July kept Oklahoma City firefighters busy responding to grass fires
Fire officials said the department responded to 324 grass fires last month.
Benny Fulkerson with the Oklahoma City Fire Department told KOCO that July had the highest number of grass fires they’ve responded to, according to data going back twelve years.
With more hot weather and little rain in the forecast, officials say August could be just as busy with the potential for more grass fires.
Oklahomans' access to abortion in Kansas
Kansans voted to protect abortion rights Tuesday. The vote ensures another of Oklahoma’s neighboring states can still perform the procedure.
Kansas voters spiked a constitutional amendment that would have allowed abortion bans. The opposition won with more than 58%.
Abortion has been illegal in Oklahoma since this spring, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Louisiana have all banned abortion as well. Colorado and New Mexico were certain to continue offering the procedure, but Kansas was in the air given the vote.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains serves Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri. Its president, Emily Wales, says while Oklahomans and other patients can still go to Kansas for care, they might not be able to get an appointment.
"At the end of the day, Kansas still only has five places in the state where you can access abortion. We are happy to serve every patient who needs us, but we are realistic that there is more need than we can provide at this time," said Wales.
Oklahoma lawmakers tried to put a similar vote on the ballot here, but the measure never got its final hearing before the House of Representatives.
Death row inmate James Coddington recommended for clemency
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency to death row inmate James Coddington.
Coddington’s attorney opened the hearing by recounting the many ways Coddington was abused and neglected in his childhood, including being given alcohol as a baby and cocaine as an 11-year-old by family members.
Representatives from the State Attorney General’s Office argued that didn’t matter.
They pointed out Coddington committed a string of robberies before the murder.
Two of Hale’s children and a grandchild also joined the hearing via Zoom to request the Pardon and Parole Board not recommend clemency.
Coddington himself joined to say he feels remorse for his actions and has worked to improve himself while in prison over the last 25 years.
Though the board ultimately decided to recommend clemency, the final decision will fall to Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Coddington is on death row for the 1997 murder of his friend Albert Troy Hale in Choctaw.
Oklahoma’s sales tax weekend
The first weekend in August is a sales tax holiday in Oklahoma.
That means people can buy an article of clothing that’s under $100 and have any state or local sales taxes waived Friday through Sunday.
Sales tax holidays are popular across the country, and proponents say they provide relief for working families as they gear up for the school year.
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