Tornado, Severe Storms Leave Destruction In South Central Oklahoma
The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-1 tornado swept through Ada early Tuesday.
A preliminary damage survey shows the tornado was on the ground for nearly four miles.
News reports show damage to structures, homes and an elementary school.
Thousands of electric customers were left without power Tuesday morning, with the bulk of outages reported in Pontotoc County, with almost 7,000 outages.
The City of Ada warned residents of downed power lines, gas leaks and tree debris.
Republican Congressman Tom Cole said via social media he is monitoring the situation and will help ensure necessary assistance will be made available.
National Weather Service Faces Potential Closure Of Radar Center In Norman
The unofficial Department of Government Efficiency - or DOGE - is reportedly planning to terminate the lease of NOAA’s Radar Operations Center in Norman.
The Center keeps the federal government’s radars in working order. Those units have many purposes, but Oklahomans are likely most familiar with their weather-tracking capabilities.
DOGE’s so-called “Wall of Receipts” doesn’t tell us much.
Still, it says it’s terminating the lease of an 18,743 square-foot facility used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Norman. That information matches a lease for one of four buildings the Radar Operations Center uses.
Online news outlet Axios is reporting the Radar Operations Center is closing later this year, but it’s unclear where that information came from.
The Radar Operations Center, NOAA and University of Oklahoma (which owns the building) did not share any additional information.
This facility is one of 15 Oklahoma leases slated for termination on the “Wall of Receipts” as of March 4.
StateImpact’s Chloe Bennett-Steele contributed to this story.
Judge Throws Out Lawsuit Over Governor’s Return-To-Work Order
An Oklahoma County judge said a lawsuit to stop Governor Kevin Stitt's return-to-office order for state workers is without merit.
Oklahoma County Judge Brent Dishman dismissed Del City Democrat Andy Fugate’s lawsuit against Governor Kevin Stitt Monday, saying allowing the suit to proceed would cause chaos.
But Fugate said the governor’s powers need to be checked.
“Simply put, the governor doesn't have that authority. State employees work for the people of Oklahoma. They don't work for the governor making decisions about new employment conditions and authorizing expenditures for facilities and office equipment is the job of the legislature, not the governor,” Fugate said.
The Oklahoman newspaper reports Fugate’s attorneys are unsatisfied with the quick dismissal and are appealing the decision to the state supreme court.
Stitt praised the dismissal in a statement Monday afternoon, calling the lawsuit a “political stunt”and re-affirming his order to get state workers back in the office.
Federal Prisoner George Hanson Transferred To Oklahoma For Execution
A federal prisoner is back in Oklahoma so he can be executed.
State Attorney General Gentner Drummond requested the move.
Until recently, George John Hanson was incarcerated in a federal prison in Louisiana for a series of armed robberies committed in northeast Oklahoma.
He was set to spend the rest of his life there.
Then Hanson was prosecuted for another crime and added to Oklahoma’s death row for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of Mary Bowles.
He was scheduled to be executed, but the U.S. Bureau of Prisons under then-President Biden said he had to stay locked up where he was.
Under the new Trump administration, Drummond was able to change that.
The state Attorney General’s Office is expected to ask for Hanson to be executed this year, likely in June.
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