Opinion

If you grew up in El Reno you probably have some memories of Sunset Drive.

What I remember when I was really young was a neighbor lady, Mrs. Anderson, taking me and my siblings to get ice cream. I also remember some bars that called themselves clubs, probably because of the liquor laws at the time.

There were some really good diners and several hamburger joints along Sunset as well.

As I got older, like many of the students at El Reno High School, we spent hours cruising up and down Sunset.

On Nov. 24, South Africa reported detection of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus to the World Health Organization.

On Nov. 26, WHO designated it a “variant of concern” and tagged it with the name “Omicron.”

At the same time, WHO advised against travel restrictions and other knee-jerk responses to Omicron, and in favor of a “risk-based and scientific” approach, noting that it is “not yet clear” whether Omicron is more transmissible than other variants or even causes severe disease.

Few modern topics have become as divisive as critical race theory, which is no surprise, given that CRT divides.

It divides people into groups pitted against one another, into categories of oppressed vs. oppressor. What’s worse, your group defines you.

This certainly flies in the face of the Judeo-Christian conception of all individuals as children of God made in the image of God.

What’s making CRT even worse are misunderstandings and misconceptions on both sides, from the left and the right.

The public safety crisis created by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma can be summed up by one anecdote included in recent court briefs.

Many criminals now assert tribal membership to deter arrest — including “a known member of the white-supremacist Universal Aryan Brotherhood, covered in swastika tattoos.”

McGirt was hailed as a victory for tribal citizens. Instead, it’s been a windfall for society’s dregs who now actively target American Indians.

To the Editor:

Thank you to the band and crew of Uncle Zep. You guys brought some normalcy back to El Reno.

We’re actually getting there after all this.

It was so good to see people Saturday evening that we had not seen in so long. Everyone appeared to be having a really good time and enjoyed sitting back in the old Centre Theatre and listening to some really good music.

Thanks for coming to El Reno. If you missed it, you missed a great evening.

I hope Uncle Zep will think an outdoor concert this spring or summer.

During this time of year, I usually take a little time to think about who and what I’m thankful for and express my appreciation. That seems to be the point, after all.

This year, for various reasons, my thoughts and appreciation turn toward journalists, newspapers and other news media. Sometimes the people and institutions we rely on to keep us informed get a bad rap, and sometimes they deserve it.

When the Washington Post and New York Times act more as stenographers for the political class than reporters of the facts, we all lose.

I thought this was interesting:

We’ve all seen the signs: “Help Desperately Wanted!” “Signing Bonus up to $500!” It’s not just burger flippers - there are shortages of nurses, engineers, technicians and on and on.

You would think our institutions of higher education, which receive hundreds of millions of dollars in state appropriations, would be responding by cranking out trained and educated graduates ready to take some of those positions.

Mayor Matt White made one mistake in the zoning fuss that has created some pretty stout tension at two recent city council meetings.

The issue first surfaced in September when the council voted down a request to rezone four acres in the Riverside Addition of town.

A woman was asking to rezone the property from agriculture to residential because she wanted her family to be able to build three or four homes there.

Last month President Biden flew on Air Force One to Scotland to gather with world leaders, give speeches, make promises, and declare that the U.S. should lead the world on climate change.

Here’s what they left out - the U.S. is already leading the world in clean energy. China and India are the largest carbon producers in the world. It’s not even close. China skipped the climate shindig in Scotland (as did Russia), and India told the conference they’ll start dealing with their carbon output in a few decades.