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PM NewsBrief: April 3, 2025

This is the KGOU PM NewsBrief for April 3, 2025.

Oklahoma Humanities Faces Significant Budget Cut

The Department of Government Efficiency has terminated funding for Oklahoma Humanities.

According to a news release from Oklahoma Humanities, which is Oklahoma’s state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, all 56 humanities councils across the country received notices that they would no longer be receiving general operating support grants from the federal agency at the direction of DOGE.

Caroline Lowery, the executive director of Oklahoma Humanities, said these funds account for about 75% of its annual operating budget.

“It will result in loss of programming to veteran centers, rural libraries, centers of incarceration, K-12 public schools,” Lowery said. "It will be a devastating loss to the preservation of Oklahoma’s stories and culture."

According to the news release, Oklahoma was one of the six states that participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities pilot program in 1971.

Since then, Oklahoma Humanities has distributed more than $42 million in federal funding to all 77 counties in the state.

Stitt Considers Eliminating State Forestry Service

Gov. Kevin Stitt is floating a plan to ax the state’s Forestry Service. The idea comes after he criticized the state’s response to fires that blazed across Oklahoma in March.

Stitt is requesting a full post-mortem on the fire response from his Secretaries of Agriculture and Public Safety.

In the meantime, he’s musing over the possibility of eliminating the state’s Forestry Services, which he says accounts for about a third of the budget for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

"Why do I even have a Department of Forestry? Let's just get rid of the whole thing," said Stitt. "I've saved $75 million for the taxpayers. Or let's take 50 million of that and let's give it to our local firefighters or our volunteer fire departments.”

Ultimately, state lawmakers have the authority to dissolve the Forestry Services, which were created by the legislature 100 years ago this month.

Potential Measles Exposure At Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health

The Oklahoma State Department of Health released a notice of a public measles exposure in Oklahoma City.

The potential exposure occurred between 6:15 and 10 p.m. on March 23rd at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health.

Locations listed within the hospital include the main entrance atrium, atrium elevators to the lower level and emergency department.

OSDH said if someone visited this location within the provided date and timeframe, and they are unvaccinated, unsure of their vaccine or immune status, or have concerns, they are encouraged to provide their name and contact information on a form available on its website.

A news release from OU Health said the hospital is taking swift action to address the recent exposure and strongly urges vaccination to protect Oklahoma children.

So far, at least ten measles cases have been reported in Oklahoma.

Report: Renewable Energy Outpaces Coal Generation In Oklahoma

National energy data show the country is winding down coal generation and replacing it with renewables.

Renewable energy from wind turbines and solar panels generated more electricity in the U.S. than coal last year, a first for the country since coal peaked in 2007.

A report from Ember, a global energy think tank, shows coal is at a historic low of 15% generation. Wind and solar energy produced 17% of the nation’s electricity.

The report states coal’s presence was three times larger in the U.S. in 2018 than wind and solar combined. Generation from solar rose by 27% last year, while wind increased by 7% and coal fell by 3%.

Oklahoma saw an increase in wind and solar generation, which makes up about 41% of its electricity. That’s according to information from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was used in the new report. Natural gas, the largest source of energy in the state, is also increasing.

The news comes as the state legislature considers a number of bills aiming to restrict the location of new wind turbines and solar projects.

In late March, Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, who introduced legislation that would introduce setback requirements for renewable projects, said Oklahoma needs energy generation from all sources, including coal.

“We have inexhaustible wind and more sunshine in our state than many, many of our surrounding states,” Dobrinski said. “It makes Oklahoma the prime target for these new types of facilities. We need new generation. We need all of the above. We need natural gas. We still have coal.”

“We have hydroelectric, wind and solar and we certainly need to be promoting and developing nuclear for our future,” he added.

Oklahoma has generated more renewable energy than coal since 2016, according to data from the EIA. At least one coal-fired power plant – the Northeastern Plant in Rogers County – is set to go offline by 2026.

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