OKC Planning Commission To Consider New County Jail Project
The Oklahoma City Planning Commission is expected to consider the new county jail project at a meeting Thursday.
The Commission's role is to make recommendations on zoning cases.
Oklahoma County Commissioners decided in February to build the new jail on land at 1901 E. Grand Blvd.
Developers are seeking a special permit for the project.
That location borders the city of Del City, and Del City leaders are preparing a legal fight against the project.
Commissioners have been discussing potential jail sites for several months, and faces a deadline in order to use federal funds to build the new jail.
The current jail in downtown Oklahoma City opened in 1992, and has been cited for numerous health and safety violations by state and federal authorities.
If the Planning Commission makes a recommendation tomorrow, the project could go before OKC City Council in May or June for a final decision.
The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the OKC City Council Chamber, 200 N Walker Ave., third floor.
The meeting will be streamed to the City’s YouTube channel – @cityofokc.
Oklahoma Senate Education Committee Advances Bill to Expand State Board of Education Membership
A bill to shake up the membership of the State Board of Education advanced through the Senate Education Committee Tuesday.
The measure would expand who gets to appoint board members beyond just the governor.
Currently, the State Board of Education includes the State Superintendent and six members appointed by the governor.
House Bill 2562, whose Senate author is Felt Republican Casey Murdock, would add four more members. Two would be appointed by the Speaker of the House, and two would be appointed by the President Pro Tem of the Senate.
The Speaker’s appointees would consist of one rural resident and one former superintendent from a district with less than ten thousand students.
The Pro Tem’s appointees would include another rural resident and a former superintendent from a district with more than ten thousand students.
The bill passed with the title off, which allows the Senate to hear it again and make changes if the House passes it.
Murdock says he wants to, “give rural Oklahoma a little more power” by reducing the bill’s enrollment requirement for the former superintendent position to five thousand students.
He also wants to give the Senate the authority to approve or nix the appointees from the Speaker of the House.
Tulsa Launches Initiative To Stem Homelessness
The city of Tulsa has announced a new initiative to address homelessness.
Mayor G.T. Bynum introduced the so-called “Path to Home” project at a news conference this week.
“I want to announce a total of 33 actions and four overarching goals to further our work,” Bynum said.
Those goals include building more affordable housing, early intervention for Tulsans on the verge of homelessness, and enforcing right-of-way laws to criminalize encampments.
Bynum also says the city will be more deliberate about where it places affordable housing, ensuring not to concentrate it all in just a few locations.
The most recent count taken in January showed nearly 1,500 people were experiencing homelessness in the city.
OSU Considering Recommendations To Improve Pedestrian Safety
Oklahoma State University is working to improve pedestrian safety on its campus.
At the end of February, OSU established a Pedestrian Safety Task Force to address several pedestrian collisions causing injuries and leading to one death.
The task force is led by OSU’s Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance Joe Weaver. It is composed of local police, university officials, faculty and students.
OSU has also hired a traffic engineering company to evaluate all campus areas for pedestrian safety.
The school’s announcement of the initiative says it underscores OSU’s commitment to fostering a safe and secure environment.
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