Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tornado Chasers Prepare for High Season
Feb 24 2012 // With the month of March looming, United States tornado chasers are already watching the Southeast as a nasty storm brews with the potential to spin off a batch of tornadoes. But if funnel clouds develop Thursday or Friday...
Oklahoma Bill Bans Cell Phone Use by Teen Drivers
Feb 21 2012 // Legislation that would prevent teenage drivers from using cell phones while driving has cleared a Senate panel. The Senate Public Safety Committee voted 6-2 last week for the bill, Senate Bill 182, which now heads to the...
Washington Tribe OK’d to Move Out Of Tsunami Zone
Feb 20 2012 // The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that will allow the Quileute tribe to move its school and other buildings out of a tsunami zone on the Washington coast to higher ground in Olympic National Park. The...
Oklahoma House Approves Firefighter Pension Reforms
Feb 17 2012 // A measure approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives would stabilize the state’s firefighter pension system by, among other things, increasing the percentage of insurance premium tax allocated to the...
Oklahoma Bill Would Raise Legal Age for Tobacco Use
Feb 16 2012 // Legislation approved by an Oklahoma House committee would make it illegal for anyone younger than 21 to purchase tobacco products. “The younger someone starts smoking, the harder it is to break the addiction later in...
Oklahoma Insurance Department Spokesman Resigns Over Offensive Email
Feb 13 2012 // The Oklahoma Insurance Department’s spokesman said he resigned on Feb. 10 after sending an official email to hundreds of people containing an off-color term for breasts. Glenn Craven told The Associated Press that he...
Uninsured Driver Bill Advances in Oklahoma House
Feb 10 2012 // Oklahoma law enforcement officers would have more leeway to stop those suspected of driving uninsured vehicles under a measure approved by a House committee. House Bill 2525, by state Rep. Steve Martin (R-Nowata,...
Oklahoma House Committee Approves Stricter Seat Belt Law
Feb 10 2012 // Legislation aimed at increasing road safety in Oklahoma was approved in the House Public Safety Committee. House Bill 2583, by state Rep. Jeannie McDaniel, would require every person in a vehicle to wear a properly...
Oklahoma Public Safety Officials Seek More Funding
Feb 9 2012 // Following three years of budget cuts, Oklahoma’s public safety officials told lawmakers their budgets need a boost to restore workforce levels and replace antiquated facilities and equipment. The heads of...
Oklahoma Commissioner Backs Bill to Use Premium Tax Funds for Firefighters
Feb 8 2012 // Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak announced his support for using insurance premium taxes to bolster the pension funds of the state’s firefighters. Doak said he supports House Bill 2320 introduced by Rep....
Oklahoma Bill Would Combat Prescription Drug Overdose
Feb 6 2012 // Under legislation by state Rep. Pat Ownbey, physicians could not prescribe a controlled substance without first using the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Prescription Monitoring Program to see what has already been prescribed...
Declarations
Feb 6 2012 // No More Funds-Holding “I have received numerous constituent complaints regarding a mortgage company holding onto funds for weeks while homeowners face emergency repairs that must be made quickly.” —Oklahoma...
Workers’ Compensation on Legislative Agenda for Oklahoma State Chamber
Feb 1 2012 // Taxation, workers’ compensation insurance and health care coverage top the State Chamber of Oklahoma’s agenda for the 2012 legislative session that kicks off on Feb. 6. The State Chamber’s business agenda...
Oklahoma Officials Learn Lessons from 2002 Ice Storm
Jan 31 2012 // Communications have been modernized, utility outage response has improved and emergency response officials in north-central Oklahoma are better prepared for natural disasters 10 years after one of the worst ice storms in...
Oklahoma Lawmakers File State Insurance Opt-Out Bill
Jan 30 2012 // Two Oklahoma lawmakers have filed legislation to increase the number of state employees who could opt out of state insurance coverage. The measure expands a 2011 law that allowed state employees and lawmakers to refuse...
Oklahoma Company Sued Over Accident That Hurt Teens
Jan 27 2012 // The parents of two teenagers who were severely injured in a grain elevator accident in Oklahoma have filed negligence lawsuits against the business where the boys worked. Cherie Gannon, Lee Zander and Rhonda Zander filed...
Lawmaker: Oklahoma Bill Would Help Homeowners with Insurance Claims
Jan 26 2012 // A bill filed in Oklahoma aims to help homeowners with insurance claim payments issued through mortgage companies. Legislation filed by Oklahoma state Rep. Charles Ortega would give mortgage companies no more than 10 days...
Oklahoma Insurance Department Trims Budget by $675K in 2011
Jan 26 2012 // Oklahoma’s top insurance regulator says the department spent nearly $675,000 less in 2011 than it did in 2010. For the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2011, the insurance department spent $11,160,855.28 compared to...
Oklahoma City Teen Featured in Distracted-Driving Campaign
Jan 23 2012 // A new national campaign warning against distracted driving features the story of an Oklahoma City teenager who was killed in a car crash while talking on her cell phone. The U.S. Department of Transportation video...
Web Exchange
Jan 23 2012 // IJ Video Highlights As the Market Turns, What Is Broker’s Role? Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv The soft market is turning, perhaps not dramatically but it is turning, says Jerry Sullivan, chairman, The Sullivan...
