Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 • Partly cloudy and cool. Low 50s. ⛅

A WINTER STORM WARNING has been issued by the National Weather Service for Friday, Jan. 23, starting at 6 a.m.

In today’s Memo:

By Joe Tomlinson, Tulsa Flyer
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With weather forecasts predicting temperatures to drop Thursday night and several inches of snow to fall Friday, city officials are asking residents to prepare for travel conditions and limit time outdoors.

Tim McCorkell, the city’s street maintenance manager, said about 210 employees will work 12-hour shifts, running around 60 snow trucks — 55 of which have snow plows. They’ll start by putting brine solution on the roadway about 12 hours before the weather comes in.

“We’ll continue around the clock until it gets addressed,” he said.

McCorkell said the city prioritizes treating main arterial streets. Once those roads are clear, city employees then clear residential or collector streets near hospitals, schools and areas with steep hills. According to a city press release Wednesday, Tulsa’s neighborhood streets are generally left untreated (excluding hospital access streets) due to the focus on main roads and emergency routes.

“We send the trucks out on all the arterial routes. We have 35 routes, and there’s trucks that go out in all directions throughout the city and begin in different areas,” McCorkell said, adding the city maintains more than 1,700 lane miles.

The city is responsible for clearing snow and ice from all arterial streets, including bridges, hills and overpasses, plus L.L. Tisdale Parkway and Gilcrease Expressway (excluding the turnpike section). The Oklahoma Department of Transportation maintains all other highways in Tulsa’s city limits.

Tulsa County Highway District crews are also planning to install plows and sanders on trucks and begin pretreating bridges and “known trouble spots” Thursday, according to a county statement. 

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By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — A House lawmaker wants the state to run its own blood bank so it can provide Oklahomans blood “untainted” by the COVID-19 vaccine.

But medical professionals said it’s not reasonable to require blood banks to accurately screen donors for vaccination status. Scientifically, there’s no way to tell the difference between the antibodies of people who have been sick with COVID and those who have been vaccinated against it, one doctor said.

Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, said he authored House Bill 3196 to “start conversations” about how to best provide people with unvaccinated blood products, especially in emergencies. His measure proposes that the State Department of Health open a blood bank that receives and stores blood from people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Humphrey said he created this legislation after hearing a story about a child in state custody whose mother wanted any blood transfusions to be done with blood that had not received the COVID-19 vaccine. 

He said he’s suspicious of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and believes some of his family were adversely affected by it.

“At the end of the day, I don’t want it,” Humphrey said. “I don’t want it in me. I don’t want a transfusion. I don’t want it.”

He said he should have the ability to receive blood from donors who are unvaccinated and is open to private sector solutions to this problem if creating state statute isn’t the right path forward.

Click here to read the full story.

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

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

• Here’s where homeless Tulsans can find shelter during upcoming snow storm (Tulsa Flyer)

• Tulsa-area schools canceling events and considering remote learning as winter storm approaches (Tulsa Flyer)

• Oklahoma’s power grid operator plans to expedite connection for certain data centers (KGOU)

• Sandites push back against proposed Google data center (Public Radio Tulsa)

• Lowe’s county jail sales tax proposal stalls as Davidson, Maughan hold out (NonDoc)

• OKCPD officers denied qualified immunity for death of Dawawn McCoy at Biltmore Hotel (NonDoc)

• 30-year-old McLoud man accused of violent threats against ICE (The Oklahoman)*

• Sen. James Lankford addresses immigration policy impacts in Oklahoma (KOCO)

• Western Heights responds to proposed ICE facility near school campus (News 9)

• Croisant takes on Kevin Hern’s record in first Black Wall Street Times town hall (The Black Wall Street Times)

• New Tulsa Housing Authority audit reveals ‘significant deficiencies,’ nearly $19K in questioned costs (Tulsa Flyer)

• Stillwater nurse arrested, accused of using fentanyl and other substances in operating room (News On 6)

• OETA not asking for more state funding despite federal budget cuts (Tulsa World)*

• How will the legislative session impact Oklahomans at the ballot box? (KOSU)

• Norman City Council seeks community input on shelter proposal (KGOU)

• Cost of NW Lawton water line project reduced by $465K (The Lawton Constitution)

• Neighbors blame city sidewalk project for damaging 100-year-old Tulsa trees (The Oklahoma Eagle)

• Proposed condo development in South Greek area aims to grow housing options for Norman residents (OU Daily)

• FarmBar named semifinalist for 2026 James Beard Awards (Tulsa World)*

• Community welcomes Muskogee SkyKings basketball (2 News Oklahoma)

• OSU 2026 football schedule announced (The O’Colly)

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