OKC City Council Makes Official Commitment To Host Two 2028 Summer Olympic Sports
The Oklahoma City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday affirming the city’s commitment to the 2028 Summer Olympics.
That includes a guarantee that the city will host the canoe slalom and softball events.
If that doesn’t happen, the city will pay Olympic planning organization LA-28 more than $34 million.
Mayor David Holt said the promise is just another assurance of the city's investment.
“That is not a check we ever expect to write, but it is an amount of money we will have to set aside to back up our word,” Holt said.
Holt said the resolution was the City government’s first opportunity to officially make important commitments to its partners.
Oklahoma City confirmed last month it was selected to host the two sports competitions because Olympic host city Los Angeles doesn’t have existing facilities for those events.
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health Temporarily Restores COPES Funding In Tulsa
The state is temporarily restoring funding for mental health crisis services it recently revoked.
Tulsa’s COPES program is back on the state budget for a couple more months.
COPES clinicians work directly with police, firefighters and paramedics to respond to 911 calls involving mental health concerns in Tulsa.
Behavioral health professionals can step in during crises, easing the burden on first responders who don’t have the same training.
Since 2001, the Department of Mental Health has helped pay for those efforts.
Now, a $43 million shortfall in the department’s budget and a shifting funding landscape threaten the partnership.
The department said its support will only extend through June, and state mental health care providers and their clients say they are reeling.
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Ordered Back To Office Amid Parking Shortage
Employees of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality will have to return to work, even though their parking garage is unavailable.
The agency requested a new parking garage back in 2018 to replace an existing one built in the late 1950s. The project is expected to cost $16 million and be completed in late 2026.
When Gov. Kevin Stitt announced an executive order in February requiring state employees to work fully in person, the DEQ applied for an exemption until the new garage was complete. Early Monday morning, DEQ’s leadership team learned the exemption had been denied.
Department spokesperson Erin Hatfield said they’re already leasing almost 400 parking spaces and will need 88 more
Hatfield said the department’s work hasn’t been compromised by the hybrid schedule. And despite logistical challenges, she doesn’t believe it will be compromised by the return to office either.
Indigenous Language Fair In Norman Brings The Past To Life
Children gathered at the Sam Noble Museum this week to participate in the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair.
First graders singing in Comanche fill a Norman auditorium. It’s a language with only a handful of fluent speakers alive today.
Events like this language fair seek to preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages. The fair brought together students from across Oklahoma to compete in categories like singing, prayer and spoken word.
Hayden Cable works at Comanche Academy Charter School in Lawton. She didn’t take Comanche courses until high school, but working with young students helps her integrate the language into everyday life.
“It inspires me to want to speak Comanche outside of school too, so I use it in just my daily language,” Cable said.
Hannah Foye is one of Cable’s first-graders. Speaking in Comanche brings her closer to her ancestors.
“It makes our elders go back together,” Foye said.
The fair continues Tuesday with performances by middle and high school students.
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