INSIDE INSIDE MARKETS MARKETS 2 SECTIONS 2 SECTIONS

Dow Crude
Vol. 112
No. 305
2014
Lawton
Media,
Inc.
American Digest 5B
Bridge 6A
Business 6B
Classified 7B
Comics 5B
Crossword 5B, 8B
Dear Abby 5A
Horoscope 6A
Lottery 7A
Movie listings 6A
Obituaries 7A
Opinion 4A
Sports 1B
Styles 5A
Weather 7A
+1.46
$104.59 bbl.
WEATHER WEATHER
Hot
Todays high: 99
Tonights low: 73
More weather, 7A
-48.45
17,051.73
See Business, 6B
THE SOURCE FOR INFORMATION IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA

www.swoknews.com
75 CENTS
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014
WHATS INSIDE
STATE
Delegation opposes
UAC housing
Members of the Oklahoma
congressional delegation on
Tuesday asked the Obama ad-
ministration to reconsider us-
ing facilities at Fort Sill to
house unaccompanied alien
children (UAC).
In a joint statement, U.S. Sen.
Jim Inhofe and Reps. Tom Cole,
Frank Lucas, Jim Bridenstine,
Markwayne Mullin and James
Lankford all Republicans
expressed concerns that
the continued presence of the
holding facility would hinder
Fort Sill's mission to train sol-
diers.
See story, 2A
LOCAL
Counselor pleads
in fraud case
A Lawton counselor pleaded
no contest Monday to charges
of Medicaid fraud and identity
theft charges, according to the
state attorney general.
See story, 3A
NEIGHBORS
Two for
the horse show
Two Elgin-area sisters are de-
fying conventional wisdom by
racking up big wins on the
horse show circuit this season.
See story, 8A
STYLES
Program to aid
minority males
President Barack Obama an-
nounced a major expansion of
his initiative to improve the
lives of boys and young men
of col-
or, with
educa-
tors,
star
ath-
letes,
compa-
nies
and foundations announcing
partnerships to help minority
boys in conjunction with his
"My Brother's Keeper" pro-
gram.
See story, 5A
SPORTS
A fresh look at
citys youth sports
A group of Lawtonians gath-
ered
Mon-
day at
Lawton
City
Hall for
the
second
meet-
ing of a council study commit-
tee tasked with looking into
the youth sports programs in
the city and to plot the course
that the Sports/Aquatics De-
partment will take in coming
years.
See story, 1B
2502 NW 82nd Lawton OK
580-536-3326 www.billingsleyhyundai.com
AP
Kelci Gouge teaches a third grade class at a summer reading acade-
my at Buchanan elementary school in Oklahoma City, Monday. The
Oklahoma Supreme Court has confirmed the Legislature was well
within its authority to repeal a set of education standards in math
and English known as Common Core. But whats still uncertain is
whether reverting back to the old academic standards will put
Oklahoma students at a disadvantage.
BY MARK POTTER
STAFF WRITER
MPOTTER@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM
Summer heat is back, and so are
its dangers.
The National Weather Service is
predicting high humidity and 100-
degree temperatures for today,
enough to place all of Southwest
Oklahoma and most of the rest
of the state under a heat adviso-
ry. The heat index in Lawton is
predicted to be about 106.
Theres little relief in sight:
Highs around 100 are expected
through the weekend, with the
heat index in some locations
reaching 110.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reports that ex-
cessive heat has caused more
deaths in recent years than all oth-
er weather events, including tor-
nadoes, floods and hurricanes.
Although everyone is at risk
when temperatures rise above 90
degrees, the elderly and the very
young are most susceptible to
heat and heat-related illnesses.
Heat-related illnesses can cause
serious injury and even death.
Signs of heat-related illnesses
include nausea, dizziness, flushed
or pale skin, heavy sweating and
headaches. Those with heat-relat-
ed illness should be moved to a
cool place and given cool water to
drink, and ice packs or cool wet
cloths should be applied to the
skin. If a victim refuses water,
vomits or loses consciousness,
call 911 or a local emergency
number immediately.
The Red Cross recommends the
following steps to prevent heat-re-
lated illnesses:
n Never leave children or pets
in a car because the inside tem-
perature of the car can quickly
reach well over 100 degrees.
n Stay hydrated by drinking
plenty of fluids.
n Avoid extreme temperature
changes.
n Wear loose-fitting, light-
weight, light-colored clothing.
n Slow down, stay indoors and
avoid strenuous exercise during
the hottest part of the day.
n Postpone outdoor games and
activities.
n Use a buddy system when
working in excessive heat and
take frequent breaks.
n Check on family, friends and
JEFF DIXON/STAFF
Ebony Bowen, 8, plays in the 35th Division Park pool near the corner of Northwest
6th Street and Columbia Avenue on Monday. The temperature reached 99 Monday
and is expected to hit the triple digits this week, causing the National Weather
Service to issue a heat advisory.
BY KIM MCCONNELL
STAFF WRITER
KMCCONNELL@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM
Two proposals for alloca-
tions of the revenues pro-
duced by the citys hotel-
motel tax will top the agen-
da when the City Council
meets today.
The meeting, which also
will include a session of the
City Transit Trust, will be-
gin at 6 p.m. in the auditori-
um of Lawton City Hall,
Southwest 9th Street and C
Avenue.
Since last fall, council
members, via a council
study committee, have been
discussing a plan to change
the allocation of hotel-motel
tax revenues. That 5 per-
cent tax, charged on the
rental of hotel and motel
rooms within the city, is dis-
bursed by the City of Law-
ton under a funding formula
adopted by the council
years ago. The formula
specifies 70 percent of the
tax collected each year is al-
located to the Lawton Fort
Sill Chamber of Commerce,
while the remaining 30 per-
cent is split among three
categories: 14 percent to
tourism, 11 percent to eco-
nomic development and 5
percent to the Lawton En-
hancement Trust Authority
(LETA).
The 2014-2015 prelimi-
nary budget included that
funding formula, but the fi-
nal budget has deleted those
categories, reflecting a
council decision in June to
consider changing the way
the tax revenues are allocat-
ed so the city and chamber
can put more emphasis on
building a war chest to act
as enticement for economic
development prospects. But
council members arent in
complete agreement about
allocations beyond the
chamber and economic de-
velopment, the reason for
the two proposals included
in todays council packet.
The proposal from the
council committee specifies
that 70 percent of the rev-
enue collected from the ho-
tel-motel tax for the 2014-
2015 fiscal year will go to
Hotel tax
funds on
council
agenda
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) With the
Legislatures repeal of tough, new Eng-
lish and math standards known as Com-
mon Core, education leaders said
theyre concerned Oklahoma students
will fall further behind their counter-
parts in more than 40 states which have
implemented the standards.
Until Oklahoma develops its own new
standards a process expected to take
at least two years districts were di-
rected by the new law to return to the
Priority Academic Student Skills, or
PASS standards, that were in place in
2010. But many educators worry those
standards arent nearly enough to ade-
quately prepare students for college or
the workforce.
From the use of those PASS stan-
dards, we have a 42 percent remediation
rate in college, said State Superinten-
dent Janet Barresi, referring to the
number of Oklahoma students who had
to take remedial courses after graduat-
ing high school. That sort of speaks for
itself.
Barresi, who campaigned as a re-
former and pushed for tougher stan-
dards and more rigor in the classroom,
was soundly defeated last month in a
GOP primary in her quest for a second
term by Joy Hofmeister, a Common
Core opponent. Barresi was a strong
supporter of the Common Core stan-
dards who reversed course and support-
ed their repeal after she said they had
become too politicized.
A recent study by Education Week
ranked Oklahoma 41st among the 50
states and District of Columbia in K-12
achievement that ranked states based
Common Core repeal has
Oklahoma educators worried
BY STEVE METZER
STAFF WRITER
SMETZER@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM
Bone-deep budget cuts have
forced the layoff of employees of
the Youth Services Community
Intervention Center in Stephens
County and will drastically
change the way Stephens County,
and other counties across the
state, respond when juveniles run
into trouble with the law.
Despite serious objections
raised by Stephens County Dis-
trict Attorney Jason Hicks and nu-
merous others, board members of
the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile
Affairs (OJA) apparently will go
forward with a plan to have local
CICs across Oklahoma bear the
brunt of deep cuts in the OJA
budget.
Other CICs, including one in
Lawton, also are facing cutbacks.
Community Intervention Cen-
ters (CICs) are places that take
temporary custody of youths
picked up by law enforcement of-
ficers. Among other benefits, they
allow police officers to go back to
regular duties rather than having
to sit with youngsters while wait-
ing for parents to pick them up.
The centers do much more, how-
ever, advocates say.
According to Vicki Vermedahl,
a retired school teacher who
serves on the board of directors of
Stephens County Youth Services,
intervention specialists provide
security, safety, comfort and
counseling to youngsters in trou-
ble. Vermedahl and others who
wrote letters urging the OJA to re-
verse direction on budget cuts ar-
gued that CICs ultimately have
the very positive effect of getting
kids back on the right track. Many
who spend time at centers do so
only once.
Ironically, John Herdt, the di-
rector of Youth Services of
Stephens County, said that very
positive outcome may have
worked against the CIC in Dun-
can. Three years ago, the center
intervened on behalf of 252 young
people. Last fiscal year, the num-
ber declined to 152. While the
trend might well be interpreted as
a move in the right direction,
Herdt said it was noted by the
OJA that costs of providing serv-
ices per individual in Stephens
County had risen. He said he was
informed only recently that the
Duncan CIC would have to absorb
one of the most severe cuts in the
state, receiving only $53,200 in the
new fiscal year as compared to
$179,676 last year.
In a statement, OJA Executive
Director Keith Wilson said that
the cuts came after a cost-benefit
analysis made necessary by a
Youth center in Duncan faces big cuts
The situation
that the
Legislature and
the governor
have put us in
is just critical.
KEITH WILSON
OKLAHOMA OFFICE OF JUVENILE AFFAIRS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Feels
like
106
... and that feels
like heat danger
SEE COMMON CORE, 3A
SEE COUNCIL, 3A
SEE HEAT, 2A
SEE JUVENILES, 3A