Chris Polansky

Oklahoma ranks 50th in the nation for percent of COVID-19 test samples being sequenced to detect virus variants of concern, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

"Oklahoma has sequenced 0.18% of the positive tests that we've seen coming through on the state level," said Dr. Mary Clarke, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, on a Tuesday press briefing conducted virtually by the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition.

The 100 block of North Greenwood Avenue has been added to the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.

Juneteenth programming is underway in Tulsa and will run through the weekend.

A Thursday night block party on North Greenwood Avenue kicked off the Tulsa Juneteenth Festival.

"We want everyone in the city of Tulsa to really see what Juneteenth is all about," said Carmel Blumenberg, a festival organizer. "Let's celebrate together. Let's commemorate together. Let's remember together, and just have a good time."

The Oklahoma State Department of Health said Tuesday it will be able to extend the shelf life of 75,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that were set to expire at the end of this month due to a change in federal guidance.

"The 75,000 doses anticipated to expire in June will now be available for administration until August 7, with some of the lots expiring July 24," the department said in a news release.

The new Tulsa Transit circuit route serving north Tulsa will be free to ride effective Monday and lasting through the end of 2021.

Route 969, or the Workforce Express Network, "was developed to support and increase economic development in the North Tulsa area," the transit agency said in a news release. "Tulsa Transit is offering free fares June 21 through December 31 to help riders understand the route, the areas it serves and how it can help those who are in need of transportation."

A Green Country Christian summer camp is on hold and changing its public health protocols following a COVID-19 outbreak.

At least 25 staff members at the New Life Ranch Flint Valley camp in Colcord have tested positive, according to camp officials.

One camper at New Life Ranch's Frontier Cove camp in Adair has also tested positive, the camp said.

A Tulsa tradition and throngs of bicyclists return to the city Friday after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a cancellation in 2020.

Saint Francis Tulsa Tough is scheduled to kick off at 5:00 p.m. with a race through the Blue Dome district beginning at 3rd and Elgin.

Other races and rides are scheduled throughout the weekend, including longer and more leisurely "fondos" as well as a family-friendly "townie ride" beginning and ending Sunday afternoon at Cry Baby Hill, at the corner of 15th and Riverside.

A top doctor at OU Health said Thursday that their hospital system had no COVID-19 patients in their intensive care units one day this week.

"Which was the first time in a long time we had nobody in our ICUs with COVID-19," Dr. Dale Bratzler said in a video update. 

Bratzler also shared that after a winter season with an extremely low number of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), diagnoses of the latter are on the upswing among children.

A local nonprofit is reminding Tulsa County residents without air conditioning that they may be eligibile to receive a free window unit to help cool their homes.

The Tulsa Weather Coalition, an initiative of the Community Service Council, is accepting applications for the program, which was launched in 1980 following a summer of many heat-related deaths.

A top state health official said Thursday that the Oklahoma State Department of Health is not giving up on improving COVID-19 vaccination rates in the state after weeks of placing near the bottom in national rankings.

Members of the Tulsa City Council on Wednesday discussed possible actions they and the Tulsa Police Department can take to prevent or discourage illegal street racing on the Broken Arrow Expressway and other roadways across the city.

Councilor Kara Joy McKee sponsored the agenda item for the council's urban and economic development committee meeting in response to constituent complaints she said she has received and seen on social media.

The city of Tulsa has launched an online survey to solicit public input as officials design a new branding campaign for downtown.

"The new brand identity and messaging will seek to champion Downtown Tulsa locally and throughout the region as everyone’s neighborhood," the city said in a Tuesday news release. 

Maggie Hoey, assistant director of the Downtown Coordinating Council, said they hope to develop a marketing campaign that will resonate with locals and visitors alike.

Researchers said Tuesday that they have now uncovered 15 more burials in an Oaklawn Cemetery mass grave since an October test excavation revealed 12 in their search for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims, bringing the total to 27 presumed sets of remains with still more "very likely" to be discovered.

"We were able to then come back today and actually initiate the process of excavation on some of the individual burials," Dr. Kary Stackelbeck, Oklahoma's state archaeologist, said during a press briefing at the Tulsa Fire Museum adjacent to the cemetery.

The Tulsa Route 66 Commission this weekend launched "Shop 66 Saturdays," a program meant to boost business at establishments along the historic route's Tulsa portions by staging pop-up events, giveaways and discounts at participating businesses on the first Saturday of each month through the end of 2021.

Rhys Martin, who sits on the board of the Tulsa Route 66 Commission, said Saturday they hope the promotion inspires Tulsans and tourists alike.

A report from an national urban planning think tank recommends the portion of Interstate 244 that runs through Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood be torn down.

"This year marks the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, when Black Wall Street was first destroyed," the Congress for the New Urbanism writes in its annual "Freeways Without Futures" report.

With the national spotlight off Tulsa following substantial media coverage of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre centennial anniversary and President Joe Biden's visit to Greenwood to commemorate it, advocates for reparations for survivors and descendants say they aren't going anywhere.

The Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor representing the district that includes much of the historic Greenwood neighborhood destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre says he believes reparations are due to the attack's survivors and descendants.

Councilor Joe Deere welcomed attendees of the Black Wall Street Legacy Festival's main event on Sunday at the Oklahoma State University - Tulsa campus to the Cherokee Nation reservation.