What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is May 16, and here are a couple of headlines before we get started:

• The Denver Nuggets have forced a Game 7, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night 119-107. The deciding game in this series will tip-off at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and can be seen on KOCO in Oklahoma City, KTUL in Tulsa, KTEN in the Ada area, and KSWO in Lawton. Thunder up! 💙🧡

• SCOTUS hearing arguments on birthright citizenship. Interesting: several in President Trump’s circle, including Marco Rubio, benefitted from it.

• Smokey Robinson, 85, is under criminal investigation for sexual assault.

• Stock futures not moving much as the rally continues. Click for live updates.

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Weather Update ⛈️

It won’t storm for everybody all at once this weekend, but the chance for severe storms is back in the forecast. Don’t cancel any plans; just have a plan — especially Sunday and next Monday.

🌡️ Friday's high in OKC 86°
🌡️ Friday’s high in Tulsa 86°

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House lawmakers send Stitt bill raising Oklahoma age of consent to 18

By Janelle Stecklein, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma House lawmakers on Thursday sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would raise the age of sexual consent from 16 to 18.

House Bill 1003 also contains a so-called “Romeo and Juliet” provision, that protects 20 year olds from prosecution if they are within four years of age of a sexual partner.

If signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma would become one of about a dozen states that requires the age of consent to be 18.

Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, who authored the measure, said lawmakers decided to expand the age window to protect 20 year olds who have consensual sexual relations with minors because Oklahoma students with disabilities may attend school until they’re 20.

Click to finish the story.

Oklahoma budget deal: Free college for teachers’ kids, $25 million into school funding formula

By Beth Wallis, StateImpact Oklahoma
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The Oklahoma state legislature has come to an agreement on this year’s budget, and education is getting a boost.

$25 million of new money will be injected into the state funding formula, which comes with one additional day of instruction to be added to school districts’ calendars. ‘

Oklahoma veteran teachers will also see more money. Currently, state-mandated step raises for teachers stop at 25 years of service. Next year, the salary schedule will continue to 40 years.

“What we have been saying again and again repeatedly is, what we need to invest in and focus in, in public education, is making sure we’re recruiting and retaining quality teachers,” House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) said at a Wednesday press conference. “… That’s an incentive to stay in the classroom — it’s also an incentive for teachers who have left the classroom to come back because they’ll get a major pay raise with this increase.”

The deal also includes an agreement on House Bill 1727, which would make the children of teachers who have taught at least 10 years in an Oklahoma public school district eligible for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, also known as Oklahoma’s Promise. The program grants students a scholarship for tuition at an Oklahoma college, university or technology center. The bill is currently in conference committee.

Eligibility would only apply to students of certified classroom teachers at the time the student applies, between eighth and eleventh grade. Teachers do not need to have taught for 10 consecutive years. It does not apply to certified teachers employed as school administrators.

Click to finish the story.

Hail no! Hail storms do not explain Oklahoma’s outrageous homeowners’ insurance rates

By JC Hallman, Oklahoma Watch
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It’s hardly news: Oklahoma homeowners’ insurance rates are high, perhaps the highest in the nation. A recent Wall Street Journal article, relying heavily on input from Oklahoma Insurance Department Commissioner Glen Mulready, said that hail damage explains the elevated rates.

Puzzled weather experts wondered whether that might be an excuse to stifle questions, as the data used to blame hail shows the opposite: Oklahoma has had less hail than states with lower rates.

The real culprit may be a bit of legislative sleight of hand, performed to cut a loophole in decades-old federal law.

The rubrics vary and the numbers toggle up and down year to year, but the message remains the same: rates are high.

Click to finish the story.

The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

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

• Oklahoma City school staff saves boy from kidnapping attempt (KOCO)

• Tulsa woman frustrated by lack of response after alleged assault at dog park goes viral (KTUL)

• OU graduate arrested in Thailand not allowed to leave after charge was dropped (Fox 23)

• 11 Days Of Awesome: Tulsa State Fair concert lineup announced (News On 6)

• Thieves target Stillwater day cares in car break-ins (KOCO)

• Oklahoma City Starbucks employees walk out in protest of new dress code policy (Oklahoman)

• Indictment: Oklahoma schemers used social media to recruit for check forgery plot (Oklahoman)

• Piece of Tulsa Promenade mall placed on county treasurer's auction list (Tulsa World)

• Taylor Hanson, Ronnie Dunn, Sam Presti among seven in Oklahoma Hall of Fame's newest class (Tulsa World)

• Fighting for Spring Creek: Citizens battle poultry pollution to protect a pristine stream (Cherokee Phoenix)

• Drone developed by Oklahoma researchers aims to speed up weather forecast lead times (KGOU)

• From spurs to spray paint, Boley Rodeo gets a creative touch (News 9)

• More than a fifth of Indigenous Oklahomans are uninsured. The price they pay can be steep (KOSU)

• Floodwater removed, power restored at Price Tower days after new owners take over (News On 6)

• Teen becomes first at Yukon HS aviation to get pilot license (KFOR)

• Why was the US flag at half staff Thursday? What to know about Peace Officers Memorial Day (Oklahoman)

• Osage Nation opens new drone testing site (Osage News)

• Comanche Nation voters take to the polls (Lawton Constitution)

• Carter County Sheriff focused on property crime, traffic stops (Ardmoreite)

• 3 arrested for attempting to bring contraband into Oklahoma State Reformatory (KSWO)

• Senate confirms nomination of Van Denhende to OSBE (KFOR)

• Elk City PD requests public assistance in burglary investigation (KFOR)

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