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In The Know is your daily briefing on Oklahoma policy-related news. OK Policy encourages the support of Oklahoma’s state and local media, which are vital to an informed citizenry. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Some stories included here are behind paywall or require subscription. Subscribe to In The Know and see past editions.
State Government News
Sports betting legalization stalls again in the Oklahoma Legislature: Ongoing disagreements between the governor and the state’s tribes created a difficult path forward for Republicans’ latest hopes of legalizing sports betting, a top gaming official said. [Oklahoma Voice]
Federal Government News
Oklahoma’s federal lawmakers resist marijuana reclassification: The U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency have proposed a rule change to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana. But in a letter this week, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford and other lawmakers urged the DOJ to reconsider its proposal. [KOSU]
Tribal Nations News
Creek Freedmen allege ‘court packing’ ahead of historic Muscogee Nation hearing: Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons is challenging the constitutionality of an emergency bill passed by the Muscogee Nation and has accused the nation’s executive and legislative branches of “sham appointments” and “court packing” ahead of oral arguments for a Supreme Court case that will determine whether Muscogee Freedmen, the descendants of slaves owned by Muscogee people prior to 1866, are entitled to citizenship within the tribe. [NonDoc]
Feds say wind farm owes millions for turbines in Osage County; wind farm attorneys disagree: A federal judge says a wind farm must pay the Osage Nation for illegally mining on Osage land, but the court hasn’t decided how much. At closing arguments this week, federal prosecutors argued those damages are more than 500 times as much as the wind farm’s attorneys say it should owe. [KOSU]
Oklahoma tribal casinos contribute to record year in Indigenous gaming revenue: The Oklahoma City and Tulsa regions of Indigenous gaming totaled $6.8 billion in revenue last year, putting more money back into the tribes, government programs and charitable organizations. [KGOU]
Health News
Oklahoma Dental Foundation unveils 5 mobile dental clinics to provide free care statewide: The Oklahoma Dental Foundation is bringing five new mobile dental clinics to Oklahoma after receiving $5.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief money. [KGOU]
Criminal Justice News
Tulsa’s juvenile center on probation; judge to be replaced: Tulsa’s embattled juvenile justice center is on probation and the judge who oversees it may soon be replaced. Judge Kevin Gray has requested to give up his oversight of the county’s Family Center for Juvenile Justice following two months of intense scrutiny. In May, a civil rights lawsuit over conditions at the center was filed by more than 20 detained youth. [Public Radio Tulsa]
- Tulsa County juvenile detention facility back on probation [Tulsa World]
New Oklahoma County Jail soap opera hangs on a cliff: Oklahoma County lacks enough money to build the new jail voters approved two years ago, and it’s not even close. On another front, the county is throwing concern about optics aside in an effort to squash the City of Oklahoma City in court, claiming that constitutional sovereignty means a failed municipal zoning vote should not impede the jail’s construction. Meanwhile, Del City residents are circulating a petition to impanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of corruption against District 3 Commissioner Myles Davidson for his role in selecting the proposed new jail site. [NonDoc]
Economy & Business News
State of steak: Can one of Oklahoma’s most historic professions weather modern markets?: The humble beef cow is the mother of Oklahoma agriculture. Markets for cows and calves — and stockers, feeders, even old, worn-out bulls — are on a roll. Oklahoma beef cattle on the hoof were worth about $3.3 billion in January 2022, the most recent estimates, more than hogs and pigs, broilers, hay, winter wheat, cotton, corn and soybeans. [The Oklahoman]
Are bullets on your grocery list? Ammo vending machines debut in grocery stores: Shoppers at select grocery stores around the South can pick up something new: ammunition dispensed from a high-tech vending machine that contains a plentiful assortment of 12-gauge shotgun shells and 9mm rounds. The company behind the machines, American Rounds, has installed the dispensers in about 10 grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas. [USA Today]
- Ammunition vending machines in grocery stores? [Fox 25]
Education News
Walters chooses Project 2025 co-author, other conservative activists to draft social studies curriculum for Oklahoma public schools: Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced he has chosen an assortment of right-wing political activists, including the main co-author of the controversial ‘Project 2025’ plan, to “overhaul” Oklahoma’s current social studies curriculum standards, which Walters himself helped create. The announced “overhaul” has garnered Walters criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. [KFOR]
Editorial: Here’s a list of things State Superintendent Ryan Walters is not doing: Every week Oklahomans can expect State Superintendent Ryan Walters to offer up performative nonsense meant to cloud his governing failures. The creator of chaos feeds off the negative energy of division. Before getting into his latest politically based stunt, here’s a partial list of what Walters wants the public to ignore. [Editorial / Tulsa World]
Community News
We Shall Know Them By Their Deeds: Oklahoma, whose sovereignty was born of the deaths of indigenous peoples, wasted little time protecting the interests of white residents upon its founding in 1907. The state’s laws enforced legal segregation in the early 1900s, ensuring explicit social, education, civic and public accommodations boundaries between white and Black Oklahomans. [Oklahoma Eagle]
The Greenwood District Could Become The State’s First National Monument: On May 15, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) presented his bill, S. 3543, to establish a Black Wall Street National Monument in the Historic Greenwood District in Tulsa before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The bill is coauthored by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). [Oklahoma Eagle]
Bus rapid transit reached a milestone in NW OKC. What’s next for northeast, south OKC?: Oklahoma City’s taxpayer-funded bus rapid transit line plans continue moving forward in the city’s northeast and south sides as public transportation officials celebrate a significant milestone for its northwest corridor. [The Oklahoman]
Opini0n: Today’s Church is possessed by dogma, ideology and privilege. Time for an exorcism: The Gospel of Mark moves quickly. In just the first 20 verses, Jesus gets baptized and picks up some disciples. They immediately go to Capernaum, where the first thing Jesus did was go to the synagogue, which surely pleased his mama. By verse 25, he’s performed an exorcism, which usually gets most of our attention when we read Mark 1:21-28. But what we should know by now is that the miracle is never the point of the story. What is often overlooked is that before the exorcism, Jesus preached. [Rev. Lori Allen Walke / The Oklahoman]
Local Headlines
- Judge blocks non-binding vote on new Norman entertainment district [KGOU]
- Court ruling halts August election for Norman entertainment district TIF [Journal Record]
- New data center facilities may be coming to Stillwater [KOSU]
- New community mural spotlights North Tulsans [Oklahoma Eagle]
- 4-year-old accidentally shoots 5-year-old in Oklahoma City home, police say [The Oklahoman]
Quote of the Day
“Lives are truly at stake based on the sins of the past. The state drives the policy that fills the criminal justice system. The city drives the majority of the demand for the jail. The county is the child who is stuck figuring out how to bury a parent because they have to and no one else really wants to help. The problem has to get fixed, and the clock — unfortunately — is ticking. I don’t like the solutions, but I hate the consequences of inaction even more.”
-Community developer Sandino Thompson speaking about addressing issues with the Oklahoma County Jail that make it unsafe. [NonDoc]
Number of the Day
27%
Percentage of Oklahoma families with children under age 18 that have incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level and at least one parent worked 50 or more weeks during the previous year. [KIDS COUNT]
Policy Note
Reality Interrupts the Fever Dream of Income Tax Elimination in Kentucky: After authorizing automatic tax cuts in 2022 that would eventually eliminate their individual income tax, Kentucky policymakers are starting to face an inevitable reality. If the state eliminates its largest revenue source, lawmakers will have to choose between raising revenues or enacting crippling cuts to priorities like education and transportation. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
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