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A portrait of traditional Native storyteller Te Ata will be formally dedicated on Monday, February 8 at 1:30 p.m. in the Oklahoma State Senate Chamber.

The woman who inspired the character Sally Carrera, the blue Porsche from the Pixar movie “Cars,” has been one of Oklahoma’s staunchest supporters and promoters. Thursday Oklahoma returned that favor when the State Senate honored Stroud’s Rock Café owner, Dawn Welch. Her daughter, Alexis Herr, served as a page to the Senate during the first week of the 2010 session, and joined her mother on the floor for the presentation.

State Sen. Harry Coates represents Stroud in the Senate and was author of Senate Resolution 83.

The woman who inspired the character Sally Carrera, the blue Porsche from the Pixar movie “Cars,” has been one of Oklahoma’s staunchest supporters and promoters. Thursday Oklahoma returned that favor when the State Senate honored Stroud’s Rock Café owner, Dawn Welch. Her daughter, Alexis Herr, served as a page to the Senate during the first week of the 2010 session, and joined her mother on the floor for the presentation.

State Sen. Harry Coates represents Stroud in the Senate and was author of Senate Resolution 83.

The state Senate on Wednesday approved a resolution supporting pregnancy resource centers and commending their efforts to provide comprehensive care to women and men facing unplanned pregnancies. Authored by Sen. Dan Newberry, Senate Resolution 82 praises pregnancy resource centers for their efforts to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of women with free and confidential services.

In an effort to further promote transparency in how taxpayer dollars are spent, State Sen. Randy Brogdon has authored Senate Bill 1633, creating the School District Transparency Act. The measure builds on 2007’s Taxpayer Transparency Act, also authored by Brogdon, which created a website so taxpayers could see exactly how the state spends their dollars. The School District Transparency Act won approval in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday.
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A measure to allow school districts to use state textbook allocations for instructional expenses passed the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education Wednesday. Sen. Gary Stanislawski said Senate Bill 1784 would help school districts struggling financially due to budget cuts.
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The Senate’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee has approved a measure to ensure party bus companies don’t enable underage drinking. Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, said she introduced Senate Bill 1762 because of an incident that occurred in her district.
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A bill to help ensure families can find out in a timely way when a person has been severely injured or killed in an accident has cleared its first hurdle. Senate Bill 1779 was approved by the Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. The bill’s author is Sen. Sean Burrage who was contacted by a friend after tragedy struck their family.

The Senate Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security has approved legislation that would require Oklahoma drivers to turn on their headlights when their vehicle’s windshield wipers are in use. Sen. Joe Sweeden said Senate Bill 1831 is designed to increase visibility and safety on Oklahoma roadways.