AG Drummond Pushing For Justice In 40-Year-Old Murder Case
The state attorney general is pushing to proceed with this month's scheduled execution.
AG Gentner Drummond has asked the state Pardon and Parole Board to reject clemency for Richard Rojem Jr.
Rojem is scheduled to be put to death on June 27.
He was convicted and sentenced for the July 1984 kidnapping, rape and murder of his 7-year-old former stepdaughter, Layla Dawn Cummings, in Washita County.
A clemency hearing is set for June 17.
Eastern Oklahoma Sheriff Suspended for Embezzlement and Bribery Charges
A sheriff in eastern Oklahoma has been suspended after being accused of embezzlement and bribery.
A judge ordered the interim suspension of Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris.
Morris has been charged with two felonies and is accused of using his public office for his personal financial gain.
An independent prosecutor’s affidavit says Morris illegally sold his personal Polaris utility vehicle to the sheriff’s office for almost $30,000.
He has also been accused of negotiating free repairs for his Polaris UTV in exchange for letting an auto shop upcharge repairs for two Pittsburg County vehicles.
Morris denies any wrongdoing.
Morris has been the Pittsburg County sheriff for eight years and is running for reelection in the Republican primary on June 18th.
He is suspended until his removal trial which is scheduled to begin at the end of July.
Many Legislative Races Already Decided Before June Primary
Early voting for the June Primary starts this Thursday.
More than a third of the legislative offices on the June 18 ballot are already decided.
Fifty of the 127 seats up for grabs in the House and Senate have already been won. That accounts for 40% of legislative elections in Oklahoma this year.
And it’s too late for anyone to oppose those running for their district uncontested. The official candidate filing period ended back in early April.
Oklahoma is not the only state seeing some public office hopefuls—and people wanting to keep their elected positions—running without a contest.
States like Texas, Nebraska and Alabama are seeing similar trends, particularly in rural areas and in some cases to a greater degree.
The State Election Board says voters can cast ballots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Voting locations vary by county, and may be different than usual Election Day polling place.
The Primary Election is Tuesday, June 18.
Oklahoma Continues to Heat Up
For most of the last year, Oklahoma’s monthly temperatures have hovered above average.
Last week, EMSA issued the first heat alert in Oklahoma City after paramedics responded to five heat-related illness calls in one day.
May was a little less sweltering, with an average temperature of 71 degrees. But that was still 2.6 degrees higher than normal, making May the state’s ninth above-average month out of the last 10.
Oklahoma isn’t alone - the National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings and advisories for large swathes of the Southwest United States last week.
Data show that in May, atmospheric carbon dioxide reached its highest ever recorded levels in the Northern Hemisphere.
The period of 2022 to 2024 marks the largest two-year jump in carbon dioxide in history.
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