Judge Blocks Non-Binding Vote on New Norman Entertainment District
Norman residents won’t vote on diverting hundreds of millions of tax dollars toward a new entertainment district in August after all. The vote was blocked due to a lawsuit claiming the city council’s authorization of it was invalid.
Norman could still be getting the $1 billion entertainment district that includes a new arena for OU athletics. But, citizens won’t get to weigh in with a special election. At least not in August. There were procedural questions about a vote Norman’s City Council requested in June. Council members asked for a non-binding election to gauge interest in the project.
But former Norman mayors Bill Nations and Dick Reynolds sued the city over authorization of the vote, saying it didn’t follow Norman’s charter. A Cleveland County judge heard them out and granted a temporary restraining order on Thursday.
Mobile Dental Clinic To Travel Across Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Dental Foundation is bringing five new mobile dental clinics to Oklahoma thanks to about $5 million in federal pandemic relief money. The dental facilities will travel across the state to provide free dental care.
The legislature appropriated this money to the clinics, which allow patients to receive everything from cleanings to fillings from a licensed professional.
John Wilguess, the dental foundation’s executive director, says last year, these clinics mostly served patients with an annual income of less than $20,000.
“We're trying to make certain that those patients who have needs are not limited to access to care because of geographic reasons, which we're now overcoming, and not because of cost," said Wilguess.
Four dental clinics will provide care in each corner of the state, and the fifth unit will travel between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Monday Deadline For Petition To Raise State’s Minimum Wage
An effort to get more money in the pockets of Oklahoma’s lowest paid workers is a step closer to making November’s ballot.
Organizers say they have double the signatures needed.
State Question 832 would ask Oklahomans if they support raising the minimum wage for the first time in nearly fifteen years.
The plan is to incrementally raise the minimum wage in response to increasing costs.
Organizer Amber England said though the campaign has been successful, lawmakers make it very difficult to get an initiative on the ballot.
“They’re chipping away at the process, and Oklahomans should be alarmed at what the legislature is doing to the ballot measure process. It is infinitely more difficult,” England said.
The legislature passed a new law this year that limits the ability to get a ballot measure off the ground with new deadlines and costs.
The deadline for the campaign to turn in signatures collected is Monday. The state said 92,000 signatures are required for this ballot initiative.
Total Wine and More Faces Legal Battle to Enter Oklahoma Market
The liquor megastore Total Wine and More is trying to come to Oklahoma. However, it's facing a significant legal hurdle — the Oklahoma Constitution.
The state Constitution is pretty plain. If you want to open a liquor store here, you must live in Oklahoma for at least five years.
The owners of the massive wine chain Total Wine and More live in Maryland. And though they’ve set up a Limited Liability Company, Oklahoma regulators are putting a cork in their plans.
The state is barring the chain from opening up a store in Moore.
The Oklahoman reports the liquor emporium chain owners argue that the rules in Oklahoma’s constitution violate the U.S. Constitution by creating a protectionist policy for people already in the state.
They’ve made that argument before an administrative judge, who now has two weeks to rule on whether Total Wine has a case to come to the Sooner State.
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