Last week I did a series of reports (3 to be exact) on a debate/forum that was held in the town of Seminole, Oklahoma on Saturday, Feb. 23rd. Between 30 and 40 people packed a small room to listen to Representative Randy Terrill and Senator Harry Coates square off on H.B. 1804, Oklahoma's stringent anti-immigrant bill that went into effect on Nov. 1st of last year.
Randy Terrill, who is a state Representative from Moore, Oklahoma, is the main author of H.B. 1804, and Harry Coates is a state Senator from Seminole who is worried about the bill's negative effects on his constituency. Both of these men are Republicans.
The first of my series of reports looked at the economic impact that H.B. 1804 has been having on the town of Seminole. H.B. 1804 calls for 4 basic things:
1. Prohibits undocumented immigrants from obtaining any official documentation such as driver's licences,
2. Prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving free medical care,
3. Asks local law enforcement agencies to contact federal immigration agents after arresting people who could have questionable immigration status, and
4. Forces employers to verify the immigration status of all of their employees.
According to Sen. Coates, companies in Seminole are suffering because 1804 has run so many people out of Oklahoma that they are unable to find workers. He said that people have been going to Texas and other states that don't have such harsh anti-immigrant laws. Coates believes this is bad for Oklahoma because companies will either be forced to close or be forced to relocate to neighboring states as well.
Rep. Terrill told the people at the forum that 1804 is working and that is exactly what it was meant to do, run undocumented people out of the state. He said that with his law, illegal aliens (as he calls them) will not come to Oklahoma if there are no jobs, they will not stay here if there are no subsidies and if they come in contact with our law enforcement, they will be taken away. He also stated that there is no job that an American wouldn't do, he thinks they just won't do them for the same wage as the undocumented do.
Senator Coates then interjected that he wanted to know at what pay rate Terrill thought Americans might do the work. He said that undocumented people are being payed up to $20 dollars an hour for some jobs and that he doesn't think Americans will do the work, no matter what the wage is.
Members of the audience had the chance to ask some questions as well, and one man stood up and read off a list of national, state and local chambers of commerce that had come together in a lawsuit against 1804. He asked Rep. Terrill how, if all of these groups who support business in Oklahoma are against 1804, the law could be benefiting the state. Rep. Terrill didn't answer the question but said that these chambers of commerce not only wanted to receive subsidies from the government and tax payers on the front end, but also want taxpayers to subsidize their illegal labor force. Senator Coates then stood up and told everyone that what Rep. Terrill said was just another conspiracy theory and the real reason why the chambers of commerce had decided to sue the state is that they now realize they stood by and allowed a bad and immoral bill become a law.
The majority of the people at this forum were wearing stickers that said "Fix 1804", and it was obvious that many of them were upset with Representative Terrill. One man told me that he knows many Hispanic people and he knows how hard they work. He also said he knows that Oklahoma needs them and that Randy Terrill would probably never think the same because he has never been a businessman.
Stay tuned for Part 2
Monday, March 3, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Fatal Accident on Broadway Extension at Hefner Rd. in OKC
The police recieved a call from someone stating that they had seen a man beating a woman in a purple colored truck while driving on the Broadway Extension in northeastern Oklahoma City Wednesday evening. An officer from the Oklahoma City Police Department was nearby and spotted the vehicle in question.
According to Liutenant Roger Bratcher of the Oklahoma City Police, the officer witnessed what looked like a couple argueing, but neither was beating the other. He then proceeded to turn on his lights, and that is when the driver decided to take off.
The driver of the truck proceeded to exit the Broadway Extension at Hefner Rd., however lost control and somehow ended up coming back down the off ramp in the wrong direction. He then entered the highway going the wrong direction, and when he tried to turn to position himself in the right direction, the truck flipped on its side and was subsequently hit by another vehicle.
The driver was thrown from the truck into the highway, which looks like is what caused his death. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman that was riding with him was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where she was classified as in serious condition. The driver of the other vehicle was also taken by ambulance to a local hospital, but was listed in fair condition. There was a third car involved that clipped the overturned truck slightly, but no one in that vehicle sustained any injuries.
As of 10pm last night, the identity of the persons involved in the accident were unknown, however, this morning, the police did release the name of the driver of the truck, which is Edmond Grayson. He was 28 years old. The name of the woman passenger was not released because the police feel she was a victim of domestic abuse, and the name of the man driving the vehicle which struck Grayson's truck also has not been released.
According to Liutenant Roger Bratcher of the Oklahoma City Police, the officer witnessed what looked like a couple argueing, but neither was beating the other. He then proceeded to turn on his lights, and that is when the driver decided to take off.
The driver of the truck proceeded to exit the Broadway Extension at Hefner Rd., however lost control and somehow ended up coming back down the off ramp in the wrong direction. He then entered the highway going the wrong direction, and when he tried to turn to position himself in the right direction, the truck flipped on its side and was subsequently hit by another vehicle.
The driver was thrown from the truck into the highway, which looks like is what caused his death. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman that was riding with him was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where she was classified as in serious condition. The driver of the other vehicle was also taken by ambulance to a local hospital, but was listed in fair condition. There was a third car involved that clipped the overturned truck slightly, but no one in that vehicle sustained any injuries.
As of 10pm last night, the identity of the persons involved in the accident were unknown, however, this morning, the police did release the name of the driver of the truck, which is Edmond Grayson. He was 28 years old. The name of the woman passenger was not released because the police feel she was a victim of domestic abuse, and the name of the man driving the vehicle which struck Grayson's truck also has not been released.
Fidel Castro's Announcement
The story I covered for Tuesday, Feb. 20th was Fidel Castro's announcement that he would not seek another term as president of Cuba. Though many argue that he is not a president, but a dictator and that the word "term" shouldn't even be applied to his case, he announced it anyway.
Fidel came to power in Cuba in 1959 when he overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista. According to Carlos Manuel Gonzalez, a Cuban gentleman that now lives in Oklahoma City, things before Castro were much better. Gonzalez said that there was much more freedom and opportunity in the pre-Castro Cuba, and when Castro took power, the government took over everything. Gonzalez left Cuba in 1962 at the age of 19 and hasn't been back since.
Eventhough Castro has announced that he will be stepping down, many people believe nothing will change. Fidel's brother, Raul, who has been filling in for Fidel since he became ill in July of 2006, will probably be next in line as president. The decision will be made by Cuba's National Assembly this coming Sunday. Raul has been Cuba's defence minister for decades and seems to be the perfect choice for a government that may feel threatened by the United States during this time of transition.
Many think that eventhough Raul has stated that some things in Cuba are as they shouldn't be, such as the amount of money that people are paid, he will follow in the footsteps of his brother. Our Cuban friend from Oklahoma City, Mr. Gonzalez is of that same line of thinking and he told me that he thinks Raul won't change anything because he still believes in Communism. Gonzalez believes things won't change in Cuba until there are no more Castro's left governing it.
Gonzalez finished our interview by telling me he would love to see Cuba free, as it was almost 50 years ago. Only time will tell now.
Fidel came to power in Cuba in 1959 when he overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista. According to Carlos Manuel Gonzalez, a Cuban gentleman that now lives in Oklahoma City, things before Castro were much better. Gonzalez said that there was much more freedom and opportunity in the pre-Castro Cuba, and when Castro took power, the government took over everything. Gonzalez left Cuba in 1962 at the age of 19 and hasn't been back since.
Eventhough Castro has announced that he will be stepping down, many people believe nothing will change. Fidel's brother, Raul, who has been filling in for Fidel since he became ill in July of 2006, will probably be next in line as president. The decision will be made by Cuba's National Assembly this coming Sunday. Raul has been Cuba's defence minister for decades and seems to be the perfect choice for a government that may feel threatened by the United States during this time of transition.
Many think that eventhough Raul has stated that some things in Cuba are as they shouldn't be, such as the amount of money that people are paid, he will follow in the footsteps of his brother. Our Cuban friend from Oklahoma City, Mr. Gonzalez is of that same line of thinking and he told me that he thinks Raul won't change anything because he still believes in Communism. Gonzalez believes things won't change in Cuba until there are no more Castro's left governing it.
Gonzalez finished our interview by telling me he would love to see Cuba free, as it was almost 50 years ago. Only time will tell now.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Governor Henry's Advisory Council on Hispanic and Latin American Affairs
It is now early Tuesday morning, the 19th of February. I didn't have time to comment on the story I covered for last Friday, the 15th of February, so I'm doing it now.
Governor Brad Henry has an advisory council that deals with Hispanic and Latin American Affairs and they met with the Governor's Ethnic American Council in a special meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the effects that our state's new anti-immigrant law, H.B. 1804 has had on our community. Eventhough they didn't allocate enough time to discuss the effects of 1804, they did discuss some of the new legislative proposals that will either strenghthen that law or even anul parts of it. Of course there is a wide array of proposals, including some that would look at the root problem of immigration in Latin America and the lack of decent wage paying jobs and actually punish companies that have operations south of the border and that don't pay the same wages on either side. There is also a proposal to make English the official language of Oklahoma. Now we know that in the United States, we speak English, and to survive here economically, politically and socially, you pretty much have to know English. Oklahoma is no different. There are many indigenous tribes here that spoke their languages long before English was introduced to the area, and this law, which seems to be aimed at Spanish speakers, might alienate those indigenous groups as well. It might not be appropriate to pass such legislation, especially in this state. However, the Republican Representative from Moore, Randy Terrill thinks otherwise ( he is the author of H.B. 1804 and also, I believe, author of the new "English Only" proposal).
One of the proposals strongly discussed at this meeting was that of the Republican Representative, Shane Jett. Jett was, of course, in attendance and explained what his proposal looks to achieve. To understand fully the proposal submitted by Jett, we have to look at H.B. 1804. Now, from what I understand, 1804 not only prohibits undocumented immigrants from recieving certain state provided benefits and implores that businesses utilize the "pilot program", developed by the federal governement, to verify employee's immigration status, but also forces local law enforcement agencies (and other state agencies) to call ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) when they suspect someone that they are dealing with to be an undocumented immigrant. This means, for example, that if the police stop someone for a routine traffic violation and they think that person may be undocumented, they must take them in and call ICE to verify their status. If that person is undocumentes, ICE then decides whether to come and pick that person up for deportation or to let that person go. Now, under the Jett proposal, if people who are here without papers come forward, enlist in a program that would identify them and obtain a certain "good faith" credential, they would be protected from being turned into immigration officials by local law enforcement. Now, to obtain this identification card, people would be made to pay a fee or penalty for being in Oklahoma without permission, they would have to pay their taxes and would have to acknowledge that they are law abiding citizens and refrain from committing crimes. According to Jett, if a person who has one of these identification cards is stopped by the police for speeding, running a red light, or any other minor traffic violation, they would just have to present their identification card to the official and they would be given their ticket, go to court and be set on their way. Basically this system would protect people from the enforcement aspect of 1804. However, not in any way would this ID protect them from an ICE raid or any immigration related activity being carried out by the US federal government.
Jett's proposal, if passed could set a presidence and a model for other states in the region and across the nation. However, according to Jett, support for his proposal is hard to find within his republican colleagues, and there are even some democrats that might not like the idea. Jett believes that his proposal can succeed if enough people in the congressional districts around the state voice their opinions and support his proposal. He encourages everyone to be in contact with their elected officials on a constant basis and to let them know what exactly they want. And what he says is true, after all, how can our senators and representatives ever know how to vote if their constituency isn't vocal.
To watch the report I did on this story that aired last Friday, February 15th, just click on the link that says David Stout Latest Stories and look for the video that carries that date.
To see more of my stories, be sure to tune in to T30 Telemundo (channel 30 on satellite or antenna and channel 5 on Cox cable in OKC).
Cheers..........
Governor Brad Henry has an advisory council that deals with Hispanic and Latin American Affairs and they met with the Governor's Ethnic American Council in a special meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the effects that our state's new anti-immigrant law, H.B. 1804 has had on our community. Eventhough they didn't allocate enough time to discuss the effects of 1804, they did discuss some of the new legislative proposals that will either strenghthen that law or even anul parts of it. Of course there is a wide array of proposals, including some that would look at the root problem of immigration in Latin America and the lack of decent wage paying jobs and actually punish companies that have operations south of the border and that don't pay the same wages on either side. There is also a proposal to make English the official language of Oklahoma. Now we know that in the United States, we speak English, and to survive here economically, politically and socially, you pretty much have to know English. Oklahoma is no different. There are many indigenous tribes here that spoke their languages long before English was introduced to the area, and this law, which seems to be aimed at Spanish speakers, might alienate those indigenous groups as well. It might not be appropriate to pass such legislation, especially in this state. However, the Republican Representative from Moore, Randy Terrill thinks otherwise ( he is the author of H.B. 1804 and also, I believe, author of the new "English Only" proposal).
One of the proposals strongly discussed at this meeting was that of the Republican Representative, Shane Jett. Jett was, of course, in attendance and explained what his proposal looks to achieve. To understand fully the proposal submitted by Jett, we have to look at H.B. 1804. Now, from what I understand, 1804 not only prohibits undocumented immigrants from recieving certain state provided benefits and implores that businesses utilize the "pilot program", developed by the federal governement, to verify employee's immigration status, but also forces local law enforcement agencies (and other state agencies) to call ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) when they suspect someone that they are dealing with to be an undocumented immigrant. This means, for example, that if the police stop someone for a routine traffic violation and they think that person may be undocumented, they must take them in and call ICE to verify their status. If that person is undocumentes, ICE then decides whether to come and pick that person up for deportation or to let that person go. Now, under the Jett proposal, if people who are here without papers come forward, enlist in a program that would identify them and obtain a certain "good faith" credential, they would be protected from being turned into immigration officials by local law enforcement. Now, to obtain this identification card, people would be made to pay a fee or penalty for being in Oklahoma without permission, they would have to pay their taxes and would have to acknowledge that they are law abiding citizens and refrain from committing crimes. According to Jett, if a person who has one of these identification cards is stopped by the police for speeding, running a red light, or any other minor traffic violation, they would just have to present their identification card to the official and they would be given their ticket, go to court and be set on their way. Basically this system would protect people from the enforcement aspect of 1804. However, not in any way would this ID protect them from an ICE raid or any immigration related activity being carried out by the US federal government.
Jett's proposal, if passed could set a presidence and a model for other states in the region and across the nation. However, according to Jett, support for his proposal is hard to find within his republican colleagues, and there are even some democrats that might not like the idea. Jett believes that his proposal can succeed if enough people in the congressional districts around the state voice their opinions and support his proposal. He encourages everyone to be in contact with their elected officials on a constant basis and to let them know what exactly they want. And what he says is true, after all, how can our senators and representatives ever know how to vote if their constituency isn't vocal.
To watch the report I did on this story that aired last Friday, February 15th, just click on the link that says David Stout Latest Stories and look for the video that carries that date.
To see more of my stories, be sure to tune in to T30 Telemundo (channel 30 on satellite or antenna and channel 5 on Cox cable in OKC).
Cheers..........
Friday, February 15, 2008
A New Beginning
Hello there, or as my boss would say in his English-type accent "Hello Tha". This is really my first time blogging (I'm sure that is what all first timers have said...but I will say it again) and to tell you the truth, I am both excited and curious to see what comes from this experience. I consider myself a journalist (I work in TV) eventhough I never studied journalism in college. Its funny because when I was in middle and high school, I was always in to the journalism thing but for some reason, it never even crossed my mind to study journalism in college. I always wanted to be a doctor.....so much for that! So here I am now, somewhat of a newbie at doing what I am doing. I have been in Oklahoma City working as a producer and reporter for the local Telemundo affiliate since the beginning of May, '07. I had never worked as a producer before and had very, very little experience reporting before I came here. I started in TV and the whole journalism gig while I was studying my Master's degree in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A few years before that, I fell in love with Latin America, it's language and it's culture (I don't remember if I'm supposed to put an apostrophe in between the t and s when I want "it" to be possesive or no, but I put it there anyway), so decided to change from becoming a doctor to studying Latin American Studies and Spanish. I finished a Bachelor's degree in both of those subjects and proceeded to do Latin American studies on a Master's level. I had spent the summer of 2002 in Brazil studying Portuguese (after all, if you are going to be a Latinamericanist, you absolutely have to know the language of the largest country in Latin America....at least that is what I thought) and was looking for something to do during the summer of 2003, other than take classes. I thought to myself, "What can I do here in Albuquerque that has to do with my studies?" Then, one night I was watching the news in Spanish on Univision and I said, "I wonder if they have internships?" I called the next day and sure enough, they did, but, someone had already been decided on for the summer internship. They told me to try back in the fall. I set up another internship for that summer in Juarez, Mexico and had one of the best times of my life. When I got back I did call them up again and, sure enough, they had a space for me. I started out learning all of the newsroom terminology....what a "vo" is what a "sot" is and so forth, and so on. I also learned how to run a teleprompter...not the greatest job in the world. After they realized that I wasn't a total dope, they started to teach me how to edit video for the newscast. I excelled rapidly, and by the time my internship was done, I was extended an invitation to be a part time editor. I was king of the hill then! Haha! Whatever! They didn't even give me a raise. I was making a cool $5.15 an hour....rollin' in the dough. However, I have learned that in this business, you really have to love what you do, because the compensation really does not correspond to the amount of work you may put in many times. Anyway, back to the point....what was the point? Oh yeah, sorry, I learned how to edit, write stories and do some minimal on-camera reporting while at Univision. I think though, what I really learned there was that I love working in that newsroom atmosphere. Stress is awesome...it makes me tick, and a daily deadline really turned me on. I ended up leaving Univision, much to my lament, because I couldn't live off of peanuts and I accepted a job as a full time editor for the NBC affiliate in Albuquerque. Eventhough maybe I didn't have some of the opportunities to learn different jobs within the NBC newsroom as I did at Univision, I did have the opportunity to learn how a larger newsroom worked. You see, at Univision, everyone was spread thin....the anchor was the producer and a reporter and the reporters were cameramen and editors. Everyone also had their specific job when the newscast was live on air. But at NBC, everything was different, the editors just edit video and that is it, the reporters go out, talk to people and write stories. They have cameramen ( and good ones too) that shoot the video. The producers produce and everyone does just one job. I learned so much at NBC and made many good friends. I had been working there for nearly a year and a half when I met Leo Anchondo, who stole me away from New Mexico and gave me a job in Washington DC with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and their campaign called Justice for Immigrants. He must have seen something in me and took a chance...something I will always be grateful for. I spent close to a year and a half with the campaign as a Public Education/Outreach Coordinator until I came here to the great state of Oklahoma. You see, while I was working at NBC in Albuquerque and for the Bishops in DC, the anchor of Univision whom I had worked with in Albuquerque had built up his skill and found a job as the News Director for a fledgling Telemundo newscast in Oklahoma City. He called me up one day while I was living in DC and said, "Dave, I need a producer here in Oklahoma City, and I think you would be great at this job....do you want to come back to broadcast journalism?" And I said..."Hell yeah!" And that was that...I arrived in May of 2007. So I have been here since then, my main job has been producing the 5pm and 10pm newscasts at Telemundo and up until recently I would do some on-camera reporting once or twice a week. However, about a month ago I started reporting daily during both newscasts as well as producing. I have decided to use this blog space to expand on some of the stories that I have done as well as providing commentary on some important local issues as well as current events. I was inspired to begin this "blog quest" by my good friend and fellow journalist, Jeremy Jojola, who is currently an investigative reporter for the NBC affiliate in Albuquerque, NM. He blogs about the stories he does and made me want to do the same. So thanks JJ.....I know there must be thousands of blogs here in OKC, but mine is unique because I am bringing news that we report on "the Spanish channel" to an English audience. So if there is anyone out there...thanks for listening...and starting Monday, February 18th (my 28th birthday actually) this show will be on the road with my first blog about whatever it is I cover that day....Cheers!
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