Rep. Gann challenges PSO’s 2021 winter storm bonds at OK Supreme Court

Gann Challenges PSO’s 2021 Winter Storm Bonds at OK Supreme Court

OKLAHOMA CITY – An appeal brief filed Thursday by Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to invalidate some $700 million in ratepayer-backed bonds issued to cover costs incurred by Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) during February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri. Payments for those bonds have been collected on the monthly bills of PSO’s customers since the bonds were issued in September 2022. They are scheduled to continue for another 17 years.

Gann’s brief tells the court that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) failed to provide a required audit of the bonds in PSO’s most recent rate case. He also argues PSO’s original 2021 Uri costs that were securitized into the bonds were never audited either.  Gann asserts the audit failures are fatal in both cases, making the OCC’s orders void. 

Attorney General charges OKC man for damaging TV station's weather radar

Contrary to what the crazies out in Loony Land on the internet believe (and I've seen some stuff from them), weather radar is not creating, directing, or contributing to severe weather events.

Image source: News9

Drummond charges Oklahoma City man for damaging TV station's weather radar

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 19, 2025) – The office of Attorney General Gentner Drummond will prosecute an Oklahoma City man accused of damaging the weather radar of Oklahoma City TV station KWTV Channel 9.

Early this month, Anthony Tyler Mitchell, 39, allegedly vandalized the power supply of News 9’s NextGen live radar. He is charged with malicious injury or destruction of property, and damage to equipment in a critical infrastructure facility. Both are felonies. In addition, Mitchell faces a misdemeanor of entering with the intent to commit a felony.

Fetgatter pushes pause on storm chasing license bill

Good. This bill moved far too quickly without input from - as the new popular phrase is - "stakeholders" in the field.

Fetgatter to Further Study Storm Chasing Licensing Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, today announced he has decided to take a deeper dive into the issue of storm chasing in Oklahoma before advancing House Bill 2426.

He said Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, will be holding an interim study on the legislation that would allow professional storm chasers to obtain state licensing giving them special accommodations while tracking severe weather. The bill earlier passed the House and was engrossed to the Senate.

Storm chasing license bill advances through Senate committee

Both legislative bills seeking to create a professional storm chasing license and extend certain 'first responder' privileges have now passed their first committee votes (the House version, HB 2426, passed in committee on Feb. 4th, and advanced to another committee). It's extremely unpopular among the storm chasing community, as they feel - among other things - that it's one step toward regulating all storm chasing activities (and puts the government thumb on the scale for some members in an unfair advantage and unsafe manner).

Sen. Mark Mann (D-OKC) and Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R-Okmulgee)

Emergency Weather Response Bill wins unanimous committee approval

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 20th) – Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, won unanimous, bipartisan support from the Senate Retirement and Government Resources Committee for legislation to help storm trackers travel Oklahoma roads and highways more safely during severe weather. Senate Bill 158 would allow storm trackers employed by FCC licensed radio or TV stations or employees from universities with meteorology programs to be able to travel as first-responders.

Reactions to Oklahoma storm chasing license bill passing first State House committee vote

Read also: Storm chaser licensing and regulation? These legislators want to see it happen. (January 31st, 2025)

I'm going to put State Rep. Fetgatter's press release first, then follow up underneath with some comments of my own and from storm chasers on the legislation.

Fetgatter Passes Storm Chasing Licensing Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 6th) – Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, on Tuesday passed a bill in committee that would allow professional storm chasers to obtain licensing through the state that will allow them special accommodations while they are tracking severe weather.

Storm chaser licensing and regulation? These legislators want to see it happen.

Read also: Reactions to Oklahoma storm chasing license bill passing first State House committee vote (February 8th, 2025)

State Sen. Mark Mann (D-OKC) and State Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R-Okmulgee) are the authors of Senate Bill 158 and House Bill 2426, the Oklahoma Emergency Weather Response and Tracking Regulatory Act, which aims to create a licensure and regulatory framework for professional storm chasers in Oklahoma.

Specifically, the measure would create a 'professional severe weather tracker' license for individuals specifically contracting with either television stations or Oklahoma colleges or universities. The license would cost $500, with a $250 annual fee, in addition to requirements for insurance.

Take a look: Aurora photos from the Muskogee area

Photo credit: Becky Faught near Sequoyah Bay State Park

If you didn't go out to look at the display of Aurora Borealis Thursday night, you missed out on a real treat! I went "aurora chasing" with my kids in the evening and we got to get our first glimpse of the Northern Lights up near Sequoyah Bay State Park.

Social media has been flooded with photos from all over the country. Auroras were sighted as far south as central Mexico and the Caribbean. You can view a large gallery of photos from around the world here at SpaceWeather.com's realtime aurora gallery (lots of pages of pictures there).

I posted on Facebook and Twitter, asking for local residents to submit photos that they took, and here are some of the Muskogee-area shots. A big thanks to all who responded! If you have additional photos you'd like to submit, send me an email at JamisonFaught@MuskogeePolitico.com, or reply on Facebook or on Twitter/X. 

Aurora alert: go outside after dark and look, Oklahoma!

UPDATE: view Thursday night's aurora photos from the Muskogee area in this post!

From @RyanHanrahan this evening in CT

The coronal mass ejection from Tuesday's X-class solar flare slammed into Earth's magnetic field hours ago, triggering a severe geomagnetic storm, and the Aurora Borealis ("Northern Lights") have already been sighted this evening as far south as the Bahamas! If you live in Oklahoma and want to see this tremendous atmospheric wonder, go outside and look to the north when it gets dark!

The geomagnetic storm is likely to last all night long, with "sub-storms" of varying intensity shifting auroras all over the map. 

Aurora Watch: Oklahoma has a good shot at Northern Lights on Thursday

UPDATE: view Thursday night's aurora photos from the Muskogee area in this post!

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Taken by Twitter user @Jen_McClure10 in Marlow, OK - May 10th, 2024

Heads-up, Oklahoma! Thursday night may be one of the best chances we have of seeing the Aurora Borealis ("Northern Lights") in years! As the result of a powerful solar flare, a severe geomagnetic storm is predicted for Thursday that could send auroras as far south as Alabama and Texas, or deeper.

Quick, non-scientific layman's explainer: The sun goes in regular periods of activity and inactivity. We are currently in the middle of the solar maximum portion of the current Solar Cycle 25, when the sun is frequent solar storms, flares, and sunspot. The current cycle is much more active than the previous one (2008-2019), and the past few months in particular have had several large X-class solar flares that have sent Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) in Earth's direction that have, in turn, produced geomagnetic storms with auroras sighted as far south as Arizona and Alabama. 

Reps. Lucas, Miller introduce legislation to improve weather prediction

Chairman Lucas, Rep. Miller introduce legislation to improve weather prediction

Washington, DC (August 7th)  – Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R, OK-03) and Congressman Max Miller (R, OH-07) introduced H.R. 9219, the Weather Data Taxpayer Protection Act. This legislation is a critical step in improving the accuracy and reliability of weather prediction by ensuring weather tools, purchased with taxpayer funds, are more accurate, standardized, and able to account for ever-changing weather risks.

Bice, colleagues urge National Weather Service to address and plan for outages

Bice Urges the National Weather Service to Address and Plan for Outages

Washington, D.C. (May 23rd) - Today, Congresswoman Bice (R-OK) led a letter with 7 of her colleagues, to Director Kenneth Graham of the National Weather Service (NWS). The letter expresses concerns on reported outages pertaining to radar data, the Automated Surface Observing System, and transmitters of NOAA Weather Radio.  

“On multiple occurrences this year, some of NWS life-saving services, including radar data, the Automated Surface Observing System, and transmitters of NOAA Weather Radio, have been reported as nonfunctional for extended periods of time,” stated the Members. “These outages have impacted NWS Weather Forecast Offices and the public at large, removing critical tools for observation and communicating severe weather.  

State Senators file legislation to limit virtual school days

Senators file legislation to limit virtual school days

OKLAHOMA CITY (January 23rd) –Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, and Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, have filed legislation to limit virtual instruction in Oklahoma’s public schools. Under Senate Bill 1768, instruction would only take place virtually in the event of inclement weather, staff shortages caused by illness, building maintenance issues, or if found necessary by school administrators.

Drummond may take legal action over market manipulation during 2021 winter storm

Drummond announces potential legal action over alleged market manipulation during Winter Storm Uri

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 18, 2023) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced today that he may take legal action against various entities he believes to be responsible for market manipulation and other potentially unlawful conduct related to Winter Storm Uri. Drummond said a review he ordered has found that many companies used the devastating 2021 storm to rake in billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.

State of Emergency declared in storm-affected counties (and the drama that led to it)

After severe storms blasted through the state late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, knocking power out to hundreds of thousands of customers and causing major damage in much of the northeastern part of the state, there was widespread expectation for a quick declaration of a state of emergency by the governor. This would relax some regulations and restrictions to enable swifter response by government emergency agencies and relief organizations, as well as trigger consumer protections laws against price gouging, et cetera.

What happened next was chaos.

In need of water damage restoration? Clean Pro can help!

EASTERN OKLAHOMA WATER DAMAGE RESTORATION SERVICES

Call NOW to get on our waiting list!

We hope you are staying safe and warm during this arctic freeze. This post is to remind you that if you happen to experience burst pipes and water damage call Clean Pro immediately at 918-686-0222. We have received numerous calls already and are operating multiple jobs as we speak. We are expecting an increase in the amount of customers needing our help as the weather warms up and the thaw reveals more damage to plumbing.

We will get to you, but our conversations with area plumbers and restoration firms shows that everyone is currently overwhelmed with work and backed up.

We will get to everyone on our list, but it may take time to work through the backlog. We are currently calling in "the cavalry", so to speak, and will be able to handle more work in the very near future. That's why it's so important to call now in order to get on the list.

Clean Pro is an IICRC-Certified firm with trained technicians who are equipped to take care of your water loss. We have over 33 years of experience helping our customers get through disasters such as flooding and water damage. Clean Pro has enough structural drying equipment to handle just about any size of water loss and are ready to help you when you have the need.

Remember, you - not the insurance company - get to decide who does work for you. Give us a call at 918-686-0222, or send us an email at Info@CleanProMuskogee.com.

Shop local, support small business! 

-- The Faught Family
Serving eastern Oklahoma since 1987

P.S. Pass this along to your family, friends, and church. We can take care of just about any size of residential or commercial job, and have done work for dozens of area churches and nonprofits

Governor Stitt: State providing comprehensive, coordinated response to winter storm

Photo credit: KOCO's Michael Armstrong via Twitter

STATE OF OKLAHOMA CONTINUES COMPREHENSIVE, COORDINATED RESPONSE TO WINTER STORM

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 14, 2021) – The State of Oklahoma continues to provide a comprehensive, coordinated response to the ongoing winter storm which has brought heavy snow, strong winds and prolonged, historically cold temperatures.

Governor Kevin Stitt and state officials are encouraging all Oklahomans to continue to stay off the roads as conditions deteriorate and to conserve energy where possible due to historic demand levels.

“State and local crews are working around-the-clock to clear the roads as quickly as possible,” said Gov. Stitt. “Please stay home if you can to allow them to work more effectively and consider lowering your thermostat to 68 degrees or cooler and avoid using large appliances like your washer and dryer. Oklahomans take pride in helping their neighbors and we can make a big difference by taking a few small steps together.”

To further help conserve energy, Gov. Stitt has asked state agencies not providing essential public-facing services to work from home through Wednesday wherever possible.

Oklahoma Natural Gas has provided additional tips for Oklahomans to deal with the extreme cold here: https://www.oklahomanaturalgas.com/customer-awareness/severe-cold.

Gov. Stitt issued Executive Order 2021-06 on Friday, declaring a State of Emergency across all 77 Oklahoma counties and clearing the way for state and local agencies to provide mutual aid in accordance with the State Emergency Operations Plan.

Gold: Sen. Jim Inhofe announces 'Climate Hypocrite Awards'

Inhofe Announces Climate Hypocrite Awards

Awards Coincide with Global Climate Week

Monday, September 23, 2019 -- U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) announced the first of his Climate Hypocrite Awards [on Monday]. He plans to announce five in total for the week – one each day of Global Climate Week.

“It is easy to get swept up in the rhetoric of climate alarmists, but it’s important to remember the facts. Climate alarmists are eager to tell Americans that they need to take radical action, including going vegan, ending air travel,  not having children and eliminating fossil fuels and nuclear energy, but they aren’t willing to back up their data or take the actions they prescribe to everyone else.

“This week, while the rest of the world discusses how to use the climate agenda to turn over our economic system to the federal government and international organizations, I’m going to be serving up a dose of reality by recognizing some of the most notable climate hypocrites.”

#5: Michael Mann

“To kick off Global Climate Week, it seems most fitting to first recognize Michael Mann, the architect of the discredited ‘Hockey Stick’ graph who tells people to believe the science but was implicated in manipulating data in Climategate and refuses to provide the data to back up his graph.”

#4: Former President Obama

"Despite stating ‘[r]ising sea levels threaten every coastline,’ that didn’t stop former President Obama from reportedly acquiring a 29 acre, $15 million ocean front estate on Martha’s Vineyard. His actions clearly show he doesn’t believe his own rhetoric, but this is all too common for elite, liberal climate doomsdayers who say one thing but do another."

#3: Climate Conference Attendees 

“U.N. climate officials and Hollywood elites share some things in common – they both use fear to push their radical climate agenda while traveling the world on carbon-intensive transportation and telling everyone else to stay home. Make no mistake – their motivation isn’t about saving the environment – it’s about controlling our lives.”

#2: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“Today’s award goes to proud socialist and Democrat standard-bearer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is well known for bad ideas but also for climate hypocrisy. Despite claiming, ‘The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change’, she doesn’t seem to have any problem frequently utilizing rideshare apps or airfare over “eco-friendly” public transit and walking. Her radical Green New Deal would put countless Americans out of work – it would end America as we know it – but AOC doesn’t think twice about living lavishly in her luxury apartment building, taking a car one mile to work, and believing her $174,000 taxpayer-funded salary should be higher.”

#1: Al Gore

“Last, but certainly not least, Al Gore has earned the grand prize of America’s greatest climate hypocrite. Whether it’s Gore’s chartered jets around the country or the fact his home uses up to 34 times more energy than the average American household, he’s never wavered in his calls for everyone else to, ‘…make [environmental] changes in their own lives.’ The actual ‘Inconvenient Truth’ is his hypocrisy – it is beyond absurd but typical of Hollywood elites.”

Hern introduces bill on emergency communications during floods

Rep. Hern Introduces Bill to Address Emergency Communications During Floods

Tulsa, OK – At the end of July, Representative Kevin Hern (OK-01) sponsored his first bill as a Member of Congress. H.R. 3944 amends the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, addressing the communications shortfalls Oklahomans experienced during the flooding this past May.

“Seeing firsthand the disaster that hit our community in May, I had to do something,” said Rep. Hern. “I spoke with people in our community, met with officials from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, emergency responders, and city leaders to determine what went wrong and how we could better prepare for floods like this in the future. It was clear that communication paths needed a fix. This bill will streamline communication of risk from the moment that the National Weather Service forecasts potential flooding. I hope this will help our community and other like it across the country prevent disasters like what we experienced in May from happening again.”

BACKGROUND:
This spring, Oklahoma’s First District was devastated by flooding. Unfortunately, while the Army Corps of Engineers always do well to respond in these situations, failing infrastructure and bureaucratic hurdles hamper their overall ability to provide adequate emergency communications.

Because of this, Congressman Hern is introducing this legislation to add another tool to the Army Corp’s belt. This reform will grant the Army Corps of Engineers the ability to better communicate impending disasters with our community and potentially give our constituents more time to prepare for flooding in the future. While we can’t stop these disasters from occurring, we can always be more prepared, and this bill will help us to achieve that.

This bill requires the Army Corps of Engineers to send emergency communications earlier, so constituents are better protected against disaster.

• Currently, the U.S. Code directs the Army Corps of Engineers to only send out emergency communications when “precipitation or runoff exceeds those calculations considered as the lowest risk to life and property.”
• This bill would adjust this requirement so that the Army Corps of Engineers would also send this emergency communication when the National Weather Service forecasts the possibility of precipitation or runoff exceeding calculations considered the lowest risk to life and property.
• This would better help local and state governments to make more informed plans ahead of time to prepare constituents, and to help them to better preempt any dangers caused by water releases.

QUESTIONS ABOUT H.R 3944

Would this bill force the Army Corps of Engineers to make releases before flood water accumulates on the ground?
No, this bill would do nothing to change the Army Corp of Engineer’s policy of not making releases until water accumulates, as is safer due to changing forecasts.


Rather, this bill will ensure quicker emergency communications from the Army Corps to localities so that constituents would get a more advanced notice of impending floods, and so that they would be able to react accordingly.

What if the forecasts under-anticipate the amount of precipitation?
Congressman Hern understands the potential errors of forecasting. Because of this, H.R.3944 requires emergency communication from the Army Corps when the forecasts require it, and when precipitation and run-off actually exceeds those calculations considered as the lowest risk to life and property, as is currently utilized.

In having both of these events as triggers for emergency communications, Congressman Hern’s bill will also protect constituents in the off-chance that flooding is not forecasted, but still occurs.

The bill text can be found here.

Clean Pro gives advice to flood victims, information on relief groups

Clean Pro, our Muskogee-based family carpet cleaning and water damage restoration company, posted some important information about flood recovery and disaster relief that is useful for those impacted by flood damage at their residence or business. If you know of anybody who was personally affected and sustained damage as a result of the recent (and ongoing) flooding, please share this post with them.

Click "See More" to view the full post.



In other Clean Pro news, it's time for the Muskogee Daily Phoenix ‘Best of Muskogee Reader’s Choice’ award nominations. We're already heard from customers who have nominated Clean Pro once again for 'Best Carpet Cleaner', an award we won in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Click here to learn how you can join in on the action and submit nominations in dozens of categories for the full awards voting (top five advance).

Click here to learn how to submit nominations for the 'Best in Muskogee' contest

Clean Pro won 'Best Carpet Cleaner' in 2015, 2016, and 2017

End in sight? Arkansas River appears to have crested at Muskogee

As historic flooding continues to affect northeastern and east-central Oklahoma, the Army Corps of Engineers appears to be cautiously optimistic about the reduction in flooding in the Arkansas River at Muskogee.

From the Tulsa World:

“Right now, on our current path, we expect the river to be back within its banks at Muskogee around June 8, barring any additional significant weather,” [Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Preston Chasteen] said.

Releases from Keystone Lake are being bumped up from 250,000 cubic feet per second to 275,000 cfs by Monday morning. That will result in slightly higher flood levels in the Tulsa area. However, for residents in Muskogee and further south, discharge from the Grand River at Fort Gibson Lake has reduced from 211,000 cfs at midnight last night to 177,000 cfs at 6pm Sunday, which will result in an almost even swap with the increase from Keystone.

According to Muskogee County Commissioner Ken Doke, "the Corps intends to stagger the flows at other dams to keep this a net-neutral flow for our area [Muskogee, Fort Gibson, Braggs, Webbers Falls]."

Information from the Corps of Engineers appears to show that the Arkansas River crested, at least temporarily, at 46.39' at 9:00am this morning, and has fallen slightly to 46.21' as of 7pm. That is the same level the river was at at midnight. This is the first stretch of falling water levels since this flooding event began.

While forecasts are calling for more storms on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the potential for areas of significant rainfall, there is no rain in the forecast for Memorial Day, which will allow water levels to begin falling (even if its slowly) to hopefully compensate for any additional precipitation on Tuesday/Wednesday.

In other words, it's beginning to look like the end is in sight for flood-beleaguered communities up and down the Arkansas River!

The amount of rainfall that has occurred in the Arkansas River watershed is staggering, as shown in the above map from Oklahoma Mesonet. Everything that fell in area 'A' runs through the Three Forks at Muskogee, the confluence of the Arkansas, Verdigris, and Grand rivers.

It will still take plenty of time for inundated areas to become accessible for residents, restoration professionals, and volunteers. Due to the extreme contamination found in floodwaters, much of what has been affected by water damage in homes and businesses will need to be disposed of.

It is vitally important for health and safety that proper steps are taken when dealing with the aftermath of a house flooded by an incident such as this. Make sure that you work with restoration companies that have the proper training, equipment, and insurance to handle this type of work.

It is advisable to go ahead and call a water damage restoration company now in order to get on their list of jobs. Waiting until the waters have fully receded may put you behind multiple other customers.

Clean Pro, the company my family runs, has been serving customers in the Muskogee area since 1987. Water damage restoration is one of the services we provide, and we are IICRC-Certified in Water Damage Restoration. You can reach us by calling 918-686-0222, emailing CleanProMuskogee@gmail.com, visiting our website, or messaging us on Facebook.

We have already had customers call to line us up for work, which is going to be the case for all of the local restoration companies. There will be plenty of work to go around, and I have already heard of out-of-area companies that plan to head to our area to work. Whoever you end up using, make sure that they are properly trained, insured, and reputable.

To reiterate some information that I've posted previously, for official road highway closures, visit OKRoads.org. This does not cover county or city streets. Some local road closures can be found on the official Facebook pages of the City of Muskogee Emergency Management and the Muskogee County Emergency Management. You can also check out this video from Clean Pro posted yesterday, showing the flooding on the north and east side of Muskogee and giving out information for area flood donation dropoffs, updates from the City and County, and tips on what to do about damage at your home or business.

Current and recent river levels can be accessed here, and forecasts for river levels can be viewed here.