A free weekly news summary that explains quickly what's important and interesting, shared in weekly wraps, popular lists, conversations and cheat sheets. Skim or go deep. A movement toward truth and understanding in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Should Oklahoma’s minimum wage go up to $15 an hour? You get to vote on that June 16
Oklahoma Watch reporter Keaton Ross with a great overview and details on State Question 832. Like he reports, is it “a long-overdue raise for low-income workers struggling to make ends meet? Or a burdensome mandate on small businesses that will lead to reduced hours for workers and higher consumer prices?”
Reminder for Independents in Oklahoma: Tulsa Flyer reporter Ginnie Graham with the fact that independents can’t vote for elected offices in this primary election, but can vote on other things. She reports that more than 13,000 Oklahomans so far have changed their party affiliation to vote on the candidates.
Angel Spears lost her son to gun violence at Tulsa Juneteenth festival. She wants the city to do more in 2026: That’s the headline of an exclusive interview Oklahoma Eagle reporter Kimberly Marsh had with the mother of 22-year-old Isaiah Knight.
We are not alone and we can’t explain any of it (so far)
The president is pushing to open up files on possible alien activity that the government hasn’t made public in decades. The latest dump of files didn’t show off much but some light orbs zipping by Naval ships in videos and fighter pilots putting a target on something in photos. I believe I have seen clearer photos of Pluto. In some videos, it looks like an AirPod went rogue. This is just the first of several releases promised.
Here are all the videos set to music of an orchestra:
If you haven’t seen the recent “Age of Disclosure” documentary, I highly recommend it: Under oath in congressional hearings, you hear from those closest to these government programs. You can see the clear footage of something that defies physics. The drinking game is on the word “nonhuman.” Check out the trailer.
“I don’t know about you all, but please think back to who you picked in eighth, ninth, 10th grade, and I think many of you would be very disappointed to be saddled with that person for the rest of your life.”
– State Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, during a discussion on the House floor on banning child marriage in Oklahoma. While the measure passed without a no vote in the Senate, Oklahoma Voice reporter Emma Murphy reports it had 36 no-votes in the House. The bill passed and is now in front of the governor to sign.
“We lost a lot of them, and Jane would come every year to that (city) council, and to that budget, and say, ‘You don’t tear it down. The kids in this community need this. And she was so fierce and so powerful that every year the council, we eked out some money, but enough money to keep this center open. And I think, now, because of Jane, we get to tear it down, but we’re gonna build. We’re gonna let you come and swing the first sledgehammer. … It’s the first new rec center that’s been built decades in Tulsa.”
“You’ll see some media reports of farmers getting six-figure incomes from government checks. Well, I can assure you, it’s not like we get these checks and are like ‘OK, let’s go to Tahiti.”
“It’s like The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s getting scary.”
–Kari Rayl, a nutritionist and health practitioner who served as chair of Precinct 345 in the Cleveland County Republican Party. Reporter Ben Fenwick with Oklahoma Watch writes that a fast-growing faction that holds abortion is murder and that women who obtain one should face criminal prosecution is censuring resistant legislators, targeting moderate incumbents in primaries and placing its members in state Republican Party leadership. They’re called The Abolitionists.
“That’s the very contradiction at the heart of who we are as Americans. When those men looked out at their fields full of enslaved people and said we are all created equal, they were writing out of ‘we’ all the people that didn’t look like them.”
– Historian Heather Cox Richardson, talking on C-Span’s America Book Club, about the inherent contradictions of the Declaration of Independence as a document proclaiming liberty for ‘We the People,’ written by Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder. Richardson has millions of fans on her newsletter and podcast. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
How about some good news
Philbrook has a new name and a pavilion worth visiting: The Tandy Pavilion and covered patio comes in at 8,000 square feet, with the Wildflower Cafe serving food and gardens and green space to enjoy, reports the Tulsa Flyer’s Tim Landes. Also, note the name change: It’s Philbrook Art and Gardens.
Finally, Tulsa International Airport is truly international: It’s impossible to miss the $42 million, 45,000-square-foot facility next to where you drop people off at the airport, designed by Tulsa’s Narrate Design. Inside you can hop on direct, international commercial flights to and from Tulsa for the first time in the airport’s almost seven-decade history. Flights with service to and from Cancun, Mexico, begin May 21. Tulsa World reporter Curtis Killman and staff photographer Mike Simons have the story on this game-changing project.
Notable numbers
48th out of 51: The 2026 Commonwealth Fund study of racial and ethnic health disparities places Oklahoma 48th out of 51 for health outcomes among white populations and 47th for health care quality. Read more about it from Tulsa World reporter Randy Krehbiel.
10: Number of people that Oklahoma has so far terminated Medicaid benefits for after the Trump Administration asked the state to double-check the immigration status of thousands of enrollees. The Frontier’s Ari Fife digs into it.
$25 to $95: How much some iPhone owners could receive in a proposed settlement. Apple seemed to have oversold its artificial intelligence system, Apple Intelligence. The proposed settlement still requires court approval, with a hearing on preliminary approval scheduled for June.
$22,000: How much you would have spent if you bought an iPhone each time a new version came out since it debuted.
$326,000: How much your portfolio would be worth if you spent the same amount on Apple stock each time you bought the new phones.
6th: Rank of Tulsa in a list of top 10 metros areas for 20-somethings with college degrees. Birmingham, Alabama, was first. Six of the 10 are in the South, according to rankings from the HR software company ADP.
Recommendations
The Helen: Great vibes. Friendly staff. The best hashbrowns. French toast was good. There feels like there’s a story behind it because there is.
Weekend trip to Bentonville, Arkansas: It’s an easy drive. Have to go see The Compton, a hotel with a first floor that is all about comfort, style and community. The Momentary is very fun. Walk the trails around Crystal Bridges Museum. Table Mesa is a must. There’s sweet lime something on the chips.
Introducing a new series: “Why I”
As we expand what the Collington Index provides, I want to start with “Why I,” a chance for people to say in their own words why they do something. Could be interesting or important. Quirky or significant. Funny or wild.
This Saturday, you might see a lot of people rowing on the Arkansas River. The Tulsa Rowing Club is hosting its first-ever “Return to Rowing Day” that’s part of a nationwide initiative sponsored by USRowing to welcome former rowers back to the sport. The event is scheduled from 9-11 a.m. Saturday at the Tulsa Rowing Club boathouse, 715 W. 21st St., in the River West Festival Park (site of Oktoberfest).
I asked Barrett Waller, a friend who rows, to share why he does it.
Why I row: When I headed off to college years ago, I didn’t realize that the biggest part of my education would take place in a slimy and rat-infested 2,500-meter lagoon in downtown Chicago.
That’s where the Northwestern rowing team practiced, and after being recruited in the freshman class registration line I spent the next four years of college – and the rest of my life since then – realizing there’s nothing quite as wonderful as being out in a boat.
Rowing is one of those sports that grabs you and doesn’t let go on many levels. There’s the mystique of rowing, a sport that was once only viewed as something for the Olympics or for elite Eastern schools but that’s now popular in cities across the country.
It’s certainly appealing for exercise. We’ve all climbed on a rowing machine in the gym, even though that’s just a faint shadow of the real joy of gliding through the water in a shell.
But there’s also the friendships it creates – and maintains – through your whole life. I’ve rowed with the same people at the Tulsa Rowing Club for decades on the Arkansas River, living for those days when the wind is calm and we can hurry down to the boathouse and launch with the downtown Tulsa skyline as our backdrop.
In the end, rowing is good for my soul. My college rowing buddies have all stayed in each other’s lives through our connection, constant through weddings, kids, health scares, divorces and other major life changes.
My college friend Larry and I even talked about rowing a pair (a 2-person shell) “someday.” When he retired as an engineer a few years ago, he called me up and said, “So, are we gonna do this?” And since rowing grabs you and doesn’t let go, we of course found a used pair and keep it here at the Tulsa Rowing Club boathouse, getting out on the water again every few months when he travels here from Denver. To continue what we started 40 years ago.
I row because being in a boat has set the rhythm of my life.
If you want to give me the why behind something you do, email me at jc@jasoncollington.com.
I appreciate the continued support with this movement toward truth and understanding in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There is no cavalry. It’s up to us. Forward this to those in your circles who you think would enjoy it.
All together now. jc
P.S. If you don’t have a “to-don’t” list, let me help you with that. I am speaking during an LT Elevate event on May 28 called “Create a 13th month while saving time and maximizing effort.” When you save time, you create margin to think clearly, do deep work and achieve sanity. You will learn 3 simple systems that make it clear how to reverse a clock counting down. Free for Leadership Tulsa members and just $35 for nonmembers. Register here.
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