Connect with us

Oklahoma

AG opinion prompts Tim Gatz resignation as transportation secretary, turnpike authority boss

Published

on

AG opinion prompts Tim Gatz resignation as transportation secretary, turnpike authority boss


play

Tim Gatz on Wednesday resigned as Transportation secretary and director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority in response to an opinion issued by Attorney General Gentner Drummond that no one person serve in the two positions in addition to leading the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. 

Advertisement

Gatz held all three titles before Wednesday.

The opinion was one of two issued by Drummond that went against the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. A second opinion upheld the constitutionality of a 2013 law that diluted the governor’s exclusive appointment powers to the turnpike authority’s board of commissioners. 

Gatz was named executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority in 2016 and then was appointed secretary of transportation and director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in 2019. 

Gatz’s resignation on Wednesday was effective immediately. Gov. Kevin Stitt quickly reappointed Gatz to his post at the Transportation Department. Stitt’s spokeswoman said the reappointment won’t require Senate confirmation because it was previously confirmed in 2019. The reappointment to the Transportation Department position was necessary because Gatz’s most recent appointment was as secretary of transportation, essentially voiding his appointments to the OTA and ODOT.

Advertisement

More: Oklahoma needs $25 billion to fix crumbling infrastructure. But the focus is on tax cuts

Stitt disagreed with both the challenge to the leadership of state transportation agencies and the bill that split his appointment power to the turnpike board. The bill gave appointment powers to the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore. 

Gatz did not comment on the opinions on Wednesday. Drummond said in a news release his opinion operates as an effective resignation of Gatz’s role as the executive director of OTA. 

Challenges faced at the OTA amid the push for ACCESS Oklahoma

Stitt and Gatz saw challenges to leadership at the OTA as they pushed for ACCESS Oklahoma, a five-year, $15 billion turnpike expansion plan that includes construction of new toll roads in and around Norman that will require acquisition of dozens if not hundreds of homes. 

Advertisement

“Tim Gatz has dedicated his career to serving the state of Oklahoma for 34 years,” Stitt said Wednesday. “He is highly sought after by businesses and governments all over the country but has chosen to stay here and serve his state. I am disappointed that he is the victim of pointless politics.” 

Before House Bill 2263, the governor made all six appointments to the turnpike authority. The legislation reduced that to two appointments, with the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore appointing two members apiece. 

Turnpike commissioners last month unanimously voted to challenge the law, which also requires that they file annual financial reports disclosing potential conflicts of interest.  

Commission Chair John Jones said the law, left unchallenged, could put at risk any actions taken including ACCESS Oklahoma implementation. 

Advertisement

Drummond’s opinion explains that HB 2263 does not violate the state Constitution’s separation of powers provision for three key reasons: 

  • Legislative acts are strongly presumed to be constitutional “unless it is clearly, palpably and plainly inconsistent with fundamental law”. 
  • The Legislature can provide for the appointment of executive offices by a person or entity other than the Governor.
  • The bill in question is consistent with the balancing factor test used to determine the constitutionality of legislative appointments to state boards and commissions.

More: ACCESS Oklahoma construction starts next week with Turner Turnpike widening

In his opinion over Gatz holding three positions, Drummond wrote a person cannot hold multiple positions without a legislative exemption. 

“As of the time of writing, the Legislature has enumerated thirty exceptions to this prohibition,” Drummond wrote in his opinion “However, none of these exceptions apply to the Secretary of Transportation, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, or Executive Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.” 



Source link

Advertisement

Oklahoma

Texas Softball Avoids the Sweep vs. Oklahoma in Walk-Off Fashion

Published

on

Texas Softball Avoids the Sweep vs. Oklahoma in Walk-Off Fashion


The Texas Longhorns headed into Sunday looking for anything with the Red River Rivalry series already lost, as the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners headed to Austin and took the first two games of the series.

The Longhorns would be shut out for the first time since 2024, dropping the first game of the series on Friday, 3-0, and dropping the series in a frustrating 4-3 loss on Saturday. Looking to avoid the sweep, headed to the diamond looking to beat both the rain and Oklahoma to salvage some momentum.

And Texas would get exactly what it needed on Sunday, getting one back on Oklahoma, taking game three in a back-and-forth 8-6 affair.

Advertisement

Texas Comes Up with the Clutch Hits when Needed

Texas Longhorns utility Katie Stewart celebrates after hitting a home run in the fourth inning of a Women’s College World Series game. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Advertisement

The Longhorns, while dropping back-to-back series this season, have put an end to a four-game losing streak.

Advertisement

“We lost the series, but anytime you beat an Oklahoma team, you’ve done something,” head coach Mike White said. “I think, look at the volume of the work in the three games over the weekend, I thought we played very well.”

For the second straight day, the Longhorns would strike first against the Sooners, with Texas this time flexing its power as junior Kayden Henry got the day started for the Longhorns with a three-run home run, giving Texas its biggest lead of the series.

However, the Sooners would not go away quietly as they looked to sweep their rival on their home field, with Oklahoma battling throughout the middle innings, making the Longhorns lead 3-0 to a minimal 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning.

The Longhorns hung onto a lead through the back half of the game until the seventh inning, in which Texas held a 5-3 lead. However, needing just three outs to steal the win, the lead would evaporate quickly with Oklahoma blasting a two-run home run to even things out at five, forcing extra innings.

Advertisement

In extras, the Sooners would flip the script of the ballgame, scoring a run and taking their first lead of the game. The Sooners are forcing the Longhorns to respond, trailing 6-5 and down to their last three outs.

Advertisement

And in a weekend when the Longhorns were unable to come up with the big hit, they found them on Sunday. As the rain threatened to pour down in Austin, the home runs poured at Red and Charline McCombs Field with Texas winning a slugfest that featured seven home runs, five of which came from batters in burnt orange.

“I thought that our resiliency today, after two tough losses,” White said. “It could’ve been easy just to say you know we were close, but we couldn’t have done it.”

In that eighth inning, Texas found two home runs to steal game three of the series. The first homer was brought by freshman Hannah Wells, who came into the ballgame as a pinch hitter in the crucial moment and managed to get a ball to fall right over the left field fence to even up the game at six.

Making herself the hero of the game was junior Katie Stewart. She settled into the batter’s box with a runner on base and on the third pitch of the at-bat crushed a pitch for the walk-off two-run bomb to seal the ballgame.

Advertisement

“I just knew it off the bat,” Stewart said. “And so knowing that the game was over and that we had won, just like a wave of emotions came over.”

Advertisement

The Longhorns will head back on the road, making their way up to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in their next action. The three-game tilt is set to start on Saturday April, 18 at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Oklahoma

Oklahoma’s Transfer Players Reviews Are In — ‘This is a Real Team, Real Brotherhood’

Published

on

Oklahoma’s Transfer Players Reviews Are In — ‘This is a Real Team, Real Brotherhood’


NORMAN — The transfer portal has given players a clearer view of what truly separates programs.

Even better, it lets outsiders like us — beyond the fortified walls of the sport’s football factories — gain real insight when players leave one school for another.

When players transfer away, you hope they have nothing but nice things to say following their exits. The last thing you want to hear is that the grass was in fact greener on the other side.

Advertisement

With Oklahoma’s new faces, the reviews thus far have been golden.

“This is the first time I’ve been in a tight end room where it’s straight family,” Hayden Hansen said on Thursday. “It’s a straight brotherhood in there. We all care about each other.”

It would be naive to hear Hansen say that and assume his three seasons at Florida were miserable. Yes, he chose to enter the transfer portal and leave the Gators — and yes, he’s thriving as a Sooner so far. Sometimes, things don’t work out.

Advertisement


Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Advertisement

That doesn’t mean Florida was inherently worse, just that Hansen’s found a better fit for what makes him thrive in Norman.

Advertisement

But it does stoke the fire of Brent Venables’ program. A head coach whose passion burns bright is building an organization that self-sustains, and gives a true sense of belonging to a generation of players more geared to the lifestyle of the wanderer.

For Hansen, he became enticed with Oklahoma while the Sooners played their way into the College Football Playoff last season.

As he sat on the couch following the end of Florida’s season, he looked at OU and thought something most players would think — why are they there and we aren’t? He found his answer quickly upon arriving in Norman.

Advertisement

Oklahoma tight end Hayden Hansen catches a pass during a spring practice. | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

“And in probably about one week (after arriving) it was clear to me why they were there and we weren’t,” Hansen said. “This is a real team, a real brotherhood in the locker room. These guys go out there, and they die for each other.

All these guys, they hang out outside the game, they learn together, they suffer together—it’s a true brotherhood,” Hansen added.

Cole Sullivan can attest to the locker room vibe under Venables.

Advertisement

Coming from a blue-blood power himself, Sullivan already knew the aura of Owen Field from the opposite side. During Michigan’s 24-13 loss last season, Sullivan understood the Big House wasn’t the only football cathedral in college football.

“It’s a great atmosphere to be here, I love it here, but when you’re playing, for me at least, it’s just put the ball down and play,” Sullivan said on Thursday. “It could be in the parking lot, it could be here in one of the greatest stadiums in the country, but for me it’s just all about zoning in and locking into ball.”

It doesn’t hurt to have great first impressions. Nor is it a negative to be proud of building something that people feel connected to. So far, even with two bad seasons under his belt, Venables has slowly built Oklahoma as a place that attracts players from across the country.

Advertisement

Both from the high school ranks and from the blue bloods.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Oklahoma

182 inmates relocated after issue at Oklahoma prison

Published

on

182 inmates relocated after issue at Oklahoma prison


TAFT, Okla. –

A total of 182 inmates were relocated early Saturday morning after a structural issue was identified inside a housing unit at the Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Taft.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said inmates housed in the D East unit were moved to other facilities as a precaution after a compromised area was discovered on the second floor. Officials said at no point were the inmates in danger.

Officials said the issue was discovered early April 11, prompting an immediate decision to relocate inmates.

Advertisement

The affected unit, originally built in 1935, is among the older structures on the facility’s campus.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said a structural engineer will inspect the building to determine whether repairs are possible and to guide next steps.

Inmates who were moved will be placed in more permanent housing as space becomes available across the prison system.

The agency said safety and security remain its top priority and that updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

Advertisement

Officials also noted they appreciated the cooperation of the inmates during the relocation process.





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending