Category Archives: Oklahoma

‘Inhumane’: judge hears arguments about anti-migrant buoys in Rio Grande

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Court to decide whether to remove them as Greg Abbott and other Republican governors defend militarization of border with Mexico

A federal judge heard arguments on Tuesday about whether state authorities should remove huge buoys installed to stop migrants crossing the river that divides Texas from Mexico.

The court hearing in Austin came a day after Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, and a group of hardline Republican governors gathered on the riverbank to defend local militarization of the US-Mexico border – while also acknowledging that the 1,000ft (305-meter) floating barrier had been adjusted after complaints that it had mostly drifted into Mexican territory.

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Highway to healing: can removing a road restore America’s Black Wall Street?

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Decades after a chilling racist massacre, Tulsa’s Greenwood district was bulldozed for I-244 – but a new plan aims to reverse its punishing effects

Twenty-five years before Don Shaw was born in Greenwood, a white mob invaded the Tulsa neighborhood and killed more than 300 people. Much of the tight-knit community was burned to the ground, including his grandfather’s pharmacy.

But when Shaw was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, few people wanted to talk about the massacre – perhaps in part because much of the damage was no longer visible.

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Floods, tornadoes, heat: more extreme weather predicted across US

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Over a third of Americans under extreme heat warnings as Vermont, still recovering from historic flooding, prepares for more storms

The US is bracing for more extreme weather from coast to coast, with a heatwave hitting California, tornados in the midwest and the east expecting more rain as it continues to reel from historic flooding.

Residents of Vermont, still suffering from an onslaught of dangerous weather in recent days, are preparing for another round of severe storms in the area beginning as early as Thursday night.

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Judge rejects reparations for Tulsa race massacre in ‘sad miscarriage of justice’

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Civil rights lawyer laments dismissal of suit which attempted to force city to make recompense for the destruction of Black area

An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice for elderly survivors.

The judge, Caroline Wall, on Friday dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit which attempted to force the city and others to make recompense for the destruction of Greenwood, a once-thriving Black district.

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Outrage as Republican says 1921 Tulsa massacre not motivated by race

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Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters decried for comments on 1921 massacre in which hundreds were killed by white mobs

The state official in charge of Oklahoma’s schools is facing calls for impeachment, after he said teachers should tell students that the Tulsa race massacre was not racially motivated.

In a public forum on Thursday, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, said teachers could cover the 1921 massacre, in which white Tulsans murdered an estimated 300 Black people, but teachers should not “say that the skin color determined it”.

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Millions swelter under extreme heat as climate crisis tightens grip on US – live

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Heat dome of high pressure hovers over Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma as thousands remain without power in Chicago with heavy rains knocking down trees and power lines

The heating of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans by the burning of fossil fuels made the current extreme heatwave across the us at least five times more likely, according to a recent analysis by Climate Central, a climate science non-profit.

The rolling heatwave marks the latest in a series of recent extreme “heat dome” events that have scorched various parts of the world.

If you have this sort of high-pressure system sitting stationary over a region, you can have these really impressive heatwaves.

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US girl who graduated from college at 15: ‘We are the invisible Black scholars’

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Shania Muhammad earned bachelor of arts degree from Langston University in Oklahoma and plans career in public speaking

Among the millions who are celebrating having received their university diplomas in the US this spring is a 15-year-old girl from Oklahoma, one of the youngest ever American college graduates.

Shania Muhammad graduated from Oklahoma’s Langston University with a bachelor of arts degree as well as a 4.0 grade-point average that was the highest in her class, according to a recent report from the local news media outlet KOCO-TV. She said she plans to pursue a career in public speaking and publish a book about her experience in school titled Read, Write, Listen: 13 in College.

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Oklahoma plans new sex offender laws after rapist killed six people before trial

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Scott Fetgatter proposes legislation aimed at halting early release of certain sex offenders after mass killing

An Oklahoma state lawmaker is planning to introduce new legislation aimed at halting the early release of certain sex offenders after a convicted rapist killed six people – including five children – at his home the night before he faced another criminal trial.

The proposal from state representative Scott Fetgatter would come after the killings in his district by 39-year-old Jesse McFadden, who authorities say murdered his wife, her three children and two of their friends before he died by suicide and their bodies were discovered on Monday.

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Weather tracker: An unusually chilly start to May in India and eastern US

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Record minimum temperatures observed in northern India, as clashing conditions bring thunderstorms in US

It has been a historically chilly start to May in India, thanks to an unusually strong low-pressure system that moved in from the west, sweeping humid air from the Arabian Sea across the subcontinent. The resulting overcast skies reduced the heating effect from the sun, which combined with the brisk winds and abnormally high rainfall to lower temperatures significantly.

May is considered the final month of the Indian summer, before the monsoon season begins in June, and is the hottest time of the year for many parts of India. However, in the past week large parts of the country have been about 10C colder than normal, with many weather stations in northern India observing record minimum temperatures for the month.

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Oklahoma death row inmate loses clemency bid despite attorney general appeal

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Only Republican governor Kevin Stitt stands between Richard Glossip and the death chamber, with lethal injection set for 18 May

Richard Glossip, a death row prisoner in Oklahoma who has insisted he is innocent since he was convicted of murder 25 years ago, has been denied clemency even though the state’s Republican attorney general made an unprecedented appeal to spare his life.

The pardon and parole board voted by 2-2 on Wednesday to deny Glossip, 60, clemency in the face of exceptional resistance from Republican politicians in Oklahoma who have joined forces to try and stop his execution going ahead. As things now stand, only the Republican governor Kevin Stitt stands between Glossip and the death chamber, with lethal injection set for 18 May.

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Oklahoma officials recorded making racist and threatening remarks

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Residents demand resignations after sheriff and officials recorded discussing desire to murder journalists and lynch Black citizens

A sheriff and several officials of a rural Oklahoma county are under pressure to resign after a local newspaper recorded their racist and expletive-laden conversation about their desire to murder journalists and lynch Black citizens.

Dozens of residents of McCurtain county protested at the sheriff’s office in Idabel on Monday, echoing calls from the Oklahoma governor, Kevin Stitt, and the city’s mayor, Craig Young, for the officials to step down.

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Mississippi tornado: death toll of 25 highest in the state in 21st century

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Fatalities from tornado the worst in 50 years, with more severe storms expected in the region on Sunday

Devastating storms and at least one large tornado which ripped through rural Mississippi on Friday night left 25 people dead in the state, dozens injured and rescue workers hauling people from rubble throughout Saturday, as the state reeled from its highest tornado-related death toll in decades.

Severe weather pounded several southern states overnight as the centers of destruction emerged on Saturday morning as the small, majority Black towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City in the Mississippi delta.

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Southern US battles winter freeze as thousands suffer power outage in Texas

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Slick roads have caused at least 10 deaths with thousands of flights canceled since frigid weather set in on Monday

A mess of ice, sleet and snow lingered across much of the southern US on Thursday, as thousands in Texas endured freezing temperatures with no power, including many in the state capital, Austin.

Treacherous driving conditions had resulted in at least 10 deaths on slick roads since Monday, including seven in Texas, two in Oklahoma, and one in Arkansas. The Republican Texas governor, Greg Abbott, urged people not to drive.

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Shock and anger after fired worker killed by police at Oklahoma pork plant

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Chiewelthap Mariar, 26-year-old Sudanese refugee, shot dead after police called to escort him from Seaboard Foods factory in Guymon

Workers at a pork processing plant in Oklahoma have condemned the calling of police by management that resulted in the killing of a worker who had just been fired.

Chiewelthap Mariar, a 26-year-old refugee from Sudan, was killed by police officers while working at the Seaboard Foods meatpacking plant in Guymon on 9 January.

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One dead, dozens injured after tornadoes rip through Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma

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‘Total destruction’ and dozens of people still unaccounted for in Texas town while Arkansas and Oklahoma also hit by tornadoes

At least two people have died and dozens more are injured after tornadoes ravaged parts of Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Several twisters caused property damage and physical injury across the various states on Friday. Tornado warnings had still been in effect as of late Friday in parts of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed reporting.

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More coffins discovered with possible link to 1921 Tulsa race massacre

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DNA to be collected to identify 21 newly discovered sets of remains believed to be from victims of attack on Black Oklahomans

The search for the remains of victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre has turned up 21 additional coffins in unmarked graves in the city’s Oaklawn cemetery, officials said.

Seventeen adult-size graves were located on Friday and Saturday, the Oklahoma state archaeologist, Kary Stackelbeck, said on Monday. The city announced on Tuesday that four more graves – two adult-size and two child-size – had also been found.

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Tulsa race massacre: 14 bodies to be re-exhumed in effort to identify victims

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New exhumations will be followed by new search for bodies in Oklahoma cemetery linked to 1921 atrocity

Some of 19 bodies previously exhumed for testing in an effort to identify victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and then reburied in an Oklahoma cemetery will be exhumed again starting on Wednesday, to gather more DNA.

None of the remains recovered thus far have been confirmed as victims of the massacre, in which more than 1,000 homes were burned, hundreds were looted and a thriving business district known as Black Wall Street was destroyed.

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IRS to review security at facilities as threats from extremists increase

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The security assessment will be first of its kind since the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing following far-right chatter online

The Internal Revenue Service announced on Tuesday that it will do a security assessment of its facilities following increased threats from alt-right extremists and a burst of funding the agency is set to obtain.

The review at the tax collection agency is the first type of assessment for the group since the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, when an explosive device near an Oklahoma City federal building killed 168 people, the Washington Post first reported.

The IRS sent a letter to employees last Wednesday with IRS commissioner Charles Rettig writing that the agency would be assessing risk in each of the IRS’ 600 buildings and determine what additional safety measures were needed.

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Oklahoma governor grants Richard Glossip 60-day stay of execution

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Court considers Glossip’s case after independent investigation raised questions about guilt in 1997 killing

Oklahoma’s governor has granted Richard Glossip a 60-day stay of execution while a state appeals court considers his claim of innocence.

Kevin Stitt signed an executive order on Tuesday delaying Glossip’s execution for the 1997 killing of Glossip’s boss, Barry Van Treese, a motel owner, that was scheduled for 22 September.

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Newly uncovered letter casts doubt over sole testimony in Oklahoma death row

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Self-confessed murderer Justin Sneed gave the only evidence in Richard Glossip’s case, later writing ‘somethings I need to clean up’

A handwritten letter has come to light casting doubt on the critical testimony of a self-confessed murderer who provided the only implicating evidence at the trial of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate in Oklahoma who is to be executed in six weeks’ time.

The letter was written in 2007 by Justin Sneed, a motel handyman who by his own admittance bludgeoned to death Barry Van Treese, the owner of a Best Budget, a decade earlier. Sneed’s testimony that Glossip, the manager of the motel, had put him up to the murder with a promise of $10,000 was central to the state’s case – with no other forensic or corroborating evidence to back it up.

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