Local & Regional

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Friday 917 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 427,558.

Tulsa County had 102 of Friday's cases. Its total now stands at 71,329, second to Oklahoma County's 81,462.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, rose from 641 to 648. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13. It has remained under 1,000 since Feb. 19.

Tulsa County's seven-day average fell from 92 to 87, its lowest point since June 18. The record is 647, set Jan. 9.

Tulsa Public Schools officials this week announced a bevy of expanded initiatives meant to support students as the district looks ahead at a post-pandemic world.

“As we shift into post-COVID teaching and learning, we have an exciting opportunity to think differently about the ways that we serve and support Tulsa children and families,” TPS Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist said in a Thursday statement.

Oklahoma U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a late Thursday statement expressing strong disapproval of a request from the U.S. Capitol Police to keep thousands of National Guard troops stationed there to continue defending the building after January's deadly insurrection.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma man was sentenced to more than three years in prison for illegally smuggling firearms to the Middle East to help fight the Islamic State there, according to federal prosecutors.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma City Zoo employee was sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to trafficking stolen Galapagos tortoise hatchlings, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Health care and public health experts predict the disease caused by the novel coronavirus may end up being a cause of death for Oklahomans long after whatever marks the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There's a lot of people who didn't die who have a lot of chronic health conditions that are going to be going on forever," said Dr. David Chansolme, medical director of infection prevention at INTEGRIS Health, at a Tuesday virtual press briefing held by the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition. 

As a few Catholic leaders across the country express hesitation or outright disavow the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the head of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City said Thursday that the church encourages Oklahoma Catholics to get any of the currently approved vaccines as soon as they can.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Thursday 895 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 426,641.

Tulsa County had 122 of Thursday's cases. Its total now stands at 71,227, second to Oklahoma County's 81,276.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 677 to 641. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13.

Tulsa County's seven-day average fell from 117 to 92. It's the first time the average has been below 100 since Oct. 29. The record is 647, set Jan. 9.

WOODWARD, Okla. (AP) — A fire tore through an Oklahoma home early Wednesday, killing six people, including several children, officials said.

One boy managed to escape the blaze after the first firefighter at the scene heard a voice from inside the home and managed to knock an air conditioner from a window with the help of a bystander, said Todd Finley, the fire chief in Woodward, a city of roughly 12,000 people about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The evidence implicating an Oklahoma death row inmate whose case has drawn national attention is overwhelming and his application for a commutation is filled with “demonstrable falsehoods,” Oklahoma County’s top prosecutor wrote in a letter this week to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board.

At a meeting repeatedly disrupted by anti-mask hecklers, the Broken Arrow City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday evening to adopt a non-binding resolution simply encouraging residents to wear masks in public to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Mayor Craig Thurmond, long opposed to a mandatory mask ordinance as well as to a similar non-binding resolution brought previously, cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the measure.

Updated March 4, 11:42 a.m.  

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Wednesday 747 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 425,746.

Tulsa County had 99 of Wednesday's cases. Its total now stands at 71,105, second to Oklahoma County's 81,082.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 684 to 677, its lowest since late August. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13.

The Chickasaw Nation has begun offering COVID-19 vaccination appointments to educators and their families, regardless of tribal citizenship.

Updated March 3, 6:38 p.m.

The trial for a man charged as the getaway driver in the June 2020 shooting of two Tulsa police officers started Wednesday.

Matthew Hall, 29, faces two counts of being an accessory to a felony. Prosecutors allege he drove David Ware from the traffic stop in east Tulsa where Tulsa Police Ofc. Aurash Zarkeshan and Sgt. Craig Johnson were shot and that Hall helped get rid of the gun that was used.

Becky Gligo, executive director of homelessness nonprofit organization Housing Solutions Tulsa, said responding to last week's stretch of life-threatening cold was an all hands on deck situation.

"We had about 30 people out 'round the clock for almost a week, bringing everybody who would go with them inside," Gligo said.

"Nobody, for about five straight days, had more than two hours of sleep at a time," Gligo said. "It was just constant, and the weather was extreme, and the pressure of knowing this was life or death was extreme."

Public health experts say Oklahoma's COVID-19 numbers are trending in the right direction -- but mitigation measures are more critical than ever.

"There's going to be a temptation to relax our mitigation strategies, maybe not mask as much," said Dr. Aaron Wendelboe, University of Oklahoma professor and former Oklahoma state epidemiologist, during a virtual press briefing held by the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition on Tuesday.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Tuesday 111 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 424,999.

Tulsa County had seven of Tuesday's cases. Its total now stands at 71,006, second to Oklahoma County's 80,870.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 719 to 684. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13.

Tulsa County's seven-day average dropped from 123 to 117. The record is 647, set Jan. 9. Oct. 29 was the last time the seven-day average was below 100.