Denver teachers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to go on strike after more than a year of negotiations over base pay. Rob Gould, lead negotiator for the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, said 93 percent of unionized teachers voted in favor of a strike. The union represents 5,635 educators in the Denver Public School system, which could see a strike as soon as Monday. “They’re striking for better pay, they’re striking for our profession and they’re striking for Denver students,” Gould said. The main sticking point was increasing base pay, including lessening teachers’ reliance on one-time bonuses for things such as having students with high test scores or working in a high-poverty school. Teachers also wanted to earn more for continuing their education.

With no evidence that President Donald Trump’s weekend speech on immigration and a border wall had changed the dynamic in Congress related to a partial government shutdown, Senate leaders set a pair of votes on competing plans from Democrats and Republicans for Thursday afternoon, the first time Senate Republicans have allowed votes to end the shutdown since before Christmas. “The President’s made a comprehensive and bipartisan offer,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “It’s a strong proposal, it’s the only thing on the table.” “It was not a good faith proposal. It was not intended to end the shutdown,” said Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer. “The President’s proposal is one-sided.” The political jousting came as representatives of federal workers – who seem likely to go without a paycheck again this Friday – urged the Congress and the President to fully fund the government, and then settle their differences over border security spending. Your Coast Guard leadership team & the American people stand in awe of your continued dedication to duty, resilience, & that of your families. I find it unacceptable that @USCG members must rely on food pantries & donations to get through day-to-day life. #uscg pic.twitter.com/TZ9ppUidyO — Admiral Karl Schultz (@ComdtUSCG) January 23, 2019 “Every family in the FBI has mortgages, car payments, bills that come in at the end of the month,” said Tom O’Connor, the head of the FBI Agents Association. “You have to pay those. Try doing that without a paycheck,” O’Connor told a Washington news conference. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration announced it was calling more federal employees back to work – as the Department of Agriculture said Farm Service Agency offices would resume operations on Thursday. “The FSA provides vital support for farmers and ranchers and they count on those services being available,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Farmers have complained for weeks that the lack of FSA offices was hampering all sorts of work, like applying for bailout payments related to retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., filing paperwork for operating loans, and a variety of other crop programs. But those Farm Service Agency workers won’t be paid until the Congress resolves the shutdown. Good News: @USDA just announced that all Farm Service Agency offices will reopen beginning Thursday, January 24th and offer expanded services to #Ag producers. More information and a list of services here: https://t.co/o8oiQkdnaS — Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) January 22, 2019 Back on Capitol Hill, there were no signs that the President’s immigration offer from Saturday was going to break the gridlock over Mr. Trump call for $5.7 billion in border security funding. But the mere fact that there were going to be votes in the Senate related to the shutdown – the first votes on government funding since before Christmas – was seen by some as a welcome event. “I’m pleased that the gears of the legislative process are moving,” said Matt Glassman, a fellow at the Georgetown University Government Affairs Institute. Senate leaders agreed to two procedural votes on Thursday – with 60 votes needed – first on the President’s border plan, plus funding for the federal government, and then on a Democratic plan which combines disaster aid with a plan to simply fund shuttered agencies through February 8. For Glassman and a few others – the decision to set those votes so that Republicans would go first, and then Democrats second, raised questions about whether GOP Senators might vote first to approve money for a border wall, and then also vote to re-open the government, despite the President’s opposition. 1/ My Twitter feed tells me it's folly to think that Thursday's second cloture vote (open government with a 2-week CR) will get 60 votes (47 D + 13 R). I'm not so sure. Just because only 10 GOP signed a bipartisan letter doesn't mean that's the full lid on GOP votes. — Sarah Binder (@bindersab) January 22, 2019 A spokesman for the Senate Majority Leader rejected that idea, saying that Sen. McConnell was against the Democratic plan – but the schedule on Thursday does give GOP Senators the option to first vote for the border wall funding – and when that fails – then vote to re-open the government for about two weeks.

It's one thing to WATCH a show like Game of Thrones, but it’s something else to take a swing at an actual sword fight! Tomorrow night starting at 6:00 p.m., the Flying Tee driving range in Jenks is hosting a fundraiser for Tulsa Tyrants, a team in the Armored Combat League, which is just what it sounds like. These guys put on suits of armor and fight with real swords and battle axes and maces. League rules mandate that they dull the edges on the weapons, but they still pack a punch. Once they're done fighting, they'll walk out to the range and raise money by letting people buy chances to hit golf balls at them! They'll then cap the night by having a watch party for the new TV show on the History Channel called Knight Fight, which is all about sword-fighting competitions. You can find out more about the event here.

The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma hosted an event designed to help federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay as a result of the ongoing partial federal shutdown. CFBEO Executive Director Eileen Bradshaw told KRMG her agency was contacted by federal “These are folks who don’t need to navigate the charitable assistance system,” she told KRMG Tuesday, pointing out that many of them don’t even know where to start. “211 is a real treasure for folks who find themselves in this situation,” she added. “If they need something other than food, they can call 211, explain what the need is, chances are there’s someone in our community who’s willing to help.” She told KRMG people lined up at 2:00 p.m. for the event, which ran from 3:00 to 7:00 so that both day and evening workers could make time to take advantage of the free food. KRMG spoke with federal workers who said they’d never expected to need food assistance, and had never visited a food bank before. But they were extremely grateful for the assistance.

Two former University of Oklahoma students publicly apologized Tuesday for a video posted on Twitter last week. One of the girls on the video was in black face and made a racial slur. The university released the statements from Frances Ford and Olivia Urban.  Urban called the video 'the most regrettable decision of my life' and says there's no excuse for such behavior 'in private or public.'  Ford says the video was 'insensitive and irresponsible.' University President James Gallogly announced Monday that both women had voluntarily withdrawn from campus. Students held a rally on campus Tuesday demanding action from campus administrators.