Quotes of the Day

I think it’s something our legislators need to think about. We have very low bond indebtedness in the state of Oklahoma … and (bond) prices have been very, very good. And by 2018, 85 percent of the state’s debt with bond issues drops off the books.

Gov. Mary Fallin, encouraging legislators to consider a bond issue to pay for repairs to the crumbling Capitol building [http://hrld.us/1etdf6p]

State leaders are failing us. We are asking too much of our heroic corrections employees, many of whom are now working mandatory 60 hours a week, and it is going to get someone killed.

-Sean Wallace, executive director of Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, who released a survey showing Oklahoma’s correctional officer to offender ratio is the worst in the nation, and they have the 3rd lowest average starting pay (Source: http://bit.ly/1c3GNnR).

Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent.

-One of the science standards developed as part of the Common Core that does not appear in Oklahoma’s new science standards. The state’s new standards copy verbatim most of the Common Core standards, except for deleting references to evolution and climate change. (Source: http://bit.ly/1cAqxaj)

First allow me to apologize sincerely that these innocent people got caught up in my chaotic self destructive downward spiral. Not only the families but the entire city of Tulsa lost these innocent lives. … To all of Tulsa and the African American community I am dearly sorry.

-Jacob England, who pled guilty to first-degree murder and hate crimes charges for a series of random shootings in north Tulsa. He was sentenced to life without parole. (Source: http://bit.ly/1cyAV2p)

Too many children come to school hungry, tired and ill-prepared to learn. More than half of Oklahoma kids in poverty are living with a single parent, many of whom are holding down two or more jobs just to make ends meet. Many of these children don’t have the benefit of an adult helping them with their homework, much less the use of books or a home computer.

-State Superintendent Janet Barresi (Source: http://bit.ly/18LGs4D)

“The impact is expected to grow in the coming years as more companies claim exemption status and as our economy becomes more service- and technology-centered.”

-Trish Williams, Tulsa Public Schools chief financial officer, on the new tax exemption for intangible property created by SQ 766. The exemption is estimated to cost schools more than $40 million this year. (Source: http://bit.ly/1cG1V3v)

I HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ELEVEN YEARS!

-Oklahoma City artist Romy Owens, posting on Facebook after she successfully enrolled in health insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act (Source: http://bit.ly/1cDh7yg)

We have a wide diversity of adversity. We have kids who are in gangs, trying to stay out of gangs, some who don’t eat at night or maybe their parents are working late into the night at a second job. Making these kids’ lives better has to start somewhere.

-Nicole Foust, a first-year English teacher at U.S. Grant High School and a graduate of UCO’s urban education program (Source: http://bit.ly/18BBIyh)

Local governments are, indeed, in a pickle. Where are property taxes going to go for local governments? Let’s all say it together: Up.

-Hannes Zacharias, county manager for Johnson County in Kansas, on budget shortfalls facing local governments after the state dramatically reduced income taxes (Source: http://bit.ly/1cysIhV) 

It’s possible that somewhere along the line that someone got confused. We’re the first administration that has existed completely in the digital age.

-Governor Fallin’s spokesman Alex Weintz, on taking over a year (15 months) to respond to an open records request (Source: http://bit.ly/1cwkFCt)