Local & Regional

OSU-Tulsa and Tulsa Community College announced a new partnership Tuesday to help students earn their two- and four-year degrees in downtown Tulsa.

OSU-Tulsa President Dr. Pamela Fry said College Park builds on the two schools’ LinkeDegree program, which shows students how to get from TCC enrollment to an OSU bachelor’s degree.

"This is the difference between having a map to show how to reach a destination and having a navigator in the front seat with you making sure you don’t take the wrong turn," Fry said.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A coronavirus vaccination site in Tulsa operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency with state and local officials and the Oklahoma National Guard will provide vaccinations for all eligible, from any state, a FEMA official said Tuesday.

“The goal here is to get as many people vaccinated as possible, wherever they come from,” said FEMA Region 6 Regional Administrator Tony Robinson.

The Oklahoma Senate sent several new abortion restrictions to the governor on Tuesday.

House Bill 2441 bans the procedure after a heartbeat can be detected. House Bill 1102 suspends the license of doctors who provide abortion. House Bill 1904 limits who may perform the procedure to board-certified OB/GYNs.

Cherokee Nation on Monday held an unveiling for three new electric buses, the first of several events in a week of Earth Day recognitions.

The Oklahoma House passed a bill Monday putting restrictions on school districts that choose to require masks.

Senate Bill 658 requires districts consult with their local health department, something many have done as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, but the bill also says districts must list reasons for a mask mandate and specific masks that satisfy it. Otherwise, the requirement is invalidated.

Oklahoma House Republicans approved Monday a bill to ban transgender women and girls from school sports.

Senate Bill 2 requires intercollegiate and school teams in the state be based on biological sex and prohibits males from joining female teams. The measure has been dubbed the "Save Women's Sports Act."

An amendment added Monday requires parents to sign an affidavit each year stating their child's biological sex at birth before they can play.

Members of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus are calling on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to help with the Oklahoma County Jail.

Jury selection started Monday in the federal murder trial of a former Tulsa police officer in the 2014 shooting death of his daughter’s boyfriend.

Shannon Kepler was convicted of manslaughter in state court and sentenced to 15 years in prison over the death of Jeremy Lake, but he is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Lake was shot in the 200 block of north Maybelle Avenue, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Although 26 years have passed since a truck bomb ripped through a federal building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, the same domestic extremism that led to the attack still exists today, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday.

Garland, who led the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 as a Department of Justice staffer, delivered remarks during a remembrance ceremony at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, his voice occasionally cracking with emotion.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Virus-related claims for unemployment benefits, including initial and continuing claims and the four-week moving average, have increased in Oklahoma according to the state Employment Security Commission.

Commission director Shelley Zumwalt said the increase is due to people who lost jobs at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic a year ago reapplying, as required, after 52 weeks.

Decades after playing a key role in the investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and eventual prosecution of the attackers, now-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland arrived in Oklahoma this weekend in advance of a Monday ceremony marking 26 years since the deadly blast.

Garland is scheduled to deliver remarks at the remembrance at 8:45 a.m. Monday, which will be streamed live at the memorial's website.

Tulsa city councilors are still mulling over updates to regulations on backyard chickens.

In their latest round of proposed changes discussed last week, the minimum distance for a chicken coop to be from a residence is cut from 40 feet to 35. A significant portion of the city is zoned residential with lots a minimum of 60 feet wide.

District 4 Councilor Kara Joy McKee said fresh eggs can make a big difference in some Tulsans’ diets.

A week after the leader of the Oklahoma Senate said his chamber and the Republican caucus would not be involved in a plan to eliminate the state’s corporate income tax, Gov. Kevin Stitt told a virtual round table he still wants it done this session.

Speaking to the Oklahoma Small Business Association on Friday, Stitt referred to a report by pro-business think tank the Tax Foundation that ranks Oklahoma 30th in business tax climate.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma lawmaker who helped revive a bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports is coming under fire for saying transgender people “have a mental illness.”

A journalist at KOCO 5 News in Oklahoma City has publicly resigned, saying the television station mishandled racist incidents and discriminated against reporters of color.

In a video posted to social media Thursday, Porsha Riley cited multiple incidents, including a white anchor referring to a Black anchor as a gorilla, a photographer who used the n-word being assigned to work with Black journalists, and an alleged pattern of not extending equal opportunities to journalists of color.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health said Thursday it was investigating an alleged incident in Logan County where a trans woman was denied a COVID-19 vaccine.

Advocacy group Freedom Oklahoma tweeted, "Hey [OSDH] why is Logan Co Health Department turning away a trans woman trying to get a vaccine and telling us to take it up with the state?"

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Several members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation are urging President Joe Biden to suspend his executive order shutting down private federal prisons, saying they expect the move to mean a privately operated prison in Hinton would close.

Tulsa police are looking for a missing 10-year-old boy. He could be considered endangered because of his age.

Aaron Bryant was last seen Wednesday around 7 p.m. near Savanna Landing apartments at 61st Street and Peoria Avenue.

Bryant is Black and was wearing a blue Aeropostale hoodie, black sweatpants, and white and green Nike Jordans. He was with another Black boy around 14 to 16 years old.

Anyone with information is asked to call TPD at 918-596-9222.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said Thursday he believes allowing the city's COVID-19 mandatory mask ordinance to expire at the end of this month, as is currently planned, is the right move.

"Our hospital capacity is not in danger any longer," Bynum told reporters Thursday morning at an in-person press conference at City Hall, the first held that way in months, since COVID-19 briefings were moved all-virtual due to the severe surge in infections this winter.

The Gilcrease Museum will close its doors at the end of the day on July 4th and be demolished, making way for a new museum building to be put up in the same spot.