Local & Regional

Gov. Kevin Stitt plans not to renew statewide COVID restrictions expiring tomorrow.

Stitt said during a Thursday news conference with good progress on vaccination and new cases and hospitalizations down to early summer levels, he believes a mask requirement in state buildings and 50% capacity limits on certain events are no longer needed.

Thursday's top stories:

• After a similar day in the House, the Oklahoma Senate passed a number of bills meant to significantly restrict abortion care.

• The City of Tulsa unveiled a new initiative meant to close the pay gap between men and women in Tulsa County.

Tuesday it was the state House, Wednesday it was the Senate passing a slate of bills to effectively ban abortion in Oklahoma.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum is challenging local businesses to help close the city’s gender pay gap by signing a pay equity pledge.

The Tulsa Pay Equity Pledge was proposed by the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women after the city audited its employee pay and found disparities.

Tulsa County women earn 84 cents to every dollar earned by men. Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women Vice Chair Dr. Meg Morgan said employers taking the pledge promise to tackle a variety of contributing issues.

Ellen Niemitalo, clinical services manager for the Tulsa Health Department, spoke with Public Radio Tulsa's Chris Polansky by phone on Tuesday about the department's new COVID-19 outreach initiatives to minority communities in partnership with the Oklahoma Caring Foundation / Oklahoma Caring Van.

Tuesday's top stories:

• Republican state lawmakers on Tuesday continued their attempts to implement sweeping new restrictions on abortion, passing multiple new bills meant to reduce access to the procedure.

The Cherokee Nation announced Tuesday it has opened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to individuals who live within their reservation boundaries, including non-Natives.

The top item on criminal justice reform advocates’ agenda has stalled as the Oklahoma legislature passed its first major deadline.

Senate Bill 704 would have greatly limited the practice of lengthening prison sentences because of someone’s previous, nonviolent felony convictions. According to Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, enhancements mean Oklahomans end up serving prison sentences 70% longer than the national average for property crimes and 79% longer for drug crimes. 

Republican state lawmakers on Tuesday continued their attempts to implement sweeping new restrictions on abortion.

House Bill 1102 would add providing an abortion to a list of "unprofessional conduct" for doctors and require their license be suspended for at least one year. The bill allows an exception for abortions to save a mother’s life or prevent "irreversible physical impairment."

State officials say with a sharp decline in COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents and vaccinations happening at a good clip, in-person visits can resume.

Visitation to long-term care facilities was closed in mid-March 2020 because of the risk the disease posed to older Oklahomans.

"We know isolation has taken a toll on our nursing home residents, many of whom are suffering long-term impacts to their mental and physical health related to the separation from their loved ones, family caregivers, clergy and friends," said State Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye.

Tuesday's top stories:

• Oklahoma has opened to phase three of its vaccine distribution plan, making vaccine appointments available to more than two million Oklahomans. 

• The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted Monday to advance the commutation request of death row inmate Julius Jones, a Black man convicted of a 2002 Edmond murder and whose case has become high-profile on the national stage after a documentary and involvement of celebrities including Kim Kardashian

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3–1 on Monday to hold a second, in-depth hearing on Julius Jones’ commutation application. 

Commutation is a two-stage process in Oklahoma. Jones' application, the first in the state being considered from an inmate on death row, was on Monday's docket for its stage one hearing. Board members Kelly Doyle, Adam Luck and Larry Morris voted for it. Board member Allen McCall voted against it.

Many more Oklahomans can get COVID-19 vaccines starting Tuesday as the state opens eligibility to people in phase three.

Phase three includes college students; teachers at universities, technical schools and daycares; and people deemed essential workers under an executive order by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Monday's top stories:

• Monday marks the expansion of vaccine eligibility in Oklahoma to all individuals in the state's Phase 2 tier, with Phase 3 possible to open by early next month.

• Oklahoma Sens. James Lankford and Jim Inhofe slammed Senate Democrats for approving President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.

Oklahoma hits another pandemic milestone Saturday: 1 year since the state's first case of COVID-19 was publicly announced.

On March 6, 2020, Gov. Kevin Stitt joined then-State Health Commissioner Gary Cox, Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart and Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum to announce a man in his 50s who had recently traveled to Italy was the first Oklahoman with a confirmed case of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. 

State health officials shared more good news Friday on the COVID-19 vaccination front.

"Now that there are three vaccines available and our overall supply is steadily increasing, we are ready to open up vaccine appointments for the remaining priority groups outlined in phase two of our state’s vaccination plan," Deputy State Health Commissioner Keith Reed said during a virtual media.