Watch for wrong-way drivers in Alva
June 17, 2020
Last week I saw two instances of drivers in the wrong lane in downtown Alva. Wheat harvest and summer classes at the university have brought new people to town. We’ll probably see many drivers who aren’t familiar with local traffic idiosyncrasies.
The problem comes when two-lane streets merge into the four lanes surrounding the square. As I approached from the south on College Avenue, the driver in front of me proceeded north. Instead of jogging to the right of the yellow centerline, this car went left and proceeded the wrong way in the outside lane. Someone driving east on Flynn wanted to make a right turn into that lane, so the wrong-way driver moved over a lane but apparently never figured out the problem.
Later in the week while driving north on 4th Street, I watched a vehicle driving just to the left of the centerline and going the wrong way in front of City Hall and the police station. Traffic was light, and the driver made it to the intersection with no adverse encounters.
A lot of wheat trucks are on the streets right now, hauling grain from the fields to the elevators. Combines and other wide harvest equipment also make driving more hazardous. So it’s time to be extra alert when driving.
Census 2020
Just over half of Oklahoma residents have responded to the 2020 Census. Currently 54.4 percent have filled out census information, compared to 62.3 percent in 2010. Nationally the response rates is 60.9 percent.
As of Monday, Wood County’s response rate was 50 percent. Of that number 37.3 percent filled out their questionnaire online. In 2010 the percentage of county residents completing the census was 61.1 percent.
Only 40.2 percent of Alfalfa County residents have filed with the census with 18.9 percent completing the form online.
Cimarron County in the far western part of the Oklahoma Panhandle has one of the worst completion rates with 11.6 percent.
Census numbers affect all kinds of programs from kid’s school lunches to federal and state grants. The numbers are also used in redistricting for political representation. Redrawing the lines to equalize population numbers for each district has resulted in a loss of rural Oklahoma representation. If more rural counties fail to respond to the census, they’ll have even less representation in the legislature.
Not every address received the census form. You can respond to the census at 2020census.gov even if you did not receive a form in the mail.
June 30 Election
The primary election is coming up on Tuesday, June 30. This issue of the Newsgram features some political ads addressing candidates or issues that will be on the ballot.
Alfalfa County will have races for several county offices on the Republican ballot including sheriff, county clerk and county commissioner for District No. 2. Two Republicans for Oklahoma Senate District 19 will also be on the ballot.
Woods County voters will have a proposition to allow restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages on Sundays. Waynoka has a one percent city sales tax increase proposition.
In state elections, there are four Democrats, five Republicans and two Independents filing for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Jim Inhofe. There are two Republicans running for corporation commissioner.
Voters will also see State Question 802 on the ballot. Here’s a summary describing the pros and cons of this state question that was provided to us by the Oklahoma Press Association:
On June 30 voters are being asked to say yes or no to a plan expanding federal health insurance coverage (Medicaid) to about 200,000 more qualifying Oklahomans. State Question 802 amends the Oklahoma Constitution to expand coverage by July 1, 2021, for Oklahomans age 18 to 65 whose annual income is at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty line.
The Medicaid expansion was authorized in the Affordable Care Act of 2014. Oklahoma is among 14 states that have not expanded coverage. The federal government currently pays 90 percent of the expanded plan’s cost and the state must fund the other 10 percent. The amendment prevents the state from creating additional restrictions — such as work, school or community service — that make it more difficult for persons to qualify.
The state question came about after more than 300,000 Oklahomans signed petitions to put the question on a ballot. The governor and some lawmakers proposed alternatives, including Gov. Kevin Stitt’s SoonerCare 2.0, but those efforts stopped with his veto of a bill moving the plan forward.
Supporters believe approval will help financially support rural health care providers and keep struggling hospitals open. They also argue that by not accepting Medicaid expansion dollars, Oklahomans will continue to subsidize health care for low income residents in other states through their federal tax payments.
Opponents fear expanding health insurance coverage without a dedicated revenue stream could reduce funding to other state services such as education, corrections or public safety. There is also concern that should the federal government’s share be reduced the state would be expected to pay more. Some possible sources for the state’s share are a provider fee increase on hospitals, tapping into the tobacco settlement fund revenue or general revenues.
Amusing Email Scams
Monday, I received an email from “Mrs. Jane Doe.” It appears Mrs. Doe is offering me the opportunity for some money. The subject line says “Gratulations” and refers to 2,000,000 in Euros. Unfortunately, the email is in German so I can’t read it. There is a link that supposedly goes to Fox News for a story about an anonymous woman who is distributing many millions of dollars to some lucky people. Guess I’ll never find out as I never click on links from people I don’t know.
A couple of weeks ago, I received three emails in the same day supposedly from Charles Schwabe. The investment firm said there were some problems with my accounts. I needed to click on a link to verify my information. Since I have no accounts with the company, I hit the delete button three times.
The best was an email I received several weeks ago informing me I’d been selected as a goodwill ambassador for the COVID-19 pandemic. I was to travel around the country sharing positive information about the response to the virus. For this activity, I’d be paid $40,000 per week. It was tempting, but I decided to delete that one also.
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