Oklahoma City Voters Resoundingly Approve New $900M NBA Arena
Voters in Oklahoma City on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved funding for a new downtown arena for the Thunder.
71-29. That isn’t a basketball score. That’s the margin of victory for the YES side of the proposition to authorize public funding for a new arena that’s expected to keep the Thunder in OKC for decades. Mayor David Holt issued a statement saying "Oklahoma City is and shall remain a big league city."
The outcome results in the continuation of a 1% city sales tax that ultimately means taxpayers will be footing the vast majority of the expected $900 million cost for the new facility.
The Thunder’s ownership group is pitching in $50 million, and $70 million is expected to come from MAPS4 funds.
Proposed Heartland Flyer Rail Route Extension Rolling Along
A proposed Amtrak route connecting Oklahoma City to central Kansas has been selected to receive federal funding.
This is the Federal Rail Administration’s first round of funding for the Corridor Identification and Development program. It gives Oklahoma and Kansas half a million dollars to plan an expansion of the Heartland Flyer Amtrak route.
The existing service only makes one roundtrip between OKC and Fort Worth, Texas, each day. The proposed expansion would bump that up to three trips per day.
It would also extend the route farther north.
The new segment would have six stops between Oklahoma City and Newton, Kansas.
At the northern end of the line, passengers could transfer to the existing Southwest Chief, which runs between Los Angeles and Chicago.
The train could be operational in about six years, although the Kansas Department of Transportation says this new funding may expedite that.
Ryan Walters On TPS' Decision To Hire Interim Superintendent
State Superintendent Ryan Walters is voicing his disapproval of the decision from Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education to confirm its interim superintendent as permanent. Walters says TPS’ actions show it’s not taking seriously what he calls the district’s “profoundly troubling issues.”
Ebony Johnson was confirmed at Monday night’s TPS board meeting. To do that, the board first voted to circumvent certain rules on hiring procedures.
Last week, Walters sent an open letter to Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and the board, calling for a nationwide search for a new superintendent and admonishing the district for not being “aggressive” and “ambitious” enough, despite hours of detailed presentations from TPS officials to the State Board every month and Johnson’s tenure as interim superintendent beginning just three months ago.
In a statement released Tuesday, Walters says while he welcomes a partnership with Johnson, “TPS is barreling toward drastic action being taken because the district has been unable to make the tough decisions necessary to turn the district around.” And though Johnson gave a presentation at the November state board meeting outlining TPS’s financial structure and new policies, Walters also complained the district isn’t making enough effort to address its financial controls.
Oklahoma Receives Federal Grant For Transportation Improvements
The Biden-Harris administration is awarding a grant to rural and tribal communities in Oklahoma for transportation needs. The money aims to help people with disabilities and seniors get to where they need to be.
The Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program is funding 18 projects across the U.S. this year that focus on safety, accessibility and connectivity in rural areas.
More than $360 thousand from the bipartisan infrastructure law will go toward expanding microtransit services to rural and tribal communities in Oklahoma by offering shared curb-to-curb on-demand rides.
Mitch Landrieu is president Biden’s senior advisor and helped implement the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“It's about making sure that they have transit options through providing ADA accessible vans. In other words, they're going to go pick people up and bring them to where they need to be," said Landrieu.
He says this project will expand accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities.
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