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In local news
- The Oklahoma State Department of Education approved a record 2,673 emergency teaching certificates for this school year. Heading into the fall semester, many school districts across the country had staffing shortages for full-time and substitute teachers.
- A new Texas law bans abortions at a point in pregnancy when many women don’t know they are pregnant. In November, a similar law is set to go into effect in Oklahoma, where at least one abortion provider has seen an increase in out-of-state patients due to the restrictions in Texas. (More from The 19th: One study found that women who were denied abortions were more likely to live in poverty years later, compared to others who had access to the procedure.)
- From Bridge Michigan: Outdoor pastimes like camping, hiking and birding have a “nature gap.” Most people taking part in those activities are white, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is working to increase access to the outdoors.
Sidenote: Back to birds, though
When I lived in Mississippi, I became obsessed with birds and the tiny, magical moments I shared with them. The most astounding were the pileated woodpeckers, with their awkward jolts of movement and sparkling, red mohawks.
In Oklahoma, my favorite is the scissor-tailed flycatcher. Images of the bird, to quote a native Oklahoman, are “(bleeping) everywhere here, and I don’t know why.” It’s true they show up pretty much any place where it’s possible to stick a quirky bird with a long, scissor-shaped tail: License plates, parks, underpasses and an abstract sculpture hovering over a pedestrian bridge in Oklahoma City.
I won’t complain about the lack of creativity because I love this delicate, goofy prairie bird. Seeing a scissor-tail flycatcher is like seeing a fairy. They fly like butterfly helicopters, with a soft touch of peach under their wings. Their calls are these indescribable, absurd cackles. And their tails look like scissors when they fly, which is obviously ridiculous!
If you’ve ever been enchanted by a bird, I strongly recommend this episode of the podcast This Is Love from last year. Host Phoebe Judge spoke with Drew Lanham, an author, poet and biologist, who fell in love with birds and eventually dedicated his career to them. He really captures some of what makes birding and nature so magical.
New from BigIfTrue.org
Since the pandemic, many communities have changed how they respond to evictions:
- Four states and several cities adopted right-to-counsel programs that guarantee legal representation for people facing eviction.
- Some local governments created short-term policies to discourage evictions. Through mid-October, landlords in Austin, Texas can’t file evictions unless their tenants are more than three months behind on rent. In Houston, landlords who apply for rent assistance agree to waive late fees and interest.
- Comprehensive programs like Housing Solutions’ social services hub in Tulsa, Oklahoma connect renters and landlords with a slew of resources, including mediation, referrals to legal aid and help signing up for rent relief.
Aside from programs and policies to prevent evictions, rent assistance is the Biden administration’s main tactic to keep people housed. Some background:
- The US Treasury Department devoted about $46.6 billion to rent assistance programs, but we reported back in June the money has been slow to reach renters and landlords.
- If rent relief programs don’t spend at least 65% of their first round of Treasury funding by the end of the month, they risk losing what hasn’t been spent.
- To reach that 65% threshold, rent aid programs would have to spend about $16 billion. Based on current spending levels, the Treasury Department expects the programs to be about $7 billion short of that goal by the end of September.
Thank you for reading Hard Reset. Support our reporting here, and get in touch with me here at bryant@bigiftrue.org and 405-990-0988.
– Mollie Bryant
Founder and editor, BigIfTrue.org
