The Oklahoma City Fire Department opened the state’s first Safe Haven Baby Box late last week.
Parents looking to surrender their infants up to 30 days old can now do so at Fire Station 21 in Oklahoma City. They can place the infant in a Safe Haven Baby Box, located on the northeastern exterior of the building, which will alert emergency personnel. The fire department says the surrendered infants will then be retrieved by local social services agencies.
Under the state’s Safe Haven laws, parents will not be prosecuted if the infant is unharmed.
The Safe Haven Baby Box program was founded in 2015 and operates in eleven other states, including neighboring Arkansas and New Mexico.
An Oklahoma judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
The Associated Press reports Judge Caroline Wall dismissed the case Friday, which aimed to force the city and others to compensate for the destruction of the once-thriving Black district known as Greenwood.
The lawsuit, filed by three survivors over the age of 100, was based on Oklahoma's public nuisance law, claiming that the racial violence and destruction of the massacre continue to impact the city today. The lawsuit argued the city and insurance companies never compensated victims for their losses.
The judge wrote in a brief that she was tossing the case based on arguments from the city, the regional chamber of commerce and other government agencies.
The dismissal of the case effectively ends the survivors' hopes for justice through legal means.
A former Canadian County elections official has pleaded guilty of failure to perform her duties.
County Elections Chief Wanda Armold admitted she did not complete a primary election audit in 2020.
Armold left more than 1,000 votes uncounted by failing to perform the audit.
The Yukon Progress reports that during a voluntary interview with law enforcement, Armold admitted the required audit wasn’t performed because it was a long election, and “everyone was tired.”
All the uncounted votes were from a precinct in Mustang.
The district attorney believes these votes would not have changed the election results.
In a plea agreement, 76-year-old Armold received a one year deferred sentence and a $1,272 fine—one dollar for each vote that went uncounted.
Armold will also pay a $30 victim’s compensation assessment and court costs.
Quapaw citizens went to the polls over the weekend (Saturday) and elected a new business committee chairwoman.
Wena Supernaw is now the new chairwoman of the Business Committee of the Quapaw Nation.
Supernaw was elected last year as the tribal nation's secretary treasurer but decided to throw her hat into the ring when former chairman Joseph Byrd resigned earlier this year after facing a recall. Supernaw won with 358 votes out of only 441 voters who participated in this election.
As chairwoman, Supernaw will lead the tribe with more than 3,000 members based in far Northeast Oklahoma.
Quapaw voters will head to the polls again in two weeks to elect a vacant council member seat and a new vice chairman.
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