Issue No. 2
The Sunday Letter — August 16, 2026
The Lead
Politics
One State, Two States, Red State, Blue State
By Cheryl Leeds · August 16, 2026 · 5 min read
I live in Oklahoma, a state that today is unmistakably red. Republicans dominate Oklahoma politics. They hold the governor’s office and both chambers of the state Legislature, giving the party what…
New That Week
Opinion · August 15, 2026
Six Cameras, Zero Warrants
There are six Flock Safety cameras in Tahlequah right now. One sits near the police department. Another was bolted onto a traffic pole at Muskogee Avenue and Willis Road this summer, solar powered,…
Personal Essay · August 14, 2026
Two People, One Beginning
When my daughter was pregnant with twins, she made a promise to herself. She would never allow her children to lose their individual identities simply because they happened to arrive in the world at…
August 13, 2026
The Strange Experience of Outgrowing Yourself
I was sitting in a small upstairs room on a Wednesday night, the kind of room someone had clearly tried to make feel exciting for teenagers by ordering whatever showed up first when you search "youth…
Opinion · August 13, 2026
Where Do We Belong?
In my recent article, “Where Do I Belong?” I found myself considering where my ancestral loyalty belongs. Do I look to my European ancestors, or to my Native American ancestors? The answer, I…
Opinion · August 7, 2026
Rural, Young, and Politically Homeless
There's a kind of political loneliness that doesn't get talked about much, and I feel it constantly in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It isn't the loneliness of being surrounded by people who disagree with…
Politics · August 5, 2026
"They"
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, they has several definitions. This column focuses on one in particular: "Used to refer to people in a general way or to a group of people who are not…
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