Friend us on Facebook
Latest Features
Fleecing the rich and famous is new trend
Los Angeles County police are investigating accusations that Justin struck a photographer, which, if true, would violate California Penal Code 242 even if the striking blow was, well, glancing. Detectives want you to call them if you saw the brawl or if Justin attacked you, as well.
06/07/2012 | Comments 0Roses popular, easy to grow in Oklahoma
Roses are one of the most popular plants in Oklahoma gardens, and many are relatively easy to grow, especially the newer varieties like the Knock Out® rose. Roses offer color and fragrance in the garden, and many make wonderful cut flowers. If you have a garden, you should try your hand at growing roses!.
03/22/2012 | Comments 0From ‘Long Black Limousine’ to Elvis
That would change years later. For the next seven years, band members came and went. Finally, Black put together a group of musicians that have been with him for more than 20 years. They include guitarist Graham Pugh, bass player Rick Alongi, drummer Bob Gorley and keyboard player Phil Sapper, formerly of Harvey and the Wallbangers.
03/01/2012 | Comments 0Young artist generates new ideas for veterans memorial expansion
“This will not be done with any public money,” said Howe, an Air Force pilot who flew B-52s during the Vietnam war. “Each statue will cost $40,000, but this type of art puts us in a different realm. It will take us into the world of art, which opens new avenues for giving.
02/23/2012 | Comments 0Fleck and Flecktones to perform April 10 at Rose State
The extraordinary initial line-up of his incredible combo are touring to support their latest recording, “Rocket Science.
02/17/2012 | Comments 0Real Life
In my presentation, I told the club members about the importance of supporting their local newspaper. After all, we received numerous compliments about our publication and its new appearance, content and local ownership. In this business, compliments can be few and far between, so we enjoyed all of the positive remarks.
02/17/2012 | Comments 0‘General’-ly speaking
In fact, every night when he goes home, the general’s hat comes off – if only temporarily – and suddenly the commander of one of the most critical U.S. Air Force bases turns into father, husband, scuba diver and avid fan of New England sports teams..
02/10/2012 | Comments 0Longtime MWC fire department spokesman Jerry Lojka retires
Lojka spent 29 years at the Midwest City Fire Department and served in several roles, including firefighter, inspector, investigator, public education officer, public information officer and fire marshal.
His favorite job was that of department spokesman as he answered questions from the press, and conveyed important fire prevention tips to the public.
Real Life: Lojka will be missed at fire department
This week’s retirement of Midwest City Fire Marshal Jerry Lojka reminded
me how an effective and well-intentioned PIO does his job. During the
past 14 months I’ve discovered that he knows his job and he understands
the role reporters play in the world of news and information.
02/03/2012 | Comments 0MWC grad, Hudson to receive national awards
Midwest City School graduate Lester Claravall will receive the prestigious Lewis Hines Award for Service to Children and Youth during a ceremony in New York City on Monday.
The award will be presented by the National Child Labor Committee, which serves as the sponsor for the Lewis Hines awards...
May 31st, 2012
Legislature gives SHINE program big boost
By Brian Maughan
On May 1, the Oklahoma Legislature gave our very successful SHINE program a tremendous boost. Thanks to legislation sponsored by Rep. Gary Banz and Sen. David Holt, SHINE and similar community service programs started in other counties will now have a permanent funding source, at no cost to the taxpayers.
SHINE – it stands for Start Helping Impacted Neighborhoods Everywhere – deploys low-level offenders on supervised community service projects like litter cleanup, graffiti removal and park beautification efforts. Since it costs almost $50 a day to keep these people in jail, sending them out to work for the benefit of the community also saves some $1.5 million per year.
However, it takes money to equip and supervise them. Since I originated the SHINE program here in Oklahoma County, we have used a combination of general fund dollars and privately donated money to keep the SHINE crews at work.
Senate Bill 1875, passed 41-0 on May 1, would allow judges to assess fines of from $25 to $250 on convicted felons and those who plead guilty to felony charges. Those funds would then flow into a special fund to support alternative sentencing community service programs like SHINE.
Any county that wants to start a SHINE-style program can now use this special funding mechanism to pay for it. In the end, the taxpayers pay nothing, while we save millions in jail costs and millions more in what amounts to free labor.
One of the best things about SHINE is that it gets these offenders out of jail and puts them to work on productive projects. Shoplifters and writers of hot checks are not the kind of offenders who should be sitting in jail, subsisting at taxpayer expense. They need to learn a lesson through hard, worthwhile labor.
SHINE has been so successful that city officials in Oklahoma City recently joined our effort in a partnership that will put SHINE crews to work on municipal projects. Last year a delegation from Colorado visited us to learn how they can implement a SHINE-style program there, and other Oklahoma counties were waiting for this legislation to pass so they can mirror the program statewide.
Perhaps most significantly of all, the bill was named in honor of Safari McDoulett, the member of my staff who helped guide the SHINE program and who was killed in a tragic auto accident earlier this year. She will now be remembered through the Safari McDoulett Community Service Act.
We hear a lot about how red tape and politics prevent government from working efficiently. This in one case where ton worked very well, with city, county and state officials cooperating to create and fund a program that is a win-win for taxpayers.
I am grateful to those legislators who helped make this bill possible. SHINE is about to get bigger and better than ever.
Brian Maughan is Oklahoma County’s District 2 Commissioner.
Copyright ©2012 Eastword News. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of content in any manner without permission is prohibited. To obtain permission, contact us.