OU energy efficiency grant
The University of Oklahoma is working alongside local non-profit RestoreOKC to study the impacts of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in underserved communities.OU and RestoreOKC received a portion of a $2.5 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation that will equip more than 200 homes in Oklahoma, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Oregon with energy research equipment from a non-profit called Pecan Street Inc.
In Oklahoma City, more than 60 homes will be equipped with this e-gauge device that will measure energy usage hour by hour, circuit by circuit. Nina Carlson is a research practitioner at the Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.
She says the data could be used to help homeowners make more informed decisions about energy efficient home improvements.
“At the end of the project as well as throughout, we'll be able to go back to the community and say, you know, here's how you can advocate for yourselves for future investments,” Carlson said.
Carlson said the data will also help researchers and institutions make decisions about investments and grants on energy-efficiency to apply for to help the community. The project will last three years.
Funding for HBCUs
The U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture are asking Governors across the country to better fund historically Black colleges and universities, and wrote a joint letter to Oklahoma’s Governor, Kevin Stitt.
The letter is co-authored by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack. They ask Stitt to address underfunding of colleges like Langston University.
In the letter, the authors say many of the nation’s HBCUs make contributions such as enrolling 10% of all Black college students as well as generating almost $15 billion dollars in economic impact.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics and Integrated Postsecondary Education Survey show if Oklahoma had funded per student equal to other land grant institutions, Langston University would have received nearly an additional 419-million dollars in the last 30 years alone.
The letter concludes with both federal agencies saying they are willing to work with Governors and lawmakers to address this funding disparity in order to prepare students for future jobs and other opportunities.
Pay for judges
A state board is recommending a 17% pay raise for Oklahoma judges next year.
Oklahoma's Board on Judicial Compensation unanimously recommended the legislature give every judge in the state a raise. The pay increase would cost about $8.5 million dollars.
The nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Voice reports it's ultimately up to lawmakers to make a decision on judge pay. They can adopt, reject or modify the recommendation during the session next year.
The state's judges last received a pay raise in 2021. That one was just over seven percent.
The Oklahoma Judges Association says the state ranks 45th nationally for judicial pay.
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