A Tulsa area school district is facing its second consecutive day of bomb threats. The threats are a reaction to an elementary librarian’s back-to-school TikTok video.
A Union Public Schools librarian is also dealing with bomb threats at her residence. The librarian posted a satirical video last week on TikTok saying she wasn’t finished pushing her woke agenda, and that her agenda is teaching kids to love books and be kind.
The video was then shared by a far-right TikTok account Monday evening, leaving out the caption about teaching kids to love books and be kind, and adding a picture of the librarian’s school bio, underlining a section that says she has a passion for teaching with an emphasis on social justice.
Tuesday morning, the librarian’s elementary school had to delay its starting time due to a bomb threat. That morning, State Superintendent Ryan Walters reposted the altered video, saying, “Woke ideology is real and I am here to stop it.” It is unclear if Walters knew of the initial bomb threat before posting.
Another bomb threat for the school and the librarian’s residence came on Wednesday morning with the instructions to , “stop pushing this woke ideology or we will bomb every school in the Union district.” Despite the two threats, Walters’ repost of the altered video remains up.
StateImpact asked for comment from Walters’ office on the bomb threats. We have not received an answer.
The Tulsa School Board unanimously approves a separation agreement with its superintendent.
According to the Tulsa World, the mutual separation agreement with Deborah Gist came last night after almost 90 minutes in executive session.
The board also named Chief Learning Officer Ebony Johnson as interim superintendent effective Sept. 16.
Gist says she’s leaving to avoid a downgrade in the district’s accreditation which the State Board of Education plans to vote on this morning.
As the extreme heat continues across Oklahoma, it not only poses a threat to humans, but also cattle.
According to the Oklahoma Mesonet’s cattle comfort monitor we're in the “danger zone.”
OSU Livestock Specialist Earl Ward says the extreme heat has cattle eating less, and producers are having to keep a sharp eye on water levels.
"We’re checking water troughs. Normally, say, a water trough would last you two days, they’re drinking it within a day right now," said Ward.
According to Ward, normal beef cattle consume around 15 gallons of water a day, but now it’s more like 30-40 gallons. Adequate shade remains top of mind too.
The extreme temperatures are also affecting other facets of the farm.
"The heat stress on the bulls could impact your fertility rates," said Ward. "So, if you’ve got bulls turned out on cows right now there’s a really good chance that you might see a lull in activity."
And pests, particularly flies, are rampant right now from the heat.
Ward says he and other producers are keeping their fingers crossed for cooler temperatures in the forecast.
Oklahoma State University has covered windows on two of its biggest buildings with polka dots. It’s to protect birds who might otherwise fly into the broad reflective surfaces.
Up to a billion birds die each year after flying into windows. That’s according to research from Scott Loss, who’s studied bird collisions across the country and on OSU’s campus.
"Some of the species that fly with buildings here in town and on campus and around Oklahoma are in really steep decline," said Loss.
As you’d expect, lots of birds die from hitting dazzling glass skyscrapers. But Loss says we shouldn’t underestimate how much smaller buildings contribute to the death toll.
"We have hundreds of millions of individual residences in this country. And even if each of those only kills one or two birds per year on average, it adds up." Loss said.
As part of a project spearheaded by Loss and his colleague Tim O’Connell, OSU paid $78,000 to cover its most collision-prone windows in a dotted film that lets birds know there’s a hard surface there.
The researchers say bird lovers with smaller windows and smaller budgets can add decals or paint dots in a two-by-two-inch grid to the outside of a problem window.
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