Have you ever wondered why a service dog is needed or how one can be beneficial to a veteran?

Red Avery, with Versa K-9 for Vets, offers important insight to this very question. Versa K-9 for Vets is comprised of six instructors and guest speakers.

They work as a team to share information and thoughts as well as vote on any decisions that are made for veterans and their service dogs. Avery and his team have been training service dogs for the past four years, and they all currently have a service dog of their own.

A request to rezone about a half acre on South Rock Island from Commercial Office (CO) and Combined Residential (R-2) to Commercial Convenience (CC) won the recommendation of the Municipal Planning Commission in a 4-1 vote. The lone no vote was actually an abstention which counts as a no vote.

The request was made by David Jensen. The property is just east of Old Central which is part of the high school and junior high campus.

The issue will now go to the city council. 

A tax protest brought by the Oneta Power Company in Broken Arrow is once again bringing the Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma to the forefront.

In a dispute over property taxes, Oneta Power is questioning whether Wagoner County should be able to levy taxes since they are on tribal land.

Most of the McGirt discussion to date has focused on criminal cases. This one is different. If the Oneta Power Company were to prevail, it would call into question a large amount of property tax money that primarily benefits school districts.

Under current Oklahoma law, school districts can receive payment for students who have not attended in two years, informally referred to as “ghost students” since they exist only on paper.

Members of a state Senate committee have now voted to reform the funding formula to reduce the number of ghost students claimed by districts.

“It’s really more about efficiency within the formula to me and moving more towards the funding following the student, and schools not being funded for kids that they’re not educating,” said Sen. Zack Taylor, R-Seminole.