What’s happening, Oklahoma!

New process for ‘Oklahoma Memo.’ We are on Substack, but heretofore we hadn’t been updating the platform.

That changed starting Monday.

We will now post the ‘Memo’ to Substack the evening before this hits your inbox at 7 a.m., making this more of a circular operation. Update at night. Update in the morning.

Get the update on Substack in the evening before.

Weather Update ⛅

Rain and storm chances are on the rise. Quite warm. Partly cloudy.

🌡️ Tuesday's high in OKC 81°
🌡️ Tuesday’s high in Tulsa 78°

1️⃣ Oklahoma lawmakers react to Trump's efforts to dismantle Department of Education

By Sierra Pfiefer, KOSU
Click to read the story.
Donate to KOSU.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday instructing U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to start closing the Department of Education and "return authority over education to the States and local communities.”

Trump’s decision did not come as a surprise – his administration has been slashing the federal workforce and its operations since he took office. The White House revealed its intentions to target the Department of Education with staff and program reductions in early February.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters praised Trump’s latest measure, declaring it a “long-overdue victory for parental rights and local control.”

"For too long, the federal government has weaponized education, using it to push radical, leftist ideology while stripping parents of their rights and directing funds to union bosses," Walters said in a news release.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

***

2️⃣ Aging Prison Population Strains Corrections Budget

By Keaton Ross, Oklahoma Watch
Click here to read the story.
Donate to Oklahoma Watch.

Picture a prison yard in a Hollywood blockbuster. 

There’s a fenced-in field where young men lift weights and play basketball on a hot summer day. Correctional officers look on from a guard tower ready to sniff out any disturbance.

In Oklahoma, a more accurate image might be a group of gray-haired men standing in a pill line or a dialysis patient struggling to get out of bed and use the restroom. 

Nearly one in six Oklahoma prisoners was 55 or older as of Dec. 31, according to Department of Corrections data. While the state has made progress in reducing its overall prison population, this demographic of aging inmates has doubled since 2009 and almost quadrupled since 2000.  

Click to finish the rest of the story.

Oklahoma News Headlines 📰

• Norman Regional Board to meet Monday over hospital system's debt, budget (The Oklahoman)

• 'ChiefsAholic' pleads guilty in Bixby credit union robbery while serving federal sentence (Tulsa World)

• Police investigate deadly shooting in east Tulsa (2 News Oklahoma)

• 2 Men Killed in Multi-Vehicle Crash on Muskogee Turnpike (News On 6)

• Fatal Arson in Henryetta: ATF Offers $5K Reward For Information Identifying Suspect (News On 6)

• Utility bill shock: PSO responds to customer concerns over retroactive charges (KTUL)

• ‘We’re here for their community:’ Agencies assist Oklahomans after wildfires (Black Wall Street Times)

• ‘Threads of Untold History’ exhibit features Freedmen beaded portraits (Cherokee Phoenix)

• Wahzhazhe Fashion and Comedy Show celebrates Osage art and Culture (Osage News)

• ‘We’re here for their community:’ State, volunteer agencies assist Oklahomans impacted by wildfires (Gaylord News)

• Homelessness in Norman: City leaders, residents share thoughts on causes, solutions, perceptions (OU Daily)

• Norman Regional Board to meet Monday over hospital system's debt, budget (The Oklahoman)

• OHP: Two Cleveland County residents killed in crash Friday on I-40 in Shawnee (KOCO)

• Victim dies after fight escalates to shooting outside northwest Oklahoma City club (KOCO)

• OKC Ward 7 voters to elect city councilman in April runoff (Oklahoma City Free Press)

• One arrested after teen hit, killed by car in NE Oklahoma City (KFOR)

***

SPORTS 🏀⚾🥎🏈

Oklahoma dominates Iowa, 96-62, to advance to Sweet 16

Skylar Vann scored 17, Peyton Verhulst 16 and Raegan Beers 11 to lead the Oklahoma Sooners back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 12 years.

And OU coach Jenny Baranczyk beat her alma mater, Iowa, to boot.

Their reward is likely a Saturday date with the University of Connecticut in Spokane, Washington. UConn played South Dakota State on Monday night.

Click to read the full story from SoonerSports.

Past failures handicap Sooners in first-round elimination against Huskies

By Clay Horning, Oklahoma Columnist
Click to read the story.

They played fairly well.

For a team that shot 32.1 percent from the field, making 17 of 53 attempts, in the ways that we have come to define Oklahoma men’s basketball during the Porter Moser era, they played fairly well.

The No. 9-seed Sooners fell 67-59 to No. 8-seed and defending national champion Connecticut Friday night in Raleigh, N.C., making OU’s first NCAA tournament stay since 2021 a short one, yet there was good stuff to be had.

The Sooners played defense.

Click to read the rest of the story.

More Sports Coverage 👀

• OU basketball loses Luke Northweather, Yaya Keita to transfer portal (The Oklahoman)

• Thunder edge Clippers 103-101 for 6th straight victory (Thunder / AP)

• Cowboys' NIT continues Tuesday night against North Texas on ESPN2 (OkState)

• Sooners Earn No. 2 Overall Seed for NCAA Championships (SoonerSports)

• Sooners Head to Tulsa for Midweek at ORU (SoonerSports)

***

🗣️ Story Tips, Ideas, Feedback

My inbox is always open. If you have a link I should add to the newsletter, a story that isn’t getting enough attention, a press release, a press event you’d like to invite me to—or you just want to offer some good old-fashioned feedback, I’m available to you.

My mission is to amplify quality journalism, rekindling the daily news habit!

Best way to reach me is via email at [email protected].