Opinion columns written by contributors to The Edmond Sun. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.
Fortitude, faith, fortune sustain us
Despite these tough economic times, Oklahomans have much for which we can be thankful this year. It may sound trite to some, but Oklahomans’ common sense and conservative natures have served us well during difficult times throughout our history.....more>>
Health insurance reform took another important step forward this week as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced legislation that merges competing reform bills that were approved by Senate committees.
Options are few to avert a state funding disaster. Golden opportunities to invest in Oklahoma’s future were lost when revenues were high. Without vision we failed to build a “best” education system, improve workforce development, shrink government bureaucracy with efficiencies, fund the EDGE Fund, create useful incentives for new business and form alliances with powerful tribes. I
The Free Press of Mankato, Minn., on veterans and homelessness Everywhere there is a homeless population, it is likely some of the homeless are veterans.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday and time of remembrance, an occasion for family and friends, grandparents and children, comfortable aromas of hearty foods that draw us to the table for sharing. All in all, Thanksgiving Day is a notably American tradition.
In “City of Gold, Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism” English author Jim Krane documents how the rulers of the emirate of Dubai have managed to transform their small state on the Persian Gulf into a world-class city that is a financial center and tourist destination.
A few weeks ago, the House of Representatives’ Government Modernization Committee conducted an interim study to explore the possibility of realizing taxpayer savings through the implementation of shared services among agencies.
The holiday season is a time for family, friends and loved ones. It is a time of celebration and, most of all, a time to give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy each day.
U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin is actively campaigning to be Oklahoma’s next governor, but she does not have to wait until January to begin fixing Oklahoma’s budget situation. In fact, if she wanted she could do more to solve Oklahoma’s budget crisis than Gov. Brad Henry and the Legislature combined.
Each fall, Doug Melton, superintendent of Guymon Public Schools in the Panhandle, gives me a call to update me on his district’s enrollment. Every year it is an interesting report, but this year it was even more so. Instead of the few extra students the district had expected, more than 200 new students, nearly three times as many as expected, enrolled this fall.
Oklahoma families have been dealing with the current economic downturn the way they have for a century: tightening their belts and getting rid of unnecessary spending in order to make ends meet. Oklahomans expect that their state government would do the same.
Oklahoma is experiencing aftershocks of the greatest recession and a state financial crisis. While the economy gradually improves some issues may not for a long while. Unemployment nationally is more than 10 percent and will remain high.
Council meeting full of good news, bad news To the Editor: The Edmond City Council meeting Monday was a good news, bad news situation. The good news, hundreds of local residents were involved to express their concerns to the City Council about the extension of the expired PUD for multi-family development in Coffee Creek. The bad news, the council ignored all the issues raised.
It’s difficult to know where to begin when expressing displeasure with the Department of Human Services’ decision to cut the Aging Services Division across the state by $7.4 million. Part of that cut deeply impacted the Senior Nutrition program, and fully eliminated the meal program at Edmond’s Senior Center.
Nov. 12 is the 39th anniversary of the famous “exploding whale” fiasco. Now if you’re not familiar with this story, you’ll be tempted to suspect I dreamed the whole deal up. Well, I didn’t. But you don’t need to take my word for it. As Ricky Bobby said in “Talladega Nights,” “You can look it up.”
Last year, House Bill 1032, an omnibus modernization bill, made accessing state services more convenient for vendors and individuals, and could lead to the saving of millions of dollars in taxpayer expenditures.
In her recent memoir “The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, My Family’s Exodus From Old Cairo to the New World,” Wall Street Journal Reporter Lucette Lagnado wrote of the fear that gripped the Jewish community of Cairo, Egypt, in 1942 when German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel made a radio broadcast to that city from the Egyptian desert town of El Alamein, where his army was situated.
In Oklahoma, the wind famously comes sweepin’ down the plains. Today, that wind represents more than a song lyric or the harbinger of unpredictable weather: It represents the potential for clean energy and jobs for Oklahomans.
Another view of the public option To the Editor: This is in reply to Sen. Tom Coburn’s piece (“Health care reform bills will hurt Oklahoma’s seniors, families,” Nov. 5, 2009, The Edmond Sun). Although the senator makes a number of factually incorrect or misleading statements, one in particular requires special attention.
Edmond voters will go the polls Tuesday and almost certainly approve a $36.12 million bond issue to fund improvements throughout the Edmond school district.
It seems unfair somehow that by the time we are older and wiser our capacity to physically act upon what we’ve learned is diminished. However, seniors at the state Capitol Wednesday lived up to their “older and wiser” moniker and with dignity and strength blasted policies and policymakers responsible for leaving many of them, literally, out in the cold.
When it comes to education reforms, few topics generate as much passion, debate and disagreement as the topic of school choice. Naturally, I couldn’t resist diving into the debate.
This November is Native American month. It is the good time to remember alegacy of Oklahoma as “Indian Territory,” but more importantly to acknowledge the contributions native tribes have made to the fabric of our state. The leaders of state government in Oklahoma still struggle to recognize the unequivocal importance of tribal governments and minority small businesses to the success of the economy of Oklahoma.
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