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2 Dead in Oklahoma Floods; Supreme Court Weighs Oklahoma Religious Charter School
This is your round-up of the best in Oklahoma journalism for May 1, 2025
Ryan Welton
May 01, 2025
What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is May 1, and here are a few quickies:
• Report: Tesla looking to replace Elon Musk as CEO.
• KFOR follow-up: Homeland Security acknowledges mistake in raiding Oklahoma City home.
• The Frontier: Homeless numbers continue to rise in Oklahoma City.
• Stock futures up after good earnings reports from Meta, Microsoft. Click for live updates.
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Weather Update ☀️
Here comes the sun, doo, dun, doo, doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Little darling, the smile's returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Note: While Oklahoma Memo is undoubtedly excited for the return of Mr. Sunshine, there is another severe storm risk for Thursday night (late). 🌩️
It’s May. Keep your weather head on a swivel, bruh.
🌡️ Thursday's high in OKC 79°
🌡️ Thursday’s high in Tulsa 80°
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SCOTUS ruling involving Oklahoma religious charter school could set national precedent
Supreme Court of the United States
The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether Oklahoma can publicly fund a religious charter school. Justices heard arguments Wednesday in the case over St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, with big questions raised about church and state separation. A ruling could set a national precedent for public education.
A decision isn’t expected until this summer, possibly in late June.
"The United States Supreme Court heard a case that goes to the very heart of what makes our nation great— freedom of religion. I’m proud Oklahoma is standing firm for the constitutional rights our Founding Fathers enshrined, including the right of religious institutions to participate equally in public life.
The idea that a school should be disqualified from serving students simply because it’s rooted in faith is discriminatory and un-American. Every child deserves access to a quality education, and every family should have the freedom to choose a school that reflects their values. Ultimately, parents should have more options for their kids, not fewer. I’m grateful to the Trump administration, the governors, attorneys general, and members of congress who are with us in this fight."
“This case is ultimately about safeguarding religious liberty. Religious liberty means every citizen is free to worship as he or she sees fit. It does not mean the government should back religious indoctrination. The justices were clearly engaged. Their questions were robust and meaningful.”
Oklahoma Memo has gathered the best local stories from Wednesday’s coverage of the arguments, including three must-read stories from Oklahoma Watch.
• SCOTUS split evident in St. Isidore case arguments (Gaylord News)
• Divided Court Hears Oklahoma Religious Charter School Case (Oklahoma Watch)
• Split U.S. Supreme Court hears Oklahoma Catholic charter school case (Oklahoma Voice)
• During oral arguments, Supreme Court seems open to state-funded Catholic charter school (Catholic News Agency)
• See what questions U.S. Supreme Court justices had during St. Isidore arguments (Tulsa World)
• ‘A Real Good Test For the First Amendment’ Comes to the Supreme Court (Oklahoma Watch)
• Hearing St. Isidore case arguments, SCOTUS ponders whether charter schools are public schools (NonDoc)
• The Supreme Court Had Classroom Culture Wars on Top of Mind in Oral Arguments (Oklahoma Watch)
• How Oklahoma leaders at Supreme Court hearing on religious charter school responded to arguments (Oklahoman)
2 Dead In Flooding Across Oklahoma; Highway Closure Update
Photo by Danielle-Claude Bélanger on Unsplash
Severe storms and heavy rainfall led to widespread flooding across Oklahoma, resulting in at least two fatalities and significant disruptions statewide.
Two people drowned after their vehicles were swept away by floodwaters: one in Pottawatomie County near Macomb and another in Lincoln County northwest of Prague.
Oklahoma Memo has gathered the best local coverage of Wednesday’s storms:
• Road, highway closures due to flooding or washed-out roads (Oklahoma.gov)
• Oklahoma declares state of emergency as floods close highways in multiple counties (Fox 25)
• 2 dead in Oklahoma flooding; more rain on the way: What we know (KOCO)
• Severe thunderstorms cause widespread flooding across southern Oklahoma (KXII)
• Floods in Skiatook and Sperry cause church to cancel services (News On 6)
• Severe storms cause flooding, road closures and power outages across Oklahoma (News On 6)
The Oklahoma Rundown 📰
A concise summary of the latest news from across the state:
• Mustang mayor faces allegations of child sex abuse (KFOR)
• Manhunt underway in Love County for vehicle pursuit suspects (KXII)
• Standoff ends in arrest after suspect fires pepperball-like rounds at Tulsa officers (KTUL)
• 75-year-old woman dies in three-car crash in NW OKC (News 9)
• Gilcrease Museum to Return More Native American Remains (News On 6)
• Lauria and Ashley's Law moves closer to final passage (Fox 23)
• Bob Mills SkyNews 9 damaged in incident (News 9)
• Osage Nation Congress honors ancestors with $125,000 for unmarked graves (Osage News)
• Book event draws Tulsa crowd for Tulsa World reporter's take on impacts of Race Massacre (Tulsa World)
• Festival aims to connect Cherokees with nature, culture (Cherokee Phoenix)
• Water main repair to close Kilpatrick off-ramp, part of Memorial Road Thursday (News 9)
• Environmental Services caps off Earth Week with Recycling Collection Event (Mvskoke Media)
• Ardmore working toward film certification: Locations being identified as potential filming venues (Ardmoreite)
• Ardmore Little Theatre closes season with production of M*A*S*H (Ardmoreite)
SPORTS 🏀⚾🥎🏈
• OU softball tries to clinch SEC regular season title against familiar Florida team (Tulsa World)
• Landry, Pickering Named to USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 List (SoonerSports)
• Company responsible for Globe Life Field turf resurfacing TU's Chapman Stadium (Tulsa World)
• OSU stays active in transfer portal, added UMass point guard Jaylen Curry (Tulsa World)
• OU men's basketball hires Justin Scott as assistant coach (OU Daily)
• ORU men sign transfer guard Ty Harper to 2025-26 roster (ORU Athletics)
• Ramos drills walk-off homer as Tulsa outlasts Arkansas (MILB.com)
• Chihuahuas clobber Comets 13-4 (but a doubleheader starting at 11:05 a.m. today!) (MILB.com)
🗣️ Story Tips, Ideas, Feedback
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