Saturday, September 26, 2026 • Rain chances. 86-91. 🌧️

👉 Severe weather risk with heavy rain for parts of Oklahoma on Saturday (KOCO)

🏈 OU at Georgia, 2:30 | ESPN
🏈 OSU at West Virginia, 6:00 | FS1
🏈 Tulsa at Arkansas, 7:00 | SECN+

And here are high school football scores from Friday night.

We received 262 votes on the Friday poll, “Should Rep. Danny Williams resign from the Oklahoma House?”

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes (233)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ No (3)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I need to know more (26)

New poll question at the bottom of today’s newsletter. (You can also suggest a poll question by emailing me at [email protected].)

By Jennifer Palmer and Brenna Witchey, Oklahoma Watch
👉 Click here to support this newsroom

Messiah Shanks watched a movie on a tablet in his cell at the Oklahoma County Detention Center when, about 1:30 a.m. on April 25, 2025, his cellmate heard someone groaning down the hall. 

Shanks didn’t hear it at first, but it got louder. Punches also echoed through the pod on the 12th floor of the jail, and a man moaned. Shanks and his cellmate moved to the door and tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. 

They thought it was coming from cell 20. Shanks called the emergency phone line for help. 

A correctional officer later recalled there were “five, maybe six of us” working that night, plus several supervisors, in the towering, 13-story jail holding an average of 1,400 detainees. 

Oklahoma jails with more than 75 detainees are only required to be staffed with at least two correctional officers and a dispatcher or operator under Oklahoma State Department of Health rules. At smaller jails, the minimum is just one or two detention officers, depending on the number of inmates.

Chronic understaffing is the most critical issue facing the downtown Oklahoma City lockup, a recent independent review found. More than 60 detainees died in custody there in the past six years.

Debbie Binkley, the jail’s phone operator that night, answered Shanks’ call. Shanks told Binkley, “Someone is dying in the cell next to me, a man’s head is getting slammed against the wall,” according to court records. 

Shanks said Binkley told him that sight checkers would be coming by soon. State law requires jails to conduct hourly visual safety checks. At the time, the jail had a deal with VieMed Healthcare Staffing to provide contract workers to conduct sight checks, filling staffing gaps.

Twelve minutes later, when no one had arrived, Shanks dialed the operator again. No answer. Two minutes later, he tried again. Still no answer. 

Finally, Binkley answered. This time, Shanks told her he thought the man was being raped. Binkley told Shanks that she had let someone know about the situation, but investigators alleged she didn’t notify anyone. She was eventually charged with second-degree manslaughter; her attorney has requested a hearing to determine whether she’s competent to stand trial.

👉 Click here to read the full story

The next Apple may already exist. Insider sources say Elon has spent two years building a secret device inside Tesla's facilities — one he claims will be "10x bigger than the largest product in history."

There's just one problem: the company is private, and unless you know Elon personally, you can't buy a single share. That was true until Guardian's research team found three public ticker symbols sitting in the launch supply chain.

Click here to see all 3 tickers, free of charge.

You won't hear these names on CNBC — Wall Street hasn't published a word on the connection. But when the launch hits September 21, that quiet ends.

Some are already calling this the biggest opportunity since AI. For anyone who missed Apple before the iPhone, this may be a second look at that kind of setup.

Get the 3 ticker symbols here.

Unlock the free briefing now.

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

Here’s what’s happening in Oklahoma today:

What’s happening in Oklahoma that doesn’t make sense to you? Send me your question. I may answer it here in Oklahoma Memo or turn it into a video.

Email: [email protected]

✅ News tips, comments, partnership opportunities: [email protected]

✅ If Oklahoma Memo saves you time or helps you understand what’s happening around the state, you can leave a small tip to help keep it going.
$5 tip, $10 tip, a $25 tip, or a $100 tip.

Thank you. Have a wonderful day ‼️