Oklahoma public utilities respond to winter weather
Oklahoma City street crews are working around the clock to keep roads in good condition during this wintry weather. The city has about 100 people working to treat the roads. Drivers are advised to keep a safe distance from plows and salt trucks and be prepared with a plan in case they get in their car.
Additionally, Oklahoma Gas and Electric is prepared to keep power up and running for their customers during this winter storm. The utility company says they have deployed personnel and resources to the impacted areas of the state. Customers are advised to have a plan in case of power loss. Outages can be reported through OG&E’s app, website, or by texting "OUT" to 32001.
Sooner Alums in Super Bowl
The Super Bowl 57 matchup is all set with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs taking care of business in their respective NFL Championship Rounds. And there will be no shortage of O-U football alumni playing in the big game.
Former Sooner Quarterback Jalen Hurts now commands the Eagles offense and according to Sports Illustrated’s Josh Calloway, he is the youngest QB in Philadelphia franchise history to lead his team to the Super Bowl at just 24 years old.
Protecting Hurts will be 2013 first round pick Lane Johnson on the offensive line. For the AFC champion Chiefs, 4 former Sooners will participate including Lineman Orlando Brown and Creed Humphrey, TE Blake Bell, and Long Snapper James Winchester.
In total, OU’s 6 players are the most out of any college football program in the country. Super Bowl 57 will be played in Phoenix on February 12th with game time at 5:30 p.m.
OKC County Jail inmate death
The Oklahoma City County Jail has recorded its first inmate death of this year. The Oklahoman newspaper reports 26-year old Isiah Mitchell was found dead in the county jail on Monday. He was arrested Friday for riding a bicycle the wrong way on a street. Mitchell was found hanging in his cell at around midnight during a routine check and was pronounced dead at a hospital later that morning.
This marks the second inmate death since the interim administrator, Maj. Brandi Garner, took over last month. Former jail administrator, Greg Williams, resigned amid criticism over the high death toll at the jail. Garner has pledged to make reducing jail deaths her main focus.
Oklahoma's attorney general announces lawsuit against federal health officials
Oklahoma’s new attorney general is suing the Biden Administration. StateImpact’s Catherine Sweeney reports the lawsuit echoes Former President Donald Trump’s ire toward a global public health agency.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced a lawsuit against federal health officials on Monday. It alleges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is giving too much power to the World Health Organization.
It focuses on a section of federal law that explains what the department is supposed to do when there’s a threat of communicable disease. It lays out what “public health emergency” means. A few of the criteria rely on the WHO declaring a threat bad enough to cause international concern.
Drummond argues that means the WHO is deciding for the country, and that threatens America’s sovereignty. The federal government argues that the section just gives insight into the department’s decision-making process.
Trump was a vocal WHO critic, and threatened to pull the country’s share of the agency’s funding — $400 million annually — arguing that it bungled its COVID response and it has too close of a relationship with China. Drummond makes similar statements in his press release.
Cherokee Nation pushes for Congressional delegate
Yesterday, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. sent a letter to House leadership on both sides requesting they seat the Cherokee Nation’s Delegate to Congress following last November’s House Rules Committee hearing on the matter.
In the letter, Hoskin Jr. said seating the delegate is not a "Democrat or Republican" issue but something the United States promised when it ratified the treaty forcing the removal of the Cherokees from their homelands. Last year's push by the Cherokee Nation to seat their delegate gained traction, but the Congressional session ended without action on the issue.
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