News

Oklahoma City, OK – A national research organization says political candidates in Oklahoma are less willing to tell voters what their views are on important issues than candidates in most other states.

A nationwide survey conducted by Project Vote Smart found that 80 percent of congressional candidates and 90 percent of state legislative candidates refused to answer questions on issues of public concern.

That ranks Oklahoma 48th among the 50 states in legislative return rates, behind only Ohio and Iowa.

Oklahoma City, OK – The state Board of Education will ask for a nearly $3 billion dollar budget for the next school year.

The request is about $480 million more than the current budget and includes $36.5 million to add two more days to the school year.

State schools Superintendent Sandy Garrett says it's important to lengthen the school year in Oklahoma.

The average length of the school year nationally is 180 days and Oklahoma's school year is 175.

College Station, TX – Texas A&M University agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle a lawsuit over the 1999 Bonfire collapse that killed 12 people and injured dozens more.

The families of four students killed and several of those injured sued A&M administrators and construction contractors hired to help build the 59-foot-tall log stack that collapsed.

The administrators had fought the lawsuit, contending they were immune from such suits. But a court of appeals allowed the lawsuit to continue, and the A&M Board of Regents authorized the settlement yesterday.

Wichita Falls, TX – More people are heading to the polls across Texas.

State election officials say more than two million Texans cast ballots in the first eight days of early voting for the Nov. 4 general election.

Early voting started Oct. 20 and runs through Friday.

Secretary of State Hope Andrade says Texas now has 13.5 million registered voters.

That compares to 12.7 million registered voters for the March primaries.

Oklahoma City, OK – A provider fee on hospitals and other medical providers has been recommended as a way to greatly reduce the number of uninsured Oklahomans.

The state Health Care Tax Force heard recommendations from various advisory committees yesterday on reducing the state's uninsured population of more than 600,000. Oklahoma ranks 47th among the 50 states in the number of residents who do not have health care insurance.