Tulsa County has received an emergency declaration for the severe storm that’s knocked out power for much of the metro area, thanks to Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat.
Treat signed the emergency declaration Tuesday because Gov. Kevin Stitt and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell were out of state and thus could not sign the order, per state law. The declaration allows for Tulsa County and its municipalities to be federally reimbursed if they meet the FEMA threshold for damage.
At a news conference yesterday Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum said he’s confident the state will meet the threshold from the storm, which initially knocked out power for more than 160,000 Public Service Company customers. More than 100,000 customers are still without power as of early Wednesday morning.
The declaration assists a total of 10 Oklahoma counties.
Gov. Kevin Stitt is hoping for a lawsuit against the state for its charter school policies.
Stitt sees a legal challenge as an “open invitation” for advancing religious charter schools in Oklahoma.
Senate Bill 516 dissolved the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board and created an overall Statewide Charter School Board for virtual and in-person schools.
It was signed into law the same day the board voted to approve the application for the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, which would be the country’s first publicly funded religious school.
Stitt would like to see the current policy, which forbids schools from being affiliated with a religious institution, overturned.
In his signing statement, Stitt highlights the bill’s severability clause, which allows parts of the law to be overturned through the courts without impacting the rest of the law’s provisions.
Stitt’s position aligns with former Attorney General John O Connor, who wrote last year recent Supreme Court decisions have shown nonsectarian requirements are unconstitutional.
Current Attorney General Gentner Drummond, however, disagrees and calls the push for publicly funded religious schools a misuse of the concept of religious liberty and a “means to justify state-funded religion.
New Bus Rapid Transit routes are coming to Oklahoma City and EMBARK officials are looking for feedback on preliminary plans.
Planning to expand EMBARK’s bus rapid transit service south and northeast is underway. The rapid transit routes would offer a more frequent bus option. It is part of the larger, yearslong MAPS 4 city improvement project.
Throughout June, OKC has organized feedback open houses and pop-up listening sessions around the proposed new corridors.
David Todd is the MAPS Program Manager, and oversees projects like EMBARK’s bus rapid transit system, funded by the city’s temporary sales tax.
“While we’ve had really good response, I think that we can always have more," said Todd.
MAPS 4 planners estimate the northeast and south rapid bus lines will be running in 2028 and 2029.
Another bus rapid transit line, set to run in Northwest Oklahoma City, will be up this fall.
It’s the end of a special season for the Oral Roberts baseball team.
The TCU Horned Frogs eliminated the Golden Eagles from the Men’s College World Series Tuesday by a score of 6 to 1.
ORU coach Ryan Folmar says it was a historic season for the program.
“You know, obviously not the way we want it to end, but a little bit bittersweet in the fact that it does end in Omaha. I think, if it’s ever going to end, this is where you want it to end," said Folmar.
It was ORU’s second appearance in the series, and its first since 1978. The team finishes the season with a Summit League Championship and a record of 52 wins and 14 losses.
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