Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ranchers in Midwest Assessing Damage After Wildfires
Mar 10 2017 // Kansas rancher Greg Gardiner got into some of his scorched pastures for the first time on March 8 and surveyed what he likened to a battle zone: carcasses of dead cattle everywhere. “It’s pretty much a...
Proposed Oklahoma Bill Would Allow Property Owners to Destroy Drones
Mar 9 2017 // Proposed Oklahoma legislation heading to the Senate would exempt property owners from civil action if they destroy drones not regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. The proposed bill, authored by Republican Sen....
Evacuations Ordered as Numerous Fires Burn in Oklahoma
Mar 8 2017 // Numerous wildfires are burning in Oklahoma and evacuations have been ordered in the state’s northwest. Woodward County Emergency Management Director Matt Lehenbauer says up to 200 people had to leave their homes late...
Deadly Wildfires Force Thousands from Homes in 4 States
Mar 8 2017 // Emergency crews on March 7 struggled to contain deadly wildfires that have scorched hundreds of square miles of land in four states and forced thousands of people to flee their homes ahead of the wind-whipped flames. The...
Oil Companies Sued by Oklahoma Tribe Over Quake
Mar 6 2017 // An Oklahoma-based Native American tribe filed a lawsuit in its own tribal court system Friday accusing several oil companies of triggering the state’s largest earthquake that caused extensive damage to some...
Oklahoma County Settles Traffic Death Lawsuit for $500K
Mar 1 2017 // Oklahoma County commissioners have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man killed in a traffic crash involving a sheriff’s deputy. The Oklahoman reports a judge approved the settlement...
Oklahoma Senate OKs Bill Changing Oversight of Online Insurance Verification
Feb 28 2017 // The full Senate has approved legislation to transfer oversight of Oklahoma’s Compulsory Insurance Online Verification System (OCIVS) for motor vehicle liability policies from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to...
Ratings of Oklahoma Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance, Subsidiary Upgraded
Feb 28 2017 // A.M. Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B+ (Good) from B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “bbb-” from “bb+” for the members of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Group:...
Oklahoma Pipeline Company to Reimburse Iowa Entities for Spill
Feb 27 2017 // An Oklahoma pipeline company says it will reimburse north-central Iowa agencies for expenses they incurred while responding to a diesel pipeline spill near Hanlontown last month. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that...
Jury: Former Oklahoma Legislator Must Pay Insurer $4.3M in Defamation Case
Feb 24 2017 // A Tulsa, Okla., jury has awarded an insurance company and its CEO $4.3 million in a defamation case. The Oklahoman reports former state legislator and former First Trinity director Wayne Pettigrew left First Trinity...
Tulsa Man Who Assaulted Insurance Adjuster Gets Life Sentence
Feb 23 2017 // A Tulsa, Okla., man who filed a bogus insurance claim and assaulted an insurance adjuster has been sentenced to life in prison, the state insurance department announced. Prentice E. Ponds II, 43, was on parole at the time...
Oklahoma Bill Proposes Rules for Medical Marijuana
Feb 22 2017 // Oklahomans won’t vote until next year on whether to legalize medical marijuana, but a state lawmaker has already introduced legislation that would set the framework if sales of the drug are approved. State Rep. Eric...
EPA to Oklahoma Officials: Do More to Curb Earthquakes
Feb 20 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency told Oklahoma regulators last November to do more to protect the state from a surge in earthquake activity that scientists have linked to the underground disposal of oil and gas...
Declarations
Feb 20 2017 // Harassment Drones “The worst thing that can happen is you get mamas separated from their babies, and that’s one of my biggest concerns.” — Republican Rep. Scott Chew wants to send people to jail for...
Suspected Shooter in Oklahoma Accused of Stealing Insurance Money
Feb 13 2017 // Federal investigators say an Oklahoma man who fatally shot himself this week after being suspected of killing two people was facing felony charges connected to an insurance scheme. An FBI affidavit alleges that 55-year-old...
Talk Expected to Turn to Earthquakes at Tornado Summit in Oklahoma
Feb 13 2017 // Hundreds of top meteorologists and disaster recovery experts will converge on Oklahoma City this week for a national tornado summit, though much of the discussion is expected to focus on temblors, not twisters. The annual...
Suspected Oklahoma Shooter Accused of Stealing Insurance Money
Feb 13 2017 // An FBI affidavit filed says an Oklahoma man, who authorities say fatally shot himself after being suspected of killing two people, faced five felony counts of uttering forged instruments in connection with an insurance...
EPA to Oklahoma Officials: Do More to Curb Earthquakes
Feb 6 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency told Oklahoma regulators last November to do more to protect the state from a surge in earthquake activity that scientists have linked to the underground disposal of oil and gas...
Drought-Hit Oklahoma Under Rare National Fire Advisory
Feb 3 2017 // Oklahoma has been placed under a national fire advisory as much of the state struggles with unrelenting drought and tinder-dry vegetation capable of igniting and quickly spreading out of control, state forestry officials...
Texas Truck Driver Charged in Fatal Oklahoma Crash Has Died
Feb 1 2017 // A Texas truck driver accused of causing a 2014 crash in Oklahoma that killed four college softball players has died by suicide at his home. The prosecutor in the Oklahoma case, Murray County District Attorney Craig Ladd,...
