Credit: Shannon Cornman Twelve certified gambling treatment programs in the state receive that money from the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The amount was set when casino gambling in Oklahoma began in 2004. While such treatment programs receive additional funds from anonymous donors and grants from some American Indian tribes that […]
C.G. Niebank
Posted inNews
A taxing question
Fred Mogran Credit: Shannon Cornman A coalition of business groups headed by the State Chamber of Oklahoma support passage of SQ 766, which is on ballot Tuesday, asserting that its failure could spur a vast expansion of state taxes on items as varied as retirement benefits, professional licenses, hunting leases, and even copyrighted song lyrics […]
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Road hazards
Credit: Shannon Cornman That’s because almost one-quarter of all Oklahoma drivers are uninsured, according to statistics compiled in 2009 by the Insurance Research Council. Among the 50 states, Oklahoma is tied with Tennessee and Florida for third place, with 24 percent of all drivers uninsured. Only New Mexico (26 percent) and Mississippi (28 percent) have […]
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Righting wrongs
Tiffany Murphy OCU LAW Since its inception in August 2011, the Oklahoma City University School of Law Oklahoma Innocence Project, or OIP, has been working to overturn wrongful convictions in Oklahoma. “There are people who are completely, absolutely innocent of their charges who have been convicted and sentenced to prison for, often, very long periods […]
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Human network
Despite a 2004 FBI-led sting operation, dubbed “Stormy Nights,” which rescued 23 young people from forced prostitution at truck stops in Oklahoma, sexual slavery is far from eradicated either in Oklahoma or nationwide, said Mark Elam (pictured), executive director of Oklahomans Against the Trafficking of Humans (OATH) and associate pastor at Lifechanger Church in Claremore. […]
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Final Stage?
A consortium — the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, the Oklahoma City Cultural Development Council, the Oklahoma Arts Council and Devon Energy — commissioned a study earlier this year to assess Stage Center’s future prospects. The Stage Center site sits in the long shadow of the under-construction Devon tower. In the 33-page final report obtained by […]
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Calculated account
In his self-published book “Walmart’s Egonomics: The Greed Behind the Smiley Face,” Charles H. Hood documented his unsuccessful struggle to provide Walmart customers with calculators and advertising mounted on the handles of Walmart shopping carts. Hood, who retired from the ad agency business in 1990, once served as chairman of Ackerman, Hood and McQueen. In […]
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Next stage
The iconic downtown building’s immediate future is unclear as community groups await the release of a study commissioned to help decide its fate. The structure has stood unused since torrential rains forced its closing in June 2010. Architect John M. Johansen designed Stage Center in the 1960s, and it was constructed as a permanent home […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Altered eats
Because no state or federal labeling requirements presently cover GMOs, no certain way exists to determine if food bought in Central Oklahoma includes these ingredients. Environmentally conscious consumers can buy organic and read labels to avoid GMO-free food. Genetic modifications have resulted in widely planted soybeans, corn and cotton seed referred to as “Roundup Ready,” […]
Posted inMusic
Watt’s happening
After more than 30 years of playing music, renowned punk bassist Mike Watt might be indulged if he rested on his laurels. But with ongoing involvement in bands that includes the legendary Stooges and his own trio, The Missingmen, he shows no apparent interest in slowing down. His new album, “Hyphenated-Man,” is his musical meditation […]