Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 • Cooler. Low-to-mid 50s. ⛅ Parts of the state (esp. NW) could see snow today and tonight.

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In today’s Memo:

By Ryan Welton, Oklahoma Memo

A January round of severe weather swept across Oklahoma on Thursday, producing up to four tornadoes and causing damage south of the Oklahoma City metro area.

KOCO Chief Meteorologist Damon Lane posted an updated tornado count on Facebook late Thursday, noting the storms were the first confirmed tornadoes in the United States this year. Video from Sky 5 showed damage in Purcell.

KFOR reported additional storm damage in Lawton and Edmond.

The storms moved through the state during the morning, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to northeast Oklahoma before exiting by early afternoon.

Forecasters say Oklahoma’s weather will shift quickly, moving from warm and stormy conditions to much cooler temperatures, with snow possible in northwest Oklahoma today.

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By Joe Tomlinson and Angelica Perez, Tulsa Flyer
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A proposed mosque in Broken Arrow is stirring heated debate as residents, Tulsa’s Asian Affairs Commission and Oklahoma’s attorney general are all weighing in. 

Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Thursday announced he would investigate whether the mosque, proposed by the Islamic Society of Tulsa, and accompanying commercial development complies with state law and “applicable federal statutes.”

“Oklahomans deserve confidence that local land-use decisions are being made lawfully, transparently and in full compliance with state and federal law,” Drummond, a Republican running for governor this November, said in a statement. “My office will examine whether the proposed development and the processes surrounding it meet those legal requirements.”

It comes just two days after a meeting near the site attracted hundreds of people who spoke against the center, as reported by the Tulsa World. After planning commissioners approved the proposal in December, Broken Arrow City Council is set to consider the plan at its Monday evening meeting. 

The Islamic Society of Tulsa bought the land, located near the Creek Turnpike and Olive Avenue, in 2014 for its second campus. The World says it’s currently zoned for agriculture but, per a 2019 comprehensive plan, it’s designated for commercial use. 

Plans call for a 42,000-square-foot community center, a worship center and a medical clinic open to the public. There are also plans for a retail area. Society officials are open to improving draining and sewage and addressing other traffic concerns, the World reported.

“The proposed mosque and associated commercial development are intended to address persistent overcrowding at IST’s existing Midtown Tulsa location, particularly during Friday prayers and Ramadan services, and to serve the growing Muslim population that lives and works in the Broken Arrow area,” the society said in a statement Thursday.

Religious concerns have come to the forefront for the proposed mosque. 

“Virtually everybody that has come to me has said, ‘We don’t want a particular world view (Islam) in our community that is diametrically opposed to us,'” David Oldham, who organized Tuesday’s meeting, told the World.

Click here for the full story.

By Jennifer Palmer, Oklahoma Watch
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Epic Charter School’s superintendent of finance presented an update to the school’s board on April 9 in just over one minute, without a hint at the chaos brewing behind the scenes. 

Earlier that day, Jeanise Wynn received a text message from the school’s superintendent, Bart Banfield. He demanded an explanation — in writing —detailing how Epic’s budget dropped from a $3.1 million surplus to a projected $8.7 million deficit in the span of two weeks.

The next day, in an email, Wynn appears to explain, blaming a dollar figure for teachers’ benefits that was mistakenly counted twice. 

“Ultimately, it is my responsibility to make sure that our calculations and analysis are accurate,” Wynn wrote. “I am SICK over the turmoil and anxiety this entire situation has caused…I look forward to next year, when error-prone shared spreadsheets will no longer be the method for budgeting.” 

Records obtained through an Oklahoma Open Records Act request, including emails and text messages, offer a window into the chaotic months before June, when the state’s biggest online school shed hundreds of jobs, many of them teachers, and saw top administrators resign, including Banfield and Wynn and other finance staff. 

A forensic investigation into the school’s finances, ordered by the Statewide Charter School Board, is expected to be released Jan. 12. Epic officials declined to be interviewed until the report is released.

Click here for the full story.

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

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

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

• See the damage from tornadoes, severe weather in Purcell and central Oklahoma (The Oklahoman)*

• Church roof ripped open, heavily damaged in Green Country storms (2 News Oklahoma)

• Law enforcement searches Caddo County property connected to parents of missing Chickasha boy (KOCO)

• Protestors gather outside Markwayne Mullin's Tulsa office protesting against ICE (Fox 23)

• Oklahoma DHS to reduce child care subsidy payments, income eligibility (KGOU)

• Education Watch: Walters’ spending audit on hold at AG’s request (Oklahoma Watch)

• Providers warn child care access could worsen amid end of Oklahoma subsidy program (Oklahoma Voice)

• Salad and Go is closing all locations in Oklahoma and Texas (KOCO)*

• Macy's shuttering Owasso distribution center this spring (Tulsa World)*

• SNAP freeze showed fragility of food access. Tulsans want to help you grow your own. (Tulsa Flyer)

• Fewer flu cases after spike in Oklahoma amid holiday season (Oklahoma Voice)

• Through new children’s book, father-son duo work to bridge gap between deaf and hearing kids (Tulsa Flyer)

• ‘It’s outrageous': Security cameras show men taking TV from downtown Tulsa building (News On 6)

• Duncan woman accused of enabling husband's video peeping (The Lawton Constitution)

• Man, 51, killed in Carter County UTV crash (KXII)

• Muscogee Nation wages its own legal battle against state officials over hunting, fishing rights (KOSU)

• Oklahomans continue generational tradition of Christmas Bird Count (KGOU)

• 5 ways to spend your weekend in Tulsa Jan. 9-11 (Tulsa Flyer)

• Oklahoma reportedly set to hire Jason Witten as new tight ends coach (News 9)

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