Oklahoma's Top Republican Weighs In On The Trump Indictment
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt says a New York Grand Jury's indictment against former President Donald Trump sets a dangerous precedent.
“It’s a dangerous, dangerous position for our country. This justice system, if they are going to go after political opponents. You know, I think Oklahoma and I think Americans are just disgusted by that,” Governor Stitt said.
Stitt made the remarks during a Friday news conference. The Republican has been a big supporter of the former president.
The grand jury’s indictment and Trump’s charges remain under seal.
D-A Alvin Bragg’s office told N-P-R they had contacted Trump’s attorney to “coordinate his surrender” for arraignment. That hearing is expected to take place next week.
Schools Superintendent No Show At Committee Hearing
State Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters claims Oklahoma public school libraries feature pornography.
So Republican Representative Mark McBride invited Walters to a committee meeting to provide support for his claims. But Walters did not show.
McBride invited Walters to Thursday’s meeting of the House Appropriations and Budget Education subcommittee, which McBride chairs.
In a letter sent to Walters earlier this week, McBride asked Walters to participate in a Q and A session with committee members, saying it was an opportunity for the Superintendent to answer the question, QUOTE, “What’s real and what’s not?”
At last week’s State Board of Education meeting, Walters presented sex scenes from books he says are available in Oklahoma school libraries.
“I don’t care if this was just in one classroom in the state, that is inappropriate for any child in the state of Oklahoma to have in their school libraries. Parents are under attack,” Walters said.
But despite the fact Walters was at the Capitol for a school choice rally that ended half an hour before the scheduled meeting, his assistant told media he wouldn’t attend.
McBride canceled the meeting and gave Walters ten days to appear before the committee.
The state health department reports that there are 43 more COVID-19 fatalities in the last week, bringing Oklahoma’s Provisional Death Count to 18-thousand-108.
In its weekly update, the Health Department reports more than 26-hundred new positive tests for the Coronavirus since March 23rd.
The number of active cases is down to fewer than four thousand. The agency also reports 187 COVID-19 patients in Oklahoma hospital beds... including 36 in intensive care and 17 children.
Tulsa Public Hearing Planned to Address Indigenous Women Crime Victims
Indigenous women are three times more likely to be victims of violent crime than non-native women.
A federal commission is working to change that.
The Department of the Interior and the Justice Department are leading efforts to implement The Not Invisible Act.
The 2020 law was authored by then New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland.
The goal: better coordinate federal, state and local authorities when a Native person goes missing. Oftentime, jurisdictional gaps exist that make it hard to investigate cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people.
Part of the commission's work includes holding listening sessions to get input from voices across the country.
The commission's first stop will be in Tulsa at the Osage Casino Hotel on April 11th. It will then head to Alaska and Arizona.
A national hearing involving the commission will take place this summer
An Oklahoman Is Living His Dream on American Idol
An Oklahoman is competing on American Idol.
PJAE was raised in Lawton, Oklahoma. He credits Lawton and local mentors for shaping his love of music.
“I think growing up in Lawton really helped nourish a love for music, especially mentors and people in my life at the time I was really involved with the church and you know they allowed me to become a worship leader and sing on stage and that’s where I think that love started to develop,” PJAE said.
PJAE says he hopes his story inspires others from small towns to follow their dreams.
“I would love to give back to Oklahoma and my town just in general, because if anyone can look at my journey and see, draw inspiration from it, and see that being from a small town or being from a place like Oklahoma, you can still do something like this and be successful at it regardless of what that succession looks like,” he said.
PJAE says while he’s not sure what his career looks like after American Idol, there’s a few things he’d like to do, including touring around Oklahoma to get his career started.
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