State Government News
'Desperate tactics': Walters blames TV drama on 'lies' as OMES report contradicts claims: Answering questions for the first time since State Board of Education members reported seeing naked woman displayed on his office television, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters insisted at a press conference Tuesday that two agencies had concluded investigations with no findings of impropriety. However, the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office responded that its inquiry remains active, and a report sent to legislators by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services contradicted some of Walters' claims. [NonDoc]
- State superintendent suggests Oklahoma governor may be responsible for nude women allegations [Oklahoma Voice]
- Ryan Walters claims story of nudity on his television is 'coordinated attack' [KOSU]
- Ryan Walters says he's cleared in TV nudity investigation. Sheriff's office says case is open [The Oklahoman]
- Ryan Walters TV nudity investigation: Which agencies are involved? What's next? [The Oklahoman]
- Watch: Ryan Walters hosts press conference day after investigation on OSDE meeting opens (video) [The Oklahoman]
- Who is Ryan Walters? What to know about Oklahoma's top educator, controversy [The Oklahoman]
- Who's Who on the Oklahoma State Board of Education? [News 9]
- Opinion: Oklahoma students and teachers pay the price for Ryan Walters' bad calls [Tamecca Rogers / The Oklahoman]
Did Ryan Walters receive $120,000 from a non-profit funded by school privatization advocates while serving as the Secretary of Education?: Yes. Walters received an annual salary of at least $120,000 as the CEO of the nonprofit Every Kid Counts, which receives a substantial amount of its funding from national school privatization and charter school expansion advocates, while serving as Oklahoma's Secretary of Education. [Oklahoma Watch]
Opinion: Gov. Stitt and RFK Jr. pledge to 'Make Oklahoma Healthy Again.' Their policies signal the opposite: Gov. Kevin Stitt welcomed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the Oklahoma Capitol for the "Make Oklahoma Healthy Again" rally. It served as a dramatic photo op, but behind the cameras, the policies promoted were anything but healthy. [Sharon D'Souza / Oklahoma Voice]
Federal Government News
Judge blocks Trump administration's efforts to defund Planned Parenthood: A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation's largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump's administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation. [AP via KFOR]
Drummond, state AGs: Congress should act to invalidate abortion shield laws: Oklahoma's Attorney General Gentner Drummond signed a letter Tuesday asking Congress to ban so-called abortion shield laws in states where the procedure remains legal. [Oklahoma Voice]
As Trump ramps up deportations, some immigrants spend time in an Oklahoma for-profit prison: CoreCivic, one of the nation's largest private correctional facility operators, has struck a deal to house up to 360 detainees for Immigration Customs and Enforcement at its Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing. The prison is one of 18 CoreCivic facilities nationwide with agreements to hold immigration detainees. [The Frontier]
Tom Cole's Powerful Spot on the Appropriations Committee Is Motivating Him to Stay in Congress: Republican Rep. Tom Cole, who has spent more than 20 years in the House, says he is planning on running for a 13th term, in large part because of what he and other members of the Oklahoma delegation are able to deliver now that they've accumulated more power. [Oklahoma Watch]
Norman nonprofit expects Trump order on homelessness to impact operations: Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to change the way homelessness is managed in the country. One Norman nonprofit says the changes will set back progress. [KGOU]
Section 8 Recipients at Risk Under Trump's Two-Year Housing Limit: A Trump administration proposal to cap Section 8 housing assistance at two years for able-bodied, non-disabled adults is sparking concern nationwide—especially in Tulsa, where advocates warn it could destabilize families already facing rising rents and income inequality. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Tribal Nations News
Oklahoma Indigenous cancer rates rising as Congress spars over future of IHS funding: Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed separate appropriation bills earmarking billions of dollars for the Indian Health Service in advance appropriations for Fiscal Year 2027. However, the respective bills fall far short of what tribal representatives requested to better fund the IHS. [KOSU]
Judge rejects stay for 'Muscogee v. Kunzweiler' amidst 'Stitt v. Tulsa' question: Muscogee v. Kunzweiler asks the same question as Tulsa v. O'Brien on a federal level: can the state prosecute tribal members on reservation land even if they're not members of that tribe? [KOSU]
Education News
Questions about passage of Oklahoma social studies standards dominate court hearing: An Oklahoma Supreme Court referee peppered an Oklahoma State Board of Education attorney with questions about the Open Meeting Act during a hearing in a lawsuit filed over new social studies standards backed by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. [The Oklahoman]
- Supreme Court referee hears arguments in social studies standards case [Tulsa World]
$39 million building for optometry college opening at Northeastern State in Tahlequah: One of the nation's top optometry schools, located in Cherokee County in eastern Oklahoma, has a new $39.3 million facility. [The Oklahoman]
Opinion: Here's who we have to thank for restoring education proficiency benchmarks: Concerns about Oklahoma's education cut scores have come back into the conversation ― and rightly so. It's time to speak plainly about what happened, who fixed it and why it matters. [Former State Representative Mark McBride / The Oklahoman]
Criminal Justice News
Next Oklahoma execution may be pushed back to October after inmate caught with cellphones: The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has been secretly asked to push back the state's next execution to October. Attorney General Gentner Drummond made the request after convicted murderer Tremane Wood was caught three times with cellphones. [The Oklahoman]
Oklahoma City detainees could be housed in Cleveland County jail if proposal passes: Oklahoma City is considering an agreement that would be the first of its kind between the city and Cleveland County to house some OKC detainees in Norman at the Cleveland County Detention Center. [The Oklahoman]
OKC Council approves contract with controversial AI facial recognition company: Oklahoma City police now have a contract with a controversial artificial intelligence facial recognition company as the technology faces legal controversies around the globe over concerns with privacy and bias. [The Oklahoman]
Stigma still keeps police from seeking mental health care, study finds: Police officers may face hundreds of traumatic incidents over the course of their careers, but many still hesitate to seek mental health support when they need it. [Oklahoma Voice]
Faith-based Oklahoma prison program sets inmates up for future success, one haircut at a time: Eric Cotter has finally found something that gives him hope that there's a place for him outside prison when he's released after serving his two-decade prison sentence. Incarcerated at the Clara Waters Community Corrections Center in Oklahoma, Cotter is one of the inmates participating in R.I.S.E Program Inc., a pioneering cosmetology and barbering project. [Oklahoma Voice]
Long Story Short: Anonymous Source Sheds Light on Panhandle Police Impunity (podcast): Valerie Scott covered upcoming changes for low-income Oklahomans under Trump's budget bill. Keaton Ross reported on AG Gentner Drummond appointing Ryan Stephenson as special prosecutor in the Glossip case. After the first Justice in No Man's Land series, we received tips about injustices in District One—one from a claimed ex-Guymon patrol officer with case details and a YouTube link. J.C. Hallman reports on the tip. [Oklahoma Watch]
Housing & Economic Opportunity News
Oklahoma hospital launches accessible, affordable housing initiative for people with disabilities: Bethany Children's Health Center celebrated the opening of its first home in a new initiative that aims to address the need for affordable and accessible housing for individuals with disabilities during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday. [StateImpact via KGOU]
Economy & Business News
Job insecurity shakes one in four employees while employers remain cautious: Job openings fell to 7.4 million last month from 7.7 million in May, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday, and the cooling labor market is expected to continue. The Federal Reserve projects the unemployment rate will hit 4.5% in 2025, up from the current 4.1%. It hasn't been that high since October 2021 when the economy still was recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. [The Journal Record]
What you need to know about Oklahoma's tax-free shopping weekend: Oklahoma students will be heading back to class before we know it, and the state has planned its annual tax-free weekend for Aug. 1-3. [Fox 25]
Community News
This close to reaching space: After 25 years, Oklahoma finally crosses the 'starting line': For more than two decades, the state government struggled to market Oklahoma's largest runway as a spaceport. Now, a new crop of leaders has inked a deal meant to refuel the vision for the Oklahoma Spaceport near Burns Flat. [The Oklahoman]
'Fighting More Than Fire': Keith Daniels uncovers Tulsa's Black firefighter legacy: For decades, the bravery of Tulsa's Black firefighters has been hidden behind smoke and silence. While their white counterparts were heralded as heroes, Black firemen often risked their lives without recognition, while also battling the flames of hate from racist Jim Crow laws. [The Black Wall Street Times]
Local Headlines
- Owasso police face backlash over social media post [Public Radio Tulsa]
- 'Clerical error' creates hard feelings between Oklahoma County commissioners [KOSU]
- OK County still paying interest on lost earnest money from canceled land buy for school [The Oklahoman]
- OKC tasked with eliminating decades-old racist language from hundreds of land covenants [KOCO]
