Since the teacher walkout in April 2018, the state of Oklahoma has increased the school funding formula, a combination of local, state and federal revenue that is then distributed according to each state’s specific “formula,” by 19 percent, according to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — one of the biggest increases of any state […]
Nikita Lewchuk
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Community support
On May 29, the family of Isaiah Lewis, an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot in May, announced they have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Edmond. The announcement was made exactly one month after Lewis was shot four times in a residential neighborhood following a police altercation. The toxicology report […]
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Shots fired
In the past decade, the increasing frequency of high-profile shootings at schools and churches have made the right to own and carry a gun the subject of intense debate not only at the federal level but in state legislatures as well. As each state has the right to limit or expand access to guns as […]
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Poppy planting
Poppy flowers, the plants used to make opium, became an agricultural product nearly 8,000 years ago, and the practice of using them to achieve an altered state of consciousness is nearly as old. According to Opium: A History by Martin Booth, the practice originated in Mesopotamia, an area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, sometimes […]
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Bitter pills
The first trial of a pharmaceutical company related to the opioid epidemic began May 28 at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman. The lawsuit, brought by Oklahoma attorney general Mike Hunter, will attempt to hold Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, accountable for the high number of overdose fatalities in the state of […]
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PRIDE Pride allies
Oklahoma City Pride Friday-Sunday 39th St. District NW 39th Street between Classen and Youngs boulevards oklahomacitypride.org Free Oklahoma City Pride features even more colors at this year’s festival. In addition to the standard rainbows and glitter, this year’s Pride will have a “red zone” and a “green zone” to help ensure festivalgoers have a positive […]
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PRIDE Rainbow uprising
Much of the history of the LGBTQ+ community centers on its relationship with law enforcement. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which took place in New York and are widely regarded as the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Stonewall Inn was a bar for members of the LGBTQ+ community […]
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Deadly force
Isaiah Lewis, an unarmed 17-year-old, was shot and killed by police on April 29 following an on-foot chase through a residential neighborhood. At this stage in the investigation, little is known about the circumstances surrounding Lewis’ death. Edmond Police spokesperson Jenny Wagnon identified two of the officers involved as Sgt. Milo Box and officer Denton […]
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Cover: Finding identity
Whether you think Facebook is a useful tool to keep up with your friends and current events or despise it as a data-mining tool of big corporations, you have to admit they got one thing right: the “it’s complicated” relationship status. It is absurd to think the complexity of the human experience can be expressed […]
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Commentary: Getting clean
Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the company currently paying dues for the severity and scale of the current nationwide opioid epidemic, recently settled a lawsuit with the state of Oklahoma. The terms of the settlement include Purdue’s payment of $270 million to be used for research on addiction, particularly concerning opioids. This case is the first of its […]