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PM NewsBrief: Aug. 22, 2022

This is the KGOU PM NewsBrief for Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.

Coddingtom victim speaks out

A former robbery victim of James Coddington is asking Gov. Kevin Stitt to spare the death row inmate’s life.

Trisha Allen was an overnight gas station cashier in Oklahoma City about 25 years ago when she says Coddington entered the store with a knife around 5 a.m.

During the brief robbery of the register, Coddington almost hurt Allen with the weapon.

"At some point he lunged forward to try to stab me, but I stepped backwards and the knife had slipped off of my name tag," said Allen.

Allen emptied the register and wasn’t hurt. Coddington went on to murder 73-year-old Albert Hale in Hale’s Choctaw home. Allen, now a registered nurse in Yukon, said she’s always thought of Coddington as more of a lost soul.

After talking to him on the phone, she made a video last week delivered to Stitt through Coddington’s attorney. Allen said Coddington could serve other inmates since he’s already taught her to stop and think.

Stitt is considering clemency for Coddington after the state parole board recommended it. Coddington is still scheduled for execution Thursday.

FEMA seeks public comments on updated Flood Insurance Rate maps

FEMA is seeking public comments from Moore and Oklahoma City residents on updated Flood Insurance Rate maps.

The comment period began Friday and continues until November 16. Residents can submit appeals if they think the modeling or data used are incorrect, but that appeal must include technical information like hydraulic or hydrologic data to support the claim.

Flood maps show a community’s risk of flooding through outlining flood zones, floodplain boundaries and elevation. These maps are used by property owners, insurance agents and lenders to determine flood insurance requirements and policy costs. The maps are updated regularly to reflect changes in flooding risks over time due to climate change or other factors.

To find out more about flood mapping and for cost-saving options for residents in newly mapped, high-risk flood zones, visit floodsmart.gov.

Jim Thorpe book discussion to be held in Oklahoma City on Tuesday

The author of a new book about the life of Oklahoma native and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe will be in Oklahoma City Tuesday evening.

The book chronicles Thorpe's life as an exceptional athlete who played baseball, football, his struggle against racism, his time at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania and the controversy over his medals being rescinded after the 1912 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee recently reinstated Thorpe's medals after years of pressure by family, advocates and fellow athletes.

Thorpe was a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation and was born near Prague with the name Bright Path.

New York Times bestselling author David Maraniss wrote the book Path Lit by Lightning. He’ll discuss it with Justin Lenhart, the curator of the Jim Thorpe Museum at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

More information on the event is available at fullcirclebooks.com
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