Deborah Reheard Heads Oklahoma Bar Association

It is a first for the Oklahoma Bar Association! The OBA's top three newly-elected officers are WOMEN. Who are these extraordinary women? Deborah Reheard of Eufaula will serve as the 2011 President of the Oklahoma Bar Association. She earned her JD from Tulsa College of Law in 1987. She has served the OBA in numerous leadership roles including as chair of the Women in Law Committee (2002, 2003 and 2009) and was the first woman elected to Oklahoma's Judicial Nominating Commission.
Meanwhile Cathy Christiansen of Oklahoma City has been elected to serve as 2011 President Elect and Judge Reta Strubhar of Piedmont will serve as 2011 Vice President. Their swearing-in ceremony is January 14, 2011 at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Oklahoma City. Congratulations to all three!
For more information see okbar.org story here.

Dana Murphy to Chair Oklahoma Corporation Commission in 2011

Dana Murphy will serve as Chair of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in 2011. The commission regulates utilities, telephone companies, oil and gas drilling and more. Dana is a geologist, an oil and gas attorney and a very smart gal. She'll be terrific. Oklahoma is in good hands.

Economist Larkin Warner Sees Flat Performance in Oklahoma City Data

Pat McGuigan with The City Sentinel has an article this week that mentions my husband's take on the Oklahoma City economy.  Entitled "Economist Larkin Warner sees flat performance in Oklahoma City data," the story reports on interviews with Governor-elect Mary Fallin and Larkin.  Both are concerned with the current state of Oklahoma City's economy.

Larkin notes that - while Oklahoma looks good compared to other states today - the important question to ask is, "How does our economy compare to where we were in 2008?" You can read what he has to say by clicking here.

Women-Owned Businesses: Census Bureau Update

Forbes has an article by Caroline Howard entitled "Women-Owned Businesses: Numbers Climb, Revenue Lacking" which is very interesting. It summarizes a recently released report entitled Survey of Business Owners: Women-Owned Businesses: 2007.

 Here are a few highlights but click on the title above and read the whole thing for yourself.

There are more women-owned businesses in the U.S. than businesses owned by men but the women's are generating less revenue.  States with the largest pool of women-owned companies were California, Texas and New York. Maryland was top as the state with the highest percentage of businesses with a female owner.   Oklahoma falls in the 24.8% to 28.7% of all businesses are women-owned. The national Average is 28.7% Women control the majority (52%) of all businesses in the health care and social assistance sector.

Here is the Census Bureau's Dec 7, 2010 press release on their recent survey.

Rita Aragon at the OK State Capitol Art Museum

Soon to be our Secretary of Veterans Affairs and a wonderful one she will be, too.

Jean Shepard Inducted into Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Jean Shepard for being inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame last month. Shepard was born on Nov 21, 1933 in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. She first made it on the charts with her "A Dear John Letter" in 1953 - a duet with Ferlin Husky. Her following success led her to be invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1955. Her greatest success came in the 1960s and 1970s, including the songs "If Teardrops Were Silver" and "Slippin' Away." Shepard is the longest-living female member of the Opry. She is ranked 74th on the "Top 100 Country Music Artists of All Time."  Read NewsOK article here.

Got any ideas on another Oklahoma musician who should be inducted into this hall of fame?

Pearl Carter Scott Story in Film and Book

A while back I got to attend the premier of the movie "Pearl: The Story of Pearl Carter Scott". It is the true story of a young Oklahoma woman who remains to this day "the youngest licensed pilot in America." Pearl was Chickasaw and the Chickasaw Nation was instrumental in getting this charming movie produced.

On Monday, December 20 at 6:30 p.m. the producer of the film, along with the author of the book "Never Give Up! The Life of Pearl Scott Carter" , and several cast members from the film "Pearl: The Story of Pearl Scott Carter" will be at Full Circle Bookstore in 50 Penn Place, Oklahoma City. The DVD and the book will be on sale. Y'all come!

Rep Anastasia Pittman Honored at Asia Society Banquet

State Rep. Anastasia Pittman was honored at the Asia Society of Oklahoma’s Annual Award for Excellence Banquet as the Outstanding Civic Leader.

The banquet also honored Jacqueline Sit as Outstanding Asian American, the Japan America Society of Oklahoma as Outstanding Member Association, and Melencio R. Linga as Outstanding Individual Member.

“It is an honor to be recognized alongside Ms. Sit, Mr. Linga, and the Japan American Society of Oklahoma,” Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, said. “The banquet celebrated the 25 years during which the Asia Society of Oklahoma has developed a sense of community among Asian Americans and the people of Oklahoma through an exchange of ideas, information, culture, and experience.”

Xuan “Spring” Kim Nguyen, a former president of the Asia Society of Oklahoma and Senate staffer, said she nominated Pittman because of her active interest in the Asian communities of Oklahoma.
“We have always chosen a good leader who is involved in the Asian community,” Nguyen said. “Some leaders, you never see their face. Anastasia Pittman has always been present at events in our community. She shows that she cares.”

Nguyen served as president of the Asia Society of Oklahoma in 2003 and from 2008 to 2009. She said past Outstanding Civic Leaders have included Governor-elect Mary Fallin, Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins, and Department of Human Services Director Howard Hendricks.

The Asia Society of Oklahoma is comprised of member organizations representing nine Asian countries – China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The Asia Society organizes three events annually – the Asian Festival in May, a Taste of Asia in August, and the awards banquet in November. This year’s banquet was held Nov. 6, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel.

Pittman was appointed by former House Speaker Chris Benge (R-Tulsa) to the House International Development and Tourism Committee in 2008 after being nominated for it by former state Rep. Shane Jett (R-Tecumseh), chairman of the committee.

Source. Oklahoma House of Representatives, Media Division, December 7, 2010

Oklahoma Women's Coalition Board Hard at Work

Sorting through old photos. Thought I'd share the October 2010 OWC board meeting.

Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy

There was a very nice article about Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy in the Dec 3, 2010 issue of The Journal Record. Before her election to the Commission, Murphy had served 8 years as an administrative law judge at the Commission so she was intimately familiar with how things worked at the agency. She has a geology degree from Oklahoma State University and worked as a geologist for 10 years before earning a law degree from Oklahoma City University.  In all, she's worked in the petroleum industry over 20 years. She is a perfect fit for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and I am delighted she is there now for the next 6 year.

Marnie Taylor Named New President/CEO of OK Center for Nonprofits

Congratulations to Marnie Taylor who will soon become president and CEO of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits.  She will be taking the position currently held by Debby Hampton who is resigning to become president and CEO of United way of Central Oklahoma on January 1. Debby will replace Bob Spinks who will retire from United Way April 1 after 10 years as CEO. Taylor is an uber-volunteers with tons of nonprofit board experience and will be terrific. (Both Bob and Marnie current serve on the Center's Board of Directors.)  Good luck to all three of these great Oklahomans in their new adventures.

"Best of Blogs Oklahoma" Promising, Mysterious

I am flattered that one of my blog posts has been republished on the new "Best of Blogs Oklahoma" weblog (see http://bestofblogsoklahoma.wordpress.com/).

However, since mine was only the third post, it is hard to judge if this is going to become the sort of "value added" effort Oklahoma's cyber population will benefit from or . . . well, who knows what? Because there is nothing (yet) on the site that tells who is behind it or what it hopes to become.

So check it out --- and stay tuned.

: - )

Men's Health Magazine Ranks OK City #3 in Religion

No joke; a men's health magazine has ranked US cities for religiousness. The December 2010 issue of Men's Health in an article entitled Holy Cities has ranked Oklahoma City the third most religious city in the USA. No, really.  Clearly they see no relationship between a "city with the most faith" and (ah, where to begin?) divorce, men killing their partners, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence... all of which we are also at the top of any national ranking  system!

Is it possible that Oklahoma ranks high on the criteria they used (number of places of worship per capita; religious organizations and the number of volunteers who support these groups; the amount of money donated to religious organizations; and money spent on religious books) because we are so screwed up that we are desperately seeking help out of being one of the most violence, abusive states in the union? Or could it be that our churches, eager to keep those Sunday offerings coming, fail to ask their congregations why we aren't living Monday through Saturday what we declare we believe on Sundays? Just positing the possibility...

We probably shouldn't even spend this much time on this ranking since it appears in a magazine that is - um - silly (a kind euphemism for what I am actually thinking). It also ran articles this month on reasons to love your dog, "Can you read her dirty mind?" and "10 ways to last longer in bed." Enough said. Seriously - I think you can ignore this story. But if you can't resist asking, Tulsa ranked #20.