MAPS 3 Benefits
This story was originally posted in the Oklahoman.
As the first MAPS 3 health and wellness center opens this week, we are seeing the commitment Oklahoma City residents and leadership have made to support our growing population of older adults. Each center will offer a variety of recreational activities and social resources tailored to benefit residents 50 years and older. As executive director for an Oklahoma City continuing care retirement community, I want to thank the voters who recognized the value in creating a place for older adults to proactively pursue fitness, health and community engagement. I can personally vouch — regular social interaction and exercise transforms health outcomes and quality of life. And, among older adults in our area, there is a growing need for these offerings — more than 24 percent of our state’s population will be over age 60 by the year 2030, an increase of close to 25 percent from 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Many residents at our retirement community, Concordia Life Care Community, have been looking forward to the completion of this first health and wellness center in particular, as it is just two miles from our campus in northwest Oklahoma City. Concordia residents, among many others in our area, will use the programs offered at this state-of-the-art facility. On behalf of our residents and staff, thank you for funding through the MAPS 3 1-cent sales tax initiative.
Danny Eischen, Oklahoma City
Benefits of wind
Scott Pruitt’s collusion with energy companies is a disgrace to him, his enablers and is another mark on our state government. I remain astonished that so many leaders in Oklahoma are unwilling to look beyond the fossil fuel largess of the past 100 years so their children and grandchildren may live in a peaceful future. To that end, Oklahoma is blessed with a virtually limitless amount of renewable wind and solar energy, enough for countless generations. Installed wind generation now exceeds 6,000 megawatts, equivalent to six large nuclear plants, all accomplished at a small fraction of the time and cost typical of nuclear generation. A recent Oklahoma State University paper even suggests wind power productivity could increase as climate change continues.
