Chris Polansky

A nonprofit established in the wake of the 2016 police killing of Tulsan Terence Crutcher is marking five years since his death this week with a series of commemorations and community events.

Democratic members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Tuesday announced proposed legislation to limit certain powers of the governor related to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, following Gov. Kevin Stitt's abrupt and still-unexplained removal of the only two physicians on its governing board earlier this month.

The Oklahoma Republican Party on Tuesday again urged followers to mount a pressure campaign on fellow Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt to oppose the resettlement of Afghan refugees in Oklahoma. 

Chairman John Bennett said in a Facebook video that he does not believe the federal government has properly vetted Afghans fleeing the Taliban who are being brought to the United States, despite the State Department's insistence to the contrary.

The office of Gov. Kevin Stitt Tuesday again declined to answer the question of why the governor removed the only two physicians from the Oklahoma Health Care Authority board earlier this month.

Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma is preparing to welcome and help resettle hundreds of Afghan refugees in Tulsa in the coming weeks and months, with the first arrivals possible within the coming days.

"We'll be welcoming those families very soon into our community," said Deacon Kevin Sartorius. He said they expect roughly 200 families for a total of about 800 individuals.

Each of the families has at least one member who aided the U.S. mission during the war in Afghanistan, Sartorius said, and all have been vetted and approved by the State Department.

The Oklahoma Republican Party on Saturday said the state should not welcome Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban rule following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In a video posted to the party's Facebook page, party chair John Bennett called on Oklahomans to speak up about the fact that they are anti-refugee.

"I encourage you to call and email the governor, call and email your legislators, and tell them: Do not allow Afghan refugees into Oklahoma," said Bennett, who, in addition to leading the state GOP, is also an Assembly of God preacher at a church in Muldrow. 

COVID-19 admissions are rising "exponentially" at the Children's Hospital at Saint Francis, doctors said Tuesday.

"You're going to see about a six and a half-time increase in hospitalizations" from the start of June through the end of August, said Dr. Travis Campbell, chair of the pediatrics department and the children's hospital, said during a virtual press briefing Tuesday afternoon. 

Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. emphasized his commitment to achieving "complete sovereignty" in his annual State of the Nation address on Saturday.

With Oklahoma hospitals reporting some patients dying waiting for care at over-capacity hospitals and some being transferred to facilities in farflung states like South Dakota and Idaho amid the current COVID surge, the state's top health official said Thursday he believes state hospitals have the ability to take on more patients than they are.

The mayor of Stillwater declared a state of emergency Thursday, saying the current surge in COVID cases had pushed the local hospital system to the brink.

"Our health professionals have incessantly warned us that we may reach the point when much-needed medical attention, COVID or non-COVID related, may not be available,” Mayor Will Joyce said in a news release. “We have now reached that critical threshold where our hospital no longer has available staffed beds and without each of us making necessary health changes, the trajectory is anticipated to continue declining.”

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin's whereabouts were unknown Tuesday evening after reportedly threatening embassy staff in Tajikistan while attempting to reach Afghanistan, according to the Washington Post.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said Monday that he still does not see a present need for a mandatory mask ordinance in the city.

"I'm going to have to have a lot greater sense of urgency from our health care systems than we have right now," Bynum said during a virtual press briefing. "And hopefully we don't get there."

The mayor noted that he supported and signed the previous mask order in July of 2020 due to local hospital leaders telling him it was essential to prevent the collapse of the health care system.

The city of Norman on Friday asked residents to help conserve water as a critical need for oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients in the region's hospitals has led to a reduction in the supply of oxygen available to municipal water agencies.

Oklahoma's top health official said Thursday that while he recognizes state government has outlawed school mask requirements, he does believe universal masking in schools would be ideal to keep students and staff safe from the growing threat of COVID-19.

"It's not a perfect world and that's not a possibility, so, I want everybody to wear a mask at school," Oklahoma State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye told Public Radio Tulsa during a virtual press briefing on Thursday when asked if he would ideally want schools to be able to enforce mask requirements.

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist announced in a letter to district families on Thursday that in response to a troublingly high level of COVID-19 transmission in the community, school officials are pursuing "a temporary strengthening of the mask expectation we have in place throughout our district."