Oklahoma City Animal Shelter Remains Closed Following Infection Outbreak
Some of the diseases that led to the temporary closing of the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter have been identified.
Tests from 10% of the population of sick dogs at the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter have been identified as strep zoo, H3N2 influenza, and canine flu.
130 dogs at the shelter were diagnosed with infectious upper respiratory diseases when the shelter first closed on March 29. Since then, five dogs have died and more have been euthanized due to the severity of their illness.
According to a news release from the shelter, it will remain closed until further notice while all the dogs undergo antibiotic treatment.
In the meantime, the shelter is asking the community to try to provide temporary housing for stray animals and locate the owners of lost pets themselves. Dogs at the shelter cannot be adopted at this time, but lost pets can still be reclaimed by their owners.
Rogers State Announces New Nursing Program
Another university is expanding the number of nursing school slots in Oklahoma.
Rogers State University is partnering with St. Francis in Tulsa to offer a new bachelor’s of nursing program. Students will take their prerequisites on the Claremore campus, and then they’ll spend junior and senior year taking classes and undergoing training at the hospital.
In the fall, 16 students will be enrolled in the program, but the goal is for 32 students to graduate annually.
This announcement comes a few days after Oklahoma State University announced it would create a bachelor’s of nursing program on its campus and about a year after the University of Oklahoma announced it would expand its nursing program.
Civil Rights Curriculum Advances Through The Senate Education Committee
After an emotional hearing, a bill that would require the State Department of Education to develop certain civil rights curriculum advanced through the Senate Education Committee. The bill says it represents a “reaffirmation of the commitment of the people of this state to reject bigotry.”
House Bill 1397 directs state education officials to develop a stand-alone unit of curriculum on the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s. The measure outlines several curriculum objectives, like a focus on the nonviolent philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and genocides committed elsewhere around the world.
The measure comes from Adair Republican and former history teacher Rep. Michael Bergstrom.
"I grew up in a home with two parents that I loved and who loved me, but who were both bigots," said Bergstrom. "There were two things that helped me, that carried me to rise above and stand against the bigotry that existed in my home as a child and as a teenager — that was my Christian faith and the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We desperately need our children to think critically as he did. We need peacemakers to overcome bigotry."
The measure can now be heard on the Senate Floor.
Two Freedmen Descendants Seeking Citizenship
Two Freedmen Descendants got their first day in Muscogee Nation Court on Tuesday.
Rhonda Grayson and Jeff Kennedy appeared with their lawyer Demario Soloman Simmons seeking to get their citizenship.
More than a dozen supporters of the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band gathered outside the courthouse at the conclusion of the first day of proceedings.
The plaintiffs are seeking citizenship. Many Freedmen lost their citizenship after the Muscogee Nation's 1979 constitution stated that to be considered for tribal membership, you must be a by blood descendant of someone on the Dawes rolls.
Ron Graham is a Muscogee Freedmen descendant who sought citizenship more than 18 years ago and was denied.
He wants the case to get settled here-in Okmulgee-not at the federal level.
“I'd rather us settle our differences here at the Creek Nation. Because we are family. Freedman by blood-doesn't matter. We're one,” Graham said.
During the first day of the trial, the Freedmen's attorney argued they should be citizens because of an 1866 treaty Muscogee Nation signed with the federal government.
They argue the nation's 1979 constitution needs to reflect that.
Muscogee Nation attorney general Geri Wisner said that the citizenship review board followed the laws of the tribal nation when denying Grayson and Kennedy.
The trial is expected to last three days.
Festival Celebrates Native American Language and Cultural Heritage
Oklahomans gathered this week at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman to celebrate 20 years of Native American language learning.
Hundreds of student speakers and learners of native languages from Oklahoma and surrounding states were in Norman for the Oklahoma Native American Language Fair.
There’s storytelling, speeches and songs in a wide array of languages. There was also a fashion show called “Carrying Native Fashion Forward.”
Courtney Little Axe is a Cheyene-Arapaho designer. She’s sharing what inspires her to bring Native-owned businesses to the forefront of the alternative scene.
“That means don’t live a crazy, hurried life because it’s not a race. Slow down,” Little Axe said.
This was the 20th year of the festival.
_________________
For additional news throughout the day visit our website, KGOU.org and follow us on social media.
We also invite you to subscribe to the KGOU AM NewsBrief.