DEAR HARRIETTE: My friend and I have been talking for a month now about booking a summer vacation together to Greece. I recently brought it up again, and she said that she can’t go anymore because she booked a different vacation with a different friend. She didn’t mention it beforehand or talk to me about possibly changing plans. She just said it was cheaper and easier to coordinate.
The 2026 legislative session is well underway, with two weeks of committee work now completed. The Senate hit the ground running, beginning committee hearings at 9 a.m. on the first Tuesday of the session, following Monday’s State of the State address. I’m pleased to report that five bills I’m carrying this session have advanced from their assigned committee and are now advancing to the full Appropriations Committee or the Senate Floor. Among my pieces of legislation advancing is Senate Bill 1509, which was unanimously approved by the Senate Energy Committee. The measure seeks to reform Oklahoma’s groundwater laws by setting spacing requirements for new wells in order to protect existing well owners and their commercial investments from encroachment. It applies across all groundwater basins, ensuring an extra layer of protection while allowing exceptions only when water cannot be found elsewhere. Another bill I’m proud to see move forward is Senate Bill 1434, which authorizes the Departments of Public Safety and Transportation to place automated speed enforcement devices at the start of construction zones. Signs must be posted at least 100 feet before each device to alert drivers that their speed will be monitored, and an image may be captured.
There are few things as daunting as buying jeans.
DEAR HARRIETTE: Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day, but I don’t like to buy into it.
Dear Doctors: My doctor put me on a glucose monitor to track my blood sugar for a few weeks. There were three nights when my husband and I went walking after dinner, and those readings were better. He thinks it’s the walking, but I think it’s that I skipped dessert. Who do you think is right?
CLINTON’S HISTORY 10, 20, 30 AND 40 YEARS AGO
DEAR HARRIETTE: I recently took out loans so I could go on a vacation.
ASK THE DOCTORS
What do you call a former two-term president of the United States and his wife, a former first lady, secretary of state and nominee for president? In the Democratic Party, you call them baggage.
It was only one state senate race in Texas. Low-turnout, off-cycle elections are seldom good predictors of larger trends. And the Democrats had a better candidate: a working-class aircraft mechanic running against a hardline MAGA idealogue heartily endorsed by President Trump.