News Brief: OKC ranked first for women entrepreneurs, California raises smoking age, OKC soccer community against bullying

Headlines from March 7-11:

• Study: OKC is the best city for women entrepreneurs (NewsOK)

Oklahoma City is the best city in the nation for budding female entrepreneurs to start a business, according to a study by Merchant Cash USA using 2015 census data to rank the most highly populated cities. Also in the top five cities nationwide are San Antonio, Portland, Des Moines and Houston. Factors that were looked at included the following: cost of rent for a home or office space, number of small businesses per 10,000 people, the average unemployment rate per city and grant and loan options for women-owned businesses. The study also asked various female small business owners to rate the city in which they lived on a 10-point scale on factors such as cost of living, small business climate, opportunities available to female business owners and friendliness of individual consumers to small businesses.

• California moves to raise smoking age to 21 (NewsOK)

California lawmakers voted Thursday to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21, approving a measure that would make the nation’s most populous state only the second to put legal tobacco products out of the reach of most teenagers. Only Hawaii has adopted the higher age limit statewide, although dozens of cities, including New York and San Francisco, have passed their own laws. The package of anti-tobacco bills would also restrict electronic cigarettes, which are increasingly popular and not regulated by the federal government.

• OKC soccer community rallies around bullying victim (News9)

After a Facebook post by Oklahoma City resident Brandy Noel about her son, A.J., and his battle with being bullied, the Oklahoma soccer community is rallying around the young boy. Noel said her son was viciously bullied at an after-school program in Cleveland County, which drove her son to suicidal thoughts and a recent stay in an area hospital. OKC Energy Defender Cyprian Hedrick and Energy FC fan group “The Grid” stepped up in support of the young boy. A.J., his family and his youth soccer team will attend OKC Energy’s home opener at Taft Stadium March 26 as guests of the stadium.

• West Virginia lawmakers legalize raw milk, get sick from it (CNBC)

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill last Thursday letting people share milk-producing animals and drink raw milk. Shortly after passing a law loosening restrictions on drinking raw milk, lawmakers toasted with the drink and got sick shortly after. Raw milk may contain dangerous bacteria, including Listeria, Salmonella and E. Coli and health officers are investigating the situation.

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