Whatever our state officials learn from the loss of these projects, they need to be willing to address and make the changes necessary to be prepared and more competitive.
The U.S. Department of Justice states in an affidavit that this photo shows Fairview resident Dova Alina Winegeart using a wooden pole to hit a door at the U.S. Capitol marked “House of Representative.”
A Fairview woman, Dova Alina Winegeart (right), has been arrested on complaints of being involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. This photo is from Department of Justice arresting documents.
FAIRVIEW, Okla. — A Fairview woman was arrested Tuesday, July 19, 2022, for taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Advocates for the blind are celebrating a new law that adds blind Oklahomans to the list of people allowed to vote by electronic mail-in ballot.
This story was produced in partnership with the Oklahoma nonprofit newsroom The Frontier.
A federal audit provides new insight into how Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's administration failed to properly oversee $39.9 millions in federal relief funds meant to support education amid school closures during the coronavirus pandemic. (Governor's Office)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Many of Oklahoma’s tag agencies will have a new look by he end of 2022 after lawmakers recently approved an overhaul of the system that handles the issuance of driver’s licenses and motor vehicle registrations and titles.
Pinnell said Oklahoma has a lot of advantages as a state, and its greatest strengths are the tourism industry and department of commerce.
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell addresses Enid Rotary Club on Monday, July 18, 2022, at Stride Bank Center.
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell addresses Enid Rotary Club on Monday, July 18, 2022, at Stride Bank Center.
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell addresses Enid Rotary Club on Monday, July 18, 2022, at Stride Bank Center.
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell addresses Enid Rotary Club on Monday, July 18, 2022, at Stride Bank Center.
The summer of 1954 will be remembered for the scalding heat reaching an astounding high of 122 degrees on July 14 in Pittsburg, Kansas. The searing heat lasted for 52 days, beginning in mid-June and continuing through Aug. 7. Forty-five days the mercury indicated 100 degrees or better. Over 25 of those days, the mercury broke 105 degrees. Temperature recordings were collected from daily newspaper reports from The Pittsburg Headlight.
ENID, Okla. — In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, runways were nearly vacant, but staff from Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission were knocking on the doors of high school superintendents and school counselors across Oklahoma’s 77 counties to talk about an emerging aviation curriculum available to their students.
America has failed to protect its citizens. That is a pretty serious statement, and I don’t make it lightly.
U.S. Sen. James Lankford is among a group of senators who have introduced the Unborn Child Support Act, which would give expectant mothers the option to receive child support payments from the moment of their child’s conception.
Panasonic will build its $4 billion plant near Kansas City creating up to 4,000 jobs, Kansas newspapers are reporting, citing Asian media sources.
Once again, the University of Oklahoma continues to thwart efforts by journalism organizations to hold the university accountable for its investigation into former President David Boren and former Vice President Jim “Tripp” Hall regarding sexual assault allegations.
At a four-day AOPA “You Can Fly” conference in Norman this week, teachers enjoyed discovery flights provided by the OU School of Aviation Studies.
MEDFORD, Okla. — Officials on Monday still were looking into the cause and the extent of damage at the ONEOK natural gas plant in Medford two days after an explosion and resulting fire.
A road closed sign blocks U.S. 81 in Pond Creek leading north to Medford Monday, July 11, 2022. The highway remains closed after a fire at the ONEOK natural gas plant between Medford and Pond Creek on Saturday. (Billy Hefton / Enid News & Eagle)
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board announced clemency hearing dates for six death row inmates scheduled for execution later this year.
Many Oklahomans face challenges when buying homes or entering into lease agreements, and the situation doesn't seem to be improving anytime soon.
Fire and smoke billow from the ONEOK natural gas plant south of Medford after an explosion Saturday, July 9, 2022. (Billy Hefton / Enid News & Eagle)
Fire and smoke billow from the ONEOK natural gas plant south of Medford after an explosion Saturday, July 9, 2022. (Billy Hefton / Enid News & Eagle)
Oklahoma Legal Aid Services provides free legal services to eligible people. Staff attorney Laci Klinger spoke about holiday donations in 2021.
Federal authorities are investigating a fire that took the lives for a former Muskogee city official and her husband Thursday morning.
TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma – The attorney general for the county's largest Native tribe lambasted the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Castro-Huerta case, saying it violated the foundations of Indian law.
Melba (Pollock) Franks, of Duncan, said she’s kept a little pin, a piece of memorabilia, inside her keepsake box for many years. That pin, Franks said, takes her back to when the now 90-year-old volunteered as a teenager at the ration stamp office.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives accelerant investigating officer Adrienne Seibel and her K-9 investigator Annie examine some of the rubble in the front of a house in southeast Muskogee following an early-morning fire on Thursday. Former Muskogee City Planning Director Tis…
Two members of the Brushy Mountain Volunteer Fire Department try to extinguish smoldering embers from a house fire in southeast Muskogee. Former Muskogee City Planning Director Tish Callahan and her husband Rodney Callahan died in the fire along with their two dogs.
Experts say the best way to maintain pools, with Oklahoma’s extreme weather that runs the gamut from soggy to drought, involves chemical balance and daily checkups to prevent algae buildup.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s coffers are reaping the benefits of soaring oil and gas prices, bringing in a record-breaking $171.2 million in gross production tax revenues in just a month.
Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester is the site of the state’s lethal injections of death row inmates.
None of the results from state and federal primary elections held last week in Northwest Oklahoma are being contested, election board officials said Tuesday after the board certified the election results.
Dwight Birdwell, left, accepts the Medal of Honor from President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, July 5, President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to four U.S. Army soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War, and one of them is from Adair County.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention details how to stay cool during extended periods of high temperatures.
For the last month, Oklahoma resident Katherine Kent has been raising funds for an expungement.
Melba (Pollock) Franks, of Duncan, holds a little plastic pin she received for volunteering several hours at the Ration Stamp Office in the 1940s in Duncan. The stamps, at this time, were traded in exchange for goods experiencing supply shortages as a result of WWII.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite nationwide pressure to overhaul gun regulations, many Oklahomans remain passionate defenders of their right to own firearms and ardent supporters of the Second Amendment.
Katherine Kent said although she went to prison, the person in the left photo isn’t who she is. It’s been over 10 years, and the girl on the left is all employers see when they do a background check, she said.
LEFT: Katherine Kent created Project One Eight Zero to help fund her expungement. She said she’d like to use this to help others too. RIGHT: Kent spent almost two days cooking ribs as a fundraiser to raise money for her expungement.
A clear sky. Low near 75F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..
A clear sky. Low near 75F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Advocates for the blind are celebrating a new law that adds blind Oklahomans to the list of people allowed to vote by electronic mail-in ballot.
Starting next July, advocates say that Oklahoma will become one of the first paper-ballot states in the nation to expand electronic voting access to blind residents. Some estimates indicate about 73,000 blind or visually impaired residents live in Oklahoma.
For nearly a decade, federal and state law has required the electronic delivery of absentee ballots for overseas active-duty military personnel and registered voters, and advocates for the blind have been pressing since 2019 to expand that option to them as well, said state Rep. Brian Hill, R-Mustang, who authored House Bill 1711.
“The great part is we’re not having to reinvent the wheel, and we’re adapting it to fit this medical need,” Hill said.
Hill said a constituent named Leah, who is both blind and paraplegic, first requested the bill. She told him that her parents currently have to fill out her ballot, and while she trusts them, she worries that future caregivers could change her vote without her knowledge.
“Something that I think each of us hold sacred is our right to vote and for our voice to be heard,” Hill said. “And so we really believed it was extremely important to find a way to keep a secure election process, but also secure Leah’s ability and right to vote.”
Still, Hill said it’s difficult to find a state that has a paper-based ballot system like Oklahoma that offers this type of service, so Oklahoma will be a pioneer in developing such a system for the blind.
Hill said blind voters will still be required to submit a paper copy of their ballot, but this will allow them to vote electronically and print it out, giving them the assurance that their vote is really their vote. They can also continue to vote in person if they wish.
“We feel that this is the first step for us to be truly voting independently,” said Jay Doudna, an Oklahoma City resident and member of the Oklahoma Council for the Blind.
Doudna said when the blind vote absentee now, someone has to help them because everything has to be filled out and put in a green envelope. He said by allowing electronic absentee balloting, blind Oklahomans can use a screen reader that reads the computer screen to them out loud.
“I haven’t talked with any blind person who’s not in favor of it,” Doudna said. “I think we feel this is something that’s moving the ball forward. It’s a step in the right direction.”
But he said advocates want to have input when the state Election Board begins the process of implementing the new system to ensure it’s truly accessible for the blind. He said he’s been encouraged so far by how well state election officials have worked with the state’s blind community while developing the legislation, and he anticipates that cooperation with continue.
Doudna said he has enough vision that he’s able to see the green absentee voter envelope and can use a magnifier to check the boxes. He also lives close enough to a post office mailbox and his polling location that he can walk.
But he said most blind Oklahomans have to find someone to drive them to the polls. And, when they get there, sometimes poll workers don’t know what to do with them. In-person voting machines read the ballot choices to the blind, but last time it took the machine 25 minutes to read through his entire ballot, he said.
Ashley Howard, a spokeswoman for NewView Oklahoma, said the group has been focused on public policy that would increase voting access. The nonprofit works to empower individuals to maximize opportunities for independence.
One of the first things blind individuals lose is their ability to drive, and there’s already a “big challenge” in terms of just getting to polling locations, Howard said. There’s also no accessibility for the blind under the current paper absentee ballot system.
“They require somebody else to read it to you, and really to help you fill it out,” she said. “And so when you think about the autonomy of casting a vote without somebody else essentially casting it for you or even being privy to who and how you’re voting, the autonomy that’s going to come with creating a more accessible system for these folks is huge. It’s a big deal, and hopefully, will improve and increase voter turnout, which would be wonderful.”
Paul Ziriax, the state election secretary, said the state Election Board will accept public bids for a system similar to the one the state currently uses for its overseas voters.
“Such a system would securely deliver the absentee ballots electronically, and allow blind voters to mark the ballot on their personal computer,” he said. “The law requires a marked ballot to be printed and returned by mail in the same manner as absentee ballots for physically incapacitated voters, which includes an absentee affidavit witnessed by two persons.”
Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhinews.com.
Glenna Mae Nance, 93, of Norman, passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on the evening of Wednesday, 20 July 2022. She was born in Noble, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, on 2 November 1928 to parents, Clarence Dillard Matlock, and Mary Elsie Turman, both of Tennessee. Glenna was precede…
Byron Ray Jacobson, Sr., 66, Norman, passed away 07/19/2022. Prayer Vigil will be at 6:30PM, Monday, 7/25, St. Andrew Catholic Church, 800 NW 5th St, Moore. Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00AM, Tuesday, 7/26, St. Andrew Catholic Church. www.tribute.care.
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