Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Combs Named Chief of Staff at Oklahoma Insurance Department
Oct 8 2019 // Oklahoma Insurance Department Deputy Commissioner of Licensing Services & Policy Counsel Buddy Combs has been appointed to fill an upcoming chief of staff and first deputy commissioner vacancy at the department. The...
Johnson & Johnson Says Oklahoma Judge Miscalculated Opioid Award
Oct 3 2019 // An Oklahoma judge made a $107 million miscalculation when he ordered consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to help clean up the state’s opioid crisis, attorneys for the company argue in a...
Relation Insurance Acquires Oklahoma’s Premier Consulting Partners
Oct 3 2019 // Relation Insurance Services (Relation) has acquired the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based insurance brokerage Premier Consulting Partners LLC (Premier). Founded in 2014 by CEO Russell Brown, Premier offers a full suite of...
Manufacturer, Staffing Agency Sued for Harassment, Retaliation at Oklahoma Site
Oct 2 2019 // U.S. officials say Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and ManpowerGroup US Inc. (Manpower) violated federal law when they fired a female employee who complained about sexual harassment at a JCI manufacturing facility in Norman,...
Johnson & Johnson Appeals $572M Ruling in Oklahoma Opioid Lawsuit
Sep 30 2019 // Consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson is appealing an Oklahoma judge’s $572 million order against the company and its subsidiaries for helping fuel the state’s opioid crisis. The company filed an appeal...
Workers’ Comp Loss Costs to Drop 5% in Oklahoma Next Year
Sep 24 2019 // A 5.1% percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs in Oklahoma for 2020 has been approved by Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, the state insurance department announced. Loss costs are the...
Feds Sue Oklahoma Car Dealership for Sex Discrimination
Sep 16 2019 // Federal employment officials have sued a car dealership in Norman, Oklahoma, saying the company unlawfully refused to hire a sales job candidate because she was female. In the lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...
Business Moves
Sep 16 2019 // National Arch Insurance, Ventus Risk Management Arch Insurance North America has agreed to acquire Ventus Risk Management, a technology and analytics- driven managing general underwriter that specializes in providing...
Organizational Change Plan OK’d by Policyholders of Wisconsin’s Jewelers Mutual
Sep 13 2019 // Policyholders of Neenah, Wisconsin-based Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. have approved the company’s plan to convert its corporate structure to a mutual holding company. Policyholders voted Sept. 12 to approve the...
Oklahoma Law Enforcement Pension Fund Reports $4.2M Cyber Theft
Sep 9 2019 // The FBI is investigating after computer hackers managed to steal about $4.2 million in funds from a pension system for retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers and other state law enforcement officers, state officials said...
Midwest Economic Survey Suggests Little or No Growth on Horizon
Sep 4 2019 // An August survey of business supply managers suggested slow or no economic growth over the next several months in nine Midwest and Plains states, in part because of trade skirmishes, according to a newly released...
5 New Insurance Companies OK’d to Do Business in Arkansas
Sep 4 2019 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr has approved five new insurance companies to operate in the state, bringing to 103 the number of new insurance companies approved since January 2015, according to the Arkansas...
People & Places
Sep 2 2019 // National Reinsurance broker BMS Group has named Pete Chandler as president of its U.S. reinsurance operations. Chandler joins from JLT Re, where he was deputy CEO of the U.S. reinsurance broking arm of the group. He joined...
