The lawsuit made its way to the state Supreme Court, which ruled last week that Pruitt’s changes to the petition were valid. However, the court also gave Take Shelter Oklahoma another 90 days to collect signatures. “We do believe the ballot language used by the attorney general is not fair. We think it’s inaccurate, and […]
shelters
Posted inNews
Shaky shelter
In an exclusive News9/Oklahoma Gazette poll, 52 percent of Oklahoma City residents “strongly supported” public funding to help build storm shelters in public schools. Another 26 percent “somewhat supported” the idea. The survey included 980 city residents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.13 percent. Though, when asked where the funding should […]
Posted inNews
Storm Shelter funding debate gets heated
In an exclusive News9/Oklahoma Gazette poll, 52 percent of Oklahoma City residents “strongly supported” public funding to help build storm shelters in public schools. Another 26 percent “somewhat supported” the idea. The survey included 980 city residents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.13 percent. Though, when asked where the funding should […]
Posted inNews
Take Shelter Oklahoma wants Governor to release files
Take Shelter Oklahoma, led by Oklahoma City attorney David Slane, wants all communications between the governor’s office, the State Chamber of Commerce, lawmakers and Attorney General Scott Pruitt in connection with a public school storm shelter drive and the state’s franchise tax. The deadline for receiving the communications is Friday. “The governor has a practice […]
Posted inNews
Shelter battle
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 […]
Posted inNews
Dotted line
Fallin hasn’t directly opposed the initiative petition drive, but she doesn’t plan to endorse it either, according to her spokesman, Alex Weintz. Instead, the governor has commented that money used for storm shelters will reduce funding for other educational needs. “She’s just trying to inject some form of realism here,” Weintz said. However, storm shelter […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
Nowhere to hide
State Rep. Joe Dorman (D-Rush Springs) said the statewide figure demonstrates a greater problem because more than half a million students and teachers are without adequate protection from tornadoes. “It’s shocking how many school districts are without shelters,” he said at a meeting last week, highlighting a report released the week of Sept. 23. “I […]
Posted inNews
Hungry? Get in line
At least that’s the perception a lot of folks are getting since House members voted to slice $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Commonly known as food stamps, the SNAP decision by the GOP-controlled House would cause 3.8 million people to lose benefits while another 850,000 people would have their assistance reduced. […]
Posted inNews
Seeking shelters
Their wish is that storm shelters had been in place four months earlier as a powerful EF-5 tornado swept through southwest Oklahoma City and Moore, killing 47 people, including seven students at Plaza Towers Elementary. Among the students who perished were their sons — Nicolas McCabe, 8; Kyle Davis, 8; and Christopher Legg, 9. With […]