Federal government to pay $100.6 million to Oklahoma farmers for discrimination
The Biden Administration is issuing roughly $2 billion in payments to farmers who experienced discrimination when applying for loans. Oklahoma is one of top three states with the most producers receiving assistance.
The program is for farmers and ranchers who experienced discrimination in USDA Farm Loan Programs before Jan. 2021.
USDA is paying more than 43,000 people across the country. About 2,900 of the recipients are in Oklahoma. In the state, they will get more than $100 million dollars collectively.
Willard Tillman is the executive director of the Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project. He says the payments are timely and beneficial for farmers.
"Whatever it is that they give them, it's not going to ever really be enough to cover all the discrimination and everything that has basically happened, but it's a step forward," said Tillman.
It’s been estimated in the 20th century alone Black farmers have lost millions of acres valued at $326 billion. This is in part because of discriminatory lending practices by the USDA.
High Ammonia Levels from Lawton Wastewater Plant Linked to Fishkill in East Cache Creek
State regulators say high ammonia levels from treated wastewater from the City of Lawton contributed to a recent fishkill in East Cache Creek.
The notice says eight dead fish were found at Sultan Park in Walters, about 25 miles downstream of the Lawton Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Comanche Nation monitors water quality on East Cache Creek, and its officials learned of the fishkill just days before their annual powwow at Sultan Park. Posted signs warned attendees not to go in the water to cool off.
Christina Cooper is the tribe’s Director of Environmental Programs. She’s optimistic the stream will recover once the wastewater plant fixes its problems.
"Hopefully, as the facility comes more up to code, we'll start to see the aquatic life and the waters slowly start to improve," Cooper said.
Lawton is working to replace its aging equipment and bring the wastewater treatment plant out of a floodplain. But they expect it will take years and $370 million.
New NAGPRA Guidelines Spur Oklahoma Tribes to Reclaim Cultural Items
New guidelines for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, mean Oklahoma tribal nations are renewing efforts to reclaim cultural items.
In Oklahoma, tribes are busy consulting with museums across the nation, cataloging items that belong to them in order to one day move them back home.
Gov. Reggie Wassana of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes says his tribe is working on a facility to house the objects–but in the meantime, they’re correcting history.
"A lot of museums have an object and will maybe mislabel it, and teach the wrong historical value or historical event, and it’s just good that the tribes can tell their own story," said Wassana.
While most museums are holding the items until tribes are ready to bring them home, some more valuable pieces, such as funerary items and human remains, are mandated to be hidden from sight out of respect or brought back for burial.
The museums have a five year deadline to inventory all of their Native objects.
Norman City Council Members Resist Cooperation with OTA on New Turnpike Plans
As the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority moves forward with its plans to build a turnpike through Norman, some Norman City Council members are voicing resistance to cooperating with the agency.
Some Norman City Council members are voicing resistance to working with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority as it builds a turnpike through Norman.
At their most recent study session to discuss the OTA’s plans, some council members voiced concern about the proposed resolution. Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Holman said the agency has not been cooperative with the city council in the past, and Ward 5 councilmember Michael Nash said he is worried about how the construction will impact Norman’s water sources like Lake Thunderbird.
Nash has drafted a different resolution in which the City of Norman would formally oppose the OTA’s construction of toll roads through the city’s water sources.
The city council will meet again on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
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