Oklahoma News
Oklahoma ranks 46th in overall child well-being for third consecutive year: Oklahoma ranked 46th for the third consecutive year in overall child well-being, according to a new 50-state report. The annual KIDS COUNT Data Book is published by the private philanthropy Annie E. Casey Foundation, which makes grants to address challenges among children and young people. [KGOU]
Some 'debtors' prison' fees have been eliminated for Oklahoma defendants: Oklahoma may be emerging as a leader among states in eliminating court-ordered fees that in the past have essentially left many former inmates in "debtors' prison" long after their time of incarceration has been served. [Tulsa World]
State Government News
Oklahoma Cosmetology Board extended one year amid restructuring debate: The State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering will continue under its current structure for at least another year. Oklahoma lawmakers this session extended the sunset date of the board, which oversees the licenses of more than 77,000 Oklahomans. [The Journal Record]
Oklahoma landowners are torn on wind energy. How do policymakers move forward?: Wind energy has been a hot topic in Oklahoma for the last year. Lawmakers introduced several bills to limit where wind turbines could be installed, sparking discussions about property rights and rural identities. Others pushed back on the restrictions, saying the wind industry had done their communities good. [KOSU]
Opinion: Oklahoma legislative session closed with lost opportunities, destructive policies: As the 2025 legislative session came to a close, headlines focused on the conflicts between Gov. Kevin Stitt and Republican legislators who pushed back on much of his agenda. The Oklahoma Policy Institute explained that Stitt vetoed bills in what appeared to be a "spiteful" manner. Gov. Stitt then vetoed 68 bills, and 47 of them were overridden. [John Thompson / The Oklahoman]
Federal Government News
States' moves to curb cellphone use in schools highlighted in U.S. House hearing: Concerns over the use of cellphones in classrooms took center stage Tuesday at a hearing in a U.S. House education panel, as an increasing number of states push to ban or restrict the use of cellphones and other electronic devices during instruction time. [Oklahoma Voice]
Amid LA protests, senators raise questions about safety at Olympics, World Cup: While athletes, coaches and other staff are exempt from the travel ban, it's unclear how fans wanting to support their home countries will fare. Nationals from 12 countries face travel bans – Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Residents gather outside Tulsa City Hall in solidarity with ICE protestors in Los Angeles [Fox 23]
- Opinion: Oklahomans shouldn't brush off LA immigration protests as not our problem [Ginnie Graham / Tulsa World]
Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma weighs potential impacts of 'Big Beautiful Bill' on SNAP, food security: Stacy Dykstra, CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, asked Oklahoma's federal delegation to reject anything that would reduce funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" tightens requirements for those benefits, leaving the food bank worried that people could go hungry. [KOCO]
Black farmers are reclaiming their land — whether the USDA stands in the way or not: We've all heard the rumors of foreign interests buying up millions of acres of American farmland. But there is a more positive story tucked in American farmland right now. While the USDA drags its feet and financial interests privatize land at scale, Black farmers across the U.S. are reclaiming what was stolen. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Opinion: Trump cuts to NIH funding would gut American science and medicine: We three can say unequivocally ― from our more than 100 years combined experience at high levels of U.S. medicine and research ― that these proposed cuts have nothing to do with waste, fraud and abuse, or of finding efficiencies. They would simply gut American science and medicine. [Ken Dill, Sue Mallonee and Joe Mallonee / The Oklahoman]
Tribal Nations News
'Words of perpetuity': Muscogee Nation Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Freedmen citizenship: The Muscogee Nation Supreme Court heard oral arguments today over whether the nation must honor a 159-year-old treaty's promise to grant citizenship within the nation to Muscogee Freedmen. [NonDoc]
- Muscogee Supreme Court hears oral arguments over freedmen citizenship [Tulsa World]
- Freedmen descendants argue citizenship case before tribal Supreme Court [Public Radio Tulsa]
- Muscogee Nation Supreme Court to decide if Creek Freedmen descendants can be citizens [The Oklahoman]
deadCenter Film Festival kicks off this week, highlighting growing Indigenous representation in entertainment industry: Indigenous representation continues its momentum in the entertainment industry, and the 25th annual deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City has a lineup of films to show for it. [KOSU]
Voting and Election News
Special Election Roundup
- Special elections: Amanda Clinton wins HD 71, Kevin Norwood wins HD 74 [NonDoc]
- HD 97: Former Judge Aletia Timmons elected in NEOKC special election [NonDoc]
- Voters select HD 71, 74 representatives [Tulsa World]
- Cherokee Nation Citizen Amanda Clinton Wins Oklahoma House District 71 Special Election [Native News Online]
- Election results: Voters pick new OKC, Tulsa-area representatives in three House races [The Oklahoman]
- Three House districts select new representatives, Seminole approves Sunday alcohol sales and more election results [KOSU]
New law to bring more uniformity to how tie elections are decided in Oklahoma: Although it is rare, some elections here in Oklahoma end in ties. One lawmaker is looking to bring more transparency in how those are decided. [Fox 25]
Long Story Short: Christian School's Runoff Email Sparks Debate Over Partisan Lines (audio): Paul Monies looked into the fallout from an election email sent by a private religious school. Keaton Ross wrote about a successful effort to consolidate Oklahoma's campaign finance document filing system. J.C. Hallman made some discoveries about legal disparities in rural parts of Oklahoma. [Oklahoma Watch]
Education News
Epic Charter Schools under investigation by state agency as two top administrators resign: The state agency that sponsors Epic Charter Schools is investigating the "fiscal integrity" and compliance of Oklahoma's third-largest school system amid budget slashing that has left many students without an in-person school to return to when summer break ends. [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt reviewing teacher retention bills as pocket veto deadline approaches: Two highly anticipated teacher retention bills are awaiting the governor's signature. The measures will die if they aren't signed by Saturday. [KGOU]
Universities tackling Oklahoma's teacher shortage head on: With teacher shortages at the center of state leaders' conversations, The University of Central Oklahoma is one of Oklahoma's public colleges and universities looking for unique approaches to incentivize students to become the next generation of educators. [Oklahoma Voice]
OU, OSU, TU and ORU now can share up to $20.5 million with their athletes. What they're saying: Beginning July 1, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University athletic departments will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million annually in revenues from their respective media rights deals with their athletes. [Tulsa World]
Oklahoma City Public Schools set 2030 goals for reading, math levels: New performance goals for Oklahoma City Public Schools aim to have 40% of fourth graders reading on grade level and 20% of eighth graders proficient in math by August 2030. [Oklahoma Voice]
'We were not treated equally': School meal employees criticize food supply company following district renewal: Cafeteria workers at Tulsa Public Schools expressed frustration Monday night following the district's contract renewal with food supplier Aramark. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Opinion: Finland chose to build its future on education. Oklahoma should do the same: In the 1970s, Finland was a largely rural, agricultural country searching for direction in a changing world. With limited resources, Finland made a deliberate choice: invest in public education as the path forward. [Former Oklahoma Representative Mark McBride / The Oklahoman]
Health News
Will HIPAA protections continue for abortion care? Courts to soon decide.: A decision is imminent in three of the four cases that will determine whether individual health information for legal reproductive care remains protected by a 2024 federal rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), including a case in Texas before the same judge who tried to revoke government approval of an abortion drug. [Oklahoma Voice]
Criminal Justice News
Oklahoma won't seek the death penalty again for Richard Glossip: Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond won't seek the death penalty for Richard Glossip during a new trial. Drummond said he will seek life in prison for Glossip after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated his conviction earlier this year. [The Frontier]
Sexual assault survivors allege Edmond PD breached privacy, violated rights: During interviews for the investigations of their respective assaults, rape survivors in Edmond said EPD did not inform them of the rights granted to victims under HB 2546, also known as the Sexual Assault Victims' Right to Information Act. In other cases, they said information like full names and addresses were released in police reports regarding their assaults. [NonDoc]
Tulsa police cruiser runs over jaywalking suspect: Dashcam and bodycam footage obtained by KJRH shows the officer rolling up on Kemonte Hampton April 15 in a QuikTrip parking lot near 11th and Garnett. As officers pin Hampton to the ground, the cruiser rolls backward over the suspect. [Public Radio Tulsa]
Does Oklahoma have one of the highest female incarceration rates?: Yes. Though no longer the state with the highest female incarceration rate, as of 2022, the most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Oklahoma has the fourth-highest female imprisonment rate at 108 per 100,000 female residents. [Oklahoma Watch]
ISIS supporter scouted University of Oklahoma football stadium for attack, federal prosecutors say: A young man who pledged allegiance to ISIS scouted the University of Oklahoma football stadium in 2023 for a possible terrorist attack, federal prosecutors have revealed. [The Oklahoman]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Homelessness continues to rise in Tulsa, annual count shows: For the ninth year in the last 10, an annual effort to count and survey Tulsa's homeless community shows that homelessness is increasing, and that the lack of housing is still the primary cause. [Tulsa World]
Tulsa-area housing starts spike in first four months of 2025: The number of housing starts in the Tulsa metro area increased by 23.1% in the first four months of this year, the Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa said. [Tulsa World]
Economy & Business News
Ardmore Michelin plant to wind down tire production operations by fall: The closure of a tire production facility in south-central Oklahoma is expected to be completed by this fall. The last tire will roll off from the Michelin Ardmore production plant by late September or early October, according to a report from KTEN-TV, following an update from the Michelin Transition Task Force. [KGOU]
Community News
Oklahoma ranks safer for LGBTQ+ people in new study, but still one of the worst in US: As Oklahoman legislators push to restrict trans rights and overturn the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, Zane Eaves says his identity as a transgender man has put a target on his back in his home state. [The Oklahoman]
Free Mom Hugs brings Oklahoma to WorldPride D.C festival 2025: "It's not just a party. It's a powerful statement: We're here, we matter, and we're not going anywhere," said Sara Cunningham, founder of Free Mom Hugs, an Oklahoma City group participating in the WorldPride D.C. parade. [Gaylord News via The Black Wall Street Times]
Meet Amanda Sandoval, a councilwoman at 24, and now the first Latina mayor in Oklahoma: Incorporated in 1910, shortly after statehood, Bethany was once a stagecoach stop and ended up on famous Route 66. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, the city elected this year the first Latina mayor in state history — Amanda Sandoval. [The Oklahoman]
Pioneering meteorologist Gary England dies at 85: Trailblazing meteorologist Gary England — who for four decades appealed to Oklahoma television audiences to "Stay tuned; we'll keep you advised" — died Tuesday, June 10. He was 85. [The Oklahoman]
- Gary England, longtime News 9 Chief Meteorologist, dies at 85 [News 9]
- Weather legend Gary England dies at 85: Social media floods with tributes to mentor, icon [The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- Tulsa's first chief mental health officer, Dr. Rebecca Hubbard, resigns [Tulsa World]
- Owasso school board sends $169-million bond to September ballot [Tulsa World]
- North Tulsa job fair aims to close opportunity gap, connect Black residents to careers [The Black Wall Street Times]
- Edmond City Council passes 2025-2026 city budget unanimously. What got the mayor riled up? [The Oklahoman]
