An advisory committee recommends more Judeo-Christian values in Oklahoma Schools. During Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters endorsed the recommendations.
In February, conservative religious leaders penned an open letter to Walters, calling for an advisory group to study the role of religion in classrooms.
The committee recommendations were revealed at the meeting: first, that the department enforce existing law regarding the daily moment of silence schools take part in; second, require every classroom to display a copy of the Ten Commandments; and third, require students to take a western civilization course “to strengthen the heritage which was integral to the nation’s founding and its western culture.” Walters says Supreme Court cases supporting the separation of church and state in the classroom were wrong.
"A long history of Supreme Court positions have created, in fact, a state-sponsored religion: atheism. And it is indefensible in a place like Oklahoma that we would allow this to happen," said Walters.
Walters said after the meeting the advisory committee was appointed by the authors of the letter, and five of those six letter authors sit on the committee. The recommendations aren’t binding, and it’s unclear how the new provisions could be realized.
As the City of Guthrie deals with a blue-green algae bloom at a local lake, listeners have reached out with questions about contamination from a nearby wastewater treatment plant.
Late last year, a wastewater treatment plant in Northern Oklahoma County was cited and ordered to stop dumping raw sewage into a creek that flows into Guthrie’s Liberty Lake.
Almost 7 months later, a DEQ spokesperson says the plant has new operators and has fixed most of the issue. But there’s “still work to be done.”
No direct connection has been made between the wastewater and Liberty Lake’s ongoing algae bloom — the city of Guthrie blames low water levels and agricultural runoff. But in mid-June, the upstream treatment plant was still discharging 9 times as much nitrogen as permitted, which could contribute to algae growth.
Guthrie has prohibited water-based recreational activities at Liberty Lake while the algae bloom persists, and is using a different lake for drinking water in the meantime.
The state Department of Veterans Affairs will spend nearly $4 million dollars to close a veterans’ home in Talihina.
Oklahoma was losing money by continuing operations at the home, about $500,000 a month. The 175-bed facility currently houses only 36 residents.
The department estimates Oklahoma will lose over $5 million should the facility remain open. Instead, the state will spend around a million dollars less to close the home. Much of that will go toward severance pay and costs related to workforce reduction.
The existing facility is expected to close by Oct. 1. Construction on a new facility of the same size is underway in Sallisaw. However, it won’t be completed until October 2024.
The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up three new players in Thursday night’s NBA Draft.
OKC traded up in the first round, swapping their 12th pick and a “traded player exception” to the Dallas Mavericks for veteran forward Davis Bertans.
They also received the 10th pick in the trade, which was used to select Cason Wallace, a 6-foot-4 guard from Kentucky.
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas says Wallace is a well-rounded player.
“He's just really good at every aspect of the game. He's a winner and he's a leader. I really love this pick," said Bilas.
The Thunder also had one second round selection, taking Keyontae Johnson, a 6-foot-6 forward from Kansas State.
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