OKC FRIDAY Vol. 56 No. 35 • One Section • 12 pages • February 3, 2023
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Legislative leaders tackle tough issues during chamber event Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series detailing responses from Oklahoma state legislative leaders during a Greater Oklahoma City Chamber forum. By Rose Lane Editor Leaders of the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives gave their input on a variety of topics from reforms to make the state more competitive in
education to bringing in new companies during a legislative kick-off hosted by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. The panelists included Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, House of Representatives Speaker Pro Tempore Kyle Hilbert and House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. ••• Making Oklahoma more competitive in education
Floyd linked the pandemic to the state’s learning gap, noting that educational experience of most 6- and 7-year-olds have been spent in quarantine. There are no more snow days, Hilbert said. Parents become teachers when school can’t be in session. “Things have changed a lot,” he said. “Reforms are necessary, but we’ve got to look at funding.” In knocking doors during her campaigns, Munson said she heard from a lot of teach-
ers. She met a Bethany teacher of the year who left the classroom because the educator wasn’t being treated like a professional. “Teachers are trying to keep kids in chairs,” Munson said. “We have to be careful how we talk about teachers to keep from driving them away.” Treat said parents should be given more choice in their children’s learning. “Let’s empower education,” he said. •••
See LEGISLATURE, Page 7
A powerful voice for women, Starling to be speaker for JLLS
OKC tries beet juice to treat bridges By Rose Lane Editor Oklahoma City has initiated a pilot program to see if beet juice and brine can’t be beat as a way to treat bridges and overpasses for snow and ice. Public Works Emergency Operations Manager Mike Love Jr. said the potion is used in such cities as Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Washington, D.C.; and Cincinnati, Ohio. OKC recently performed a test of the beet juice and brine mixtures which he said “exceeded expectations.” The beet juice is blended with the salt brine as each spray truck is loaded to head to the field, Love said. “This isn’t a necessi-
How to attract new companies to Oklahoma “I think we are doing a good job,” Hilbert said. “But, we have to continue to support our existing business.” Investing in Oklahomans is the first step, Munson said. “The most important resource,” she said, “is the people doing the work.” She said hard conversations need to be had at the Capitol about such topics as diversity
Beet juice and salt brine are blended as spray trucks, above, are loaded. At right: Holding tanks, as well as the spray equipment, which are secured to three-ton flatbeds.
ty, it can be mixed and stored in a holding tank keeping the beet juice to salt brine ratio fixed,” he said. “We choose to blend it as we load, controlling the salt brine to beet juice ratio, so if we wanted
to increase or decrease the beet juice ratio we can on the fly.” OKC’s beet juice and salt vendors are based out of Kansas and products are shipped here. “We make our salt
Human Rights group reconvenes Oklahoma City’s Human Rights Commission met for the first time in 27 years. The city’s previous Human Rights Commission convened from 1980 until it was disbanded by the City Council in 1996. The Oklahoma City Human Rights Commission is responsible for addressing alleged harm to people who have been discriminated against because of their race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender, national origin, age, familial status, genetic information, or disability related to employment,
housing, and public accommodations as provided by Oklahoma laws regarding discrimination. The meeting was led by Chairperson Valerie Couch. The first action item was the nomination and election of Dr. Marsha Herron as the vice chairperson. The newly formed commission also discussed its strategic priorities for 2023. “The Human Rights Commission will embody the City’s commitment to human See COMMISSION, Page 7
brine in house with specialized equipment that also blends the two liquids together as we load our trucks,” Love said. The spray units are See OKC, Page 3
A driving force in the STEM industry, Debbie Starling is set to be the speaker for the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma’s 2023 Juliette Low Leadership Society Luncheon. Organizers said Starling is a powerful voice for women and a leader for the next generation of female engineers. “Funny, charismatic, compelling, but above all, Sterling is a trailblazer,” they said. Excluded from the engineering world’s boys club, she gives audiences a glance into her experiences as an outcast. Sterling disrupted the toy industry by creating GoldieBlox, a multimedia toy company designed to foster creative exploration, ignite creativity, and develop spatial skills in young
Dogs of the Week
FRIDAY’s
Nate and Susan Webb’s Golden Retrievers are their constant companions and travel buddies. Four-year-old Phoebe and (almost) two-year-old Max are always ready to go for a walk in Bluff Creek Trails, jump in the car to go to Paw Park on NW Grand or even take a long road trip to Fort Walton Beach Fla, where they can chase a ball in the ocean surf to their heart's content. They’ve never met a person they didn’t like, but squirrels beware! Email nominations with a complete description to rose@okcfriday.com.
DEBBIE STARLING
girls. She believes that creativity is crucial for impressionable female youth, and GoldieBlox exposes them to their fullest potential. Defying claims that girls tend to demonstrate less interest in science, math and engineering, Sterling challenges audiences to look beyond stereotypes to see the potential of what women See JLLS, Page 3