More weather layoffs coming? Black Sunday remembered — and a new Mexican restaurant opens in OKC

What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is April 17, and here are a few quickies:

• Criminal contempt investigation launched into Trump administration.

• Is former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava signing with UCLA?

• New Mesero restaurant opens at OAK in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

• Business: Stock futures rise after tech sector sell-off. Click for live updates.

Don’t forget to support local journalism wherever you can, if you’re able. For journalism to thrive, it’s important that journalists be supported.

Today’s featured newsrooms include KGOU’s StateImpact Oklahoma, KOSU, Gaylord News and Oklahoma Watch.

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Weather Update ⛅

Downright hot for April. Be weather-aware going into Friday! Storms are possible.

🌡️ Thursday's high in OKC 89°
🌡️ Thursday’s high in Tulsa 86°

Allergy Report for April 17 🤧

Tree pollen will be Very high today.
Grass pollen will be high.
Ragweed pollen won’t be an issue.

For more depth on Wednesday’s allergy news, click here.

Oklahoma Memo Photos & Extras 📷

Remembering the Oklahoma City Bombing: A Journalistic Perspective

Veteran war correspondent Mike Boettcher led a compelling panel discussion Wednesday night at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication on the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, featuring former Oklahoma Daily reporter Michelle Strain and former KOSU reporter Jennifer Johnson. The conversation explored media coverage of the tragedy that claimed 168 lives.

Strain, among the first journalists at the scene on that fateful April 19th, was accompanied (on Zoom) by fellow Daily alumnus Mas'ood Cajee. Cajee is credited with pioneering one of the nation's first news websites—the only digital platform covering the bombing three decades ago. Both Cajee and Strain talked about their experiences that day and their coverage.

Johnson reflected on her reporting experience while examining how such a catastrophic event might be covered in today's AI-driven media landscape. She urged journalists to approach information as data to be methodically collected and organized, arguing this approach not only enhances reporting efficiency and thoroughness but also better preserves historical records and prepares journalists for future events.

Current OU Daily editor Peggy Dodd later joined the discussion, offering insights on the coverage from 30 years ago. Friday's Oklahoma Memo will compile all online media remembrances of April 19th, including this retrospective featuring Daily alumni recollections.

After the panel session, a Survivor Tree was planted in the courtyard on Gaylord College. In the photo below, dignitaries including the Executive Director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Kari Watkins, Gaylord Dean Dr. Andrea Miller and Mike Boettcher.

The photo taker is former KOCO and KMBC news director and journalistic force of nature Sherrie Brown! #IYKYK

Sen. Lankford Promotes Global Leadership at Oklahoma City Forum

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) emphasized the importance of American global engagement to over 350 attendees and 10,000 online viewers at a U.S. Global Leadership Coalition forum Tuesday. "We should engage because there are billions of people that are counting on America being America and exporting our greatest export: Freedom," Lankford said at the "America and the World: How Oklahoma Wins" event.

Watch the full event here.

The senator discussed how international diplomacy and development affect Oklahoma's economy, which exported $6.5 billion in goods last year and maintains over 436,000 jobs linked to international trade. USGLC President Liz Schrayer praised Lankford's leadership, while the senator shared the stage with World Vision's Robert Zachritz and retired Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes for a discussion covering topics from Ukraine to tariffs.

Hundreds of Oklahoma weather and climate workers at risk of termination under new Trump proposal

By Chloe Bennett-Steele, StateImpact Oklahoma
Click here to read the story.
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A memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget, reviewed by multiple news outlets, suggests decreased funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the elimination of its research arm.

As part of a larger push to eliminate federal climate change efforts, Trump drafted a budget proposal that would effectively sink the country’s leading weather and climate research team.

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) would be scrapped, according to several reports, and NOAA would see its overall budget shrink from about $6.1 billion to $4.5 billion.

“At this funding level, OAR is eliminated as a line office,” the document states, according to the journal Science and other publications.

Climate research grant programs would be cut along with the collection of regional climate data. The document calls for terminating “all funding for climate, weather and ocean laboratories and cooperative institutes housed primarily at major research universities,” writes Politico’s E&E News.

That could mean millions of dollars cut from the University of Oklahoma’s Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO).

Click here to finish the story.

Oklahomans are remembering Black Sunday, 90 years later

By Anna Pope, KOSU
Click here to read the story.
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Ninety years ago this week, Oklahomans were met with a large wall of rolling black dust and sand, a day now known as “Black Sunday.” Conservationists, farmers, lawmakers and historians gathered to remember the day, one of the worst dirt storms during the Dust Bowl, and the conservation ethic that followed.

After years of drought that brought on weeks of relentless dust storms, Oklahomans welcomed the clear and calm Palm Sunday on April 14, 1935.

But a cold front dropped south, changed the temperature and picked up wind speeds. Later in the day, a black dust storm filled the sky. Clouds about 500–600 feet tall began to roll across the plains.

Marietta Foreman was a child in the Oklahoma panhandle with her parents in the car. In a 2001 interview with OSU’s Oral History Program, Foreman shared her experience.

Click here to finish the story.

Senate bill could seriously alter the petition process in Oklahoma

By Kayla Hawley, Gaylord News
Click here to read the story.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation that would change the way signatures are gathered for petitions has ignited a fiery debate in the state legislature, raising questions about election integrity and the future of citizen-led initiatives.

Senate Bill 1027, which advanced through the House Elections and Ethics committee and the Government Oversight Committee, aims to amend the state’s initiative and referendum process, prompting accusations that it could undermine Oklahomans’ ability to directly influence laws and constitutional amendments.

Originally authored by Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle), but now spearheaded by Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant) and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow), SB 1027 adds multiple new regulations for the state petition process,which can be used by citizens to amend the constitution or pass new laws.

While the legislation changes the way petitions can be circulated, one of the most contentious elements of the legislation is the requirement that initiative petitions gather signatures from across the state, rather than concentrating them in a few populous areas such as Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  

Click here to finish the story.

Trump Administration Restores Family Planning Grants Under Court Review

By Paul Monies, Oklahoma Watch
Click here to read the story.
Donate to Oklahoma Watch.

The Trump Administration has partially restored federal family planning grants for Oklahoma, effectively ending a legal dispute pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that questioned if the federal government could require abortion referrals for pregnant women seeking options about their reproductive health. 

The Justice Department filed a notice with the high court on Tuesday saying it had restored grants to Oklahoma and Tennessee, which also had its Title X family planning grants pulled by the Biden administration over abortion referrals upon request.  

Oklahoma’s appeals from federal district and appellate courts were pending review, or cert, before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Click here to finish the story.

The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

A concise summary of the latest news from across the state.:

Government and Policy

• Gov. Stitt says mental health services will be provided amid probes of department finances (Tulsa World)

• Gov. Kevin Stitt wants sole power to appoint Oklahoma Supreme Court justices (Oklahoman)

• Oklahoma lawmakers consider requiring ‘scientific evidence’ to close businesses in a pandemic (Oklahoma Voice)

• Demonstrators angry with Trump's DOGE cuts demand answers from U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (Oklahoman)

• Miami's mayor takes a stand against GRDA over flooding issues: 'No one’s held them accountable' (News On 6)

• Tribal Council hears Mankiller-Soap Act is improving water systems on reservation (Cherokee Phoenix)

• Osage Nation Congress approves $500K to boost health benefit fund (Osage News)

• Citizenship building topped off in celebratory ceremony (Mvskoke Media)

Crime and Justice

• Tulsa police: Child hit and killed by car near 21st and Memorial (2 News Oklahoma)

• 'You crave answers': Eufaula woman searching for peace after her brother found injured in the road in Muskogee before dying (News On 6)

• TCSO arrested a man after allegedly attacking girlfriend, threatening her with hatchet (KTUL)

• 2 suspects arrested, identified following shooting in Tulsa restaurant parking lot (News On 6)

• Man behind Oklahoma's 'McGirt' case will face new jury trial this summer (KOSU)

• Oklahoma City custodian charged with hiding cameras in preschool, news station bathrooms (News 9)

• Driver crashes into a Durant business (KTEN)

Education

• Bill threatens Langston Tulsa's future, allowing duplicated courses (2 News Oklahoma)

• Former Norman Public Schools teacher addresses defamation lawsuit dismissal against Ryan Walters (OU Daily)

• Records: State paid former OSDE spokesperson more than $75k in final paycheck (KFOR)

• Davis voters asked to back bond to boost school facilities (KTEN)

Infrastructure and Environment

• Muskogee residents frustrated by downed line blocking street entrance since Sunday (KTUL)

Business and Economy

• OSU investigates potential overcharging at 'Boys from Oklahoma' (News 9)

• “Visit Luther” Sign Dedication Draws Crowds, Boosts Business, and Celebrates Route 66 Spirit (Luther Register News)

• Breaking down the SoonerSafe Rebate Program: Do I qualify for a storm shelter? (News On 6)

• Butcher House boosts Osage beef, bison supply (Osage News)

Politics and People

• Missing Sand Springs man found dead in McIntosh Co. (2 News Oklahoma)

• Donations needed after dogs found abandoned on side of road (Fox 23)

Unusual/Interesting

• Sapulpa woman a finalist in Lay’s Potato Chip contest with $1 million grand prize (Tulsa World)

SPORTS 🏀⚾🥎🏈

• Everything you need to know to cheer on the Thunder during their 2025 playoff run (KOCO)

• Sooners women’s gymnastics title hunt quest begins Thursday in Fort Worth (SoonerSports)

• Oklahoma State baseball running out of time to salvage season after home Bedlam blowout loss (The O’Colly)

• ORU men’s tennis falls to Illinois State to end season (ORU Athletics)

• Tulsa Oilers hockey preparing for playoffs (News On 6)

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