Yukon Progress

Mar
16

2019

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 Yukon Progress

Demand better
Mar It’s good to see that state Rep. Rhonda Baker
16 (R-Yukon) is supporting a measure that would
require the same type of transparency for virtual
2019 charter schools as required of traditional public
Page schools.
A004 The House passed the bill and now it moves to
Clip the Senate. Passage of the proposal comes after
resized
64% DQ26%,FULPLQDOLQYHVWLJDWLRQLQWR(SLF9LUWXDO
Charter School was discovered last month.
Earlier this week, Baker, a former public
school teacher, told the Yukon Progress, “House
%LOO  LV DQ LPSRUWDQW SLHFH RI OHJLVODWLRQ
in addressing transparency of taxpayer dollars.
This requires virtual charter schools to follow
WKHVDPH¿QDQFLDOUHSRUWLQJUHTXLUHPHQWVDVRXU
traditional schools.”
The measure’s author, Rep. Sheila Dills (R-
Tulsa), said in a prepared statement, “Right now,
we don’t have a real clarity of the expenditures
of that managing company, which is one of the
areas of transparency this bill focuses on.”
Administration of virtual charter schools is
RSHUDWHGE\IRUSUR¿WPDQDJHPHQWFRPSDQLHVV
but it’s unclear how the money is spent. That’s
WKH LPSRUWDQW SRLQW DQG LW¶V VLJQL¿FDQW WKDW WKH
legislature has taken focused on this issue so
early in the session.
Public schools are held to a high standard
because of the taxpayer dollars involved - and
rightfully so. But now, it’s high time these vir- P
tual charter schools have the same level of ac-
countability and only the legislature can demand I
that. er
abo
Education should not be a get-rich quick Urq
scheme with no safeguards or transparency. Pub- Cze
lic schools are forced to follow a set of rules for to o
good reason and virtual charter schools should to b
do the same. for
The state Senate should follow the House’s am
lead and pass the measure demanding more ac- it a
this
countability by virtual charter schools. Fes
I

G d i
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 Clip
Mar 2019 Page resized
20 A001 68%

Henryetta Free-Lance

McIntosh Tumling athletes h

t

nominated for state titles


 Tumbling Competitive Team.
Free-Lance Editor “She is extremely dedicated, hard-working and
self-motivated, pushing herself to improve at every
Four competitors at McIntosh Tumbling in practice,” McIntosh Tumbling owner Katie
Henryetta have been nominated for the title of Athlete Thompson said.
of the Year in their prospective divisions. After watching high school cheerleading, Macee
They are among 19 athletes across the state nomi- became interested in tumbling and feels becoming a
nated for the honor. better tumbler will help her reach her goals with
During the United States Tumbling Association cheerleading.
(USTA) Oklahoma/Texas State Competition on Macee plans to attend college and hopes to receive w
Saturday, April 13, in Henryetta, where winners will a cheer scholarship. F
be chosen among those. In addition to tumbling, she enjoys playing softball H
MACEE SMART and basketball. In her free time, Macee likes to hang S
Nominated in the Overall Double-Mini division, out with her friends.
Macee Smart has been tumbling since she was four- JORDYN HOLLIS B
years-old.
This is her first year as a member of the McIntosh See MCINTOSH, page 10A a

Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
 Henryetta Free-Lance

Mar
20
MCINTOSH P
2019 A necessity in the firefighting career,
FROM PAGE 1A Rowdy believes tumbling will help keep him
Page strong and teach him manners and sports- ca
A010 Two years ago at McIntosh Tumbling, manship. D
Clip Jordyn Hollis began tumbling and this is her He enjoys learning new skills, hanging out
resized first year competiting. with friends and being around his coaches.
54%
ti
She is a nominee for All-Around Athlete MEMPHIS BLACK a
From of the Year. Tumbling Athlete of the Year nominee u
A001 Jordyn first began tumbling to try some- Memphis Black began tumbling at the age of M
thing new with the desire to commit to 10, four years ago. w
something and hopes to tumble for a long He said he started tumbling because he d
time. enjoyed trying to teach himself to do flips. co
“Jordyn works hard in the gym and always He wanted to push himself to learn new
tries to be a confident and positive person,” skills. b
Thompson said. “This shows to be true in A three-time National Championship win- o
her work ethic, attitude and sportsmanship. ner once each in Novice Floor, Intermediate se
She is a good example to younger athletes in Double-Mini and Intermediate Floor, n
the gym.” Memphis is a member of the 2019-2020 C
An 8th grade student at Midway Public USTA All-Star National Team for Sub-
Schools, Jordyn is 14-years old. Advance Double-Mini and Tumbling.
After high school, she plans to pursue a Earlier this year, Memphis became a
college career. USTA Junior Coach, helping younger ath-
“I feel the skills I’m learning through this letes at McIntosh Tumbling.
sport will help me continue to work hard and “Memphis works hard to develop new
keep my head up in everything I do,” Jordyn skills, have a positive attitude and encourage
said. other athletes,” his coaches said.
She enjoys working with children, reading An 8th grade student at Epic Charter
and the color yellow. Painting is a happy Schools, he is a member of the National
pastime for her. Junior Honor Society.
ROWDY WILLIAMS After high school graduation, he plans to
Nominated for Trampoline Athlete of the attend college, become a physical therapist E
Year, Rowdy Williams began tumbling at the and coach tumbling. Also a competitive to
age of seven. cheerleader, he would like to continue to h
His first interest was in the trampoline and cheer in college.
he now competes at an advanced level. He believes his background as an athlete ty
“Rowdy works extremely hard in the gym will help him become a better physical ther- O
and is always respectful,” Thompson said. apist. Q
“He can always make the other athletes and Memphis enjoys hanging out with family w
coaches smile.” members and friends and attending church.
A seventh grade student at Bearden Public His hobbies include riding his longboard ag
Schools, Rowdy plans to follow in his and playing video games. m
father’s footsteps and become a firefighter Domino’s thin-crust pepperoni pizza is his at
after he graduates. favorite food. w

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 Clip
Mar 2019 Page resized
20 0002 55%
The Hominy News-Progress
p g
cal necessity for step therapy. vocate for our constituents ness puts a heavy burden on
From the Desk of Sen. Bill Coleman — District 10
Entering the Second Phase
of Session
This was another busy week
at the Capitol as we worked
day and night to hit the Thurs-
day deadline. There were
more than 330 Senate bills to
hear. We considered all the
measures and now turn our
attention to our committees
for consideration of the re-
maining House bills.
Several important bills were
passed by the legislature for
further consideration in the
opposite chamber including
all of our Senate 5epublican
Caucus agenda items.
The ¿ve government ac-
countability bills received
¿nal approval in the legisla-
ture this week and have been
signed into law and are in ef-
fect. Gov. Stitt isn’t wasting
any time getting bills signed.
An agreement was made to
use three of the House’s bills
and two of the Senate’s bills.
The measures will give hir-
ing power over the directors
of ¿ve of our highest appro-
priated state agencies to the
Governor as well as author-
ity to set their salaries. The
agencies and bills include the
Oklahoma Healthcare Au-
thority (SB 456), the Oklaho-
ma Department of Transpor-
tation (SB 457), the Of¿ce of
Juvenile Affairs (House Bill
2479), the Oklahoma Depart-
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
p g
ment of Corrections (House
Bill 2480), and the Oklahoma
Department of Mental Health
and Substance Abuse Servic-
es (House Bill 2483).
SB 1 also received ¿nal ap-
proval by the Senate to create
LOFT and provide better in-
sight and understanding of our
state’s budget. The House has
a similar version of this leg-
islation. No word on if there
will be a compromise bill or if
one of the current bills will be
allowed to go through to the
Governor’s desk.
Criminal justice reform is a
major focus and several bills
were approved this week in-
cluding my SB 287. This bill
will help decrease the unsus-
tainable and very expensive
growth of our prison popula-
tion by limiting sentencing
for repeat nonviolent, nonsex-
ual felony offenders.
SB 252 modi¿es conditions
for the release of arrested in-
dividuals by clarifying that
a “violent offense” refers to
offenses de¿ned in the Okla-
homa Prison Overcrowding
Emergency Powers Act. Ad-
ditionally, the court must
make an of¿cial individual-
i]ed determination that no
condition of release would
assure the defendant’s return
to court. Before determin-
ing release, judges must con-
sider whether a person poses
g
a speci¿c threat to a speci¿c
person as well as whether the
person violated a protective
order. It also requires judges
to release someone following
an appearance in court unless
the judge makes certain ¿nd-
ings de¿ned by this bill. A
person must be taken before
the most accessible magis-
trate in the county for an ini-
tial appearance and charged
with a crime within 48 hours
of the arrest.
SB 616 requires the Pardon
and Parole Board to of¿cially
state why a parole is denied.
If the Board denies parole to
someone convicted of an 85%
crime, they must suggest re-
medial actions to prepare the
inmate for the next parole
consideration. It also prohib-
its a prisoner from waiving
consideration for parole or a
recommendation for parole
and outlines instances when
a person’s parole may be re-
voked.
HB 2218 will help lessen the
¿nancial burden of those re-
leased from prison by allow-
ing courts to waive outstand-
ing ¿nes, court costs and fees
if the person attends a career
tech center, workforce train-
ing program or state univer-
sity or college. For every 40-
hour education/training work
week, the court will waive the
above expenses based on the
equivalent of the person’s po-
tential gross income based on
the state’s minimum wage.
SB 414 establishes a statute
of limitations for the crimes
of ¿rst and second degree
manslaughter. Prosecutions
must commence within ten
years after the discovery of
the crime.
SB 112 prohibits anyone
convicted of a crime commit-
ted before the age of 18 from
receiving a sentence of life
without parole or a mandato- I
ry minimum sentence. It also
mandates that the courts must
consider the age of the per-
son at the time of the offense,
maturity level, culpability, H
family and environment, in-
tellectual capacity, peer pres-
sure, rehabilitation capacity,
community involvement, and
involvement in the child wel-
fare system when sentencing
a person certi¿ed as an adult.
In closing, EPIC Charter
School Day was at the Capi-
tol on Monday and then some
teachers from Ponca City
and other schools stopped by
to visit on Tuesday. Always
enjoy visiting with our out-
standing educators.
You can contact me at the
state Capitol by calling (405)
521-5581 or by email at bill.
coleman@oksenate.gov.
Bill Coleman
 Clip
Mar 2019 Page resized
20 A002 60%
Skiatook Journal
Entering the second phase of session
BY SEN. BILL COLEMAN
This was another busy week at the
Capitol as we worked day and night to hit
the Thursday deadline. There were more
maZg,,)L^gZm^[beelmha^Zk'P^\hglb]-
ered all the measures and now turn our
attention to our committees for consider-
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L^o^kZebfihkmZgm[beelp^k^iZll^][r
the legislature for further consideration
in the opposite chamber including all of
hnk L^gZm^ K^in[eb\Zg <Zn\nl Z`^g]Z
items.
The five government accountability
bills received final approval in the leg-
islature this week and have been signed
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wasting any time getting bills signed. An
agreement was made to use three of the
Ahnl^Êl[beelZg]mphh_ma^L^gZm^Êl[beel'
The measures will give hiring power over
the directors of five of our highest appro-
priated state agencies to the Governor as
well as authority to set their salaries. The
agencies and bills include the Oklahoma
A^Zema\Zk^:nmahkbmr!L;-./"%ma^HdeZ-
ahfZ=^iZkmf^gmh_MkZglihkmZmbhg!L;
-.0"%ma^H§\^h_Cno^gbe^:ùZbkl!Ahnl^
;bee+-02"%ma^HdeZahfZ=^iZkmf^gmh_
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better insight and understanding of our
lmZm^Êl [n]`^m' Ma^ Ahnl^ aZl Z lbfbeZk
version of this legislation. No word on if
there will be a compromise bill or if one
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
of the current bills will be allowed to go
through to the Governor’s desk.
<kbfbgZecnlmb\^k^_hkfblZfZchk_h-
cus and several bills were approved this
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help decrease the unsustainable and very
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tion by limiting sentencing for repeat
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lease of arrested individuals by clarify-
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fenses defined in the Oklahoma Prison
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Additionally, the court must make an of-
ficial individualized determination that
no condition of release would assure the
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whether a person poses a specific threat
to a specific person as well as whether
the person violated a protective order. It
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following an appearance in court unless
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by this bill. A person must be taken be-
fore the most accessible magistrate in
the county for an initial appearance and
charged with a crime within 48 hours of
the arrest.
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must suggest remedial actions to prepare
the inmate for the next parole consider-
ation. It also prohibits a prisoner from
waiving consideration for parole or a
recommendation for parole and outlines
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burden of those released from prison
by allowing courts to waive outstanding
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training work week, the court will waive
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lent of the person’s potential gross income
based on the state’s minimum wage.
L; -*- ^lmZ[ebla^l Z lmZmnm^ h_ ebfbmZ-
tions for the crimes of first and second
degree manslaughter. Prosecutions must
commence within ten years after the dis-
covery of the crime.
L; **+ ikhab[bml Zgrhg^ \hgob\m^] h_
a crime committed before the age of 18
from receiving a sentence of life without
parole or a mandatory minimum sen-
tence. It also mandates that the courts
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culpability, family and environment, in-
tellectual capacity, peer pressure, rehabil-
itation capacity, community involvement,
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tem when sentencing a person certified
as an adult.
Bg \ehlbg`% >IB< <aZkm^k L\ahhe =Zr
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some teachers from Ponca City and other
schools stopped by to visit on Tuesday. Al-
pZrl^gchroblbmbg`pbmahnkhnmlmZg]bg`
educators.
You can contact me at the state Capi-
mhe[r\Zeebg`!-).".+*&..1*hk[r^fZbe
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man
 Clip
Mar 2019 Page resized
21 004 50%
The Newkirk Herald Journal
Entering the second phase of session
By Sen. BILL COLEMAN
District 10
T
his was another busy week at the Capitol as we worked
day and night to hit the Thursday deadline. There were
more than 330 Senate bills to hear. We considered all
the measures and now turn our attention to our committees for
consideration of the remaining House bills.
Several important bills were passed by the legislature for further
consideration in the opposite chamber, including all of our Senate
Republican Caucus agenda items.
The five government accountability bills received final approval
in the legislature this week and have been signed into law and are
in effect. Governor Stitt isn’t wasting any time getting bills signed.
An agreement was made to use three of the House’s bills and two
of the Senate’s bills. The measures will give hiring power over the
directors of five of our highest appropriated state agencies to the
Governor as well as authority to set their salaries. The agencies
and bills include the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority (SB 456), the
Oklahoma Department of Transportation (SB 457), the Office of
Juvenile Affairs (House Bill 2479), the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections (House Bill 2480) and the Oklaho-
ma Department of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Services (House Bill 2483).
SB 1 also received final approval by the Senate
to create LOFT and provide better insight and
understanding of our state’s budget. The House
has a similar version of this legislation. No word
on if there will be a compromise bill or if one of Coleman
the current bills will be allowed to go through
to the Governor’s desk.
Criminal justice reform is a major focus and several bills were
approved this week, including my SB 287. This bill will help
decrease the unsustainable and very expensive growth of our
prison population by limiting sentencing for repeat nonviolent,
nonsexual felony offenders.
SB 252 modifies conditions for the release of arrested individu-
als by clarifying that a “violent offense” refers to offenses defined
in the Oklahoma Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act.
Additionally, the court must make an official individualized deter-
The Newkirk Herald Journal
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
mination that no condition of release would assure the defendant’s
return to court. Before determining release, judges must consider
whether a person poses a specific threat to a specific person as
well as whether the person violated a protective order. It also
requires judges to release someone following an appearance in
court unless the judge makes certain findings defined by this bill.
A person must be taken before the most accessible magistrate in
the county for an initial appearance and charged with a crime
within 48 hours of the arrest.
SB 616 requires the Pardon and Parole Board to officially state
why a parole is denied. If the Board denies parole to someone
convicted of an 85 percent crime, they must suggest remedial
actions to prepare the inmate for the next parole consideration.
It also prohibits a prisoner from waiving consideration for parole
or a recommendation for parole and outlines instances when a
person’s parole may be revoked.
HB 2218 will help lessen the financial burden of those released
from prison by allowing courts to waive outstanding fines, court
costs and fees if the person attends a career tech center, workforce
training program or state university or college. For every 40-hour
education/training work week, the court will waive the above
expenses based on the equivalent of the person’s potential gross
income based on the state’s minimum wage.
SB 414 establishes a statute of limitations for the crimes of first
and second degree manslaughter. Prosecutions must commence
within 10 years after the discovery of the crime.
SB 112 prohibits anyone convicted of a crime committed before
the age of 18 from receiving a sentence of life without parole or a
mandatory minimum sentence. It also mandates that the courts
must consider the age of the person at the time of the offense,
maturity level, culpability, family and environment, intellectual
capacity, peer pressure, rehabilitation capacity, community in-
volvement and involvement in the child welfare system when
sentencing a person certified as an adult.
In closing, EPIC Charter School Day was at the Capitol on
Monday and then some teachers from Ponca City and other
schools stopped by to visit on Tuesday. Always enjoy visiting with
our outstanding educators.
You can contact me at the state Capitol by calling (405) 521-
5581 or by email at bill.coleman@oksenate.gov.
 The Fairfax Chief

Mar
21

2019

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Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.