Air Travel In Oklahoma Sets Record In 2023
Airports in Tulsa and Oklahoma City had record levels of travelers last year.
Reports from Tulsa International Airport show passenger numbers for 2023 at the highest levels since 2008.
The airport finished with more than 3 million passengers last year, which is a high mark since nearly 3.3 million airport passengers went through the airport in 2008.
Will Rogers World Airport reported more than 4 million passengers in 2023 - also an increase to pre-pandemic levels.
This growth has led to new arrival advisories for passengers flying out of Oklahoma City.
Airport officials in OKC issued a statement earlier this month reminding travelers to arrive at the airport terminal two hours early year-round.
Officials say to expect delays in the terminal, especially for flights leaving early in the morning.
Update On Neosho River Flooding Areas
Federal regulators say the Grand River Dam Authority is responsible for decades of frequent flooding in Miami and other Northeastern Oklahoma towns along the Neosho River.
Miami and the GRDA have been in a legal fight for years.
In 2018, the city filed a complaint saying the agency’s dam operations at Grand Lake had repeatedly flooded 13,000 acres of land upstream.
Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined the city is right and ordered GRDA to purchase the land it has flooded.
Martin Lively lives in Miami and works with local environmental justice group LEAD Agency. He says this decision brings some relief for flood victims.
“There are so many folks who have been living with the burden of what it means to lose everything, and the added burden of wondering if that loss was preventable,” Lively said.
A GRDA spokesperson says “if the federal government is committed to providing flood control measures, we believe they need to provide adequate easements.
Oklahoma Voter Registrations Set Record
A record number of Oklahomans are registered to vote.
The Oklahoma State Election Board released a voter census last week.
The statistics show more than 2.3 million Oklahomans are on the voter rolls. That’s an increase of more than 200,000 compared to the last presidential election in 2020.
And like every year in recent memory, the steady growth of total voters is led by those registering as Republicans while the number of Democrats slowly declines.
The number of registered Independents and Libertarians is also steadily rising.
More than half of all registered voters in Oklahoma are Republicans.
Meanwhile, Democrats make up less than a third, with the remainder a combination of Libertarians and Independents.
Cherokee Nation Offers More Scholarships
The Cherokee Nation has approved additional financial support for its citizens pursuing higher education.
On Tuesday, Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. officially signed into law an additional $95,000 in merit scholarships for undergraduate students as part of the Comprehensive Cherokee Nation Education Act of 2024.
The funding would provide various scholarship opportunities for on-reservation students as well as those at-large through the Cherokee Nation Foundation.
Currently, funds are awarded with the promise of students fulfilling certain requirements in return, such as completing community service hours.
The new legislation would create new opportunities for students to complete these conditions, such as taking Cherokee language classes.
The new legislation is expected to take effect no later than the fall 2024 semester.
_________________
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.