KWGS-FM: Local & Regional News

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum spoke by phone with Public Radio Tulsa's Chris Polansky about his support for resettling Afghan refugees, his state party's opposition, and what the city is doing to aid in the effort. (This interview was edited for length.) --- PUBLIC RADIO TULSA : So Tulsa is taking more than 800 of these refugees. That's more than most states. And Oklahoma is taking the third most of any state. What was your reaction when you heard those stats? G.T. BYNUM : I was really pleased with...

Wednes day's top stories: • Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Tuesday he will reject the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board's recommendation to commute the death sentence of Julius Jones, saying he finds it more appropriate to weigh in following a clemency hearing. • The Tulsa Health Department will be all over the Tulsa State Fair, inspecting food vendors and offering COVID-19 vaccines.

Tuesday's top stories: • The Tulsa State Fair is going forward, with health officials urging attendees to use caution as COVID-19 numbers are higher than when last year's fair was canceled. • Saint Francis Health System says the hospital is racking up millions in additional costs due to the pandemic.

Mon day's top stories: • The Tulsa Health Department has begun administering booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to those who qualify. • Groups representing landlords and tenants both agree Oklahoma's rental laws need updating.

Fri day's top stories: • Oklahoma surpassed the 10,000 deaths mark on Thursday for residents killed by COVID-19. • The city of Tulsa continues to debate how to use remaining American Rescue Plan virus relief funds. • The first Afghan refugees arrived in Oklahoma this week.

Thursday's top stories: • Some health experts say COVID-19 is unlikely to spike again this winter, though a former Oklahoma state epidemiologist says not to rule out the possibility. • Pediatricians say it appears the delta variant of COVID-19 is infecting more teenagers but not necessarily sickening them more severely. • Analysts say the early end to enhanced federal unemployment benefits in Oklahoma likely did not have an impact on the state's labor force participation rate.

Wedne sday's top stories: • The Oklahoma City Thunder will allow fans at home games this summer, but attendees will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or results of a negative test within the 72 hours before the game. • University of Oklahoma students, staff and faculty protested Tuesday over what they say are inadequate steps being taken by the administration to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Tuesday's top stories: • Federal regulators could be close to approving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. • Oklahoma has set execution dates for seven inmates, including Julius Jones, with the first scheduled for October. The killings would be the state's first since a series of botched executions in 2014 and 2015. • The new BMX national headquarters and stadium in Tulsa are on-track for a January move-in.

Farmer and rancher Dan Ripley got a surprise recently. “We saw these pigs, we saw these pigs actually with the cattle!” He said he hated to see it. “But the cattle were fine. They were just lying out there and the pigs were just lying right out there among ‘em.” Wild pigs are a problem in Pawnee, Oklahoma. They can carry over 30 diseases, and one year they destroyed 240 acres of Ripley’s corn crop. “They went right down the row, picking out that - back then it was about $100 a bag corn seed...

Monday's top stories: State and local officials work to increase access to COVID testing. Oklahoma health officials say they're ready to start giving booster shots when federal agencies give the word. A nearly two-year resurfacing project begins on the east leg of the Inner Dispersal Loop.

Fri day's top stories: • In what State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is calling "an attack on Oklahoma's public education system," Gov. Kevin Stitt on Thursday requested an audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Education. • A Tulsa Public Schools teacher has died of COVID-19, the district reports.

Thursday's top stories: • OU's top COVID official says Oklahoma's epidemic is trending in the right direction, but mitigation still remains key and health care workers are still exhausted. • An OU All-American gymnast testified on Capitol Hill about her reporting of team doctor Larry Nasser and subsequent lack of investigation into his serial sexual assault of athletes.

Wednes day's top stories: • Democrats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives are proposing legislation to reduce the governor's power over the Oklahoma Health Care Authority following Gov. Kevin Stitt's removal of the only two medical doctors from its governing board. • The Oklahoma Republican Party is again calling for a pressure campaign on the governor to get him to reverse his pro-refugee stance. The party says soon-to-arrive Afghan refugees are not welcome in the state. • The Oklahoma...

Tuesday's top stories: • The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is recommending that Gov. Kevin Stitt commute the death sentence of Julius Jones, convicted of a 1999 murder he maintains he did not commit. • A Yukon elementary school teacher has become at least the fifth known educator or school support staff member in Oklahoma to die of COVID-19 since July.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole board has voted to commute Julius Jones’ death sentence to life in prison with a possibility of parole. The recommendation will now head to Gov. Kevin Stitt who has the final say. The vote came after the parole board’s first ever enhanced commutation hearing. A number of people spoke at the hearing, including murder victim Paul Howell’s brother Bill Howell. He said the supporters who’ve been advocating for Jones haven’t been following the case since it was...

Mon day's top stories: • The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Monday will consider a commutation request from high-profile death row inmate Julius Jones. • The Oklahoma Blood Institute is joining a consortium of other states' blood centers in a new partnership meant to boost the supply of blood products for potential emergency situations.

Fri day's top stories: • Officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Health say they've abandoned a plan for a statewide contract to bring in more health care workers to aid strained hospitals amid the current COVID surge. • The governor and several Oklahoma lawmakers are lashing out against the Biden administration's plans to get more Americans vaccinated. • Tulsa is expected to receive roughly 800 Afghan refugees for resettlement in the coming weeks.

Thursday's top stories: • Doctors at the Children's Hospital at Saint Francis say pediatric COVID admissions are rising rapidly and "exponentially." • With hundreds of Afghan refugees due to arrive in the state in coming weeks and months, the Oklahoma Republican Party says the families are not welcome here and is calling on lawmakers to prevent them from entering.

Wednesday's top stories: • Hospital officials say the latest COVID surge in Oklahoma is exacerbating the state's ongoing nursing shortage. • The ombudsman for Oklahoma's long-term care facilities says low pay in that industry is contributing to a staffing shortage there, too.