Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oklahoma Commissioner OKs Rhode Island Insurer’s Insurance Business Transfer Plan
Nov 26 2019 // Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready on Nov. 26 authorized Rhode Island-based insurance Providence Washington Insurance Co. (PWIC) to submit its Insurance Business Transfer (IBT) Plan to the District Court of...
5 Quakes, Including 3 of Mag 3.6, Struck Oklahoma Last Week
Nov 25 2019 // The U.S. Geological Survey reports five earthquakes, including three of magnitude 3.6, were recorded in Oklahoma and felt in Kansas and Texas. One of the 3.6 magnitude earthquakes took place late Thursday night while the...
Oklahoma AG to Appeal Judge’s Opioid Ruling in J&J Case
Nov 25 2019 // Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter says he plans to appeal a judge’s order directing consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson to pay the state $465 million to help address the state’s opioid...
Oklahoma High Court: Cities May Regulate Medical Marijuana
Nov 21 2019 // The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that cities may approve some regulations of the medical marijuana industry. The court has dismissed an appeal by the city of Broken Arrow in a case filed by marijuana grower Austin...
Experts Say Oklahoma’s Insurance Business Transfer Law Will Boost Economy
Nov 19 2019 // An international forum of insurance experts meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said the Insurance Business Transfer law expected to bring an economic boost to the state. The IBT law creates a way for insurers to transfer entire...
Oklahoma Appeals Court Upholds Class Action Status for Earthquake Lawsuit
Nov 18 2019 // The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals has upheld the class action designation of a lawsuit against an oil company over damage caused by earthquakes near Prague in November 2011, including one of magnitude 5.7. The court on...
Rate Increases OK’d for Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association
Nov 18 2019 // Proposed rate increases for both private passenger and commercial auto insurance rates have been approved for the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA). The Texas Department of Insurance granted TAIPA’s...
Judge Trims Oklahoma Opioid Penalty on J&J to $465M to Reflect Math Error
Nov 17 2019 // An Oklahoma judge on Friday said Johnson & Johnson must pay that state $465 million for fueling the opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of painkillers, down from his original award of $572 million. The...
U.S. Attorney: Oklahoma Man Sentenced for Stealing Almost $370K from Employer
Nov 15 2019 // A Tulsa, Oklahoma, man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to repay nearly $370,000 after being found guilty of stealing from his employer. Ernest Everette Howard, 49, of Tulsa, must $368,329.61 in...
Attorney: Oklahoma’s Tulsa County to Pay $10M to Settle Jail Death Suit
Nov 15 2019 // Officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 37-year-old man, who died in 2011 after lying naked in a Tulsa County, Oklahoma, jail cell for five days with a broken neck. Documents filed in federal court in...
Gwartney Appointed VP, Employee Benefits at Oklahoma’s Universal Insurance
Nov 14 2019 // Dason Gwartney has been named vice president and employee benefits practice leader at Universal Insurance Agency in Durant, Oklahoma, a unit of First United Bank. Gwartney joins First United/Universal with more than 25...
10 Hospitalized After Flu Shot Mix-Up at Oklahoma Facility
Nov 13 2019 // Ten people at an Oklahoma care facility for people with intellectual disabilities were hospitalized after they were apparently accidentally injected with what’s believed to be insulin rather than flu shots,...
Oklahoma Workers’ Comp Commission Names Hammonds Johnson General Counsel
Nov 7 2019 // Lauren Hammonds Johnson has been appointed general counsel at the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC). The general counsel will work directly under Commissioners Mark Liotta, Jordan Russell and Megan...
New Oklahoma Law Allows Use of School Bus Cameras to Ticket Drivers
Nov 6 2019 // New legislation in Oklahoma that allows law enforcement to use cameras on school buses to track down drivers who illegally pass stopped buses went into effect on Nov. 1. House Bill 1926, by Rep. Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee) and...
No Major Damage as Earthquakes Rattle Kansas, Oklahoma
Nov 4 2019 // The U.S. Geological Survey says several earthquakes were recorded in south-central Kansas and northern Oklahoma this weekend, but no significant damage was reported. The Kansas City Star reports that one earthquake with a...
Number of Volunteer Firefighters Continues to Grow in Oklahoma
Oct 31 2019 // Nearly 500 new volunteer firefighters have joined Oklahoma rural fire departments in the four years after legislation passed that eliminated the age limit for new volunteers. Oklahoma House Majority Leader Mike Sanders...
Kansas-Oklahoma Border Shaken by 3.7 Magnitude Quake
Oct 25 2019 // A 3.7 magnitude earthquake centered near the Kansas-Oklahoma border was felt as far as 75 miles away, but no injuries have been reported. The Kansas City Star reports that the temblor happened just after 4 p.m. Tuesday and...
Oklahoma County to Pay $12.5M to Settle Suit Over Inmate Death
Oct 24 2019 // Officials in northern Oklahoma have agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of an inmate in a restraint chair at the county jail. According to court records, the Garfield County Board of...
California Governor’s OK of Cannabis Tax Bill Among Several Industry-Related Bills He Signed
Oct 17 2019 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been quite friendly to the cannabis industry lately, signing into law more than a half-dozen cannabis-industry related bills. The bills were intended to add to or subtract from the...
Oklahoma Judge Says He Miscalculated Award in Opioid Case by $107M
Oct 17 2019 // An Oklahoma judge on Oct. 15 acknowledged making a nearly $107 million miscalculation in determining how much drug maker Johnson & Johnson must pay the state to help address the state’s opioid crisis. Following a...
