More than 75 people were on hand to hear Steven Crawford paint a financial picture of Oklahoma’s education system during an hour-long talk Tuesday.
Mid-Del Public Schools hosted the second meeting of the Oklahoma Central Parent Legislative Action Committee, in which Crawford was the guest speaker.
Parents were joined by educators and administrators in attendance from various metro school districts.
Crawford, executive director of both the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Association and the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators, explained the logistics of how school districts receive funding and from what sources. He listed ad valorem taxes, county 4 mill, school land, gross production, motor vehicles, REA tax and state aid as sources.
The State Auditor’s Office uncovered a "chaotic" situation during an audit of the City of Spencer that resulted in felony charges against three city employees.
On Oct. 10, the state office reported their findings to the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office, who requested the audit. The DA’s office has charged Shenice L. Huff, 35, Andrew Payne Thompson, 32, and Lakeita V. Barbee, 40, with felony embezzlement by a public employee.
Huff and Thompson - both former employees – were listed as having received several "fraudulent" payroll checks totaling $6,277.79 between the two of them, auditors reported. Other checks for undocumented overtime and holiday pay for $5,256 also were found for Thompson
At first, the audit report was not made public but was the week of Oct. 14. It can be viewed online at www.sai.ok.gov.
The federal government shutdown moves into its second week today.
However, most furloughed Department of Defense civilians have been recalled including the 2,900 workers at Tinker Air Force Base.
The process of returning DOD to work began when Congress passed H.R. 3210 also known as the Pay Our Military Act (H.R. 3210). The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives 423-0 on Sept. 29.
Mayor Jack Fry received the results of Midwest City’s election just in the nick of time Tuesday.
He was about to adjourn the city’s Hospital Authority Trust meeting when he learned of the election’s outcome and was able to share the news with his fellow trustees and audience.
The news to report was that a small turnout of voters approved all five of Midwest City’s propositions Tuesday, including one that grants the Hospital Authority access to $50 million to bring a new lessee to Midwest Regional.
"This was a good night for the city," the mayor said. "It is exciting that voters granted access so we can begin to move forward. This is a credit to the council and city staff to the job they’ve done that the citizens gave us such a resounding message to move forward."
Midwest City polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. next Tuesday, Oct. 8 for individuals to consider five propositions proposed by the city.
One of those propositions is to grant the Midwest City Memorial Hospital Authority access to $50 million in funds to possibly negotiate or terminate the lease with Health Management Associates, LLC at Midwest Regional Medical Center.
The city decided to pursue the funds because of hospital staff and patient concerns about the quality of healthcare at the hospital. (1 comments) Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Tinker Air Force Base welcomed members of a national commission examining cost efficiency in the military on Tuesday.
The National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force conducted a site visit of TAFB in the morning and then a public hearing at the Reed Center in the afternoon. The visit was part of a tour of 13 Air Force locations.
The event was part of the Commission’s congressionally mandated mission to study the U.S. Air Force and its three components – active, reserve and Air National Guard - for an independent analysis. The information compiled will then help the Commission determine if and how the Air Force’s structure should be modified to best fill current and future mission requirements with available resources.
The search is over for Choctaw's new city manager.
On Wednesday, June 20, Choctaw councilmembers interviewed four finalists for the position and ended up instructing Mayor Randy Ross to offer Roger Nelson, 48, the job and to handle contract negotiations.
The council's decision, though, is not final until they approve Nelson's contract at their July 10 meeting, Ross said.
Once that happens, the mayor anticipated Nelson's first day on the job to be Aug. 6. He will replace Robert Floyd, whose contract was not renewed this spring by councilmembers after working with the city for 25 years.
Currently, Nelson is the city manager in Clyde, Texas, a city of about 3,700 people located just outside of Abilene. He has worked in Clyde since September 2009, but the city leader started his career in Warrensburg, Missouri.
From 1989 to 1992, Nelson served as the assistant to the city manager and then city manager in 1992 to 1994 in Missouri. He then moved to Grapevine, Texas where he worked as assistant city manager from 1994 to 1997 and city manager from 1997 to 2005.
State Rep. Gary Banz scored a landslide victory over Republican challenge A.J. Bailey Tuesday with 85 percent of the vote in the GOP primary.
Banz will face Democrat Stephen Colvert in the Nov. 6 general election for House District 101.
"I'm honored that the Republicans of House District 101 chose me to represent the citizens of Eastern Oklahoma County at the State Capitol." Banz said.
Banz has represented parts of Eastern Oklahoma County since he was first elected to the House in 2004.
Republican incumbent Brian Maughan earned another four years in office Tuesday when District 2 voters re-elected him as Oklahoma County Commissioner.
Maughan defeated fellow Republican Gordon Jeney, of Harrah, receiving almost 75 percent of the vote with 5,549 ballots cast in his favor and 1,863 for his challenger.
Late Tuesday night, Jeney told EastWord News the primary was an "up-hill battle" since Maughan was the incumbent and heavily involved in the Republican Party.
