Fire crews battling Mooreland grass fire
A grassfire that started on Monday near Mooreland has burned over 4,000 acres. Emergency Manager Matt Lehenbauer told Woodward News that the blaze, nearly six miles long, extends almost to the Woods County line.
The fire has traveled mostly over rural areas and, so far, no homes or cattle have been lost. One firefighter has been treated for heat exhaustion.
Trying to contain the blaze has proven difficult due to several wind shifts. The Governor’s Office Tuesday approved air support to help battle the flames.
Fire officials still do not know what caused the fire.
As of 2:15 PM, the Woodward fire department has issued an evacuation of residents in Woodward country who live to the east and west of Mooreland.
Online voter registration in Oklahoma lags behind other states
According to a report from Oklahoma Watch, the state’s online voter registration platform remains a work in progress nearly seven years after lawmakers passed a bill authorizing online voter registration.
The delay has caused Oklahoma to lag behind nationally. Forty states now offer online voter registration, with full implementation taking between one and three years on average.
State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax says the online registration system is nearing completion, though it remains uncertain if the platform will be ready to launch this year in time for the November General Election.
Oklahoma education funding formula being reviewed
Oklahoma’s education funding formula is complicated.
It’s used to determine how much each of the state’s 500-plus districts receive in a billions-worth allocation from the legislature and it has been largely unchanged since its creation in 1981.
Mike Jackson, Executive Director for the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency, thinks that creates problems, stating, “Oklahoma’s outdated funding formula fails to account for the needs of today’s students.”
It’s unclear exactly what lawmakers will do about how education dollars are spent. But it is likely they’ll tinker with how funding goes to public schools in the upcoming session. Equity for the more than 400,000 Oklahoma kids classified as economically disadvantaged will be at top of mind.
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