Clock is ticking for the Census
If you have not filled out a Census questionnaire, you're not alone — Oklahoma's response rate, unfortunately, is among the bottom 10 nationally. But there is time to improve on that ranking.
Sept. 30 is the deadline to complete the survey, which can be done with a few mouse clicks at 2020census. gov. Also, Census workers are going door to door (they have done so since July in Oklahoma County), and mobile questionnaire booths have been set up at locales across the state.
The Census is conducted every decade and it's important, because the information is used to determine how much federal money is spent for programs in each state. Oklahoma loses about $1,700 per year for every resident who does not complete the Census.
A robust Census count also could impact the size of Oklahoma's congressional delegation, which shrunk by one following the 2000 count. Officials hope to get that back if the state's population exceeds 4 million this time.
At the start of the week, about 1.1 million Oklahomans had responded to the Census. That equaled 59% of households. The national response rate was 64%. It would be nice to see Oklahoma approach or exceed the national rate by month's end.
Fun campaign to encourage mask wearing
Perhaps you have seen the television commercials and billboard ads urging
Oklahoma City residents to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “MASK UP OKC” campaign, begun in late August, is a collaboration involving the city, the city-county health department and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. It features local officials, celebrities, business owners and others wearing masks and encouraging others to do the same, with the tagline, “It's for you, it's for me, it's for OKC.” The chamber's CEO and president, Roy Williams, notes that another shutdown of the economy would devastate small businesses and cost jobs. “This affirms our commitment to keeping our residents safe and healthy so our city can remain open,” Williams says. “This is another time where we need to pull together for the good of OKC.” It's a flashy and fun way to get the point across.
Fundraiser seeks to help child abuse victims
An Oklahoma County nonprofit that helps victims of child abuse has more work than it can handle, sad to say, and first lady Sarah Stitt is leading a push to provide some help. Stitt kicked off a fundraising campaign Wednesday, called “Sarah's Challenge,” to raise $250,000 in 30 days for the Care Center. CEO Stacy McNeiland says demand for services has grown considerably since August when many children began returning to school. “Children are disclosing at record-breaking rates,” McNeiland said. Stitt, an honorary Care Center board member, said many kids have been stuck inside for months due to COVID-19 pandemic, “and it's a very sad fact that many of them are in very abusive homes. But when children returned to school, they began to talk to friends, counselors and teachers.” Information about this worthy cause is available at www.carecenter-okc. com/sarahschallenge.
Name wasn't enough this time around
The Kennedy name has been political gold in Massachusetts for generations, although it didn't help one family member this week. U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, grandson of Robert Kennedy, lost to incumbent Sen. Ed Markey in a Democratic primary, and the result wasn't close. Markey, 74, won 55% of the vote as Kennedy became the first member of his family to lose a congressional race in Massachusetts. Kennedy, 39, had been endorsed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and campaigned on a call for new leadership. Markey, first elected to Congress in 1976, had progressive star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his camp and drew support from younger voters. He shares AOC's passion for such policy ideas as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. One veteran Massachusetts pollster said ahead of the election that Kennedy “has the cache of his name, but Markey has been advocating the progressive policies that energize the current Democratic Party.” That proved to be a winning formula.