in April 1997.
She was active in the Chamber of Commerce, serving two terms as sec-retary on the board of directors and also as interim chamber manager and as a frequent volunteer in the chamber office.
She was the first woman inducted into the Kingfisher Rotary Club and served as its first female president for two years in 1996 and 1997 and then as assistant district governor.
Brownlee was elected Kingfisher’s
mayor in April 2004, serving until 2006.Some of her volunteer projects included helping with the original Kingfisher in Lights, the Buckle of the Wheatbelt 5K run, a bell-ringer for the Salvation Army and a volunteer reader with Kingfisher third graders.
Along with her family, she attended the First United Methodist Church in Kingfisher, where she served nine years on the Oklahoma Methodist Foundation Board and as chairperson of the local church administrative board.
She was born Ruth Claudette Brown, on Sept. 22, 1931, in Hennessey, named for both her father and mother, Claude and Ruth Brown.
She married George Brownlee on May 17, 1950, in Kingfisher, and the couple raised two sons here, Gary Brownlee and the late Dr. Gregory Brownlee.
Gary Brownlee currently resides in Oklahoma City, where he works for the Department of the Interior – Bureau of Reclamation.
Dr. Gregory Brownlee graduated from Oklahoma State University and the Northeastern State University College of Optometry.
Claudette Brownlee
BOOK MINISTRY participants with just some of the nearly 2,000 books collected and distributed. From left are, Jeremiah Hill, Matthew Palmer, project orga-nizer Sue Patchin, Bridget Himes and Abby McIlvain. Jeff Palmer is not pictured. [Photo Provided]
By Christine ReidTimes-Free Press Senior Editor
With the help of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church pastor, staff, congregation and eighth grade confirmation class, a pas-toral ministry student brought the gift of reading to nearly 2,000 area children and adults this holiday season.
Sue Patchin of Piedmont, a Holy Trinity congregation member, is in the process of completing a bachelor of arts degree in pastoral ministry from Newman College, a private Catholic University in Wichita, Kan.
To fulfill class requirements, she was expected to develop and implement a ministry.
“I was shocked by the as-signment,” she said. “I, in no way, shape or form, had ever developed a ministry or had a clue about how to go about it.”
She started by focusing on a ministry for her home par-ish and Holy Trinity Catholic School that was compatible with the mission statements of both institutions.
After much prayer and con-templation, “Catholics and Communities Caring for Liter-
Holy Trinity book ministry distributes nearly 2,000 volumesThe Gift of Literacy
District 1 County Commissioner Jeff Moss and employees of District 1 worked Friday evening and Saturday to repair an area on Bohemian Hall Blacktop destroyed by a a DCP gas line explosion Thursday afternoon.
Moss said DCP repaired the six-inch gas line that erupted Friday and he and employees went to work Friday evening to repair the damaged road.
Three loads of material had to be brought in to fill the fissure caused by the explosion, adding to the expense of a water truck, graders, road closing signs, signal personnel and other costs associ-ated with the unexpected repair.
Blasted roadnow passable;paving delayed
By Gary ReidKTFP Publisher Emeritus
Two corporations owing a total of nearly $1.8 million in ad valorem taxes – including the company whose pipeline blew up a county road last week – are protesting their county tax bills.
DCP Midstream, an oil and gas company whose assets in the county include a six-inch natural gas pipeline which ex-ploded under a paved county road last Thursday, owes a total of $1,129,221.85 and Kingfisher Wind, a company producing electricity using wind turbines, owes $631,996.
DCP has protested its taxes for the 2015 calendar year in the amount of $333,645 and for 2016 in the amount of $795,576.85 and has sued the county seeking a reduction in its property valua-tion assessment.
Increased DCP involvement in the county oil field caused the increase in tax.
Ad valorem tax is applied on property situated in the county at the beginning of each calendar year at the rate of 11 percent of actual value.
Kingfisher Wind filed an ad valorem tax appeal lawsuit against the county in Kingfisher
County District Court in August 2016.
DCP Midstream filed a similar appeal last June. Both cases are still pending.
While the companies have actually submitted payments in the amount of their ad valorem tax bill, County Treasurer Karen Mueggenborg cannot distribute the money to schools and other entities until the district court de-cides the company’s suits against the county.
Mueggenborg deposited the company’s tax payments in an interest-bearing account.
If the companies’ tax appeals
are successful, their payments will be returned, along with the interest earned.
If the companies lose their ap-peals, the governmental entities benefiting from the ad valorem tax payments will receive their alloted portions, plus interest.
Kingfisher County has joined a multi-county coalition de-fending against DCP court chal-lenges. Other counties in the defense coalition include Grady, Woodward, Canadian, Ellis, Bea-ver, Major and Texas.
Kingfisher County commis-sioners recently approved pay-
Owners of exploding pipeline and wind farm both fighting ad valorem tax bills
[See Protest Page 14A] [See Blast Page 14A]
[See Brownlee Page 14A]
2A Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Kingfisher (Okla.) Times & Free Press
Dover Elementary students who were re-cently awarded Student of the Month were, from left, front row: Marco Sotelo and Erin Guinn, second grade; Ethan Pierce and Mad-ison Pierce, first grade; Krystal Edwards and Eli Huntsberger, kindergarten; and Ariana Calderson, pre-k; back row, Fatima Aboite and Karlee Harviston, sixth grade; Joleidy Flores, fifth grade; Fernanda Montes, fourth grade; and Alexcea Caldwell and Casen Buck, third grade. [Photo provided]
Dover Students of the Month
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Kingfisher (Okla.) Times & Free Press Wednesday, December 20, 2017 3A
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$30Filing for the King-
fisher County Fair Board will begin next month as three positions are com-ing open.
The filing period is Jan. 18-22, 2018, at County Clerk Jeannie Boevers’ office inside the county courthouse.
Pending the results of filing, an election will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in the courthouse lobby.
Fair board members are elected to three-year terms.
The term for one fair board member from each commissioner district is up this year.
Incumbents whose terms are up are Jeff Henrichs of Okarche, District 1; Luke Lough of Hennessey, District 2; and Frank Staude of Loyal, District 3.
Candidates live within the commissioner district they seek to represent.
If no candidates file for election, the county com-missioners are required to appoint a director for each position for which no candidate files.
The three members elected at the February election will serve with six holdover members who include Jay Evans, David Gerken, Charles Patocka, Mike Witt and Shane Clifton.
Kingfisher High School has announced its Students of the Month for November 2017.
Honorees are senior Cricket Kaya, junior Mor-gan Snowden, sophomore Anna Gallupe and fresh-man Maverick Ridenour.
Kaya is the daughter of Kurt Kaya and Shel Wagner.
Her honors include superintendent’s honor roll, Oklahoma Girls State Outstanding Cititzen, Dis-tinguished Young Woman runner-up, Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Moun-tain Fellow, Duke Univer-
Jim Scheffler served the role of St. Nicholas at the Chisholm Trail Museum’s 2017 Very Vintage Christ-mas. Visiting with St. Nicho-las are Kelby, Wyatt and Cole Kannon. [Photo provided]
Charlie and Aileen Boyd of Kingfisher will celebrate their 50th wedding anni-versary Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017, at Kingfisher Elks Lodge.
Hosting the party will be their children Bill Boyd and wife Vickie of Pied-mont, Jacque Moss and husband Jeff and Stepha-nie Kale, all of Kingfisher; and grandchildren Ethan Kale, Colby Kale and Zach-ary Boyd.
Charlie married Aileeen Townsend on Dec. 23, 1967, at the First Christian Church in Kingfisher.
He worked in the oil-
field and in the nuclear industry as an inspector.
She was a floral design-er in both Kingfisher and Hershey, Pa., and also as a secretary.
His work required trav-el for several years and Aileen kept the home and children in Kingfisher, with a short span in Penn-sylvania.
Aileen then traveled with Charlie all over the United States after their children were out of school.
Charlie recently retired after nearly 35 years in the industry and they are both ranching in Kingfisher.
Anna Gallupe Maverick RidenourMorgan Snowden
Cricket Kaya
sity Talent Identification
Program Fellow and she was a part of the state cham-pionship marching band.
Kaya is also involved in student council, academic
team and quiz bowl, Na-tional Honor Society, and Mercy Hospital Kingfisher Student Governing Board.
Snowden is the daugh-
ter of Mark and Karen Snowden.
Her honors include National Honor Society, superintendent’s honor
roll and Oklahoma Honor Society.
She’s also involved in FCCLA.
Gallupe is the daughter of Grant and Connie Gallupe.
She’s been listed on the principal’s honor roll and is also involved in student council, drama, art and is a team manager for football and baseball.
Ridenour is the son of Travis and Angelita Ride-nour.
He is the freshman class president and is active in FFA, FCA, 4-H and basket-ball, among other activities.
KHS announces November Students of the Month
•AnniversaryCharlie, Aileen Boyd to celebrate 50th
Aileen and Charlie Boyd in 1967
Vintage Christmas
Filing for fair board seats is
next month
4A Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Kingfisher (Okla.) Times & Free Press
VIEW
(A column of opinion by Gary Reid, Publisher Emeritus)
from behindthe plow
The Kingfisher Times & Free Press(USPS No. 295-420)
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Gary Reid, Publisher Emeritus
The excitement is over. Judge Roy Moore lost the Senate race in Alabama.What a relief.If he had been elected the national media would have
made him the face of the Republican party.Moore, although he came close to winning, lost to an
abortion-on-demand Democrat. If he had won he would have been a detriment to draining the swamp in Wash-ington although he would have undoubtedly voted just the way President Donald Trump wanted on every issue.
Can you imagine the number of zany Roy Moore com-ments you would have heard and read on national media outlets daily?
While the Republicans have a very narrow margin in the Senate now (51-49), the Democrat’s election might have been why Senate President Mitch McConnell ar-ranged for millions of dollars in negative campaign ads to block one of Moore’s primary opponent he particularly disliked possibly because he is a level-headed conservative who had a sensible position on immigration.
Now McConnell has an excuse for getting nothing done while he has a majority – although slim – in the Senate.
The good thing is that Doug Jones, the Democrat who will replace Jeff Sessions in the Senate will have to face the voters again in 2020 and Judge Moore may not feel up to running again then.
Democrats may think they have found a winning strat-egy against conservative Republicans – dredge his-or-her background for possible sexual harassment, even if it requires going back to their elementary school days (not that Moore didn’t deserve it).
Columnist Ann Coulter has come out in favor of a pol-icy requiring Republicans who consider immigration as a back burner issue to run on the issues they consider more important – in California.
“See how your arguments fare in a state that’s already been transformed by immigration,” she says, adding: “That’s your new country.”
“How stupid do you have to be to carry on about taxes, defense spending, ISIS, abortion or the Ten Command-ments while intentionally losing on the one issue that will determine the outcome of all these other issues? Too stupid to be of any real help.
“That’s why McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan keep producing loss after loss for Trump. They’ve turned the Trump presidency into the Bush presidency — but, this time, with Jared Kushner. (Obviously, any Republican president would desperately seek Kushner’s counsel — but could Jeb have gotten Ivanka, too?)”
For years, a general rule has been that trends starting in California spread to the rest of the country.
That is scary.It implies we will all become part of Mexico, complete
with screwball California laws, plus corruption.One difference might be, the immigration laws won’t
be so lax, since they will be those of Mexico.
Letter speaks for most American menThe following letter to the Times and Free Press from a
man living in Ohio who represents, we believe, the attitude of a majority of American men.
It follows for your consideration:This letter is in response to the articles covering the
sexual harassment allegations made against men in the media and government throughout the United States.
To all males living in this country I issue a collective statement: enough already! Who are you to impose your sexual desires on someone because they did not give you their consent? Once again we are witnessing those in authority positions taking advantage of the situation. Resignation is the least you can do.
Prosecution is the best we can do...and we will.What did you expect to gain from making sexual ad-
vances on a human being?If this isn’t an indication of the failure to grow up I don’t
know what is. Those men who have permeated (sic) this transgression must seek counseling before they destroy more lives executing their perverted conquest. Otherwise time spent in prison will allow them to dwell on their evil actions while trying to survive an environment which is the closest equivalent to hell on earth.
Perhaps I had the advantage of growing up with four sisters in my family which some say predispositions males to be kinder to females throughout all stages of their life. Frankly I remember times when I was embarrassed for-making incidental contact with a female followed by an immediate apology.
Ladies of America please be assured that the actions of a few do not represent the feelings and beliefs of the many. You are our mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins, etc., that compose one equal half of the species we call the human race.
For that matter do not despair because the true honest and gentle men of this country know better than to act inappropriately in your company. We will always cherish your beauty, charm and most importantly your intelli-gence.
Now help us to drive this dreadful scourge from the planet once and for all.
It is up to all of us. Let us begin.Joe Bialek,4233 River Ridge Drive, Cleveland, OH
44109
Hooray! Judge Moore loses; party possibly saved
By Walter E WilliamsBefore the question, how
about a few statistics? The 20th century was man-kind’s most brutal century. Roughly 16 million people lost their lives during World War I; about 60 million died during World War II. Wars during the 20th century cost an estimated 71 million to 116 million lives (http://tinyurl.com/ya62mrqa).
The number of war dead pales in comparison with the number of people who lost their lives at the hands of their own governments. The late professor Rudolph J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii documented this tragedy in his book “Death by Government: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900.” Some of the statistics found in the book have been updated at http://tinyurl.com/y96tqhrl.
The People’s Republic of China tops the list, with 76 million lives lost at the hands of the government from 1949 to 1987. The So-viet Union follows, with 62 million lives lost from 1917 to 1987. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi German government killed 21 million people between 1933 and 1945. Then there are lesser murdering re-gimes, such as Nationalist China, Japan, Turkey, Viet-nam and Mexico. According to Rummel’s research, the 20th century saw 262 mil-lion people’s lives lost at the hands of their own govern-ments (http://tinyurl.com/lu8z8ab).
Hitler’s atrocities are widely recognized, pub-licized and condemned. World War II’s conquering nations’ condemnation in-cluded denazification and bringing Holocaust perpe-trators to trial and punish-ing them through lengthy sentences and execution. Similar measures were tak-
en to punish Japan’s mur-derers.
But what about the great-est murderers in mankind’s history -- the Soviet Union’s Josef Stalin and China’s Mao Zedong? Some leftists saw these communists as heroes. W.E.B. Du Bois, writing in the National Guardian in 1953, said, “Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stat-ure. ... The highest proof of his greatness (was that) he knew the common man, felt his problems, followed his fate.” Walter Duranty called Stalin “the greatest living statesman” and “a quiet, unobtrusive man.” There was even leftist admiration for Hitler and fellow fascist Benito Mussolini. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, George Ber-nard Shaw described him as “a very remarkable man, a very able man.” President Franklin Roosevelt called the fascist Mussolini “admi-rable,” and he was “deeply impressed by what he (had) accomplished.”
In 1972, John Kenneth Galbraith visited Commu-nist China and praised Mao and the Chinese economic system. Michel Oksenberg, President Jimmy Carter’s China expert, complained, “America (is) doomed to decay until radical, even rev-olutionary, change funda-mentally alters the institu-tions and values.” He urged us to “borrow ideas and solutions” from China. Har-vard University professor John K. Fairbank believed that America could learn much from the Cultural Revolution, saying, “Amer-icans may find in China’s collective life today an in-gredient of personal moral concern for one’s neighbor that has a lesson for us all.” By the way, an estimated 2
million people died during China’s Cultural Revolu-tion. More recent praise for murdering tyrants came from Anita Dunn, Presi-dent Barack Obama’s acting communications director in 2009, who said, “Two of my favorite political philos-ophers (are) Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa.”
Recal l the campus demonstrations of the 1960s, in which campus radicals, often accompanied by their professors, marched around singing the praises of Mao and waving Mao’s Little Red Book. That may explain some of the campus mess today. Some of those campus radicals are now tenured professors and ad-ministrators at today’s uni-versities and colleges and K-12 schoolteachers and principals indoctrinating our youth.
Now the question: Why are leftists soft on com-munism? The reason left-ists give communists, the world’s most horrible mur-derers, a pass is that they sympathize with the chief goal of communism: re-stricting personal liberty. In the U.S., the call is for gov-ernment control over our lives through regulations and taxation. Unfortunate-ly, it matters little whether the Democrats or Repub-licans have the political power. The march toward greater government control is unabated. It just happens at a quicker pace with Dem-ocrats in charge.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web-page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM
By Brandon DutcherThe Society of Profes-
sional Journalists, to its great credit, says journalists should “encourage a civil di-alogue with the public about journalistic practices, cover-age, and news content.” In that spirit, I (as a member of the public) offer some observations.
The phrase “regulatory capture” describes a situa-tion in which a government agency, board, or commis-sion ceases to act in the public interest and instead starts to favor the special interests it is supposed to be regulating.
Regrettably, there’s an equivalent phenomenon in journalism. Reporters develop incestuous relation-ships with their sources, especially sources in gov-ernment, and over time they seem to be writing more for their sources than for their customers. The problem is exacerbated when the re-porter’s liberal or center-left worldview is already predis-posed to align with that of the sources.
E x a m p l e s a b o u n d throughout the news pages in my home state of Okla-homa, but consider for a mo-ment the higher-education beat. In a state where most media customers are con-servative – and for whom subsidizing higher educa-tion is not a high priority – think of the many inter-esting stories that could be told which would serve the public interest (even if they afflicted the comfortable special interests).
An economist who helps compile the annual college rankings for Forbes exam-ined the teaching loads at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State Uni-versity and concluded in 2014 that taxpayers could save $181 million annually if professors taught more students. How about a news story focusing on teaching loads, quoting both the economist himself and crit-ics who disagree?
In a new “resource guide” published by one de-partment in OU’s division of student affairs, students are encouraged to use gen-der-neutral pronouns such as “persself,” “zirself,” “hir-self,” and “eirself.” How about a news story explain-ing what’s going on, quoting both defenders and critics of the new pronouns?
A Cato Institute scholar has shown that Oklahoma’s higher education system has taken in much more reve-nue than what was needed to backfill state cuts. How about a story focusing on that finding, quoting both the scholar and those who say higher education needs more money?
When OU agreed to pay $40,000 to a vile, misogy-nistic hip-hop artist with a history of hostile, racist, threatening chants, report-ers should have explored whether this was a wise use of scarce resources (especially in this post-SAE era in Norman). Another opportunity presented itself this fall: reporters should ask how much OU paid to the obscene recording artist MadeinTYO for a home-coming concert this year.
Many other interesting story ideas come to mind. But instead, we too often see stories which can leave readers asking themselves: “How would the story se-lection – and indeed the narrative framework of the article – have been any dif-ferent if a higher-education public information officer had written that?”
Typical is a recent 590-word story in The Okla-homan headlined “Task force tackling challenges of Oklahoma higher education system.” One sentence in particular caught my eye: “Others cite a report by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs that states adminis-trative costs at Oklahoma universities is 70 percent higher than the national average.”
That’s close, but what OCPA economists Scott Moody and Wendy War-cholik, using Census and BEA data, actually said was: “Oklahoma’s higher education system employs
By Jonathan SmallTens of millions of dol-
lars are missing; criminal investigations are under-way. Officials at the State Department of Health, it seems, misspent funds and misled the public about it for at least six years. Some of the money came from the federal government, meaning those involved could face federal charges, and state taxpayers might have to pay that money back.
What happened? Only by answering that ques-tion can we make such scandals less likely in the future. The multiple investigations are in their initial stages, but three lessons already stand out.
First, executive lead-ership matters in state government. Even in po-sitions of power, the easy path is often “go along to get along” or “keep your head down.” Self-serving politicians want to protect their political capital, but leaders know such capital is only worth having – and only grows – if you use it.
The governor and her top advisers claim they knew nothing about prob-
lems at the Department of Health until six years of mismanagement put the agency on the brink of collapse. This may be true, but then where were they? No doubt it was easier to let agency lead-ers do their thing, and no feathers got ruffled by taking their word for it year after year.
The problem isn’t just weak leadership. The second lesson is that Oklahoma’s executive branch structure actually produces weakness and confusion. The governor and her staff point to the nine-member Board of Health as the depart-ment’s direct governing authority. None of them is elected, and almost none of them is even known to the public. This structure makes it easy to pass the buck.
Oklahoma needs constitutional reform that makes the buck stop with the governor. The state’s top elected official should appoint agency directors who report to her and can be fired by her. That way, management (or misman-agement) would be unam-biguously the governor’s
responsibility.The final lesson relates
to the danger of federal funds flowing through state agencies and the need for greater transpar-ency. The money looks deceptively free, inviting abuses. After all, the Leg-islature doesn’t have to raise it through taxes. For that matter, about a quar-ter of all federal funds are borrowed (something that would be illegal for state government to do on its own). The Legislature passed a bill to increase transparency for these funds, but it was vetoed by Governo Fallin.
Jonathan Small serves as president of the Okla-homa Council of Public Affairs (www.ocpathink.org).
Learning from the health department
Help offered for journalists
[See Journalists Page 5A]
A minority view:
Fascism and communism