Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation, the North American division of a company based in Spain, soon plans to build a new biorefinery in southwestern Kansas that will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Oklahoma scientists are looking to use switchgrass as a component of ethanol at this facility. Realistically, this building wont be completed until mid 2011 right about the time this switchgrass will reach time for its full harvest. Even though this seems to be far off - time wise - it will form a sustainable form of income for the state and be a significant contribution to the biofuel industry.

Cellulose is the main ingredient in a plant’s cell walls and is “the most common organic compound in the world.” The biorefinery will use a “biochemical and thermochemical process” to convert said cellulose for its use in ethanol.

The demand for ethanol continues to outpace ethanol production which doesn’t help the transition from gasoline to ethanol. Many continue to be skeptical because of this inability to meet demand in our country.

The new refinery will be able to convert both starch-based and cellulosic products for their use in ethanol. Starch based products of course include corn, cereal grains, etc. and currently are the majority of the ethanol produced. The transition to more cullulosic products will help the demand by allowing more and more products to be used for this production.

Unfortunatly, this type of thing cant really happen quickly. This takes time. Facilities like this new biorefinery are paving the way forward for US companies.

Tulsa, Oklahoma seems to be filled with individuals who love to get outside: running, riding, walking, and playing around. Being said, September is a perfect month to get off the sofa and get active for a good cause. If you have been in Tulsa, Oklahoma for your entire life or just a few months, we do not discriminate, Tulsa based organizations could use your help! With the fall season drawing near and the weather cooling off, Tulsa citizens finally have no excuse for not going outside; no more filling up six buckets of sweat per person!

If biking is your thing, September 13-14, Tulsa’s own SemGroup, and nearly 30 other Tulsa based businesses and organizations; are sponsoring 2008 Bike MS Oklahoma Ride. You have always been up for a good challenge and Ride MS 2008 in Oklahoma is sure to provide one. This meeting can make a world of difference — unlike any other! A distance of 150 miles, across two days through beautiful Oklahoma that will challange you and reward you at the same time. Your will power tested. Being active versus chilling on the sofa. It’s the 2008 Mike MS Oklahoma Ride!

Go on.. RIDE!

The bike riding fanatics will begin with breakfast at SouthCrest Hospital in South Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 13^th and start riding at an early hour; 7:30AM.
Riders will have plenty of opportunities to meet fellow Tulsa citizens and regional attending bikers during the event. Riders will bike through Northeastern Oklahoma visiting: Broken Arrow, Catoosa, and Sageeyah. Ending the first night of 2008 MS Oklahoma Ride will be dinner provided at Pryor Creek Recreation Center in Pryor, Oklahoma. Entertainment will also be provided at the Tent Village.

September 14th at 2:00PM kicks off Mile 151 Party in the parking lot at SouthCrest Hospital, Tulsa, Oklahoma. You, your team, and all the awesome individuals you met along the way; chilling, celebrating, and congratulating your 150 mile journey for an incredible cause!

Register for BIKE MS 2008

For online registration visit www.nationalMSsociety.org/oke
Fax registration: 918-488-0913
Voice registration: 800-FIGHT MS or 800-344-4867 (press 2)

If you are old school and refuse to conform to the advances in technology, you can mail your registration in:

Oklahoma Chapter - NMSS
4606 East 67th Street, Suite 103
Tulsa, OK 74136

“The National MS Society helps people affected by MS by funding cutting edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move their lives forward”.

Whitney R. Maudlin, who graduated from The University of Tulsa College of Law in May 2008, was awarded first place in the 2008 American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Law Student Writing Competition.

Mauldin will receive $1,500 and an all-expenses paid trip to the ABA Annual Meeting in New York City in August. Her paper “Good Business/Bad Faith: Why the Insurance Industry Should Adopt a Good Faith Model” was selected as the winning entry and is being reviewed for possible publication in the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Law Journal.

The paper was the result of an independent study Mauldin completed while in law school as an independent study supervised by Vicki Limas, associate dean and Tom Arnold, professor of law. She said winning this competition at the culmination of law school is a testament to the legal education she received at TU.

“I had amazing writing professors in law school who really cultivated and fine tuned my ability to write critically,” Mauldin said. “I also received great support from my supervising professors and was able to network with professionals in the insurance industry through our alumni association.”

Mauldin, a graduate of Bartlesville High School, has accepted a position with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office, where she also interned during law school.

ABOUT THE TU COLLEGE OF LAW

The TU College of Law provides an academically rigorous, yet congenial atmosphere with opportunities for scholarship, leadership and faculty mentoring. Students develop practical skills through participation with student-driven legal journals, award-winning moot court teams, two on-campus clinics and a new pro bono program. Joint interdisciplinary degrees include a JD/MBA and JD/MTAX and unique specialties include energy and environmental law and Native American law. The Mabee Legal Information Center is recognized as one of the nation’s top university law libraries. The TU College of Law is one of the four colleges of The University of Tulsa, which is ranked among U.S. News and World Report’s Top 100 Universities. To find out more visit: www.law.utulsa.edu.

Are you aware of the economic stimulus payment? If not, don’t feel left out; most of us do not know what the phrase economic stimulus payment means. However, we are speaking about that wonderful rebate check that has been promised to start mailing sometime next month.

To be brief, but give you a little bit of background. There’s been quite a few questions circulating the internet and world about whether or not the US is in a recession. Let’s think about this situation from a different perspective for a few moments — shall we?

The economy is a tricky subject and recently has become another one of those golden anti-conversation elements while mingling with friends or associates. You are not supposed to talk about politics, religion, or previous significant others. But it seems as though the economy is now on that list too. Why? Its obvious our economy is in a recession. It is not just down, its way down! It is actually really crappy, but what can we say.

We are not economists, financial majors, or even financially minded people; by career. However, some of us are pretty knowledgeable with our money or any money for that matter. Our economy is in the hole, our national debt is through the roof, and investors are seeking returns from foreign stocks. Why is that? Because our economy is in a recession!

If Washington won’t tell you, we will!

What does this have to do with my check?

First, when you get our rebate check, you’re going to want to do something with it — right? What do you think you are going to do with it? We recommend you keep that money local. So, instead of jumping on the internet and buying those new jeans or shirts for the summer; think about other ways you can use it to advance yourself and our great state.

There are plenty of local businesses that are willing to give you a bit of a reward for using your check at their organization. For example, Reasor’s grocery locations will give you $325.00 for groceries if you give them $300.00 of your check. Not a bad deal if you ask us!

In reality, an extra twenty-five dollars for groceries, one of life’s necessities really is not a bad trade off. You are going to have to spend that money on food at some point any way. Don’t take $300.00 out of your payroll; just turn over the check from the stimulus.

If you are afraid of spending that money at a chain company in our great community — have no fear! It does not matter who you spend your money with as long as they are located in our community. The only draw back is instead of ordering those jeans from American Eagle’s online website; you might have to step into their Brick and Mortar store at a local mall. But, as long as that store is in our community — our community reaps the reward.

The goal is to keep the money local to help advance our economy. You are not a super hero, you can’t save the entire country from this extremely poor economic situation, but you can help our local economy and maybe relieve a little bit of suffering.

So, in short — don’t spend your money with just anyone, spend it with someone who can help our economy!

Naturally, irs.gov has much more information than we do. We just wanted to bring it up, because believe it or not — we can all make a difference together.

Cox Communications plans to add six new High Definition channels to the Tulsa, Oklahoma and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma channel line-up. The channels scheduled to go live on May 20: USA Network HD, Sci-Fi Channel HD, Bravo HD, Lifetime HD, CNBC HD, and the Weather Channel HD. All-in-all the six channel addition really isn’t a lot, but for a network that only delivers us 31 HD channels thus far; it’s not too shabby.

For Tulsa, Oklahoma and the surrounding metropolitan areas, Cox Communications is usually a natural choice for digital television. Ultimately we have three options for telelvision: Dish Network, DirecTV, and Cox. Cox will offer 37 HD channels in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, with the additions of the May 20 channels. Honestly, Cox is really going to have to pump up the pace in order to keep up with the growing HD networks on DirecTV and Dish Network; both offering 75 plus channels each.

Recently, Cox added HGTV, Food Network HD, and The Travel Channel HD. These additions took our HD lineup from 28 to 31 channels offered in High Definition. The only other news, Cox plans to move CNN HD to channel 780, so look out for that!

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Mayor Mick Cornett of Oklahoma City, our state’s beautiful capital has decided to personally endorse a city-wide campaign to motivate his peers and city’s citizens to lose 1 million pounds in 2008. Cornett, like the rest of us, believe that losing weight would definitely not be supported by the variety and notoriously available fast-food chains in his city. However, it seems as though one Yum Brand Food’s company thought differently.

Taco Bell, an international fast-food dining franchise has teamed up with Cornett and the city of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to officially launch the campaign. Taco Bell recently launched their Fresco Menu, a menu containing a variety of low-fat and reduced-fat items. The menu launched at most Taco Bell locations in December and seems to be performing quite well.

The initial idea for the campaign to lose 1 million pounds began after officials with Irvine, California based Taco Bell learned of Oklahoma City’s Major Mick Cornett’s initiative. The officials contacted Cornett, informing him about the new menu items being launched in 42 of his Oklahoma City franchise locations. The stores in Oklahoma City serve an estimated 35,000 customers each day.

Now, Thistulsa.com’s staff are not exactly mathematicians, but we know 35,000 x 350 (giving a few days off for holidays, etc) = 12 million plus people each year! That is 12 million people a year eating at Oklahoma City’s Taco Bell locations alone! Not sure about you, but that’s a whole lot of Tacos. Cornett said it best:

“You start adding that up, and that’s a million people a month,” Cornett said. “There’s no sense trying to fight back. You’ve got to work with them.”

President Greg Creed of Taco Bell met with Cornett for lunch, of course — at a Taco Bell in Oklahoma City. The store had life-size corrugated fiber-board cutouts of Cornett stating, “You can’t lose 1 million pounds by yourself.” Creed made mentions as to why they were interested in the Oklahoma City Mayor’s project, but it was a lot of words we couldn’t keep up with.

Basically, it has been proven that individuals, especially those of us, you, or everyone for that matter — who eat fast-foot; or in technical Creed terms, “use behavior surrounding their chosen eats,” cannot exactly change their behavior surrounding what they eat. However, everyone has the goal of not gaining unwanted wait. True that Mr. Creed!

Obviously, people don’t want to gain a bunch of weight because then they have to fit the gym, cardio, and a diet into their life style. If you’re telling me we can continue to bring Taco Bell to the office and devour it like a bunch of prehistoric herbivorous dinosaurs at a all green buffet; we’re in!

All in all, with over 15% of the total Taco Bell sales now being from the Fresco menu, it just makes sense. Don’t fight a fight you can’t win — but you can totally join in and support fast-food, just healthier menu items. Returning to our original equation, 15% of 12 million people isn’t that bad of a number either; we didn’t really do the math — but we know its decent figures.

So, if you’re going to join in on the Oklahoma City 1 Million Pounds Lost by 2008, eat some Fresco items from Taco Bell! It can’t hurt right? For those of us in Tulsa, why not join in too. Maybe we can get Kathy Taylor to hook us up with some publicity from Taco Bueno.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The House slipped a measure through very easily Wednesday declaring English as Oklahoma’s official language. The proposal for the bill, which now is on its way to the Senate, would require a vote from Oklahoma citizens before it becomes a law. However, the bill was approve 70-28, after an estimated hour and a half of procedural bibble-babble as opponents tried to get the measure shot down.

What impacts will this have on our state? One of the major impacts would be testing and examinations that are currently approved to be bi-lingual would be required in English-only. When a Hispanic citizen visits the Department of Motor Vehicles and attempts to get a driver’s license; they would be required to take the English examination — now being offered Spanish as well. Oklahoma Legislature passed a law several years ago allowing the tests to be offered to citizens in English and Spanish. If the bill passes, the Spanish version goes bye-bye.

It seems as though our Oklahoma republicans voted for the bill, including 15 Democrats. All of the opposition towards the new Bill 163 were Democrats.

“We have an obligation to defend our common language and safeguard it as an inheritance for future generations of Americans,” said Rep. Randy Terrill, House author of the bill. “Being able to read and write in English is critical, particularly when we are talking about driving.”

The bill also calls for ceasing the use of languages other than English on state documents and providing services, however, some agencies and organizations are required by the federal government to include various language versions of their documents and literature or risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding.

Who voted what?

The House of Representatives voted 70-28 Wednesday for Senate Bill 163, which calls for a vote of the people on whether English should be the official language of the state.

Democrats voting for the measure (15): Neil Brannon, Joe Dorman, Jerry Ellis, Rebecca Hamilton, Wes Hilliard, Terry Hyman, Scott Inman, Lucky Lamons, Ken Luttrell, Ryan McMullen, Richard Morrissette, Eric Proctor, R.C. Pruett, Brian Renegar and Purcy Walker.

Republicans voting for the measure (55): Dennis Adkins, Don Armes, Gary Banz, Lisa Billy, Chris Benge, Gus Blackwell, Ann Coody, Marian Cooksey, David Dank, Lee Denney, David Derby, Dale DeWitt, Rex Duncan, John Enns, George Faught, Jeff Hickman, Terry Ingmire, Mike Jackson, Shane Jett, Dennis Johnson, Rob Johnson, Tad Jones, Fred Jordan, Charlie Joyner, Sally Kern, Charles Key, Guy Liebmann, Scott Martin, Steve Martin, Mark McCullough, Randy McDaniel, Skye McNiel, Ken Miller, Jason Murphey, Ron Peters, Pam Peterson, Ron Peterson, Greg Piatt, Mike Reynolds, Phil Richardson, Colby Schwartz, Earl Sears, T.W. Shannon, Kris Steele, Dan Sullivan, Randy Terrill, Mike Thompson, Todd Thomsen, Sue Tibbs, John Trebilcock, Weldon Watson, Paul Wesselhoft, Susan Winchester, Trebor Worthen and John Wright.

Democrats voting against the measure (28): John Auffet, Scott BigHorse, David Braddock, Mike Brown, Ed Cannady, Wallace Collins, James Covey, Darrell Gilbert, Larry Glenn, Terry Harrison, Chuck Hoskin, Ryan Kiesel, Al Lindley, Al McAffery, Ray McCarter, Jeannie McDaniel, Jerry McPeak, Danny Morgan, Bill Nations, Anastasia Pittman, Paul Roan, Wade Rousselot, Mike Shelton, Ben Sherrer, Jerry Shoemake, Jabar Shumate, Glen Smithson and Dale Turner.

Republicans voting against the measure: None.

Excused (3): John Carey, Lance Cargill and Doug Cox.