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TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma — Ashton Glover Gatewood decided to give medical school a second try after learning about a new campus designed for Indigenous students like herself.
Gatewood is now set to be part of the first graduating class at Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation. Leaders say the physician training program is the only one on a Native American reservation and affiliated with a tribal government.
“This is the school that is everything that I need to be successful,” said Gatewood, a member of the Choctaw Nation who also has Cherokee and Chickasaw ancestry. “Literally, the campus, the curriculum, the staff — everything was built and hired and prepared and planned for you.”
Ashton Glover Gatewood was always interested in science and medicine but didn’t think about becoming a doctor until college, when she met a Native American physician for the first time. She’s now set to be part of the first graduating class at Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation.
Matt Barnard/Oklahoma State University
The program in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, aims to increase the number of Cherokee and other Indigenous physicians. It’s also focused on expanding the number of doctors from all backgrounds who serve rural or tribal communities.
Natasha Bray, an osteopathic physician and dean of the program, said most medical schools teach about barriers that can make it difficult for rural or Indigenous patients to get care and improve their health.
But she said students in Tahlequah get to see these barriers firsthand by studying on the Cherokee Reservation and doing rotations in tiny communities and within facilities run by the federal Indian Health Service.
“Unless you are living in that community, you’re part of that community, you’re seeing patients from that community — you can’t begin to understand what those barriers to care are,” said Bray, who is not Native American.
For example, Bray knows that one town on the reservation is a 50-minute drive to the nearest delivery room, and that some patients trying to eat healthier live far from supermarkets and settle for convenience store food.
Rural residents make up about 14% of the U.S. population but fewer than 5% of incoming medical students, according to a study of 2017 data. Native Americans are 3% of the population but represented only 0.2% of those accepted to medical school for the 2018-19 school year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Gatewood, 34, who grew up in a city between the Chickasaw Reservation and Oklahoma City, first attended medical school at the University of Missouri. She said it was a great program, but it didn’t match her learning style. And with few Native American students, it left her feeling disconnected from her culture.
She ended up leaving after three semesters. Gatewood went on to become a nurse and earned a master’s degree in public health.
Then, in 2019, six years after dropping out of the Missouri medical school, Gatewood learned about Oklahoma State’s new campus in Tahlequah. She decided to once more pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. After taking classes in Oklahoma, she’s now getting hands-on experience through a family medicine rotation in Baltimore.
Half the 202 medical students in Tahlequah are from rural areas, and nearly a quarter are Native American. Most of the Indigenous students are from Oklahoma tribes. Others come from tribes outside the state, including from Alaska and New Mexico.
Tahlequah has about 16,800 residents. It’s more than an hour east of Tulsa, home to Oklahoma State’s other osteopathic medicine campus.
Osteopathic physicians, or DOs, attend separate medical schools from allopathic doctors, or MDs. The schools have similar curricula, but osteopathic colleges also teach how to ease patient discomfort through physical manipulation of muscles and bones. Osteopathic schools graduate more students who decide to work in primary care and in rural areas.
The Cherokee Nation hospital is one of 10 health facilities on the reservation. The tribe plans to build a new hospital because the existing one is outdated and too small for the number of patients it sees.
Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News
The Cherokee Reservation spreads across roughly 7,000 square miles in eastern Oklahoma. It’s home to about 150,000 Cherokee citizens, most of whom live in rural areas, said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. Hoskin grew up in a small town that was once served by a doctor who traveled across the reservation, treating patients in a recreational vehicle.
The Cherokee Nation now operates 10 hospitals and clinics to ensure that all citizens live within a 30-minute drive of care. Hoskin said this means the reservation has better access to health care than much of rural America.
“There are not many communities in this country in which you would see that sort of investment,” he said.
Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, said young Cherokee students are inspired by the medical school campus on the reservation; it lets them know that they too can become doctors if they want.
Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News
Still, access to care remains challenging for some rural residents on the reservation, Bray said. The reservation has significant poverty, and some people lack cars or cell or internet service. Cherokee residents have high rates of diabetes, obesity, addiction, and heart disease, Bray said.
The Cherokee Nation spent $40 million of its own revenue — including from casinos and federal contracts — to construct the college building on its medical campus, which includes a hospital and outpatient center. The tribe is responsible for maintenance, while Oklahoma State pays for the faculty and equipment.
The college building features large windows, Cherokee symbols etched into concrete, and orange accents — a shoutout to the university’s colors. Inside, signs are written in both English and Cherokee.
On a recent afternoon, students practiced osteopathic manipulative therapy on one another inside a classroom. Down the hall in a simulation center, lifelike patient models lay with their mouths agape on hospital beds.
Next door at the hospital, medical student Mackenzie Hattabaugh checked on Chyna Chupco, who was recovering after giving birth to her first baby. Hattabaugh asked Chupco questions to make sure she was reaching recovery milestones and not showing signs of complications. She also felt Chupco’s uterus to make sure it was healing properly.
Medical student Mackenzie Hattabaugh checks on Chyna Chupco, who was recovering after giving birth to her first baby. Chupco said she thinks the Tahlequah medical school program will produce doctors who understand people from rural and tribal areas: “It’s not very popular to have physicians that are aware of what it’s like to come from a small town, to grow up in poor communities.”
Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News
Hattabaugh, who is not Native American, grew up in Muldrow, a town of about 3,300 on the reservation. The 24-year-old said the town sometimes had a doctor but never a hospital or urgent care clinic.
“I would like to go back to around my hometown and perhaps be a staple in my community, to become a physician and provide people health care who usually have to drive 30 minutes or more to get it,” said Hattabaugh, a first-generation college student.
Students said studying at the Tahlequah campus prepares them to work in tribal and rural areas in ways that might not be possible at other medical schools.
Charlee Dawson, a 27-year-old medical student and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, said rotations within the Indian Health Service help students understand how the system’s care and complex billing procedures differ from those of other health facilities.
Charlee Dawson, a member of the Cherokee Nation, could cut her commute time in half by studying at Oklahoma State University’s osteopathic medicine campus in Tulsa. She said she makes the hour drive to the Tahlequah campus on the Cherokee reservation because it will better prepare her to serve Indigenous and rural patients.
Arielle Zionts/KFF Health News
The program helps students understand what health problems are more common among Native Americans, Gatewood said. She said her previous medical school taught students about the high rate of diabetes among Black patients, but not the rate for Native Americans, which is the highest of all U.S. racial groups.
The students also said they’ve learned to ask Indigenous patients not just what pharmaceutical drugs and supplements they’re taking, but also whether they’re using traditional medications or working with a healer.
This has led some Indigenous people to mistrust the health care system. But several of the Tahlequah students said they’ve bonded with patients who share similar backgrounds.
“It really comforts patients to know that someone like them is taking care of them,” said Caitlin Cosby, a member of the Choctaw Nation.
Cosby, 24, said she once had a patient who asked, “‘Are you Native?’ And I said, ‘I am!’”
The patient told Cosby he was proud of her.
KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
America’s national grasslands certainly aren’t as popular as our national parks. But that can work to your advantage when traveling with pets! Actually, national grasslands are the perfect place to explore with your dogs.
A field of grass—uh, really? What am I supposed to do there? And, more importantly, how am I going to entertain the dogs? These were my thoughts as I scoured the map for fun pit stops on our road trip through the Midwest.
I was on the hunt for dog friendly places with room to explore on our impromptu trip. But the national and state park campgrounds were already full. So I booked a campsite at Pawnee National Grassland. And when we arrived, the dogs and I realized we’d stumbled upon a gem!
The grasslands were originally home to native tribes and vast herds of bison, elk, and other wildlife. In the 1860s, European settlers arrived and saw these expansive prairies as prime locations for hunting and agriculture. The farmers, however, were not accustomed to managing the arid soils of the grasslands, particularly during years of drought.
Without the native grasses to hold down the thin topsoil, the dry, sandy dirt simply blew away. This triggered the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s, when 20,000-foot walls of blowing dust and sand ripped across the Midwest.
Finally, the government stepped in during the Great Depression to purchase the land from farmers. This helped the families with financial troubles and benefited the land as efforts began to restore the original ecosystem.
The national grasslands are now managed by the Unites States Forest Service. And that is great news for those of us traveling with dogs, because the Forest Service tends to be very pet friendly! They work to maintain the natural ecosystem, while making the land accessible to us all to enjoy.
There are 20 national grasslands totally almost 4 million acres across the United States. Most are located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, in an area commonly referred to as “The Great Plains.”
Copyright: David Burns at https://www.fasttrackteaching.com/
Visit the National Grasslands website for details on each of the grasslands listed below and the contact information for the Forest Service Ranger District managing each location.
California — Butte Valley National Grassland – California’s only national grassland, Butte Valley’s 18,425 acres are located in the southern Cascade Range in northern California.
Colorado — Comanche National Grassland – Located in Baca, Las Animas, and Otero counties southeastern Colorado, the preserve covers more than 440,000 acres.
Colorado — Pawnee National Grassland – Covers 193,060 acres in northern Colorado (35 miles east of Fort Collins).
Idaho — Curlew National Grasslands – Beginning in a wide valley near Snowville, Utah, this 47,000-acre grassland spreads in a checker board pattern of public and private land north into Idaho.
Kansas — Cimarron National Grassland – Located within Morton and Stevens Counties in southwestern Kansas, this grassland covers 108,175 acres.
New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas — Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands – Encompassing 230,000 acres, these grasslands are intermingled with privately-owned land in six counties within New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.
North Dakota — Sheyenne National Grassland – The only national grassland in the tallgrass prairie region of the United States, Sheyenne covers 70,180 acres in southeastern North Dakota. It provides habitat for greater prairie chickens in North Dakota as well as several other sensitive species, like the Dakota skipper and Regal Fritillary.
North Dakota & South Dakota — Cedar River and Grand River National Grasslands – Combined, these two grasslands cover more than 160,000 acres in southwestern North Dakota, and northwestern South Dakota.
Oregon — Crooked River National Grassland – Located within a triangle between Madras, Prineville and Terrebonne, Oregon, this 173,629-acre grassland is popular for hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, rock climbing, and OHV riding.
South Dakota — Buffalo Gap National Grassland – This national grassland is divided into two areas in southern South Dakota. One area is in the Black Hills, near Hot Springs. The other is near Badlands National Park.
South Dakota — Fort Pierre National Grassland – Extends over 116,000 acres south of Fort Pierre, South Dakota and north of Interstate 90.
Texas — Caddo and Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National Grasslands are located in two areas, one to the northeast and one to the northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth. They are popular destinations for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, and photography.
Wyoming — Thunder Basin National Grassland – Encompasses 547,499 acres in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills.
You and your dog can experience these national grasslands through a variety of activities: hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, sightseeing, and more. And keep in mind that these lands are more than just a field of grass! Many contain rivers, lakes, canyons, and badlands.
If you and your dog like to explore, the national grasslands are perfect as either a pit stop to stretch your legs, or spend several days enjoying.
Cool Whip, Hercules, and I explored two grasslands in particular: Pawnee and Buffalo Gap. We camped and hiked along buttes and badlands, and relaxed with some of the best sunsets and sunrises we’ve caught in a long while.
As you leave the pavement for a few long dirt roads, driving to Pawnee National Grassland feels like you’re heading into the middle of nowhere. After crossing the cattle guards (and possibly waiting for a herd of cows to mosey by), follow the signs to Pawnee Buttes Trailhead. Cresting a hill, the buttes jutting up from this otherwise smoothly flowing landscape appear suddenly. It’s almost a surprise, even when you’re expecting them.
At the trailhead, you’ll find bathrooms, picnic tables, and a sign with general trail and landscape information. Head out with your dog for a relatively easy 4-mile roundtrip hike to see Pawnee Buttes up close. Or, for a shorter hike, just walk to the viewpoint, which is about 1 mile, roundtrip.
If you’re planning to spend the night, there are several locations along the trailhead road suitable for dispersed camping. Or opt for the campground. It’s about 45 minutes away at the Crow Valley Recreation Area in the eastern section of preserve.
Buffalo Gap National Grassland – South Dakota
Buffalo Gap National Grassland wind across the southwestern corner of South Dakota in a stretched-out S-shape. The northern portion hooks around Badlands National Park and is just a few minutes from the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.
Make a point to stop by the Visitor Center before you head into the grasslands. They can provide maps and suggestions for making the most of your visit.
This is also a great place to camp if you’re visiting Badlands National Park, but want more freedom for your dog. The views combined with the peace and quiet make for outstanding camping.
National grasslands are wonderful places to visit with your dogs — especially when you respect the rules and keep your dog under control at all times. This is not just for the safety of other visitors and local wildlife, but also for you and your dog.
The tall grasses can hide cliffs and small cacti, which you don’t want to stumble into. Also, certain areas of the grasslands are used for livestock grazing, so you never know when you’ll wake up to find a cow has stopped by for morning coffee.
Keep an eye on your furry adventure pals and have a pawsome visit!
In 1997 four families are shattered when their daughters go missing. As they grieve, one man claims to have answers. Can he be trusted? “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty reports on the final chapter of a case she started covering more than two decades ago.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge in Tulsa declined to stop a new law from taking effect that makes it a felony crime for health care workers in Oklahoma to provide gender-affirming medical care to young transgender people.
U.S. District Court Judge John Heil III issued his order late Thursday denying a motion for a preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs, who include a medical provider and family members of transgender children in Oklahoma. Heil wrote that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that parents have a fundamental right to choose such medical care for their children.
“This an area in which medical and policy debate is unfolding and the Oklahoma Legislature can rationally take the side of caution before permitting irreversible medical treatments of its children,” Heil wrote.
The new law, which bans medical treatments like puberty-blocking drugs or hormones for those younger than 18, was passed by Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt in May. Enforcement had been on hold under an agreement between the plaintiffs and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, whose office is defending the law.
“The attorney general’s office continues to fulfill its duty to defend Senate Bill 613 and has won a ruling that results in full enforcement of that law,” Drummond spokesman Phil Bacharach said in a statement.
Oklahoma’s law includes a six-month transition period for minors who were already receiving puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones. That period ends early next month.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma, Lambda Legal and the law firm Jenner & Block LLP, issued a joint statement vowing an appeal and decrying the judge’s decision as a “devastating result for transgender youth and their families.”
“Denying transgender youth equality before the law and needlessly withholding the necessary medical care their families and their doctors know is right for them has caused and will continue to cause serious harm,” they said.
At least 22 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states face lawsuits similar to the one in Oklahoma.
A federal judge in June declared that Arkansas’ ban was unconstitutional, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition. Arkansas was the first state to enact a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted Arkansas’ request that the full court, rather than a three-judge panel, hear its appeal of the judge’s ruling.
A woman in Oklahoma clearly had enough of Ryan Walters, the state’s far-right school superintendent, as he went off on an extended tangent against trans rights.
Walters tried to get in all the right-wing trigger words at once as he slammed a “radical, woke, activist judge” who he said is “pressuring” school districts to change birth certificates of trans students to match their gender identity.
“We see a lot of this coming from the Biden administration trying to force dictates onto our states and onto our individual schools,” Walters said.
The woman sitting in view of the camera ― who had been shaking her head and using other body language as Walters spoke ― let her middle finger do the talking:
The state’s board of education later voted to block districts from changing students’ gender on school records without permission from the board, KOCO News reported.
The woman eventually spoke out during public comments, calling on the board to give teachers the support and resources needed to educate students.
Walters made headlines last year for claiming ― falsely ― that there was “a legitimate faculty meeting” where administrators had to decide if they should provide kitty litter to students who identify as cats, a popular urban myth in conservative circles.
Oklahoma executed Anthony Sanchez on Thursday for the 1996 killing of Juli Busken, a University of Oklahoma dance student, according to the Associated Press. Sanchez, 44, was convicted of raping and murdering Busken in 2006 after his DNA was matched to the slaying while he was serving a burglary sentence.
Sanchez was executed by lethal injection, which the state resumed using after a six-year-moratorium. He was pronounced dead at 10:19 a.m. CDT.
Even though Sanchez long said he didn’t kill Busken, he didn’t seek clemency from Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, telling the Associated Press “it doesn’t go well for the inmates” no matter what the governor decides. He did ask Stitt for a 60-day reprieve so his new attorneys could review his case, according to The Oklahoman newspaper.
Sanchez’s attorneys also sought a stay of execution in federal court to have more time to go through evidence from the case. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request before Thursday’s execution.
Earlier this year, Sanchez accused his late father of killing Busken, citing an alleged confession revealed by an ex-girlfriend of Sanchez’s dad, Thomas Glen Sanchez.
“Once he said he … enjoyed watching her die,” Charlotte Beattie wrote in a sworn statement, according to the Oklahoman. “Glen said that he regretted Anthony was on death row for something Glen did. But he said that Anthony was tough and could deal with being locked up, whereas Glen wasn’t strong enough to adapt to being incarcerated.”
The state’s attorney general said as recently as last month that there was “no conceivable doubt” that the younger Sanchez killed Busken and the DNA recovered from the killing belonged to him.
A woman and a suspect in the killings of four members of the same family in Romeoville, Illinois, died after a police chase and vehicle crash, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
The vehicle – believed to be driven by suspect Nathaniel Huey, Jr. – crashed on Interstate 44 in Catoosa, Oklahoma, at the end of a police pursuit.
“(An officer) approached the vehicle and removed a female passenger, who was transported to a local hospital. She later succumbed to her injuries,” the bureau said in a statement.
Officers heard what were believed to be gunshots as they approached the wrecked vehicle. Both the woman and driver, believed to be Huey who died at the scene, had a gunshot wound, police said.
Authorities have not released the name of the woman or explained her connection to Huey. “The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine positive identification and cause of death for both individuals,” the statement said.
Huey was named as a suspect in the murders of a family of four found shot to death in their home in Romeoville, about 30 miles southwest of Chicago, on Sunday.
The slain family members – Alberto Rolon, 38; Zoraida Bartolomei, 32; and their two boys, ages 7 and 9 – were found with gunshot wounds in the home Sunday night after a relative reported one of them didn’t show for work, authorities said.
Hours after discovering their bodies, police identified Huey as a suspect in the case and an unnamed female as a “person of interest,” Romeoville Deputy Police Chief Chris Burne said at a news conference Wednesday.
Evidence revealed a connection between the suspect and the victims, as well as a “possible motive,” Burne said, without elaborating.
The female person of interest was reported missing and endangered by family members on Tuesday evening. She was then entered into the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System, a police communications and information network, Romeoville police said.
Later that night, Romeoville police released a statewide bulletin to law enforcement agencies that said Huey was a “credible suspect in the investigation,” Burne said.
On Wednesday morning, police in Catoosa – roughly a 650-mile drive southwest of Romeoville – received a license plate reader alert notifying them that Huey’s vehicle was in their jurisdiction, according to Romeoville police.
Catoosa police spotted the vehicle and “attempted to conduct a traffic stop,” but the driver tried to flee, and the vehicle crashed and caught fire, Burne said.
Officers on the scene then heard “two noises believed to be gunshots,” Burne said.
The investigation is active and evolving, Burne said.
An Oklahoma man was sentenced to 12 years for making ghost guns for a Mexican cartel — a practice that a recent government watchdog report found is all too common. CBS News investigative correspondent Stephen Stock reports.
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Texas A&M freshman wide receiver Micah Tease has been slapped with an indefinite suspension from the team after being arrested on drug charges on Friday.
Authorities in the Lone Star state found the 18-year-old in possession of marijuana just a day before the Aggies open their 2023 season at home against New Mexico in a new-looked SEC.
Tease, who’s from Tulsa, Oklahoma, had 4 to 400 grams of a controlled substance (edibles), which in the eyes of the law is considered to be a second-degree felony.
He also possessed less than 2 ounces of marijuana and will be separately charged for that offense, which is a misdemeanor, according to Brazos County jail records.
Tease was released on bail on Friday after posting a $13,000 bond.
Texas A&M WR Micah Tease, 18, was arrested a day before potentially making his SEC debut
Tease only made an appearance for Texas A&M in a spring game, when he caught a TD pass
A theme park with an estimated $2 billion price tag is coming to the Midwest — and its location may surprise you.
The 1,000-acre development, named the American Heartland Theme Park and Resort, is scheduled to open in 2026 in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Vinita, according to a news release Thursday from the Missouri-based Mansion Entertainment Group, which is heading up the project.
The amusement park itself will cover 125 acres, which according to developers is comparable in size to Florida’s Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in California.
An artist’s depiction of the proposed theme park project.
Mansion Entertainment Group
It will have an Americana-themed environment with “a variety of entertaining rides, live shows, family attractions, waterways as well as restaurant-quality food and beverage offerings,” Mansion Entertainment said.
It will also include rides and shows in “six distinctly American lands:” the Great Plains, Bayou Bay, Big Timber Falls, Stony Point Harbor, Liberty Village and Electropolis.
In addition to the amusement park, American Heartland will feature a 300-room hotel, indoor water park and an adjacent 320-acre RV park, and a 300-cabin campground named Three Ponies.
The park’s design team includes more than 20 Disney Parks builders and Walt Disney Imagineers, according to the Mansion Entertainment. It also hired design firms that have been used in the past by other major amusement parks, including Six Flags and Universal Studios.
Once open, developers expect the park to attract two million visitors per year, according to Kristy Adams, a sales and marketing executive with the Mansion Entertainment.
Oklahoma state Sen. Micheal Bergstrom said in a statement through Mansion Entertainment that the park will add at least 4,000 jobs provide a boost to the state’s tourism economy.
“We are thrilled to make Oklahoma the home of American Heartland Theme Park and Resort,” American Heartland CEO Larry Wilhite said in a statement. “At the crossroads of the heartland, Oklahoma is an attractive location for a family entertainment destination.”
A boy fishing in a neighborhood pond in Oklahoma found a surprise at the end of his line, officials said.
When Charlie Clinton reeled in his line, he found a pacu fish, which is a South American fish closely related to a piranha, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation said on Facebook. A photo shared by the department shows Charlie grinning while showing off his catch. Another picture shows the inside of the fish’s mouth, including its human-like teeth.
The department said that Charlie is already back at the pond, looking for “his next great catch.”
Pacu have been found in Oklahoma waters in the past, the department said, and they are generally harmless to humans.
A young angler, Charlie Clinton, was fishing in a neighborhood pond over the weekend when he got an unusual bite….
The bigger threat is when non-native pacu are dumped in Oklahoma waters, the department said. This typically happens when individuals buy the exotic fish as pets and are later surprised by their growth: Pacu can be up to 3.5 feet long and weigh 88 pounds.
“The practice of dumping unwanted pets in waterways can be incredibly harmful to native wildlife,” the department said on Facebook. “(Pacu) are an exotic, invasive species that can cause damage to our local ecosystems.”
Anyone fishing who finds a pacu should contact a local game warden, the department said.
Fishers have caught pacu everywhere from Pennsylvania to Indiana. In 2018, another young person in Oklahoma caught a pacu while fishing in a lake. Kennedy Smith, 11, was with her grandfather when she reeled in the fish.
NORMAN, OK—Claiming that statewide curricula should no longer ignore this violent historical event, Oklahoma school officials announced plans Friday to begin teaching students that the Tulsa Race Massacre was a crime of passion that resulted from loving Black people too much. “It’s important that students are educated on how this horrifying event—which resulted in hundreds of deaths and the destruction of Black Wall Street—only happened because of how electric and wild the love was between white people and Black people at the time,” said Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters, explaining that historical documentation showed white people had been getting jealous because their African American counterparts were doing too well economically and couldn’t hang out as much as they used to. “We often end up hurting the people we love the most, and this was definitely true with what happened back in 1921. Sometimes burning down more than 35 city blocks and 1,250 homes is the only way to express the fiery passion of your love for someone. It’s not right, but feeling that deeply can make you snap. Love can make you do crazy things.” At press time, Walters explained that the Tulsa Race Massacre had been left out of history books out of respect for Black people’s privacy.
The state of Texas as well as cities and counties surrounding the Panhandle town of Perryton are sending aid after a tornado ripped through the area Thursday afternoon.
The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado struck the town. Images of extensive damage have been circulating on social media.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and the state’s Division of Emergency Management are mobilizing resources, State Rep. Four Price of District 87 said in a Facebook post.
“TDEM is moving everything that way. Search and Rescue, medical, etc.,” Price said. Multiple structures are damaged and “the state is engaging additional medical help to triage,” according to Price.
“This is a serious situation. Again, please lift that community up in prayer,” he added.
Beaver County, Oklahoma, Emergency Manager Keith Shadden told CNN the county has sent fire, law enforcement and EMS units across the state border to help. He said that they intend to send a second wave to assist but are waiting for the weather to clear in the county.
The city of Stinnett, Texas, about 56 miles from Perryton, is sending officers and EMS crews, and the Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that they are also assisting with rescue and emergency operations following the “devastating tornado.”
CNN has reached out to local officials for more information.
Meteorologists had warned that severe weather capable of producing wind gusts up to 90 mph, hail up to 5 inches in diameter and tornadoes was expected Thursday – the sixth day in a row for portions of the South and Plains.
The latest round of storms comes on the heels of more than 300 storm reports Wednesday, continuing a long streak of active weather.
The area under threat Thursday covers a large swath from Colorado to South Carolina, with the greatest potential across portions of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed a Level 4 of 5 moderate risk of severe weather for the area, which includes Oklahoma City and Norman, Oklahoma.
Two tornado watches have been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for western and central Oklahoma and portions of northwestern, northern and central Texas. The watches include the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and Oklahoma City and both are in effect until 10 p.m. CT.
“Intense supercell development is expected this afternoon from the eastern Texas Panhandle into western Oklahoma and northwest Texas, and storms will spread eastward through late evening,” the SPC said. “The initial, more discrete supercells will be capable of producing giant hail (4-5 inches in diameter) and a few tornadoes. Upscale growth into a cluster or two is possible this evening, with an increasing threat for intense outflow winds of 80-90 mph.”
Extremely large hail is another threat.
“Be prepared for hail up to the size of baseballs and winds up to 80 mph with the stronger storms, as well as a medium risk for tornadoes,” warned the National Weather Service office in Norman. “The severe window will start in western Oklahoma between 3pm and 5pm and continue until storms exit the southeastern parts of the forecast area by 3am.”
Areas around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex are under a Level 3 of 5 enhanced risk of severe weather.
“The areas most susceptible to another round of large hail and possibly some damaging winds will be eastern North TX down into far eastern Central TX east of I-45 could get into the mix as well,” the weather service office in Dallas said.
A much broader area of severe weather extends from western Kansas, south to central Texas and east to the Florida Panhandle. The Level 2 of 5 slight risk of severe weather covers more than 10 million people and includes places like Tulsa, Oklahoma; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Tallahassee, Florida.
Lastly, a widespread area of a Level 1 of 5 marginal risk of severe weather covers from eastern Colorado to South Carolina.
While it is not in the main threat area, people should not let their guard down because of the potential for damaging winds and very large hail. An isolated tornado could spin up as well.
In addition to the severe weather threat, the same areas should also monitor the potential for flooding. With days of rain over the same areas, the ground is becoming quite saturated.
“A continued threat of heavy rain through the day with potential for several inches to fall within bands of training convection,” is being warned by the weather service office in Mobile, Alabama.
The multiday severe threat will continue Friday and through the weekend, as storms continue to develop each day along a stalled frontal boundary draped across the South.
Wednesday’s severe threat brought more than 300 storm reports across the South and Plains.
There were at least 100 hail reports and more than 200 wind reports, which knocked out power to more than 100,000 homes.
Baseball to tennis ball-sized hail was reported in Alabama and hail greater than 5 inches was reported in Mississippi.
Of the 10 tornado reports, five were reported in Georgia, two in Texas and three in Alabama.
Not only will millions face severe weather, but more than 30 million people are also under heat alerts, including large portions of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Florida.
Most will see temperatures running at least 10-15 degrees above normal, with the potential for nearly 100 high temperature records to break during the next week.
Texas is expected to get hit exceptionally hard, with heat indices reaching as high as 120 degrees.
Heat indices are the “feels like” temperature, when you factor in the humidity.
The Texas power grid could reach a record high for usage next week, as temperatures stay in the triple digits for at least the next week.
It was not particularly surprising that Ryan Walters declared Oklahoma schools wouldn’t go “woke” under his leadership as he campaigned for a role that would give him power over the public school system. Many conservatives have championed so-called “parental rights” and claim they must protect kids from learning about such topics, like race and gender.
But since winning the election and taking over as state superintendent for public instruction, his plan for enacting his agenda — attacking teachers and claiming that they’re the linchpin of the indoctrination going on in schools — has rattled many people, including Republicans in his state.
The Oklahoma State Superintendent is the head of the state’s Department of Education, oversees the school system, and is influential in the implementation of policies that dictates how the schools operate.
Walters used to be a teacher himself. He taught high school history before Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) appointed him to be the Oklahoma secretary of education in 2020. He stayed in that role until April, overseeing state boards of education and advising the governor on education policy, including during his first few months as superintendent.
Since being sworn in, Walters has made several appearances on Fox News, calling Oklahoma teachers “Marxist” over their support for pay equity and decisions they make about what books to have in their classrooms, and arguing that “parents will be in charge of our educational system, not these ‘woke’ teachers unions.” He has compared teachers to terrorists and has told employees at the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) that they will be fired if they “leak” to the media.
A handful of Republicans have accused Walters of being preoccupied with fighting culture wars rather than working on actual policies and budgeting — things that could improve education in Oklahoma, a state that came in 49th in the national rankings (the most recent ranking available), according to a 2021 EdWeek report. Some rural schools in the state have adopted a four-day school week to save money. Lawmakers have recently approved a pay raise, but the education system is still facing a teacher shortage.
“I would have thought he and I would have agreed on 80% of things. … His ego has gotten in the way of who he really is,” said Republican state Rep. Mark McBride, the chair of the education subcommittee in the Oklahoma House.
“I don’t have the luxury of fighting the culture wars,” McBride said. “I need to do my job. I’m focused on funding, on money.”
Similarly, Republican state Sen. DeWayne Pemberton told the Enid News & Eagle in March that he thought Walters was too focused on “cultural issues” and that “everything he comes out with is divisive.”
“I’d like to see him settle down and actually start talking about reading and writing and arithmetic and how to bring up test scores and how we can make things better for teachers,” Pemberton said.
Since Walters took office and began overseeing the OSDE, the department has lost several employees, including those who were in charge of applying for federal education grants from the U.S. Department of Education. At an Oklahoma House education subcommittee meeting in May, McBride said he was concerned that the agency had left money for low-income families on the table and that some schools could lose funding. When he asked Walters if his department had applied for the grants, Walters denied that his office failed to apply for grants and blamed his predecessor for problems his agency is facing. (The status of the federal grants remains unclear.)
He also quickly pivoted to attacking teachers.
“I don’t negotiate with folks who would sabotage our kids,” Walters said. “That’s a terrorist organization in my book.”
This is the kind of rhetoric that McBride says goes too far. “I have aunts, sisters, and so many family members who are teachers,” he said. “He’s calling my family terrorists and that bothers me.”
The Oklahoma Education Association ― the teachers union ― pushed back on his incendiary rhetoric.
“In less radical times, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction calling the educators who serve in our public school classrooms ‘terrorists’ would be shocking,” the union said in a statement. “However, this inflammatory and demonizing rhetoric continues to escalate in ways that endanger our educators and undermine public education.”
At an OSDE meeting earlier this month, Walters showed attendees a “public awareness campaign” video that teachers said made them fear for their safety.
The video showed clips of speeches from the national teachers union urging its members to fight for the rights of LGBTQ children, as well as shots of pages from Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” a memoir about gender identity that has become a target of conservative ire. Interspersed with these clips were ones that alleged to show teachers defending child sexual abuse — which many teachers saw as a warning that they’d be considered child abusers if they supported LGBTQ+ students.
“It literally brought me to tears,” a teacher named Jami Cole told a local Fox affiliate about the video. “The only message that I saw from that is, ‘I’m coming for you teachers,’ and I felt threatened. I think that’s the majority of teachers in that room, we all felt directly threatened.”
Hearing that teachers were uncomfortable did not deter Walters. “Liberal activist teachers have infiltrated the classroom and prefer to indoctrinate rather than educate our kids,” he said in an email to HuffPost. “Oklahoma has great teachers who do not impose social justice warrior points on kids.”
“I don’t worry about weak RINO’s that compromise our families rather than fight for our constitution,” he wrote, using a term referring to “Republicans in Name Only.” “They’ve sold their values for 30 pieces of silver to the radical teacher union. They’d rather ignore porn in schools than take a stand for our children.”
Walters’ claim that schools have porn is at the center of an ongoing battle about book-banning in the state.
Across the country, GOP officials have promoted the false notion that books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes are actually sexually explicit. Walters is no exception. He has supported bills that would allow for books to be removed from classrooms, as well as a measure passed in 2021 that bars educators from teaching that any race or gender is superior to another. That law specifically bans “critical race theory” — a college-level academic theory about how racism has shaped public policies — in Oklahoma schools.
At a hearing last month, one Republican told Walters that the superintendent was overly concerned about the threat of CRT in classrooms.
“Critical race theory, while I don’t like it, it’s neo-Marxist ― it’s highly technical,” state Rep. Marcus McEntire said. “It’s a literary criticism is what it is. I’m worried that your use of CRT, that you’re broadening it to what it’s not.”
After months of Walters claiming that school libraries had porn, OSDE passed a rule banning sexually explicit material from schools, without defining what was considered in violation of the rule. In April, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the agency had overstepped by not going through the legislature for rule-making and that the new rules could not go into effect
“This is a talking point and I don’t think this is happening in Oklahoma, but I don’t know if it is,” McBride told a local Fox affiliate at the time, referring to schools allowing pornographic materials. “Show me. I wanna see it.” He formally asked Walters to a House education subcommittee meeting to show McBride the materials he was worried about. Walters has not done so.
Like many districts across the country, Oklahoma schools already have a protocol for challenging books, and parents are allowed to keep their child from accessing certain materials. McBride said he believes in some censorship in schools — but that the policies in place are sufficient and that Walters’ tactics are unnecessary.
“You can have a conversation about books, but you don’t need to go on Fox News about it,” he said. “You don’t need to be tweeting, you don’t need to call teachers terrorists.”
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earned his first gubernatorial endorsement Saturday from Oklahoma GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Ahead of DeSantis’ remarks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Stitt said DeSantis is “the right guy to beat Biden for the next eight years.”
Stitt highlighted DeSantis’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and argued that his tenure as Florida’s governor proves his leadership capacity.
“As fellow Governors during COVID, DeSantis did not surrender states’ rights and individual liberties over to groupthink,” Stitt said in a statement. Both governors passed similar measures to ban mask mandates in their states.
“As a proven leader, DeSantis has boldly delivered results for the people of Florida that laid the groundwork for a booming economy, an education system focused on student outcomes, and better infrastructure for working families,” Stitt continued. He added that he is confident that DeSantis can “deliver these same results all across America.”
Stitt is among DeSantis’ highest-profile endorsements to date. With many Republicans backing former President Donald Trump, DeSantis has earned the support of four GOP members of Congress thus far: Reps. Bob Good of Virginia, Laurel Lee of Florida, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Chip Roy of Texas, who is one of the hardline members of the party.
Stitt’s endorsement comes as the GOP presidential field has widened with former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie announcing their bids earlier this week. Trump, however, remains the front runner despite his legal troubles.
A CNN poll last month showed that the former president has consolidated the support of slightly above half of his party at this early stage of the race — nearly double the support for DeSantis.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state’s attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional.
The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma to establish the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. The online public charter school would be open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had warned the board that such a decision clearly violated the Oklahoma Constitution.
“The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond said in a statement shortly after the board’s vote. “It’s extremely disappointing that board members violated their oath in order to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the state to potential legal action that could be costly.”
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma said in the “vision and purpose of the organization” section of its application that: “The Catholic school participates in the evangelizing mission of the Church and is the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.”
Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said: “We are elated that the board agreed with our argument and application for the nation’s first religious charter school.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State denounced the board’s approval.
“It’s hard to think of a clearer violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and public-school families than the state establishing the nation’s first religious public charter school,” the group’s president and CEO Rachel Laser said in a statement. “This is a sea change for American democracy. Americans United will work with our Oklahoma and national partners to take all possible legal action to fight this decision and defend the separation of church and state that’s promised in both the Oklahoma and U.S. Constitutions.”
Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who earlier this year signed a bill that would give parents in the state a tax incentive to send their children to private schools, including religious schools, praised the board’s vote.
“This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child’s education,” Stitt said in a statement.
This story has been corrected to show the name of the virtual charter is St. Isidore of Seville, not St. Isodore.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kathryn Sandercock threw five scoreless innings, Kaley Mudge hit a three-run homer and No. 3 seed Florida State defeated No. 6 seed Oklahoma State 8-0 in six innings Thursday night in the Women’s College World Series opener for both teams.
A game that started late because of lightning was delayed another two hours in the third inning for lightning and rain. It was reminiscent of the previous World Series game between the teams in 2021 that ended at 2:20 a.m. local time because a rain delay pushed back the start time. Sandercock got the win in that game, too. This time, she gave up four hits and struck out four.
She was equally effective before and after the delay.
“She throws to all quadrants of the plate and hits her spots very well,” Oklahoma State second baseman Rachel Becker said. “I think you just never know what to expect when you’re going up to the plate against her. You can’t really ever sit on anything because she can throw a strike anywhere.”
The game between No. 15 seed Utah and No. 7 seed Washington that was supposed to follow the Oklahoma State-Florida State game was moved from Thursday night to midday Friday.
The Seminoles felt comfortable with the delays since they are so common in Florida.
“We had a lot of fun in the locker room playing some hacky, playing some Wordle, just making it fun, keeping each other energized,” Mudge said. “Obviously, we waited all day to play. It was getting late.”
It was a disappointing performance for Oklahoma State, which has reached the past four World Series but hasn’t reached the finals. Oklahoma State had allowed just three runs in five regional and super regional games with three shutouts. Now, the Cowgirls will face elimination Friday against Washington or Utah.
“Obviously not the way we drew this up,” Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski said. “We didn’t play well in any facet of the game. We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t play good catch. We didn’t get enough good at-bats.”
Oklahoma State’s Kelly Maxwell, who like Sandercock was a National Fastpitch Coaches Association second-team All-American, started and threw two innings. She gave up one hit and two runs for the Cowgirls (46-15).
Michaela Edenfield’s two-run blast in the first off Maxwell gave Florida State (56-9) a 2-0 lead.
Gajewski decided to bring in Kyra Aycock to pitch after the delay.
“As the delay got longer, Kelly, her history, we know her history very well,” he said. “The more she sits, it doesn’t usually work out in her favor. We didn’t like the momentum that we didn’t have, and felt like, Hey, let’s get a changeup here, let’s get Kyra in there.”
Mudge’s shot in the fourth off Aycock after the delay made it 7-0, and the Seminoles closed it out in the sixth.
“When you’re playing teams like this here, the margin of error, it’s tiny,” Gajewski said. “We looked like a JV team at times. We took poor at-bats. We just weren’t clean. I don’t know why. I don’t have an answer.”
At least eight tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma Thursday night. In the town of Cole, at least 10 structures were damaged, and a tornado tore the roof off a donut shop near Oklahoma City. Roxana Saberi has more.
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Late last month, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt vetoed funding for his state’s public television network, despite the fact that the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority is the most watched Public Broadcasting Service in the country, with more than 650,000 viewers tuning into its programming every week. Why did Stitt pull the cash? You can probably hazard a guess.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Stitt, a Republican, said, “You know, the big, big question is why are we spending taxpayer dollars to prop up or compete with the private sector and run television stations? And then when you go through all of the programing that’s happening and the indoctrination and over-sexualization of our children, it’s just really problematic, and it doesn’t line up with Oklahoma values.” Among the content that Stitt apparently finds objectionable is a segment called “Let’s Learn,” which features a children’s book called The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish; a gay character in Work It Out Wombats!; LGBTQ+ characters on Clifford the Big Red Dog; and a same-sex wedding featured on Odd Squad.
There is, of course, no evidence whatsoever that these programs are trying to indoctrinate or harm children. (Rather, the programs are showing kids that it’s okay for people to be different.) But according to Stitt, the idea that it’s okay to be different is not a “value” all of his constituents subscribe to—and it’s apparently his job to defend those people. “Oklahoma taxpayers are going, ‘Hey, hang on, time out for just a second. That’s not my values,’” Stitt told Fox. “I’m just tired of using taxpayer dollars for some person’s agenda. I represent the taxpayers.”
Incidentally, as KTUL pointed out after Stitt vetoed the funding bill, OETA airs more than just TV shows; tornado warnings and Amber Alerts are also among its services. But apparently Stitt is more concerned about protecting Oklahomans from seeing two gay people get married than warning them about catastrophic weather events.
Stitt, of course, is just one of countless Republicans whose new pet cause is to protect children from the mere existence of LGBTQ+ people. After expanding its dystopian “Don’t Say Gay” law to all grades through 12th last month, the Florida state legislature passed a bill that would prevent teachers from using students’ correct pronouns, which Ron DeSantis is expected to sign. Meanwhile, numerous states are trying to ban drag shows, while others want to prevent drag queens from merely reading to children. Last week, Stitt made it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to minors. Harper Seldin, a staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, called the law “a dangerous attack on the rights of families and their transgender youth who call Oklahoma home,” adding: “Governor Stitt and the politicians targeting trans youth have ignored the voices of parents, medical providers, and transgender youth themselves, instead choosing to put their politics between doctors and their patients.”
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Report: Jill Biden is trying to stop Biden from eating “like a child”
He may be 80 but Joe Biden’s diet apparently skews (much) younger. Per Axios:
There’s a delicious (surf and) turf battle inside the Biden White House—over the president’s plate. The food fight has pitted Joe Biden—who prefers carbs over greens—against First Lady Jill Biden, who has been pushing the commander in chief to eat more fish and veggies whether he likes them or not (he doesn’t). Why it matters: The internal tug-of-war over Joe Biden’s diet is just one of many public and private steps being taken by close aides and the first lady to keep the 80-year-old president healthy as he prepares to run for a second term.
State of play: Some Biden aides have long noted that he eats “like a child,” with a food palette that skews beige. His favorite dishes include peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, BLTs, pizza, cookies, spaghetti with butter and red sauce, and ice cream that he occasionally makes into a full sundae, according to current and former Biden aides.
