Warrior up rally
Prospective Native voters gathered at the First Americans museum in Oklahoma City to listen to stump speeches. It’s part of an effort to get Indigenous people to turn out for mid-term elections.
Political candidates, Native actors and comedians also took the stage at the Warrior Up rally aimed at educating Native voters in the state about who's running for office and encouraging them to show up at the ballot box in less than two weeks.
Amanda Williams, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, was there with her dad, who is an elder in the tribe
"Never in my 36 years of life has he ever shown an interest in statewide politics and he called me yesterday and said, 'we need to go see Joy Hofmesiter at the FIrst Americans Museum at 7pm.' So I did the only thing I've ever done politically with my dad and brought him out here."
During recent election cycles, analysts credited Native voters for swinging races in Wisconsin and Arizona.
Indigenous people didn’t gain the right to vote until the 1960s and still have a registration and participation rate that is below other groups.
Oklahoma's Labor Commissioner race
Candidates vying for Oklahoma’s Labor Commissioner would oversee workplace rights and safety issues in the state.
Incumbent Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn is the Republican candidate for the race — if re-elected, she says she’d extend efforts to educate high school students on skilled workforce jobs, like electricians or plumbers, to fill labor shortages.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Jack Henderson says he’d work towards getting rid of Oklahoma’s “right-to-work” law if he were elected.
Henderson was a Tulsa city councilor for 12 years until he lost his race for re-election in 2016.
Libertarian candidate Will Daugherty is currently his party’s state Chairman… he says he’d like to get rid of occupational licensing fees for businesses until they make a profit.
Oklahomans will determine who will head the state’s Department of Labor during the general election on Nov. 8.
Learn more about what's on the Nov. 8th general election ballot in our online Voter Guide.
EPA awards nearly $30 million to Oklahoma school districts for new cleaner school buses
Several Oklahoma school districts have been awarded federal money to purchase new school buses as part of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.
The grants, totaling $29 million, will enable nearly 20 Oklahoma school districts to purchase new clean school buses as part of the Biden Administration’s plan to accelerate the transition to zero emissions vehicles.
Districts who received money include: Chickasha, Tulsa, Shawnee and Clinton among 14 others. Those districts can now purchase new buses and eligible infrastructure.
The funding is part of $1 billion spread across some 400 school districts in all 50 states. The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program prioritizes low-income, rural and Tribal communities. The initiative promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money for school districts.
Tulsa police supervisor placed on restricted duty for making inappropriate comments
A Tulsa police supervisor was placed on restricted duty for making inappropriate comments during a Citizen Police Academy session.
A police supervisor for Tulsa’s Citizen Police Academy was placed on restricted duty after a recording of him using an ableist slur and making inappropriate comments about the 2020 George Floyd protests in Tulsa during a session surfaced earlier this week.
The sergeant, who the Tulsa Police Department is not naming due to an ongoing investigation of the incident, made comments that suggested he enjoyed using force against protesters.
Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin tweeted he was “deeply disappointed” in the sergeant’s comments.
The audio surfaced after a person present for the session sent a recording to The Frontier because the comments made them uncomfortable.
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