Oklahoma Revenues Surpass Official Estimates
Oklahoma’s finances are doing better than expected.
State revenues this year have exceeded estimates and state savings accounts have received hefty deposits.
Oklahoma’s general revenue fund collected about $8.5 billion over Fiscal Year 2024. And its two main savings accounts contain just over $2 billion.
State fiscal officials said in a news release Wednesday that the combined revenues and reserves give Oklahoma a “strong foundation” entering FY 25.
The total general revenue collections for this year are slightly above estimates made by officials, but below last year’s all-time record high of $9 billion.
While projections look good, Oklahomans can expect to see state revenues from sales taxes drop this time next year as a result of the state’s portion of that tax on groceries being cut.
Some Republican lawmakers also hope to slash the state’s income tax, which accounts for more than a third of the General Revenue Fund.
Drought Increasing Across Oklahoma
Hot and dry conditions has drought increasing across Okalahoma.
Last week, only about a fifth of the state was under drought conditions. Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor report shows that area has doubled.
Surprisingly, the panhandle is one of the few areas not affected by drought. That’s because the panhandle received historic rainfalls in June.
But the rest of the state got about one to four inches less than normal over the past two months, according to data from the Oklahoma Mesonet.
City utilities are encouraging people to be mindful of water conservation.
Norman officials suggest people collect the water while they wait for their showers to warm up and use it to water plants or fill toilet tanks.
OKC requires people to limit their lawn watering to every other day — odd dates or even dates, to match their house number.
Cushing Water Update
The city of Cushing restored water service early Thursday, but rationing policies are still in effect.
The city issued a notice Thursday afternoon that current consumption will out pace efforts to regain water reserves.
The city is asking residents and businesses to continue conserving water to prevent more outages.
The city's water treatment plant went offline Monday after basement flooding damaged equipment, causing a significant failure.
Cherokee Class Becomes First Native American Language Course at Duke University
North Carolina’s Duke University had a different name a century ago: Trinity College. Trinity College ran the Cherokee Industrial Indian Boarding School, which attempted to erase the Cherokee Language. Now, Duke is working to bring the language back.
Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, Gilliam Jackson knew critical English words for any young person like “ice cream” and “Coca-Cola.”
But because his first language was Cherokee, he had to learn English from teachers at Snowbird Day School.
“I vividly remember a time when the teacher said the time, ‘it's noon. And in Cherokee, potato is noon. So I kind of put two and two together and said, ‘Oh, it must be time to eat," said Jackson.
Six decades later, he will teach his first language to Duke University students. The class is an entry level course. But there are plans to expand the course for students who want to continue learning Cherokee.
The Duke class will specifically study a dialect used by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. That is slightly different from the dialect spoken here by Oklahoma’s Cherokee Nation.
Great Plains Rodeo Continues in El Reno, Honoring Late Director
A free and welcoming rodeo is continuing in El Reno even after the recent death of its passionate director.
Paul Boyd died by suicide in June. His family says he wanted to escape chronic pain that even repeated surgeries couldn’t fix. Now, organizers are figuring out how to move forward.
Boyd presided over Oklahoma’s gay rodeo for almost a decade. Husband Shane Broce says Boyd was persuasive when it came to keeping the rodeo operating.
"He could talk you into something thinking you were getting a bow on it and you’d show up and he’d put you to work," said Broce.
Boyd died just six weeks ago and the rodeo starts Saturday. Broce said everyone involved is trying to help out.
If you do happen to make it to El Reno, Broce and fellow co-director Weston Crow-Tucker ask that you wear paisley on Saturday in honor of Boyd.
"He always wore paisley that was Paul’s signature if you saw him anywhere he always had a paisley shirt on and the crazier the better," said Broce.
Registration for the Great Plains Rodeo at the Canadian County Expo Center starts tonight. For more information, visit GreatPlainsRodeo.org.
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