Cold beer and wine just got easier to buy in Tulsa on October 1. Based on a statewide vote, Oklahoma has liberalized its liquor laws and that has had a dramatic effect on the availability of beer and wine. Liquor stores were legalized in 1959 and for years, Oklahoma had liquor-by-the drink restrictions. Only room…
Donna Gradel, 2018 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, has officially launched her yearlong tour of Oklahoma, vowing to visit schools in all 77 counties by June 30. Gradel has been speaking across the state since assuming her full-time Teacher of the Year duties July 1, but with the new school year now in full swing,…
In a split vote, the Tulsa School Board appointed Jania Wester to the board last week. Wester formerly was a principal at Zarrow International School, is Hispanic and now represents District 2 in which 40 percent of the public school students are Hispanic. That district is in the north/central part of Tulsa. Board member Jennettie…
A Yukon elementary school art educator whose alter ego as the Caped Crusader earned her the nickname the “Batman Teacher” is Oklahoma’s 2019 Teacher of the Year. Becky Oglesby teaches Pre-K through third grade at Ranchwood Elementary School in Yukon Public Schools. Oglesby was a second-year teacher at Plaza Towers Elementary in 2013 when a…
Fewer pregnant Oklahomans are smoking, according to a report by The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH). Data shows a dramatic decline of more than one-third (33.5 percent) in smoking among pregnant women since 2009. Along with this improvement, there has been a drop in infant deaths of more than 10 percent. “To help continue…
Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak plans to work with the Legislature to expand state law regarding short-term limited duration health insurance coverage. In August, the Trump administration finalized rules on short-term policies expanding the maximum duration from three months to 12 months and allowing insurers to renew or extend short-term coverage for up to…
The TU Department of Theatre will present the musical Man of La Mancha, October 18-21 and 25-27. Based on the book by Miguel de Cervantes, the original Broadway production, written by Dale Wasserman with music by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion, won multiple Tony Awards. Performed in the Commedia dell’arte style with actors playing multiple…
Oklahoma employers could pay less for workers’ compensation insurance next year. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has proposed an overall loss cost decrease of 2.3 percent in a filing that many insurers use to develop prices. NCCI credits the reduced loss cost to favorable experience across all industry groups. “This is great news…
Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones gave Tulsa County Treasurer Dennis Semler and his staff a clean report on an audit done in August. “Based on our procedures performed, there were no exceptions noted,” Jones wrote in a letter to the Tulsa County Board of Commissioners.
A tribe based in Oklahoma gave $1.4 to a campaign to legalize four casinos in Arkansas. According to the Driving Arkansas Forward committee, the Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma donated $191,000 in August and that makes the total contribution $1.4 million. The proposal on the November 6 ballot would enable the Arkansas State Racing Commission to…