Two decades into the 21st century, full-time female workers in Garfield County still make less than two-thirds as much as their male counterparts, according to U.S. Census data featured in a recent report.

City commissioners unanimously approved the Enid police union’s collective bargaining agreement Tuesday night, granting a $4,500 increase to the starting salary of patrol officers.

Enid City Commission is set to approve Tuesday a pay plan increase meant to incentivize new hires for the Enid police union’s two-year collective bargaining agreement.

❝We gave many of our state correctional officers a pay increase of two dollars an hour last year, but some Department of Corrections employees did not receive the raise.❞ — State Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow, author

The class-action lawsuit, filed in October 2017 in the Northern District of Oklahoma, alleges Jay-based Christian Alcoholics & Addicts in Recovery — or CAAIR — and Simmons Food Inc. forced men to work for free under threats of being sent to prison if their work was unsatisfactory. 

During the floor debate, Rep. Ronald Wright, R-Texas, called it a "disastrous bill." Wright said essentially doubling pay would cost jobs and the bill should be renamed the "Raising Unemployment for American Workers Act."

As state prisons continue to grapple with severe staffing shortages and dangerous work conditions, a recently released legislative performance audit is recommending lawmakers spend $19.1 million more to increase salaries.

Enid Fire Department is taking applications for firefighters until March 14, Assistant Fire Marshal Mike Schatz said.

The first post-walkout legislative session is getting underway, and lawmakers have proposed bills aimed at alleviating the teacher shortage and making changes to the state’s public education system.