Oklahoma Gets Injunction Against New Title IX Rules
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond secured an injunction against new Title IX regulations protecting LGBTQ+ students and school employees.
The U.S. Department of Education released new Title IX amendments that clarify how schools should handle complaints of sex-based harassment.
They also expand protections for students and employees who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or recovering from terminating a pregnancy.
However, among the 1500 pages of rules, one section has become the most controversial. The amendments define “sex-based harassment” as a form of discrimination that includes harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Drummond won an injunction to block the new Title IX rules from taking effect in Oklahoma. He says the rules elevate gender identity above protections of male and female students.
Oklahoma joins more than a dozen other states that have blocked the new regulations.
Report: Rent Is Unaffordable For Minimum Wage Earners In All Oklahoma Counties
A national report found that working a full time job at a minimum wage is not enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in Oklahoma.
The findings come from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Minimum wage in Oklahoma has been the same for the last sixteen years - $7.25.
At this rate, a minimum wage worker has to work an average of 88 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom rental apartment. That’s the same as working more than two full time jobs at once.
The counties with the most expensive one-bedroom apartment rates are concentrated in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas.
Earlier this month, nearly double the necessary signatures were submitted to get an Oklahoma minimum wage increase on the ballot.
The State Chamber opposes the change. After the signatures are verified, citizens will get a chance to vote on the increase themselves.
U.S. Department of the Interior Uncovers More Details on Federal Indian Boarding Schools
The U.S. Department of the Interior has more details about history of Federal Indian Boarding Schools.
Back in 2021, Secretary Deb Haaland of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe, helped launch an investigation into federal Indian boarding schools.
“It is history that has shaped our nation and for too long, has been swept under the rug, all while Indigenous communities grapple with the undeniable fallout of intergenerational trauma," Haaland said.
She and Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland of the Bay Mills Indian Community revealed almost one thousand Indigenous children passed away while attending federal Indian boarding schools.
More than 100 of those children died at schools in what is now Oklahoma.
“There was, historically, a lot of disease outbreak … And it's very likely that many of those kids you know died as a result of abuse," Newland said.
In total, 16 burial sites in Oklahoma have been identified.
Federal Officials To Search For PFAS In Two Communities
The U.S. Army and the Environmental Protection Agency are planning to poke around water wells in two Oklahoma communities in search of harmful forever chemicals.
This program is running in just 9 locations across the country, and two are in Oklahoma.
Federal officials will sample private water wells around Fort Sill in Lawton and the Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester.
They’ll be checking for PFAS, also known as forever chemicals because of their long lifespans in the environment.
At high concentrations, they’re known to increase cancer risks. There’s particular interest in PFAS around military facilities, because the chemicals are heavily used in fire extinguishing foam and many other materials.
If PFAS are found to have seeped into the groundwater around the facilities, the Army and EPA will work with the state Department of Environmental Quality to figure out how best to protect Oklahomans’ health.
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