Education

Earlier this Summer in May Oklahoma Legislators passed House Bill (HB 1775) which bans the teaching or practice of "Critical Race Theory" in Oklahoma schools. The bill also has some specific elements that limit and/or prohibit universities from requiring students to take mandatory race and gender diversity counseling or training. Governor Kevin Stitt signed the new bill and it went into effect at the beginning of the month on July 1st (07-01-21). That left students, parents and educators across the state wondering just how HB-1775 will be applied and enforced starting with this upcoming school year.

If you've been outside at all over the past week or so you certainly don't need me to tell you this, there's mosquitoes everywhere! With all the recent rain we've seen it's taken the mosquito population and doubled, maybe even tripled it. Over the July 4th weekend it was a nightmare of constantly spraying repellent on yourself and lighting Citronella candles.

Congratulations to Elgin, OK. for being named Oklahoma's safest City in 2021. This makes the third time in a row that Elgin, OK. has been declared as the safest city in the state, that's quite an accomplishment. The new study from www.safewise.com lists the 20 safest city's in Oklahoma and Elgin once again is at the very top of the list!

The wait is over, we now have all the results from the Community Needs Online Survey from the City of Lawton in conjunction with the Lawton Housing and Community Development Division. Awhile back Lawtonians were invited to take and be a part of the survey that would assist city leaders with future projects and addressing needs within the community. Citizens had the chance to express what areas are in need of improvement and identified issues that are in need of attention and or change.

LPS (Lawton Public Schools) has expired their mandatory mask mandate for all Lawton area schools within the LPS district. The news came yesterday (05-24-21) that it will no longer be required for students, faculty or visitors to wear masks or face coverings inside or outside. The mask mandate was originally put in place for all Lawton schools back in August of 2020 during the pandemic.

Who doesn't love a good senior prank? These kids did a bunch of the classics and it looks like the school isn't laughing.

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination for children ages 12 and up. So now younger kids are able to get vaccinated against the virus. Now that all the Federal approvals are met the OSDH (Oklahoma State Department of Health) has green lighted county health departments across the state to start offering the vaccine to anyone 12 years of age and older immediately.

Lawton, Fort Sill is now a five time winner of the Oklahoma Excellence Certified Healthy Community award or certification. The award recognizes Oklahoma communities, businesses and organizations that are working to make their cities a better and healthier place to live and work.

Earlier this week on Tuesday (05-04-21) Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order ending Oklahoma's "State of Emergency" for the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's number of COVID-19 new cases is down 94% from it's peak. The number of new cases per capita are among the lowest in the country and hospitalizations are down 90% and have been stable for over two months. This has allowed the

The Ride for Change returned to Lawton, Fort Sill today (05-06-21) thanks to Diamondback Harley Davidson. My twin brother from a different mother and fellow broadcasting blood brother Frank Pain has hit the road on his Harley for his annual 10 market, multi-state road trip. This year The Ride for Change is raising awareness and funds to assist low income families with children who want to participate in school band and music education. We hope to raise enough money to help every kid who wants to be a part of their school's band program the opportunity to do so.

A new law in Oklahoma will now require all high school students to take and pass the U.S. Citizenship Test in order to graduate with a full standard diploma. (HB 2030) was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt earlier this week along with other legislation.

How would you like to become pen pals with a buffalo? Okay, okay I know technically they're called American Bison. But around here we call them buffalo, or at least most of us do anyway. There's a herd of bison in N.E. Oklahoma who are getting a lot of fan mail and even sending out postcards and letters to their fans. These buffalo enjoy receiving mail and would like for you to send them a letter. You can ask questions or just tell them about yourself. Who knows you might get a letter back and start a beautiful friendship!