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PM NewsBrief: June 17, 2024

This is the KGOU PM NewsBrief for June 17, 2024.

Oklahoma Panel Denies Clemency For Man Convicted In 1984 Murder

A man convicted of killing a seven-year-old girl 40 years ago was denied a recommendation of clemency Monday.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted unanimously against recommending clemency for 66-year-old Richard Rojem.

He was convicted of the 1984 kidnapping, rape, and murder of his former stepdaughter, Layla Cummings.

Rojem claims he is innocent, and his attorneys argued he shouldn’t have been convicted since there was no DNA evidence linking him to the crime. However, prosecutors say there was other evidence linking him to the crime.

Rojem has been sentenced to death for the murder three separate times - his first two convictions were thrown out due to trial errors, and he was given the death penalty for the third time by a Custer County jury in 2007.

He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on June 27.

Statewide Primary Elections Set for Tuesday

Tuesday voters in all 77 Oklahoma counties will decide tax questions and vote in primaries for their local, State and Congressional representatives.

Every seat in Oklahoma’s House of Representatives is up for grabs, as well as a few State Senate seats. But some voters will see more races on their ballots than others.

That’s because 50 candidates for House and Senate districts across the state are running for office uncontested. They won’t be on the ballot now, nor in November. They’ve already won their races.

In addition, county commissioner races across the state are on alternating schedules year-to-year, so only some races in some counties will be shown on the ballot.

Three Republican incumbents in Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation have interparty challengers.

And a handful of Democrats vying for their deep-red districts as well.

The primary winners will advance to the General Election in November.

If none can get a majority, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff election in August.

Cherokee Nation Rejects A Constitutional Convention

There will not be a Cherokee Nation Constitutional Convention later this year.

With an overwhelming margin of “no,” Cherokee Nation citizens voted against a referendum calling for a constitutional convention in a special election.

The Cherokee Nation Election Commission reports the unofficial count stands at 1769 against and 777 for the proposal in 51 precincts.

If the referendum had passed, a special council would have been assembled later this year to review the Cherokee Constitution and potentially amend and redraft it.

Tribal nation leaders are required to ask citizens to consider re-drafting every 20 years.

Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., several other Cherokee leaders and former constitution reframers had publicly expressed their plans to vote ‘no,’ on the question leading up to the election.

New Camp Gets Kids Into Nature, Culture

Two Oklahoma tribal nations are shaping environmental education in a new way at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

A camp this summer combines nature conservation with cultural knowledge.

Dozens of Indigenous children packed into buses and vans recently, and headed out into nature for their camp hosted by the Comanche and Caddo nations.

Campers made medicinal tea, pinch pots and medicine bags. They also set up teepees and learned the uses of local plants.

Nick Plata is Comanche and the Environmental Education Specialist at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. He hopes the campers learned at least one thing about the earth.

“Because it’s so old, you have to respect it and protect it. That’s the number one thing in life about the earth, kids,” Plata said.

Camp organizers said they hope to influence many more Native youth for years to come.

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