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Despite some progress, Oklahoma dropped to No. 46 in overall health, according to a national health ranking report released Wednesday. The state’s public health laboratory continues to crumble, despite repeated requests from health leaders that the Legislature provide funding to build a new facility. Seventeen Oklahoma health centers have received a total of $351,319 in federal grants through the Affordable Care Act. You can see the list of Oklahoma grant recipients here.
The Edmond Sun examined how low pay is driving teachers out of Oklahoma. A Tulsa area center that provides supervision and services for troubled juveniles has been rescued for the next six months thanks to the city and a few charitable foundations that came up with $113,000, but its long-term existence still depends on restoring state funding. The Oklahoma Transportation Commission has approved its largest-ever single contract — a $71 million project that involves the reconstruction of two interchanges along Interstate 35 in Norman.
Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced Tuesday that Oklahoma is joining other states in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama’s policy on immigration. Spanish-speaking residents in Oklahoma reported feeling better prepared for severe weather, but they still couldn’t always find up-to-date information in an emergency. A federal judge declined to unseal thousands of pages of documents related to the botched execution of Clayton Lockett. A new pipeline is now in service shipping North Dakota and Canadian crude oil from Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma.
The Tulsa World wrote that a recent vote by the Oklahoma City school board to eliminate the Redskins mascot from one of its schools should be followed by Tulsa Union, which still uses the Redskins mascot despite protests from Native Americans. A new elementary school that would alleviate overcrowding in east Tulsa is set to be included in a $415 million bond proposal being considered by the Tulsa School Board next week. The Number of the Day is the season limit on bobcat hunting in Oklahoma (per license). In today’s Policy Note, ESPN columnist Jason Whitlock discusses how gains of the Civil Rights Movement have been thwarted by a half-century of segregation by incarceration.
In The News
Despite some progress, Oklahoma drops to No. 46 in national health ranking
Despite some progress, Oklahoma dropped to No. 46 in overall health, according to a national health ranking report released Wednesday. The United Health Foundation released its annual report, America’s Health Rankings, and with it came 25 years of data that the organization has collected over the years. Over that time period, Oklahoma’s ranking has continued to decline, with brief jumps through the years. State Health Commissioner Terry Cline said other states continue to take more proactive approaches to addressing health issues, leaving Oklahoma outpaced.
Read the full report from United Health Foundation.
Without state funding, Oklahoma public health lab will continue to crumble
The state’s public health laboratory continues to crumble, despite repeated requests from health leaders that the Legislature provide funding to build a new facility. The state Health Department will request $5.8 million from the Legislature in the coming session to help build a new public health lab, a crucial service that the agency provides for doctors and other medical professionals statewide. In 2013, the public health lab received about 194,000 specimens and ran about 661,000 tests, including newborn screenings for genetic disorders for all babies born in Oklahoma and also tests for flu, West Nile virus and foodborne illnesses that can cause outbreaks.
Tulsa clinics receive Affordable Care Act grants
Seventeen Oklahoma health centers have received a total of $351,319 in federal grants through the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday. Among the grants were two totaling $30,233 to Morton Comprehensive Health Services in Tulsa and one for $14,156 to Community Health Connection of Tulsa.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See the list of Oklahoma grant recipients here.
Low pay drives would-be teachers out of Oklahoma, experts say
For 11 years, Stephen Smallwood drove lonely, rural roads to his job south of the border. Smallwood, who lives in Rattan, a small town in rural southeastern Oklahoma, had taught about 28 years in Oklahoma classrooms. His passion was rewarded with a state Teacher of the Year award and a finalist nod for the prestigious Horace Mann-National Education Association Award for Teaching Excellence. That was before the lure of $10,000 more a year and better benefits forced a tough decision — remain in Oklahoma or commute 39 miles to a high school in Paris, Texas.
Read more from the Edmond Sun.
Center saved by generous foundations
The Tulsa Area Community Intervention Center, a valuable service for troubled juveniles and a cost-saver for the Tulsa Police Department, has been rescued for the next six months, thanks to the city and a few charitable foundations that came up with $113,000 to keep the doors open through June 30. What happens after that is an open question. If the community expects to keep the center operational, it cannot expect a white knight to save the day every time the budget gets tight.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Transportation Panel Approves Record $71 Million Contract
The Oklahoma Transportation Commission has approved its largest-ever single contract — a $71 million project that involves the reconstruction of two interchanges along Interstate 35 in Norman. The commission voted unanimously on Monday to approve the contract, which includes the Lindsey Street and State Highway 9 intersections with I-35.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
Oklahoma joins other states challenging Obama’s immigration policy
Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced Tuesday that Oklahoma is joining other states in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama’s policy on immigration. “We looked at whether the complaints we’d raised in our own lawsuit were substantially different than those raised in the multistate lawsuit, and they weren’t,” said Aaron Cooper, a Pruitt spokesman. “That’s why we joined the multistate lawsuit.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma City’s Spanish-speakers face challenges finding severe weather information, OU group concludes
More than a year after a deadly tornado tore through south Oklahoma City, Spanish-speaking residents in the area reported feeling better prepared for severe weather, a University of Oklahoma research group concluded. But despite that added preparedness, Spanish-speaking residents told a group of OU undergraduate researchers they still couldn’t always find up-to-date information in the face of severe weather.
Federal judge orders execution documents to remain sealed
A federal judge declined Monday to unseal thousands of pages of documents related to the botched execution of Clayton Lockett, including statements by witnesses and the governor collected as part of the state’s investigation. Attorneys for death row inmates had filed a motion earlier Monday asking the judge to unseal documents related to the April 29 execution that were turned over by the state under a previous court order.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
North Dakota, Canadian Crude Oil Now Flowing In New Pipeline To Cushing
The Flanagan South pipeline owned by Enbridge Inc. is now in service, shipping crude oil from the Bakken area in North Dakota and Canadian oil sands region from Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma. Work began on the $2.6 billion, 600-mile long pipeline in 2013 and was completed late this summer.
Union needs to take note of “Redskins” change in OKC
Oklahoma City Public Schools spoke loudly and without dissent to eliminate the Redskins mascot from one of its schools last night. By a vote of 8-0, the school board removed the 88-year-old name at Capitol Hill High School after it was described as harmful and offensive. A committee of students, staff and alumni is being formed to plan its new identity.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
New east Tulsa elementary school is part of proposed $415 million bond package
A new elementary school that would alleviate overcrowding in east Tulsa could be built on acreage Tulsa Public Schools already owns, officials said Tuesday. The proposal came up at the final public forum about a proposed $415 million bond package that the Tulsa school board is set to consider next week.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“We’re losing teachers right now to other states. Who would like to work in the same place for the same amount of money with no increase whatsoever, and at the same time your bills are going up? It’s demeaning. It comes to the point where you love your job so much, you go hungry.”
– State Rep. Mike Brown, discussing how low pay contributes to the state’s teaching shortage (Source: bit.ly/1uiJUxh)
Number of the Day
20
The season limit on bobcat hunting in Oklahoma (per license)
Source: Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Why black folks can’t breathe
Order rooted in and maintained and restored by fear, intimidation, brutality and incarceration is immoral and untenable. Justice is order’s intended soul mate. But serving justice is twice as hard as serving fear. The twice-as-hard spirit — which birthed our melting-pot experiment, envisioned a Fourth Estate informing the masses, unlocked slavery’s chains, loosened Jim Crow’s grip, and propelled us to the moon and back — has sadly succumbed, once again, to the predatory nature of greed and lust for power.
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