Anna Pope

Viola Fletcher was 111 years old and still resided in Tulsa when she died Monday. She lived through the Tulsa Race Massacre as a child, which she said deeply scarred her and her family.

A recent survey shows farm income and borrowing power for crop producers are weak across the Great Plains, but the cattle industry has improved farm finances in some places, including Oklahoma.

The second Oklahoman in about 15 years has become president of National FFA, commonly called Future Farmers of America.

Although Congress voted to reopen the government, the long pause on funding for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, continues to drive up demand at Oklahoma food pantries even as some benefit recipients see partial payouts.

Although the federal government could reopen soon, Oklahomans continue seeking out food in their communities and likely will be for months. Anna Pope visited a Midwest City food pantry to see how people are weathering the shutdown.

For residents experiencing the effects of the federal government shutdown, the City of Tulsa is extending the utility grace period. This comes as Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt told CNN his city is working on a similar program due to the stalemate in Washington, D.C.

Oklahoma has set aside millions in emergency money for food banks as the nation's largest food aid program is in flux.

Federal judges are ordering the Trump Administration to use emergency funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also called SNAP. Shortly after the news broke, Oklahoma officials announced a vote to make millions of dollars available to food banks.

About 685,000 people in Oklahoma use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to purchase groceries.

As food benefits for hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans could be canceled Saturday, tribal nations are pulling together resources for people if their benefits run dry.