Federal Judge Grants OKC TV Station Access to State Education Board Meetings
An Oklahoma City TV station will be able to attend a state board of education meeting today. A federal judge granted KFOR a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Oklahoma’s State Department of Education to cover the meetings.
KFOR's lawsuit against the education department alleges the TV station’s reporters have been singled out and denied access to monthly public board meetings and press conferences held by State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
Courtney Corbello is the attorney representing the station. She addressed reporters outside the federal courthouse downtown.
"It's a pretty straightforward First Amendment issue. When the government opens up limited forums for reporters to then report from, they can't just use their unbridled discretion to figure out who they want there and who they don't," said Corbello.
The granted temporary restraining order and injunction means KFOR can attend the next state board of education meeting and be part of any gaggle of reporters that may bunch up around Walters after it.
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority To Widen Turner Turnpike, Add Service Plaza
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is set to widen a part of the Turner Turnpike and build a service plaza.
Becco Contractors was awarded a contract on Monday as part of the second phase of OTA’s Turner Turnpike service plaza modernization plan.
The $39 million contract includes one and a half miles of six-lane widening, realignment of westbound lanes and a new Stroud service plaza.
The OTA’s Lisa Shearer-Salim says the service plaza will have more semi-truck parking, buildings for Love’s TravelStop and McDonalds, as well as a tire center.
"Particularly for our trucking customers, this will be significant in that they’ll have faster, closer access to help if they have a tire problem or they need to pull over for their mandatory rest time," said Shearer-Salim.
Shearer-Salim says not only is the plan providing amenities but is also improving the safety of travelers with the realignment and widening.
OTA expects the second phase of the project to be completed early 2026.
Concerns Grow Over Party Breakdown in Voter Purge as Gov. Stitt Highlights Removals
Questions are swirling around the party breakdown of voters removed from Oklahoma rolls over the last few years after Gov. Kevin Stitt touted them.
Overall, the party breakdown of the purged voters roughly reflects the party breakdown of the state.
Of the more than 200,000 removed over the last two years, the most common reason was a change of address.
Inactivity is another reason for removal. And more than 80,000 were taken off the rolls for that.
Reporting by nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Voice reveals it’s in those removals where party affiliation is most likely to correlate with deletion from the rolls.
Democrats were removed for inactivity at a higher rate than they are represented in overall state data.
Pollsters tell Oklahoma Voice that’s likely due to the state’s closed primaries, which may disillusion Democratic and Independent voters when so many races are decided in GOP primaries.
Muscogee Nation Revives Legal Fight Over Hickory Ground in Federal Appeals Court
The Muscogee Nation’s battle with an Alabama tribe is back in federal court.
Appearing before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Georgia, attorneys representing the Muscogee Nation and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians presented their oral arguments over the reinstatement of an old lawsuit.
The Hickory Ground lawsuit was initiated in 2012 over the removal and improper handling of Muscogee remains and cultural objects from their resting place. It had been dismissed in 2021.
Muscogee Creek attorney Mary Katherine Nagle argues the case should be revived because the Poarch Band violated NAGPRA and subsequently federal law.
"The fact that the federal government, the Department of the Interior, put this land into trust in 1985 doesn't create an untouchable sphere over Hickory Ground where the officials can commit ongoing violations of federal law without any kind of accountability," said Nagle.
The Poarch Band attorney Mark Reeves refuted, saying the land was under their sovereign control.
"When United States took the land into trust for Poarch, it became part of Poarch’s sovereign territory, and Poarch's special sovereignty interests attached," said Reeves.
A response from the court could take months. In the meantime, both parties must wait.
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