Poll: Latino Voters Seen as Decisive Group in Upcoming Presidential Election
Latino voters nationwide will be a decisive voting group in the upcoming presidential election. That’s according to a poll by the largest Latino-focused advocacy group in the country.
Every year UnidosUs polls the largest national sample of potential Latino voters for a beat on the demographic’s attitude toward issues, party affiliation and election participation.
Gary Segura is the President of the polling firm BSP Research and broke down the data gathered by the UnidosUS Latino Vote Initiative at a virtual press conference.
He said Latinos are primarily concerned with the economy.
"Inflation, including food and basic necessities. Jobs and the economy are number two. Housing costs have become a real issue. Healthcare costs have been a perennial concern for Latinos, and crime and guns and immigration tied for fifth," Segura said.
While Oklahomans weren’t part of the sample of 3,000 potential voters in eight states, the top issues for respondents do reflect what Latinos in this state keep repeating they want to work, live in a safe place and be healthy.
State Plans To Standardize Tribal Boundary Signs
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is standardizing tribal boundary signs across the state.
But not all Indigenous nations welcome this one-size-fits-all approach.
ODOT officials said they developed the new policy directive to standardize signs because they’re inconsistent.
Soon, tribal nation boundary signs will feature brown and white colors, and the name of the tribal nation will be as listed in the Federal Register.
The word “reservation” will not be used.
While most affected tribal nations will comply with the new policy, the Muscogee Nation is opting out of the new signage.
Jason Salsman is a Muscogee spokesperson.
“If sovereign nations that have autonomy over the reservation and lands want to change their signs, they will do so, and they will have a saying about how those signs look,” Salsman said.
Salsman said he hopes ODOT will collaborate better in the future.
New Partnership Seeks To Tackle Oklahoma’s Veterinarian Shortage
A new partnership is aiming to address Oklahoma’s large animal veterinarian shortage.
The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture has partnered with the Farm Journal Foundation to assess the lack of access to large animal veterinarians across the state.
JanLee Rowlett is the Deputy Commissioner at the department.
She said this has been an ongoing problem for years.
Rowlett said within the next 10 to 15 years, she hopes to see more veterinarians in the workforce.
“We feel it particularly here in Oklahoma because we’re such a livestock dependent state. We have so much industry that revolves around that sector, especially in ag, so our rural areas definitely feel the effects the most,” Rowlett said.
Agriculture stakeholders will be assessing areas most impacted before coming up with solutions.
The collected data will be reviewed in October.
Tulsa Opens Zink Lake, Oklahoma’s Newest Water Attraction
A new recreation area in the Arkansas River is now open in Tulsa.
The city put on its ‘Big Dam Party,’ that’s D-A-M, last weekend to mark the opening of Zink Lake, a man-made whitewater flume, as well as its accompanying dam and pedestrian bridge.
In an email, River Parks Authority Executive Director Jeff Edwards said nearly 100-thousand people attended the celebration.
The project began raising money as early as 2005 and cost an estimated $80 million.
Sam Mulready went to Zink Lake to wake surf and wasn’t disappointed.
Some residents have voiced concerns about pollutants in the river that feed the lake, but Mulready said his fears have been quelled.
“I know the Arkansas River has a bit of a reputation for being a little dirty, but it looks pretty clean,” Mulready said.
The city runs a real-time water quality monitoring system that the public can access anytime online.
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