Oklahoma’s State Superintendent Ryan Walters will no longer have a spot on Gov. Kevin Stitt’s cabinet.
Walters has courted controversy in his brief time running for and now occupying office.
That’s both for his rhetoric about transgender students and so-called woke teachers… and for drawing two salaries as an elected official and appointed cabinet member.
Now, that second job has come to an end.
With little fanfare Stitt announced he’d appoint OSU-Tulsa education professor Katherine Curry to Walters’ role on his cabinet.
Walters – who hadn’t yet been re-confirmed for his appointed job by the state senate – keeps his elected role as State Superintendent.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is running into a major roadblock on its 15-year, $5 billion ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike Project. As of Friday, all work will cease on the several ACCESS projects already underway.
The stoppage comes as several pending legal matters work their way through the courts, and there are a few: an alleged Open Meeting Act violation case, a case challenging the agency’s legislative authority to build in several areas, and an impending state investigative audit. Because of these, the OTA has been prevented from accessing the bond market to further fund the ACCESS projects.
The stoppage includes current work on the Turner Turnpike as well as other major ACCESS projects around the state the agency calls “high priority.” OTA says normal operations and maintenance won’t be affected by the stoppage.
OTA Executive Director Tim Gatz says despite the stoppage, the agency is still in a “strong financial position.” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond weighed in with a press release, saying the stoppage shows the investigative audit is “needed now more than ever.”
Members of the Not Invisible Act commission met at the Osage Casino in Tulsa Tuesday and heard from people who combat domestic violence, help survivors and are part of grassroots organizations to help families find their loved ones.
In 2021, there were 138 domestic violence related fatalities in the state of Oklahoma. Eighty six of those were indigenous," said Melody Ybarra, a domestic violence advocate for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She says Oklahoma isn't a safe place for Indigenous women.
During the listening session, four panelists shared their experiences and frustrations with a system they say is understaffed and under-resourced. Ybarra says there isn’t enough coordination.
"We've I've had another lady who say that she showed up to the police station in a small town in Oklahoma, and she said, my son's missing. I need to file a police report. And his comment was, 'What do you want me to do about it?' That's how she was approached," Ybarra said.
Panelists testified relationships between tribal and state law enforcement vary depending on the community. And without centralized information or communication, things slip through the cracks.
The commission’s next step includes creating a database to track missing and murdered Indigenous people that will help in finding and solving crimes.
The commission's next listening session is in Arizona.
A bill aiming to help Oklahoma attract more college athletes is advancing in the State Legislature.
Republican Senator Greg McCortney’s Senate Bill 840 would get rid of the requirement for Oklahoma student athletes wanting to profit off their name, image, or likeness to hire a registered sports agent or attorney to negotiate their contracts. Instead, any individual could negotiate for the student.
Proponents of the bill say it would help make Oklahoma’s college sports programs more competitive with programs in other states where there are no restrictions for student athletes to be compensated through NIL.
The bill was granted a conference on Tuesday after House amendments were rejected last week.
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