News Brief: panhandling and the shrinking middle class

Headlines from Dec. 6-11:

• Oklahoma ranks next to last in national health scorecard (Tulsa World)

Oklahoma dropped to 50th place out of the 50 states and Washington D.C. in a national healthcare ranking, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund. The study measured 42 health indicators of which Oklahoma was placed in the bottom half in all but three. Mississippi was the sole state to score lower than Oklahoma.

• Oklahoma City Council votes to ban panhandling on street medians (NewsOK)

In a 7-2 vote on Tuesday, the Oklahoma City council passed an ordinance banning most activities on street medians under concerns for safety. Panhandlers on city street medians could be fined $100 after the ordinance goes into effect on Jan. 7.

• Cherokee Nation publishes New Testament Bible in native language (News on 6)

The Cherokee Nation has translated and published a red-letter edition of the New Testament in the Cherokee syllabary. Missionaries to the tribe translated a version in the 1860s, but Cherokee translators worked for two years on a new version to fix translation errors and with the words of Jesus Christ printed in red. The tribe is planning to translate the Old Testament as well.

• The American middle class is shrinking (Pew Research Center)

A new Pew Research Center report indicated that after 40 years of the middle class serving as the majority economic tier, now it is matched in number by the combined upper and lower tiers. This year, 120.8 million American adults were in middle-income households while 121.3 million were in the combined upper- and lower-income households.

00