Rogers State University will use a test-optional admissions process for the next five years allowing students to pursue a bachelor’s degree without providing an ACT or SAT score. The change follows guidance issued by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education that acknowledges the impacts of COVID-19 on student access to standardized testing, such as…
POINT LOOKOUT, Missouri — College of the Ozarks began reopening its campus to visitors, beginning with the Hoge Greenhouses and Patriots Park on May 10. Edwards Mill and General Store, along with the Stained Glass and Candle Shop, will reopen on May 26. Hours of operation are as follows: Hoge Greenhouses (Open beginning May 10):…
My Life, My Quit, a text-based tobacco cessation program designed specifically for youth, has new educational materials available free for schools and health care providers to use in their interactions with students and patients ages 13-17. My Life, My Quit is a program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET). “Now that more schools, clinics…
SKIATOOK — The Skiatook Municipal Airport hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 14, in honor of the airport’s new 3,000-foot runway. The $2 million project began in 2020 with reconstruction of the existing asphalt runway with concrete and the upgrading of the existing stake mounted runway edge lights to higher quality base mounted fixtures. The…
Gov. Kevin signed a bill that will prohibit Oklahoma public schools, colleges and universities from teaching “Critical Race Theory” and from requiring mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling. House Bill 1775 is authored by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore. “Already, this harmful indoctrination has infiltrated Oklahoma schools from as early as pre-kindergarten classrooms all…
Legislation allowing patients to designate a visitor to have unrestricted visitation has been signed by the Governor. House Bill 2687, titled the “No Patient Left Alone Act,” is authored by Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin. She filed the legislation after hearing from constituents whose loved ones were not allowed to have a single visitor during the…
Stitt has signed legislation to help children aging out of the Oklahoma foster care system become self-sufficient. House Bill 1709, also known as the Successful Adulthood Act, lowers the age that someone in foster care could access federal funding through the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP), operated by the U.S. Children’s Bureau,…
Stitt signed into law a bill intended to expand the use of the Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment Survey to 100% of Oklahoma public schools. Rep. Mark Vancuren, R-Owasso, is the author of House Bill 1103, which requires public schools throughout the state to administer the survey every two years, beginning with the 2022-23 school year,…
A bill to help law enforcement locate kidnap victims faster has been signed into law. Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, and Rep. Rande Worthen, R-Lawton, are the principal authors of Senate Bill 272, the “Kelsey Smith Act,” which will require cell phone companies to provide phone location information to law enforcement in emergency situations, such as…
The Oklahoma Courier Application Services Act was signed by the governor, ensuring individuals involved in local delivery services will not be regulated like the trucking industry by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission Authority. Senate Bill 999, authored by Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, would provide an exemption from regulations designed for for-hire motor carriers. These will no…