All treats, no tricks. It’s Halloween 2025, and if you come by ‘Oklahoma Memo’ headquarters tonight, it’s only quality candy for the kiddos. No fruit, veggies or candy corn, but that’s mostly because I eat all the candy corn. Seriously, it’s a problem.

OK, here are halloween event stories from across the state (* = paywall):

• Halloween events and trick-or-treating dates across Oklahoma (KOCO)

• From scary movies to murder mysteries, 20+ grown-up Halloween events happening in Oklahoma (The Oklahoman)*

• Halloween events taking place across Southwest Oklahoma (KSWO)

• Halloween Events in Northeast Oklahoma (Public Radio Tulsa)

• ‘Sinners’-themed Halloween party brings the blockbuster film to Greenwood (The Oklahoma Eagle)

• A look at 2025 Halloween events in Green Country (Fox 23)

• 2025 Tulsa area Halloween events calendar (Tulsa People)

• Family-friendly Halloween events (Tulsa Kids)

By Barbara Hoberock, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Department of Human Services on Sunday will begin furloughing 2,300 employees as a result of the federal government shutdown, the agency said.

Employees earning a salary of $100,000 or more will be furloughed three days per pay period while those earning $50,000 up to $100,000 will have two furlough days.

Those earning less than $50,000 are exempt.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, and we recognize the hardship it places on our staff,” the agency said in a statement. “The furlough plan is structured to maximize limited resources while prioritizing the protection and engagement of frontline staff.”

The agency pays its employees biweekly.

“Oklahoma Human Services exists to provide critical services to our most vulnerable neighbors,” the agency’s statement said. “Unfortunately, the ongoing federal shutdown has significantly impacted our ability to fulfill that mission without taking actions such as this.”

The shutdown began Oct. 1 after Congress did not pass appropriations legislation for 2026 federal fiscal year. 

Click here to finish the story.

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

By Sarah Liese (Twilla), Robby Korth, KOSU
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Attorney General Gentner Drummond has interceded in a case to drop charges against a Choctaw Nation citizen accused of hunting on a tribal reservation without a state permit.

A Pushmataha County judge is dismissing a case against Shawn Robertson, a Choctaw Nation citizen, who hunted without a state-issued license. The citation said Robertson hunted on public land. But Gentner Drummond says the land is technically Indian Country, and he interjected and moved to have Robertson’s citation dismissed.

Drummond went further to say he would move to have all similar cases promptly dismissed as well.

“This is another senseless attempt to ignore the sovereignty of the tribal nations in Oklahoma, and it cannot be tolerated,” Drummond said in a news release.

Drummond is implying that Gov. Kevin Stitt was involved in the decision by wildlife officials to enforce hunting permits for tribal citizens.

“I will not permit a petulant lame duck governor to further injure the State's relationship with our valuable tribal partners simply because he is unwilling to compact,” Drummond said.

Click here to finish the story.

Public dedication to be held Saturday morning in downtown OKC at 11

Oklahoma City is preparing to dedicate a new downtown landmark that cements its role as the birthplace of the civil rights sit-in movement. The Clara Luper National Sit-in Plaza, scheduled for a public dedication on Saturday, November 1 at 11 a.m., honors the pioneering activism of Luper and the 13 students who staged the nation’s first lunch counter sit-in at Katz Drugstore in 1958.

Watch: Interview with John Kennedy, who co-chaired the committee that oversaw the creation of the plaza.

Although Greensboro, North Carolina, is often credited with launching the movement in 1960, Oklahoma City’s protest came two years earlier and lasted six years — the longest-running sit-in campaign in the United States.

John Kennedy, civic leader and co-chair of the plaza committee, said the effort to create a permanent public tribute began in 2018 with the 60th anniversary of the sit-in. “We’ve got to do better at telling our own stories,” Kennedy said. “This plaza represents the intersection of history, art, and respect.”

The plaza features 15 sculptures crafted by StudioEIS of New York, with guidance from renowned sculptor Ed Dwight and input from Luper’s daughter, Marilyn Luper Hildreth. The project was funded privately, with contributions from Oklahoma City business and civic leaders, including Thunder GM Sam Presti.

The dedication will include performances from the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Langston University, and local school choirs. Kennedy says the goal is not long speeches but for “the real star of the show to be the sculpture and the story behind it.”

The plaza sits just blocks from the Oklahoma City National Memorial, creating what Kennedy calls “a powerful contrast on the same street — two of the most significant examples of violence and nonviolence in our country’s history.”

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• Oklahoma leaders call for special session to fund food assistance program (Oklahoma Voice)

• United Way launches emergency food drive to support local pantries (Guthrie News Page)

• Oklahoma pauses child care subsidy applications due to federal shutdown (KOCO)

• Education Watch: New superintendent rolls back Walters’ initiatives (Oklahoma Watch)

• Three more exhumations Thursday in Race Massacre graves search at Oaklawn Cemetery (Tulsa World)*

• Grandma in Oklahoma Panhandle murder case to get life in prison without the possibility of parole (The Oklahoman)*

• Developers break ground on $1B data center near Tulsa (Tulsa Flyer)

• OSU cuts ties with associate VP after arrest for ‘internet crimes against children’ (NonDoc)

• Massage therapy faces an uncertain regulatory future in Oklahoma (Tulsa World)*

• New developments in 2023 house party death of 19-year-old Noah Presgrove in Jefferson County (News 9)

• As a deadly disease imperils North American bats, researchers say Oklahoma’s population is hanging on (KGOU)

• ‘What a doctor should be’: Documentary following rural Oklahoma physician, hospital debuts on HBO (KGOU)

• OKC Thunder sets an NBA record in rolling past Washington Wizards to remain unbeaten (The Oklahoman)*

• Nikola Topić undergoing chemotherapy for testicular cancer, OKC Thunder announces (The Oklahoman)*

• FC Tulsa looks to repeat history, ignite fan passion through first playoff run in 42 years (Tulsa Flyer)

Cool start to what should be a beautiful Friday!

🌡️ Friday's high in OKC 65°
🌡️ Friday’s high in Tulsa 64°

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