Local organizations work together to offer female inmates training so they can succeed after they are released.
Kris Steele
Posted inArts & Culture
TEEM player
Kris Steele at a TEEM graduation Credit: Mark Hancock Since November, he has led The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM) as its executive director. Founded in 1987, the Oklahoma City-based nonprofit began as a support center for men battling substance abuse, but now focuses on providing free education and job placement services to men and […]
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Secret paroles?
“We were thinking this can’t be right,” Sharp recalled. “What was going on behind the scenes to even get her a chance to talk to the parole board? We thought [at the time of the 2008 trial] that we had eight years before we had to relive this, and all of a sudden, we had […]
Posted inNews
Deal or no deal
Brad Gregg Fallin and the Republican legislative leadership heaped congratulations on themselves at a May 18 news conference. The gov called it “an important step forward for Oklahoma,” while House Speaker Kris Steele said legislators had decided to give taxpayer money “back to the hardworking people of Oklahoma.” Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman proclaimed […]
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Counterpoint: : Real reform is still wanting
But even in its beginning, the legislation’s reforms were modest at best. In its final version, HB 3052 is a reform bill in name only — more notable for what it does not do than for what it does. There is even the potential that it could dig us deeper into our current prison crisis […]
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Point: Overhauling criminal justice
The bill funds strategic crime reduction initiatives, requires post-release supervision of all felons and initiates several strategies proven to control prison growth and reduce crime. It’s a tougher, smarter fight against crime. This new policy was developed through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a nine-month, data-driven review of Oklahoma’s entire criminal justice system. Among the shortcomings […]
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Ill-conceived
Brad Gregg House Speaker Kris Steele said April 19 that the body would not hear Senate Bill 1433, which would proclaim that embryos have all the same rights as folks not encased in a womb. The bill is dead now that the House Republican Caucus voted to pull out the legislative equivalent of a vacuum […]
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Proceed with caution
Larkin Warner As reported in state Treasurer Ken Miller’s January Oklahoma Economic Report, their mission was to emphasize the positive performance of the state’s economy to officials of the three main bond rating agencies. Oklahoma’s general obligation bond ratings were already relatively high, but even higher ratings would mean lower future borrowing costs. For example, […]
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Not child’s play
Sheri Guyse with her two children Shannon Cornman Some public policy groups warn, however, that the income tax reform proposals making their way through the state Capitol could mean an increase in the tax burden for working parents. Four bills to reduce the income tax this year — and possibly phase it out over the […]
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Shannon elected speaker-designate
T.W. Shannon, a Lawton Republican first elected in 2006 and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, was elected by the caucus as House speaker-designate, meaning that if House Republicans maintain a majority after the 2012 elections, Shannon will be next in line to replace term-limited Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. Shannon, 33, will not only […]