Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tracking System Could Speed OK for Drone Deliveries in U.S.
Dec 21 2017 // Deliveries by drones took a step closer to being allowed in the U.S. after a federal advisory panel agreed on a framework for allowing law enforcement to routinely track the small devices. The committee’s report to...
Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s New Drunk Driver Law
Dec 20 2017 // The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that a new drunken-driving law that created a new program for first-time DUI offenders and abolished the appeals process for those trying to keep their licenses after a DUI arrest is...
Lemonade OK’d to Offer Insurance in Arkansas
Dec 20 2017 // Insurtech company, Lemonade, has received a Certificate of Authority to do business in Arkansas. Lemonade Insurance Co. has been approved to sell property, casualty and marine products in Arkansas with an initial limit to...
Sommer Named Interim Executive Director at Oklahoma WCC as Bailey Departs
Dec 13 2017 // The Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) announced that Executive Director Kim Bailey has resigned and Administrative Law Judge Patricia Sommer has been appointed to lead the agency in the interim. Bailey...
Northern Oklahoma Rattled by 2 Quakes, 1 a Magnitude 4.2
Dec 6 2017 // Two earthquakes, including one given a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 have been recorded in northern Oklahoma. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the quake struck just before 10:30 p.m. near Stillwater, about 65 miles (105...
La Nina Adds to Wildfire Threat in South Central, Plains States
Dec 4 2017 // Conditions are ripe for winter wildfires from the mid-South through the Great Plains thanks to a combination of weather factors, including the climate phenomenon known as La Nina, that have left a lot of dry growth. In...
Drone Prompts Diversion of Arkansas Wildfire Surveillance Plane
Dec 1 2017 // Forestry officials diverted a surveillance plane from its assigned path because a drone hovered above a northern Arkansas wildfire, prompting them to caution people that airborne efforts to take unique photographs endanger...
San Francisco Supervisors OK Rules for Recreational Pot Stores
Nov 30 2017 // Following weeks of emotional and detailed debate over where to allow new stores, San Francisco supervisors approved regulations for the sale of recreational marijuana when it becomes legal in California in January. The San...
Oklahoma Sees Increase in Number of Volunteer Firefighters
Nov 28 2017 // Almost 200 new volunteer firefighters have joined rural fire departments in Oklahoma two years after successful legislation eliminated the age limit for new volunteers, according to state lawmakers. House Bill 2005,...
Oklahoma Woman Awarded $1M in Transgender Discrimination Lawsuit
Nov 22 2017 // A federal jury has awarded a transgender woman more than $1 million after finding Southeastern Oklahoma State University discriminated against her and wrongfully denied her tenure. The Oklahoman newspaper reports jurors...
Oklahoma Joins International Insurance Information Exchange Agreement
Nov 20 2017 // The Oklahoma Insurance Department has joined an international supervisory cooperation and information exchange agreement. According to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), since the first...
Testimony: Former Oklahoma Seismologist Felt Pressured not to Link Quakes, Oil and Gas
Nov 16 2017 // Oklahoma’s former lead seismologist says he felt pressured by an official at the University of Oklahoma to not link the state’s surge in earthquakes to oil and gas production. The Tulsa World reports that...
Commission OKs Plan to Improve Oklahoma Roads, Bridges
Nov 9 2017 // The Oklahoma Transportation Commission has approved a work plan that calls for repairing or replacing nearly 400 county bridges and improving hundreds of miles of county roads over the next five years. About $926 million...
Well Owners Told to Lower Water Injection Levels after Oklahoma Quakes
Nov 9 2017 // After a series of small to moderate earthquakes in central Oklahoma, two companies are being told to reduce the amount of wastewater they inject into the ground. About a dozen quakes have struck just south of Hennessey,...
Oklahoma’s Medical Malpractice ‘Affidavit of Merit’ Law Ruled Unconstitutional
Nov 6 2017 // In an unpublished opinion decided Oct. 24, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a state law aimed at curtailing the filing of medical malpractice lawsuits is unconstitutional. The Court came to that conclusion in...
Officials Confirm Oklahoma Casino Hit with EF1 Tornado
Nov 6 2017 // Emergency managers say an Oklahoma casino had part of its roof torn off by an EF1 tornado during a concert that the state’s governor was attending in late October. The twister touched down in Cleveland County, one of...
Blue Cross Blue Shield Sued by Rural Oklahoma Hospitals
Nov 1 2017 // Several rural hospitals have filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma, alleging the insurance company plans to slash provider reimbursement rates. The lawsuit alleges that the four...
Oklahoma’s Eitzen Agency Joins Combined Agents of America
Nov 1 2017 // Austin, Texas-based agency partner group, Combined Agents of America (CAA), is expanding in Oklahoma with the addition of Eitzen Agency Inc. Eitzen Agency Inc. (EAI) is a family-owned insurance agency based in Fairview,...
Oklahoma’s Medical Malpractice ‘Affidavit of Merit’ Law Ruled Unconstitutional
Oct 27 2017 // In an unpublished opinion decided Oct. 24, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a state law aimed at curtailing the filing of medical malpractice lawsuits is unconstitutional. The Court came to that conclusion in...
Officials Confirm Oklahoma Casino Hit with EF1 Tornado
Oct 25 2017 // Emergency managers say an Oklahoma casino had part of its roof torn off by an EF1 tornado during a concert that the state’s governor was attending. The twister touched down in Cleveland County, one of several...
