What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is May 22, and here are a handful of headlines before we get started:

• SGA. OKC. MVP. (NBA) YES!

• SGA buys Rolexes for Thunder teammates 'This is the least they deserve' (News 9)

• SGA is MVP: 3 big moments from Shai's speech (News 9)

• The Oklahoma City Thunder play Game 2 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals tonight from the Paycom Center. Tip-off will be just after 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN. 💙🧡

Now for a couple national headlines…

• President Trump ambushes South African president with genocide claims (CNN)

• DEI boycott ‘played a role’ in Target’s sluggish Q1 results (Yahoo! Finance)

• Stock futures are flat after a big sell-off on deficit concerns. (CNBC)

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Weather Update ⛅

Chance of storms this morning, per KOCO’s Damon Lane. Potentially stormy this weekend.

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

Thousands of state employees still working remotely despite return-to-office order

By Paul Monies, Oklahoma Watch
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About one-fourth of Oklahoma’s state employees have maintained their employment flexibility after Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a return-to-office executive order in December.

Almost 8,000 state employees out of the 26,000 covered in a report for the first quarter came under one of several exceptions to the return-to-office mandate. Most of those employees were at agencies that didn’t have the office space to accommodate a full return to the office. 

Stitt directed the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to compile agency responses to the executive order, although more than 50 agencies failed to respond. Almost 26,000 state employees out of 31,600 were covered in the first quarter report. 

The governor’s office was listed among the agencies not responding to the OMES report, but spokeswoman Abegail Cave said all the governor’s staff work in the office. 

“The governor wants all state employees back in the office to serve Oklahomans well,” Cave said. 

Stitt’s executive order had three exceptions to the policy: employees whose hours are outside normal business hours; employees who already work in the field; and when new or additional office space would have to be acquired at additional cost. 

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Trump Administration cancels investigation of Oklahoma City Police Department

By Graycen Wheeler, KOSU
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The Trump Administration announced Wednesday it will end Department of Justice investigations into six law enforcement agencies, including the Oklahoma City Police Department.

The DOJ began its investigation of OCPD, the City of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health in 2022. Although the investigation focused on behavioral health disabilities, it came on the heels of nationwide protests of how law enforcement officers treat Black people.

Among those protesters were members of Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City, which called for more police accountability after the deaths of multiple Black OKC residents in police custody and an aggressive police response to protests in 2020.

BLM-OKC’s Executive Director T. Sheri Amore Dickerson said the group has provided direct input on the DOJ’s investigation.

“We're really just sounding the alarm on a lot of the brutal actions from OCPD,” Dickerson said. “The harassment, the inconsistency of protecting and serving, the overreach of power and the lack of accountability or consequence that many of the officers seem to feel.”

She said change has been slow, but she has seen results, including faster responses to online inquiries, community conversations and a reduction in police presence on the city’s northeast side.

“It seems like they really are trying to work on establishing community trust,” Dickerson said. “They know that it is very fractured. It's going to take time.”

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House resoundingly rebuffs Walters’ plan to collect Oklahoma student immigration info

By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — With bipartisan support, House lawmakers on Wednesday sent a series of altered education rules to the governor that eliminate the requirements for public schools to collect proof of U.S. citizenship and for teachers to pass the U.S. Naturalization Test.

Lawmakers unanimously approved Senate Joint Resolution 22, which now heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt. The Republican has repeatedly vowed to block efforts by the state Department of Education to require schools to collect the immigration status of children.

With the same measure, lawmakers also rejected a rule requiring all public school teachers to pass a written version of the U.S. Naturalization Test to earn or renew their certifications. 

Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, attempted to amend the measure to reinstate the controversial immigration rule, but it failed 75-12. 

Under the rule backed by state Superintendent Ryan Walters, districts would have been required to report to the state the number of children unable to verify U.S. citizenship or legal residency. The Republican said it would help schools accurately provide the resources needed to serve those students, but also said he would turn over such information to federal immigration authorities if asked.

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The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

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

• Muskogee High parents upset over 'prison ramen' culinary class assignment (KTUL)

• Tulsa Police seek 42-year-old woman accused of child sexual exploitation (News On 6)

• Man arrested after waving a gun in SW OKC church (News 9)

• Gov. Kevin Stitt criticizes state auditor, state school superintendent (Tulsa World)

• "I don't think anybody takes the guy seriously": Governor reacts to Walters' tax cut ideas (Fox 25)

• Keystone Lake's high water levels prompt Memorial Day safety alert (News On 6)

• Lake Texoma water levels affect on Memorial weekend beach, lake access (KXII)

• House passes last-minute bill in power-grabbing effort over TSET money (2 News Oklahoma)

• Gov. Stitt's claims spark tension with Creek Nation over road fund contributions (KTUL)

• Tulsa County Judge orders release of certain police disciplinary records (The Frontier)

• Ryan Walters discusses taxation and education at rally and board meeting (KOCO)

• Lawmakers push to anonymize people receiving Oklahoma’s private school tax credit (Oklahoma Voice)

• Bill putting restrictions on petition process heads to Oklahoma governor (Oklahoma Voice)

• Discussions on resurrected Oklahoma wind turbine setback bill halted (KGOU)

• Oklahoma ed board members continue disagreement over meeting minutes from social studies passage (KGOU)

• These are OKC's latest restaurant openings and closings: Broke Brewing, The Crain (The Oklahoman)

• McNellie's Group set to expand Midtown OKC holdings with two new restaurants (The Oklahoman)

• OKC Council approves ordinance allowing guesthouses: What to know if you're a homeowner (The Oklahoman)

• Family shares victim's statements during sentencing (Woodward News)

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