By State Rep. Gus Blackwell
This past week was very interesting as I attended two days of the Achieving Classroom Excellence (ACE) Task Force meeting at the State Capitol. I also met on Thursday with the Energy Committee to hear several interim studies.
The ACE Task Force heard from common education, higher education, and career technology. The second day several education groups testified before the committee. One of the repeated themes was to use the ACT test as a tool for measuring student progress, instead of the End of Instruction (EOI) tests. This is similar to a bill I proposed last year.
The Energy Committee heard about some of the courses being offered by career technology schools, and even higher education schools, dealing with jobs in the wind industry. Both El Reno and Woodward career technology schools are looking at standardizing programs, in order to train people to be wind turbine technicians.
Recently, Colorado joined the growing number of companies who are adding wind energy as a component to deal with the energy shortage. Tri-State Energy announced it will build a new wind farm near Burlington, Colorado. It supplies energy to rural electric cooperatives. The 51-megawatt wind farm will need about 150 people to build it and four to eight wind technicians to maintain it.
With OG&E also moving into the wind business in Oklahoma, there will be a demand for wind technicians in this area. The extra-high voltage line between Oklahoma City and Woodward is progressing as planned. It should be completed by the end of this year. Then the line between Woodward and Guymon will start in early 2010.
The first phase of the 2010 Census is already underway and workers are beginning preliminary visits. They are verifying addresses in cities across America. Please, be aware these workers will have a identification badge, a handheld device, a tote bag with the US census emblem on it and a confidentiality notice.
Although your cooperation is appreciated, you should not be asked some information. This includes your social security number and bank account numbers or amounts. Someone who does this may be an imposter trying to get information for illegal purposes.
Also, the Census Bureau will not contact you by e-mail. They may call or come to your house in person. Always ask to see their identification badge. Be cautious…since there may be some con people using this opportunity to get valuable information.
Once again, if you have ideas for legislation or want to give me input on this column, contact me at home or leave a message at the Capitol office: 405-557-7384 or 800-522-8502. You may also contact me by email at: gusblackwell@okhouse.gov.
