Local & Regional

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The deputy director of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority will serve as interim director of the authority, officials announced Friday.

Kelly Williams replaces Travis Kirkpatrick, who was recently named deputy commissioner of prevention and preparedness at the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

Kirkpatrick, who will oversee the OMMA from his new position, chose Williams for the interim post. Kirkpatrick had been named director of the authority in January after serving as interim director for about three months.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Two Tulsa children whose bodies were found in waterways in May accidentally drowned, the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office ruled Friday.

Autopsy reports say both 3-year-old Miracle Crook and her 21-month-old brother, Tony Crook, drowned after being last seen on video holding hands and walking through an opening in a chain-link fence toward a rain-swollen creek that flows into the Arkansas River.

Miracle’s body was found in the river while Tony’s body was found in the creek.

One day after Gov. Kevin Stitt made conflicting statements regarding a planned visit from White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, no further clarity has emerged from Oklahoma City.

President Donald Trump announced the visit by Birx -- to provide "aggressive, tailored and targeted guidance" on handling the coronavirus -- in a Wednesday press conference.

At a press conference on Thursday, Stitt alternated between saying his office had invited Birx and that they hadn't. The governor said he didn't know what site or sites Birx wanted to visit.

The start date for Broken Arrow Public Schools has been pushed back from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3 as district officials keep an eye on local coronavirus infection rates and other data.

Pre-K's start has been delayed from Aug. 21 to Sept. 8.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Friday 854 new cases of COVID-19, raising the state's total number of confirmed cases to 42,255.

Tulsa County had 166 of Friday's cases, bringing its total to 10,135. Tulsa County became the second in the state to break 10,000 cases, one day after Oklahoma County did so.

Cleveland County, which has the state's third-highest case total, has 2,932 cases.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Four people arrested at a Tulsa campaign rally for President Donald Trump, including a Tulsa teacher and a Norman City Council member, pleaded not guilty Thursday to misdemeanor obstruction charges.

Tulsa Public Schools has reached out to Oklahoma's Congressional delegation and the Tulsa City Council to discuss their need for support for the district's nutrition programs.

In a Wednesday meeting of the Tulsa City Council's urban and economic development committee, TPS Superintendent Deborah Gist said that when schools abruptly closed to in-person learning in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, the district still managed to serve 1.5 million meals via deliveries and distributions. 

Oklahoma's senior United States senator said Thursday that allegations of ethics violations made by the state Democratic party were unfounded.

"Yet again, the only thing the Democrats can come up with are false attacks against me," Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in an emailed statement provided by a spokesperson for his reelection campaign. "They won’t distract me from doing my only job: protecting Oklahoma families from a radical liberal agenda.”

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Thursday 837 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 41,401.

Oklahoma County became the first county in the state to have more than 10,000 cases, as 163 new cases pushed its total to 10,113. Tulsa County had 227 new cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 9,969.

President Donald Trump announced that Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House's coronavirus task force, will visit Oklahoma next week on a tour of states "to deliver aggressive, tailored and targeted guidance."

The visit comes as Okla. Gov. Kevin Stitt is under scrutiny for declining to implement the task force's recommendations to combat the coronavirus.

A committee meeting of the Tulsa City Council held virtually on Wednesday grew tense at times as councilors discussed the "Black Lives Matter" mural on the street surface of a block of North Greenwood Avenue.

A consulting firm hired in 2019 by the City of Tulsa to develop a plan for a restructuring of downtown management has recommended the creation of a new, independent entity.

Representatives of Colorado-based Progressive Urban Management Associates, or PUMA, presented their strategic plan at a Tuesday virtual meeting of the Downtown Coordinating Council, a body that currently reports to, but only makes recommendations to, the mayor. Under the consultancy's plan, the DCC would be abolished and replaced.

Updated Aug. 6 2:10 p.m. to correct Tulsa County's seven-day average. 

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Wednesday 17 new deaths from COVID-19, the second-highest total to date.

One death happened in the past 24 hours. Two were men 50 to 64 years old. The rest were adults 65 or older. 

Two Tulsa County women were among the reported deaths, and the county's total increased to 103. Six deaths occurred in Oklahoma County, which leads the state with 107. COVID-19 has officially killed 583 Oklahomans since March 18.

Tulsa County continues to see "widespread virus" in the community, as delays in testing contribute to difficulties in properly responding to the pandemic, according the Tulsa Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart.

At a press conference Tuesday at Tulsa Police Department headquarters, Dart said that testing laboratories are "swamped," leading to numbers from the Oklahoma State Department of Health that may be less useful due to being dated.

It's he-said-they-said between Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and key stakeholders in the Greenwood District, as the conflict continues over whether or not the unauthorized "BLACK LIVES MATTER" mural on Greenwood Avenue can remain.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Tuesday 15 additional deaths from COVID-19, the most in a single day since April 21 and tied for third-most over the course of the pandemic.

One death happened in the past 24 hours. Nine of the 15 deaths reported Tuesday were adults 65 or older, four were adults between 50 and 64 years old, and two were adults between 18 and 35 years old.

None of the deaths was in Tulsa County. Four happened in Oklahoma County, which now leads the state with 102, one more than Tulsa.