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Oklahoma City Ballet's Principal dancers Miki Kawamura and Alvin Tosvstogray are seen dancing onstage. — Oklahoma City Ballet

Oklahoma City Ballet’s Principal Dancer To Retire

After nine years with the Ballet, Miki Kawamura is stepping down as Principal dancer. She gives her final performances this weekend at the Civic Center in the company’s production of “La Sylphide.”

Oklahoma City residents ask questions at a town-hall meeting about a trio of proposals to close schools, consolidate operations and make other changes throughout the district. — Lenora LaVictoire / StateImpact Oklahoma

The ‘Trade-Ups’ And Trade-Offs Of Consolidating Oklahoma’s Largest School District

Mother Testifies On Son’s Mental Health In OKC Bomb Plot Trial

Trump Administration Proposes Sweeping Changes To Federal Family Planning Program

By Sarah McCammon • 12 hours ago

The Trump administration has issued its final draft of a rule that makes sweeping changes to Title X, the federal program that provides birth control and other reproductive health services to millions of low-income Americans.

Capitol Insider: A Conversation With Republican Senate Leader Greg Treat (Part 2)

By Caroline Halter • 14 hours ago

Oklahoma state Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, works in Oklahoma City. — Sue Ogrocki / AP

In this episode of Capitol Insider, Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat speaks with Dick Pryor about key issues in the 2019 legislative session, including Medicaid expansion and his proposal to increase government transparency. This is the second of a two part interview.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider, your weekly look inside Oklahoma politics and policy. I'm Dick Pryor. Our guest is Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, Republican from Oklahoma City. Good to have you with us.

Will State’s ‘Opportunity Zones’, Intended For The Poor, Benefit Mostly The Rich?

By Oklahoma Watch & Paul Monies • 18 hours ago

The Oklahoma City skyline is seen from Skydance Pedestrian Bridge on Feb. 20. — Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch

A new federal tax incentive to encourage long-term investments in low-income areas includes most of downtown Oklahoma City and Tulsa and other pockets of prosperity in the state, but excludes many areas that are impoverished.

World's Largest Bee Is Spotted For First Time In Decades

By Bill Chappell • Feb 21, 2019

Updated at 6:40 a.m. Friday

You might think the world's biggest bee would be easy to find. But that's not the case: Until recently, the last time anyone had reported seeing a Wallace's giant bee living in the wild was in 1981. That changed in January, when the rare bee was spotted on an island of Indonesia.

2020 State Revenue Slightly Less Than Expected

By Caroline Halter • Feb 21, 2019

Oklahoma State Capitol — LLudo / Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Oklahoma will have $574 million more to spend in fiscal year 2020, which begins in July. That’s 7.5 percent more than the current fiscal year, but half a percent less than estimates from Dec. Those estimates did not account for decreasing oil prices, which plunged nearly 40 percent from Oct. to Dec.

Arrested Coast Guard Officer Allegedly Planned Attack 'On A Scale Rarely Seen'

By Vanessa Romo • Feb 21, 2019

Editor's note: This story contains language that may be offensive to some readers.

Updated at 2:55 p.m. ET

A 49-year-old Coast Guard lieutenant charged with stockpiling weapons and drugs is being described as a "domestic terrorist" who was planning "to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland on Tuesday.

Government Continues Building Case In OKC Bomb Plot Trial

By Caroline Halter • Feb 20, 2019

Evidence clearly shows Jerry Varnell attempted to bomb the BancFirst building in downtown Oklahoma City on August 12, 2017, but his agency and wherewithal are in question.

House Democrats Plan Resolution Challenging Trump's Emergency Declaration

By Richard Gonzales • Feb 20, 2019

House Democrats plan to file a resolution Friday seeking to block President Trump's emergency declaration aimed at securing funds for building a border wall.

The "resolution of disapproval," led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, received the backing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a letter Wednesday to lawmakers in both parties.

The Power Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Anger

By Nell Greenfieldboyce • Feb 20, 2019

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was in high school, he won an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks. He and a beloved teacher were returning home in triumph, riding on a bus, when some white passengers got on. The white bus driver ordered King and his teacher to give up their seats, and cursed them. King wanted to stay seated, but his teacher urged him to obey the law. They had to stand in the aisle for the 90 miles back to Atlanta, Ga.

Supreme Court Limits Civil Asset Forfeiture, Rules Excessive Fines Apply To States

By Nina Totenberg • Feb 20, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the Constitution's ban on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, thus limiting their ability to use fines to raise revenue.

The court's decision, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was announced by her on her second day back at the court. Ginsburg missed in-person arguments at the court for the first time in her quarter century on the Supreme Court bench after undergoing surgery for lung cancer late last year.

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