August 28-September 1 Weekly Wrap
Tragedy here in Oklahoma and Hurricane Idalia strikes Florida...
Tragedy struck this week after a mass shooting at last Friday night’s football game between Del City and Choctaw. As a proud Del City alum (and Arnold’s a MWC alum), our hearts ache for Eastern Oklahoma County after this senseless act of violence. Look for an Observercast episode in the coming days discussing our state’s fascination with guns and the deaths that could be prevented with sensible gun legislation.
Parents who lost their children to a mass shooting at their nursery school in Nashville earlier this year watched aghast this week as the Tennessee legislature convened a special session and then adjourned without taking any meaningful action to prevent the next mass shooting. The state legislature even failed to pass common sense laws to protect the privacy of families like those who lost loved ones in the Nashville murders.
Pay attention to TN State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson who, as part of the Tennessee Three, were once again sanctioned by the TN supermajority Republicans as they advocated during the special session for sensible gun controls. Remember the names of these two rising Democratic stars from Nashville and Memphis, respectively.
The White House took action to lower drug prices this week by releasing the first ten drugs, including blockbuster diabetes and blood thinner pharmaceuticals, whose prices will now be negotiated by Medicare. This is a huge cost-saving measure that will save the U.S.'s seniors hundreds of dollars each year. It, of course, was met with entrenched resistance by Big Pharma, which will challenge the policy in court.
Not a single House Republican in Congress voted for this, by the way.
And, the Biden Department of Health and Human Services recommended to the Drug Enforcement Agency to remove marijuana as a Schedule I drug. This could possibly drastically reduce the impact of marijuana laws if it goes into effect.
Don’t miss the latest Observercast with Tulsa State Rep. Melissa Provenzano, discussion last week’s OSDE vote to approve Tulsa Public Schools’ accreditation.
Catch the Observer’s latest content here on Substack from Sharon Martin, Gary Edmondson, Cal Hobson, and our fearless editor Arnold Hamilton.
Finally, make plans for September’s Newsmakers at Full Circle Books with Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn on Sept. 14th at 6 pm.
Have a good Labor Day holiday, everyone. We’ll be back next week.