OKG: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your year compared to normal years? James Cooper: I serve as OKC’s Ward 2 Councilperson. I also teach as an adjunct professor in Philosophy and Film Studies at Oklahoma City University and as an adjunct professor in English at University of Central Oklahoma. Before I took […]
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COVER Inequality check
Dominique Gray lost his safety net at 17. He was sleeping outside of the Ralph Ellison Library in Oklahoma City. Beneath the book drop. For a full year, he experienced homelessness until a librarian connected him to a pathway home. How had things gotten so severe? Bouts of depression, constant bullying and fights at school […]
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PRESS RELEASE Oklahoma City Councilmembers Cooper, Hamon and Nice to hold Virtual COVID-19 Town Hall on mental health, accessing care and more, 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 5
Three members of the Oklahoma City Council will hold a Virtual Town Hall on Tuesday to discuss mental health, access to care and more during the COVID-19 crisis. The virtual meeting is 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 5. The hosts are Ward 2 Councilperson James Cooper, Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon and Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki […]
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Twofold Pride
Oklahoma City will be home to two Pride celebrations this year. Board members from Oklahoma City Pride Alliance and 39th Street District Association decided to host their own events after they could not agree on a unified vision for Pride 2020. “There is a little confusion, and hopefully as we move through the next couple […]
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MAPS board
Ward 2 councilwoman JoBeth Hamon sought to amend the MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Board’s name in an attempt to be more inclusive. Hamon’s amendment would have changed the word “citizen” to “resident” wherever it would be legal to do so. But before any discussion even took place, a motion was made to pass the item […]
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Final actions
Councilmembers set a date on a new sales tax vote, amended policies and approved more spending, among other actions at Oklahoma City Council’s final meeting of the year. Park tax Three weeks ago, former councilman Ed Shadid submitted a petition with enough signatures to allow residents to decide whether or not they want to implement […]
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Cover: 2019 review
To the ballot Oklahomans have filed four statewide initiative petitions and one referendum in 2019. The referendum, filed in August, was to let voters decide whether or not they wanted “permitless carry,” the first bill signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt to go into effect. The referendum did not gain enough signatures. Ultimately, the law, which […]
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Preservation changes
Oklahoma City Council adopted an ordinance last week amending a previous controversial proposal that would have stripped some of Historic Preservation Commission’s powers. Months ago, Oklahoma City councilmembers David Greenwell (Ward 5) and Mark Stonecipher (Ward 8) presented a broad proposal that would have only allowed the city council to initiate any historic designation proposal […]
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Freedom fighters
Freedom Oklahoma aims to build off a successful year for Oklahoma’s LGBTQ+ community by focusing more on diverse sects of the community and advocating for more issues. With October being LGBT History Month, Allie Shinn, Freedom Oklahoma executive director, said the organization is reflecting on recent history to inform what is next to come. The […]
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Extending rights
Norman City Council voted 8-1 to amend its civil rights ordinance to add protections on the basis of sexuality, gender identity or expression and same-sex marriage. The protections are now in place and affect employment, housing and public accommodations. Norman United, an interfaith group formed to support the LGBTQ+ community, spearheaded the efforts and played […]