Dead Longhorn Incident at OSU Under Investigation
Stillwater's Police Department is investigating how a dead longhorn ended up outside an OSU fraternity house Friday morning.
The incident comes a day before the Oklahoma State Cowboys take on the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship game.
Police received a phone call in the early morning hours about the longhorn placed on the FarmHouse Fraternity’s front lawn.
Mack Burke, an Oklahoma State University spokesman, says OSU is appalled at the disturbing display of animal cruelty.
He says in addition to the police investigation, the university’s Office of Student Support and Conduct also started looking into the incident.
Videos and photos showing the longhorn’s body have been circulating on social media. One image shows the cow was branded with offensive lettering toward the fraternity
Parental Choice Tax Credit Program On Hold
Oklahoma parents have been anticipating the rollout of the new Parental Choice Tax Credit program.
It was supposed to begin today... but the Oklahoma Tax Commission says parents will need to wait a little longer.
The Parental Choice Tax Credit program was passed by the legislature this spring and gives families up to $7,500 per student for private school expenses.
The initiative is being overseen by the tax commission, which contracted with third-party vendor Merit to manage the logistics.
According to OTC’s spokesperson, Emily Haxton, private schools gather student data like income levels and contact information and send that to Merit. Merit then sends the families their individual Enrollment Verification forms, which they need to apply.
But Haxton says that part of the process has been slow, so the OTC made the call to delay the rollout of the program until Wednesday at 2 p.m.
To make sure the rollout is fair for all taxpayers, who apply on a first-come, first-served basis, the delay allows more parents to be prepared when the window opens.
The OTC can only authorize a maximum of $150 million in tax credits, so parents who don’t apply in time will miss out.
Haxton says the agency has never handled a project of this size and it’s working diligently to “work through the kinks.”
EPA Plan To Eliminate Lead Pipes In The U.S.
The EPA says it wants lead pipes totally gone from drinking water delivery systems across the country in the next ten years.
Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause developmental and behavioral problems in kids, among other health issues.
Water systems across Oklahoma and the rest of the country are already surveying for lead service lines - those are the pipes between your house and the water main.
That’s because of a 2021 rule revision requiring cities to create an inventory of service lines to target replacement projects for older neighborhoods that need them the most.
The new proposed rule takes that a step further, giving systems a deadline to get the lead out.
This will be expensive, and it’s not clear where all the funds will come from.
To complete their service line inventories, some Oklahoma systems have already raised water rates. But the goal is lead-free drinking water for everybody.
Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah Reach Agreement On Traffic Ticket Revenue
The Cherokee Nation will now share traffic ticket revenue with the City of Tahlequah.
The agreement is the 30th of its kind between municipalities and the tribal nation inside its 14 county reservation boundaries.
Under it, the City of Tahlequah will collect fines from traffic tickets given to tribal citizens in the city limits and keep all but $30 from each ticket.
The deal ensures the city won't lose a funding source after the landmark McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling and the 10th circuit ruling in Hooper v. City of Tulsa, which determined cities cannot ticket Native drivers on tribal lands.
Cherokee Nation has cross-deputization agreements in place with every policing agency within the Cherokee Nation.
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