What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is Monday, July 7, and all our collective thoughts, prayers and help are focused on the tragedy that has unfolded in central Texas.

Here’s how you can help. (Link: CNN)

As of Sunday night when I write this, the death toll from flash flooding along the Guadalupe River is set to exceed 100, including several campers from a Christian camp for girls called Camp Mystic.

It’s all just so unthinkable.

Gov. Kevin Stitt is sending swift water rescue teams from the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management to help.

As we’ve come to expect in America, however, the tragedy has turned political with local officials pointing fingers, and demagogues from across the country chiming in. There is one congressional candidate from Georgia who suggests the flood was fake, manufactured by the government.

Idiocy.

And we need to recognize that the tragedy didn’t really “turn political.”

It’s the opposite. Our politics have turned deadly.

While the folks at the National Weather Service said they had plenty of people working at the time of peak crisis, both of the key offices in central and south-central Texas (together) were down double-digit employees thanks to cuts from earlier this year.

They had plenty of people there.

But they were not really at full staff.

All our energy should be focused on helping our neighbors.

But can we all agree that once families and communities have had the chance to grieve, the adults in the room need to hold leaders and elected officials accountable for not only the failure to keep key functions of government funded, but also for the broad cultural demonization of science and academics, generally.

Faced with unimaginable tragedy, Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell acknowledges now that he would have voted for a bill that would have improved flood communications systems in Texas.

He voted against it. Shameful.

A willingness to fund NOAA and the NWS fully should be a new litmus test for fitness to hold political office.

Weather Update 🌩️

Storm chances are in the forecast for Monday with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s.

🌡️ Monday's high in OKC 88°
🌡️ Monday’s high in Tulsa 90°

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to make healthier food more accessible to tribes

By Em Luetkemeyer, Oklahoma Watch
Click to read the story.
Donate to Oklahoma Watch.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to give low-income households on Native American reservations easier access to healthier food by making a food program established during the first Trump administration permanent.

The chances of the bill getting across the finish line are unclear. The lawmakers would need the backing of Republican House leadership for it to get a floor vote, and it’s at odds with much of the Trump administration’s priorities to cut federal funding.

But the lack of availability of healthy food on reservations is a rare issue that is of at least some concern to both parties.

“As my old committee colleagues know, I work on all sides of the aisle with every open-minded variety,” Rep. Frank Lucas, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said as he squeezed into an elevator full of lawmakers when asked about bipartisan work on tribal affairs.

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations provides a box of food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture each month to income-eligible households on reservations. It began as a pilot program with the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations in the 2018 farm bill, and about 50,000 individuals were using the program monthly by 2023. The USDA describes the program as an alternative to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that allows participants to choose from fruits, vegetables, proteins, cooking essentials and more.

Click to finish the story.

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The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

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

• Winstar Casino shooting ends with 1 dead (KTEN)

• Woman wielding butcher knife shot by officer during disturbance call (News On 6)

• 2 men injured after drum of windshield wiper fluid explodes (Fox 23)

• Refrigerant shortage could lead to increased A/C costs for Oklahomans (2 News Oklahoma)

• Body of man who went missing in Deep Fork River near Luther located (KOCO)

• How OU football GM Jim Nagy is making significant impact on Sooners' recruiting (The Oklahoman)

• Meet Thunder photographer behind 'one of the most iconic pictures' in OKC history (The Oklahoman)

• Oklahoma City business leaders excited about expected economic boost from hosting 2028 Olympics (Oklahoma Voice)

• Sports district boom could redefine larger OKC, Norman metro (Oklahoma City Free Press)

• Oklahoma state park restaurants still struggling, falling behind on payments to the state (Tulsa World)

• 'I still sometimes can't believe it': This is Florence Kemp's seven-decade legacy in Oklahoma dining (The Oklahoman)

• Juneteenth brings lessons for creating, preserving generational wealth (The Oklahoma Eagle)

• 'It is needed': ODOT widening Highway 169 in Owasso to address city's growth (2 News Oklahoma)

• Protecting and serving Carter County: Deputies honored for live-saving actions (Ardmoreite)

• Healdton putting money into road repairs: $1.1M spent since August 2023 (Ardmoreite)

• Oklahoma leaders respond to federal spending bill, eye local impacts and future growth (News On 6)

• Title X funding returns to Missouri nonprofit that helped coordinate Oklahoma reproductive services (KGOU)

• Self-defense training highlights threat awareness, personal safety (Woodward News)

• Choctaw Nation Youth Stickball Team wins first game at World Series of Stickball (KXII)

• Cheat sheet: Seminole Nation Assistant Chief Brian Thomas Palmer faces 4 challengers (NonDoc)

• 'It's just a new day': Caddo Nation gets self-governance designation (KOSU)

• Kickapoo tribal library celebrates opening amid federal funding turbulence (KOSU)

• Farmers show their soil health practices on Oklahoma bus tour (KOSU)

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