Volunteers gather Medicaid petition signatures

Hundreds of volunteers across Oklahoma gathered Saturday to collect signatures of registered voters to help put Medicaid expansion on the ballot. Events took place i n Miami, Enid, Ardmore, McAlester, Duncan, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Volunteers met in hospitals, churches, parks and community centers for training before heading out to collect signatures.

Yes On 802 has until Oct. 28 to gather 178,000 valid signatures to give voters a chance to decide on Medicaid expansion in 2020. Supporters argue Medicaid expansion would bring home more than $1 billion in tax dollars from Washington every year to deliver healthcare for nearly 200,000 Oklahomans, keep rural hospitals open, and create thousands of jobs. Oklahoma is one of 14 state that have not accepted the funding.

A working group of lawmakers assigned to study Oklahoma's health care issues will hold its first meeting Wednesday morning at the state Capitol.

The next Historic Black Towns Tour will conclude with the Rentiesville Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival, which celebrates the musical legacy of the late D.C. Minner. The Labor Day weekend festival is held on Minner's birthplace and family farm.

The Aug. 31 bus tour will depart from the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City at noon. Participants will receive a guided tour at the Honey Springs Battlefield Visitor Center and drive through the site of the Civil War battle. The engagement took place on July 17, 1863, and included the First Kansas Colored Volunteers, which was the first AfricanAmerican regiment in the Union army. At Rentiesville Town Hall, Mayor Mildred Burkhalter will speak and a homecooked meal will be served. Festival food will be available at the blues festival, along with shopping and a tour of the Blues Hall of Fame museum. Minner founded the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004 with his wife, Selby.

The cost is $80, which includes transportation, meals and admission to the festival. The bus will return to the Oklahoma History Center by 2 a.m. Sponsored by the Coltrane Group, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of Oklahoma's remaining historically black towns. For more information or to sign up, call Andre Head at 206948-8852 or Jessilyn Hall Head at 206-949-5012. Or email andreh@thecoltranegroup.org.