Bidding Deadline for Classroom Bibles Passes
The deadline for bids to supply Bibles to Oklahoma classrooms passed on Monday.
The Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services will now review the bids and hand them over to the State Department of Education, where a three-person panel will choose the winning publisher.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters said he is not involved in the selection process.
The winning publisher will have one year to deliver the King James Version of the Bible along with the required historical U.S. documents.
This comes as Walters faces a lawsuit from 32 Oklahomans seeking to block the Bible mandate.
Report: Oklahoma’s School Choice Program Faces Barriers to Student Access
A new report says Oklahoma’s new School Choice Program has barriers to student access.
A think tank out of Georgetown University compares school choice programs across eight states. It found those who cannot afford private school without a tax credit are at a disadvantage.
In an interview with the Tulsa World newspaper, FutureEd identifies unique features about Oklahoma’s new tax credit program that contributed to disparities and lax surveillance.
For instance, students must already be enrolled in a school to apply for the tax credit, every state but Oklahoma and Arizona require academic assessments of participating students, and there's very limited information on school choice programs.
Oklahoma is set to spend 600 million dollars in the first three years of the new program to cover tuition and fees.
Oklahoma City Draws Water from Lake Canton
Water is being drawn from a northwest Oklahoma lake to replenish Oklahoma’s City’s main source of drinking water.
Starting Tuesday, water will begin flowing out of Lake Canton to replenish Lake Hefner.
Lake Hefner’s levels have dropped due to a long stretch of warm, dry weather. Officials plan to draw 16,000 acre-feet of water over three to five days.
This marks the first release from Lake Canton this year. The last time was in 2022.
After the release, Canton’s water levels are expected to drop by about three feet.
First National Bank of Lindsay Closed Amid Fraud Findings
A federal agency closed the First National Bank of Lindsay in South-Central Oklahoma. Officials say they found false and deceptive bank records.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also notes it found other information suggesting fraud, that it was in an unsafe condition to do business and the bank’s assets were less than its obligations to its creditors.
After this move, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced First Bank & Trust Co. Duncan will take over the bank’s insured deposits.
FDIC officials say those protections are still in place for accounts at the Lindsay bank.
People will have access to their insured deposits there. Officials say checks drawn on the bank will be processed and loan customers should make their usual payments.
U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Oklahoma's Challenge To EPA Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Oklahoma's challenge to an EPA rule that shifts some air pollution lawsuits to a Washington, D.C. court, away from regional courts.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the decision, calling the EPA's rejection of the state's ozone plan an act of federal over reach.
Drummond argues that the Biden Administration imposed a burdensome, one-size-fits-all plan instead of working with Oklahoma’s Department of Environmental Quality.
Last spring, Drummond sued the EPA over its rejection of the state's "Good Neighbor Plan" for ozone emissions.
In June, the Supreme Court blocked the EPA rule from taking effect while the case worked through the courts.
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