Articles

Lonnie Burns, described as a dedicated community servant, has declared his intent to run for Oklahoma’s House District 20.

The January report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission was recently sent out and reflects returns of tax dollars sent back to area municipalities for purchases made in December.

Friday, February 9, 2024 is the last day to apply for voter registration in order to be eligible to vote in the March 5th Presidential Preferential Primary election, McClain County Election Board Secretary Karen Haley said.

McClain-Grady County Emergency Medical Services made 230 total calls in the month of December 2023. Of those, 137 were billed calls and 93 were non-transport.

Last week we learned that on September 5, 2000, the American Legion presented the first “Spirit of Service” awards to active-duty service members for their offduty volunteer efforts.

Oklahoma, like other states, is experiencing workforce shortages in critical industries like transportation. This industry is tasked with planning and building Oklahoma’s roadways and bridges — a massive undertaking that requires a large, highly-trained workforce. While there are ample career opportunities, one of this industry’s main challenges is students and the public simply aren’t aware of them or what education and training is needed to pursue them.

Nicholas Jacob fell in love with Newcastle during a trip to visit his brother, who lives in the area and attends law school at the University of Oklahoma. Nicholas came from Phoenix, Arizona, and finds much to admire about Newcastle, including that it is much quieter.

Shane Hand will be starting a new position at America’s Health Insurance Plans as the Vice President of Federal Affairs. Hand has served as Cole’s Legislative Director since December 2021 and formerly as Cole’s Senior Policy Advisor on Health in 2021 and Legislative Assistant handling health, education and tax issues, among others, from 2019-2021.

Democrats and the left-leaning media has certainly tried to paint a pretty picture of an economy on the mend over the last several months. However, their misguided reporting could not be further from the truth, and everyday Americans certainly know inflation is eating away at their hard-earned money.

We’ve been busy in recent weeks focusing on budget hearings in our various appropriations subcommittees. Our Health and Human Services subcommittee held two full days of meetings and met with our 13 agencies, commissions, and authorities. These include state entities like the Oklahoma Health Care Authority; the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Office of Disability Concerns; the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority; the Office of Juvenile Affairs; and the Departments of Human Services and Health.