Oklahoma City Group Urges Compassion For Refugees Following Alleged Terrorist Plot
In the days following the FBI foiling an alleged terrorist plot by two Afghan citizens living in Oklahoma City, the state’s Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter has a message for Oklahomans wondering what to make of a threat so close to home.
Veronica Laizure is the Deputy Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a civil rights attorney.
She said she doesn’t want Oklahomans to get the wrong idea about Afghan refugees - or any refugees.
One or two people’s extreme actions, she said, are not representative of any community; extremist violence is happening, she says, but it’s across the social, political and religious spectrums.
“If we are not vigilant about it, if we're not watching you know, understanding what our kids are seeing online, what kind of content they're being exposed to, if we're not having conversations in our own communities about fighting extremism, you know, this becomes the result,” Laizure said.
The foiled attack was meant for a crowded place on Election Day, court records show.
And the perpetrators planned to die as martyrs.
Laizure said, even so, Oklahomans should not let fear deter them from getting to a ballot box this November.
CAIR Oklahoma offers a hotline for victims of Islamophobic or anti-Asian hate to report incidents on their website.
Oklahoma, Texas Agree to Minor Border Adjustment
Oklahoma’s iconic shape is about to change, but only a little. Oklahoma and Texas are swapping a few acres of water-logged land between them to resolve a decades-old border issue.
Redrawing the border just a smidge will let millions of Texans maintain reliable access to drinking water from Lake Texoma, while keeping compliant with federal wildlife regulations.
After an agreement to define a permanent border between the states in 2000, officials used the wrong map to set the boundary.
That landed the border right in the middle of an existing pump station on the shore of Lake Texoma.
It wasn't a huge deal until zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Texoma in 2009. It’s illegal under federal law to move invasive species — including zebra mussels — across state lines.
But this week, a Red River Boundary Commission worked out a fix. Oklahoma will hand over 1.34 acres of Lake Texoma including the pump station, in exchange for 1.34 nearby acres of lake.
Commissioner Vows to Reform Oklahoma's Mental Health Department
Commissioner Allie Friesen says the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services desperately needs change.
Friesen called a press conference Thursday to share her goals for reforming the state-wide mental health agency she joined in January.
She says she plans to do things differently than the leaders that came before her.
“From where I stand, our patient care has not been a priority in many, many, many years," Friesen said.
Friesen says the department’s facilities are in disrepair, including some with substantial sewage damage.
She also says that in six months, there were more than one thousand reports of employee injury at the hands of patients. A statistic she calls “intolerable.”
Friesen also addressed reporters’ questions about an ongoing spat over a lawsuit settlement the department is currently wrestling with. But she says she is still seeking new representation in Attorney General Getner Drummond’s place.
Broadband Internet Expansion in Creek County
A project to expand high speed internet in rural Creek County is beginning.
A ground-breaking cermeony was held near Sapulpa Thursday morning.
The project will connect 458 homes and businesses... with broadband internet using fiber optic technology.
The Oklahoma Broadband Office says $1.9 million in funding came from a federal grant and matching funds from the FiberLink company.
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