Not Hardly, but I do have some good news. August is just around the corner and why is that good? August brings shorter days which mean less of that blistering sunshine. But will shorter days bring cooler temperatures? Well, not really. Some of our hottest days seems to come in August. Remember them? The locus start singing and many trees start to shed leaves. And breezes become scarce and almost priceless.

August first sunrise happens here in Allen at 6:36 am and sets at 8:28 pm. On August 31 ^st the sunrise is later at 6:59 and races to set at 7:54. Yep, that means a bunch of shorter days and it doesn’t get any better until the winter solstice on December 21 ^st . These shorter days added to the less direct angle of the sun gives us a guaranteed cool down which probably means that around September the 10 ^th , we can step out on our front porches and feel a definite coolness in the air. Yes, right here in a baked dry Allen. Happens every year.

But don’t get too excited. Our Oklahoma sizzling elections will just be getting hotter. November elections featuring, for one, Governor Stitt, who wants his second term. It seems a fair request. After all, I voted for him the first go around but then again, maybe I’m not the smartest tool in the drawer. The governor unknown to me, had some strange ideas about how to fund our schools. Schools that are near and dear to most of us. Stitt’s kids, I suppose, all go to private schools. That’s just fine with me where he sends his kids but there must be some old bad blood between the public schools in Tulsa and the governor.

I had failed to notice (and I’m not the only one) that Stitt wants public funding for these schools. That would be alright, but I know our public schools are always coming up a little short themselves on the money side. So, to fund our private schools would be to take away funds from our General Education Funds. That I am not in favor of. Private schools have always depended on their private tuition and other means to keep their lights on. I am not in any way against the private schools in our states. They provide ways for those who want to pay and perhaps can afford them to get the type of education they want for their kids. But I choose to fund and better our public schools only with our tax dollars. Somewhere in there I want better teacher pay.

It seems the governor has zeroed in mostly on the Tulsa Public School System. I think they have enough problems up in Tulsa without the harmful attacks of our governor and I wish he would back off and tend to his own knitting. I am referring of course to the affairs of the State of Oklahoma. Not the financing of private schools in our state.

I also heard Stitt say when he laid out his agenda that he wanted to improve secondary roads and highways in our State. He said he wanted to make them safer and wider with shoulders. The disgraceful condition of the Francis Road which connects us to SH-99 comes to mind as does SH-48. I’m pretty safe in saying the disgraceful condition of this road (a former highway) really impedes any development along its route.

I enjoy hearing from readers. And don’t forget to go to your church next Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail. com