A lawsuit filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court alleges Pruitt accepted donations from political action committees and influential businessmen connected to the State Chamber of Commerce, which formally opposes the state’s franchise tax and wants it abolished. The franchise tax would be used to repay $500 million in state bonds if the petition drive is […]
plaza towers
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Hunkered down
Kristi Conatzer said the governor has created an unneeded public debate over keeping children safe based on comments she made opposing an initiative petition. Conatzer’s daughter, Emily, was one of the seven children who died at Plaza Towers Elementary School. “There shouldn’t be an argument over this,” she said. “We lost something on May 20 […]
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Back to class
In less than five minutes on May 20, that world was turned upside down when a tornado demolished her school as well as neighboring Plaza Towers Elementary. Between the two schools, Singleton and some 80 teachers lost most of the classroom supplies they had bought, made or borrowed during their careers. Such items either were […]
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Booking it to Moore
So the 175 residents of Buckner Westminster Place in Longview, Texas, did something about it. On July 1, two administrators from the facility donated nearly 2,000 books and $800 to help restore the two schools. “The [retirees] were very interested to do something,” said Wes Wells, director of Buckner Westminster Place, who personally delivered the […]
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Seeking shelter for students
Now a discussion is under way to decide how to handle state assistance for shelter space. Like many Oklahomans, I knew many who were trapped in at least one of the major tornadoes that struck Oklahoma last month. One of my cousins is a student at Briarwood Elementary in Moore, where his mother, a schoolteacher, […]
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Dispatches from a disaster
“I saw it right before it hit, and then I grabbed the dogs and headed to the center part of the house, which was a closet,” he said. That last move saved his life. With the home falling down around him, the 38-year-old man and his dogs were spared. “I felt the ground shake and […]