The Oklahoman
LOFTY LIVING
A veteran south Oklahoma City homebuilder is taking his first dip into downtown development after buying the long-vacant 20-story Dowell Center. Paul Odom III, an upscale neighborhood and retail developer, is joining with his son David to convert the...
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BRIDGING THE GAP
Construction is starting on a $408 million bridge over Lake Texoma that will replace an 80-year-old span that was closed last year for $5.5 million in emergency repairs after being damaged by flooding. The damages prompted the Oklahoma Department of...
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Police chase-policy warnings ignored
For seven years, Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Chris Swanson warned his bosses that the department’s high-speed chase policy was unnecessarily dangerous. Multiple memos and statistics-filled reports went ignored. “Every time I tried, it was pretty much...
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The New Marijuana Industry
The legal pot industry in Oklahoma is undergoing a massive downsizing, leaving in its wake hundreds of abandoned grow sites and dispensaries.
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Nation marks 25 years
As the United States marked 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Americans across the country gathered to honor the nearly 3,000 people who perished and to reflect on the day that forever changed the nation. Loved ones of those...
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PLAYING IT FORWARD
NORMAN – Memories from the free football camp that Danny Okoye offered kids back home in Tulsa this past summer are a bit of a blur to him. You can understand: There were a ton of youngsters and a lot of things for him to do, plus it was scorching...
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U.S., Iran trade attacks on tankers
CAIRO – Iran said on Sept. 9 it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the United States sank five Iranian oil tankers, in the biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping by both sides since the start of the six-month-old...
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‘WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN’
Wellston firefighter Joe Flake died on duty after helping battle a 250-plusacre fire in Lincoln County. Officials with Lincoln County Emergency Management shared that while responding to the Monday, Sept. 7, fire, a firefighter experienced a medical...
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TRADE QUESTIONS
An escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada threatens to disrupt Oklahoma’s largest international export market and a primary source of foreign business investment, with potential fallout hitting local industries, consumer prices and even...
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A BATTLE ZONE
EDMOND – Massage therapists in Edmond are fighting new rules and red tape they say pass unnecessary burden onto them. Yiqiong Zhang was the first therapist to apply for a special permit from the city in order to operate a massage parlor — one of the...
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REMEMBRANCE & RESILIENCE
Jeffrey Coniglio is dressed in white down to his shoes, his daughter Giada in a flowing pale green gown. They are twirling across the dance floor to music from “The Greatest Showman” when, suddenly, Giada flips head over heels and then swings out into...
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BOAT TRIBUTE SCARRED
Community leaders in Oklahoma City’s Asian District are searching for answers after a landmark commemorating Vietnamese refugees’ journey to the city was severely damaged in a fire. According to Thuan Nguyen, founder of the Asian District Cultural...
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FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHT?
NORMAN – Roger Denny has already made lots of big decisions in his short time as the OU athletic director. None was quite like moving OU football’s season opener to a Friday night. “More than really any decision I made in my first six months,” Denny...
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ECONOMIC BASE
At the annual State of the Region, professionals from the transit, transportation, military and defense sectors gathered to discuss the trajectory of central Oklahoma’s growth and what is needed to sustainably maintain it, while specifically...
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SOLD DOME?
The Gold Dome in Oklahoma City may have a surprise new owner following a sheriff’s auction in which the man who was trying to buy it was not among those submitting bids. Caleb Hill, who teamed up with Nick Preftakes in redeveloping the Donnay Building...
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CATTLE BATTLE?
President Donald Trump's plan to temporarily increase imports and waive tariffs on ground beef in an effort to bring down grocery prices has drawn mixed reactions from Oklahoma cattle producers and prompted the governor to create a council with...
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P WER STRUGGLE
President Donald Trump wanted an “American nuclear renaissance,” and he wanted it fast. Just a few months after returning to office, the president signed a flurry of executive orders and instructed his staff to write new rules designed to quadruple...
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GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY?
A music venue operator is just one vote away from getting $3 million for redevelopment of the iconic Gold Dome in Oklahoma City just as it is set for a sheriff ’s auction on behalf of Chickasaw Community Bank. The bank, owned by the Chickasaw Nation,...
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POWER SHIFT?
Oklahomans will narrow down candidates during the Aug. 25 primary runoff elections for seats in House and Senate districts across the state. Ten elections feature two Republicans vying to become their party’s nominee for the November general election....
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FLOCK FURY
Oklahoma City councilmembers voted to approve renewing an amended contract with Flock Safety amid nationwide backlash against the controversial company’s automated license platereading cameras working with law enforcement agencies. Atlanta-based Flock...
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FLATIRON FUTURE
Nestled onto a triangular, once-overlooked parcel of land carved by old trolley lines, the Berry Rock Building rises as a uniquely-angled, flatiron-inspired gateway to downtown Oklahoma City. The 60,000-square-foot, geothermal-powered office tower at...
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THE BUSINESS OF POLITICS
Gentner Drummond and Mike Mazzei have spent most of their careers navigating between the private sector and public office. The Republican prospects for governor have both built significant business portfolios that have shaped their campaign platforms...
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A STUDY IN CON-TRASTS
Oklahoma’s state superintendent office has been under a national spotlight for the past three years after Ryan Walters tried to infuse extreme right-wing politics into public education and turned teachers against the state department meant to guide...
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SCHOOLS SHOWDOWN
Oklahoma Republicans will choose between two vastly different candidates for state superintendent in less than two weeks, and both career educators have spent their final days before the crucial primary runoff election confronting some of their most...
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HOSPITALS HURTING
A new study warns 45 rural hospitals are at risk of closing in Oklahoma, a predicament only topped by Texas and Kansas, in a national crisis driven by cuts in federal health spending and insurance reimbursements. And of those 45 rural hospitals at...
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0 REGRETS
Russell Westbrook skipped down the blue carpet, slapping hands and smiling wide. As happy as he looked that August afternoon a decade ago, the thousands of Thunder fans who stood in the sweltering Oklahoma heat were way more ecstatic – Westbrook was...
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OK murderer backed for parole but won’t go free
Admitted murderer Verna Stafford has been recommended for parole despite an outcry from the families of victims, prosecutors and legislators. Stafford, 73, is serving a life sentence for the 1978 massacre at the Sirloin Stockade steakhouse in Oklahoma...
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‘A LITTLE BIT THROWN OFF’
Oklahoma City planners’ proposed long-term vision for downtown, including plans for the site of the Oklahoma County jail, rattled courthouse officials when revealed by The Oklahoman on Monday, Aug. 10. The master plan includes redevelopment of land...
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DOWNTOWN DRAFT
Citizen input is being sought for a proposed new downtown Oklahoma City master plan that envisions a pedestrian greenway and conversion of the land that is now home to the Oklahoma County Jail into the start of a film studio and related...
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LOCKED IN ON LEARNING
Oklahoma’s classroom cell phone ban has reduced distractions, improved student engagement and decreased behavioral issues across the state. h But one year later, as students prepare to go back to school, many educators and lawmakers say a broader...
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HOUSING HURDLES
Funding and regulatory issues are making it more difficult for tribal nations to expand housing in Oklahoma, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said after meeting with tribal leaders from across the...
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SNAP CHANGES ARE ADDING TO STRUGGLES
Robyn Bergman was determined to be first in line at the Oklahoma Human Services office. The Edmond mother of four had spent the past five weeks trying to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the federal program known as SNAP that...
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VALLEY VOID
Just a few months after celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Toy & Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley is closing its doors at the end of August. Kevin Stark, the museum’s founder, curator and executive director, announced on Tuesday, Aug. 4, that...
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CLASH COURSE
Attorney General Gentner Drummond and President Donald Trumpendorsed Mike Mazzei faced off in a heated debate ahead of the Republican primary runoff for governor. Both candidates traded insults while trying to sway voters. The event on Monday, Aug. 3,...
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BEATING THE HEAT
There weren’t many options for football coach Brad Ballard as he planned his first week of practices at Tuttle. The forecast included one triple-digit temperature day after another. Some schools have indoor facilities they can utilize, but many...
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ONE FINAL CRUISE
A cavalcade of classic cars lined along the parking lot entrance of St. James the Greater Catholic Church in southwest Oklahoma City. Vintage red and pink Chevrolet Impalas flanked a blue 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It had been Adolfo Lopez’s Monte...
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AI: Predicting, and influencing, how you think
A Republican running for governor hugs Hillary Clinton. Another Republican candidate reads a pink diary decorated with a Biden-Harris sticker. While political attack ads driven by artificial intelligence have turned heads this primary election season,...
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CONFRONTING AI
Gov. Kevin Stitt kicked off his last conference as chairman of the National Governors Association, ending his term by harking back to his continued message of bipartisanship amid an increasingly hostile political landscape rife with the use of...
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Redefining home office
Plans to redevelop Landmark Towers, three identical 10-story buildings in northwest Oklahoma City, into a multifamily development are moving forward. Landmark Towers, 3545 NW 58th St., has served as office space since the towers’ construction in the...
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POWER AID
The U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order this week to help keep the power on in 17 states, including Oklahoma, as the ongoing heat wave places added strain on power grids. Southwest Power Pool Inc., which serves 20 million people from...
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ROOMS FOR RECOVERY
A nonprofit that was once a haven for the homeless hopes to relocate to a former hotel to operate a sober living facility. The Jesus House recently purchased the former Sleep Inn & Suites building at 5200 Classen Circle, where the faith-based agency...
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PARK’S PLACE
Winans Park, once a popular neighborhood gathering spot, is about to get a revamp after decades of being best known for lamp posts knocked down by speeding cars and a fire station at the north end facing NW 23rd Street and Broadway. At first glance,...
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COUNTING DOWN
A federal judge could dismiss the decades-long lawsuit over Illinois River pollution between several poultry companies and the state of Oklahoma after a federal mediator accepted an agreement between the parties, according to the attorney...
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FUELING AMERICA
On an April day in 1892, near Bartlesville in what was still Indian Territory, a drilling crew struck oil at a depth of less than 200 feet. The Nellie Johnstone No. 1 was the start of something transformational for the state and the nation. h Nellie...
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‘PRETTY GOOD SHAPE’
After “striking oil” once at the Oklahoma County jail construction site − in contaminated soil and an undocumented, decades-old borehole − project leaders set money aside to cover the expense if it happened again, but it didn’t. Now they’re drilling...
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FRUIT PUNCH
An unseasonably warm February followed by a freeze in March has devastated Oklahoma’s berry and stone fruit production, leaving local farmers with failed crops and consumers with fewer alternatives as prices and health concerns increase on supermarket...
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HOPE FOR TOMORROW
Under a bright tent, more than 100 people patiently waited out of the sun as Marilyn Luper Hildreth, the daughter of late civil rights pioneer Clara Luper, walked to the stage. In front of the stage, shovels stood in a pile of dirt to symbolize the...
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‘A GOOD CHALLENGE’
TAMPA, FL – Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer is exactly where he’s always wanted to be. One year after arriving at SEC Media Days as the Sooners’ new QB1, uncertain of what awaited him in college football’s most unforgiving conference, Mateer returned...
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‘HE WAS LOVED’
C.J. cannot grasp why her friend is dead. Sitting under the shade of a liquor store to block the sun, she recalled how she’d gotten to know Cap Trung Nguyen over the summer in OKC’s Asian District, situated along Classen Boulevard between NW 23 and NW...
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TESTING THE WATERS
The Olympics are coming to Oklahoma City. We all know that by now, but has it really hit you? This week, the abstract will become concrete — just like the labyrinth of channels at Riversport OKC with its millions of gallons of raging water. Oklahoma...
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Guest columnist says it’s time to call our Oklahoma legislators to ask for something better — like the bipartisan Dignity Act, which strengthens American hiring practices while offering permanent solutions.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on July 14 to allow states to enact daylight saving time yearround, which would prevent Americans from having to change their clocks twice a year. The legislation, which passed 308-117, would largely stop the...
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TITLE TURF
Oklahoma State University will have a presence in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final game, but not in the way you might expect. Spain and Argentina will face off in the World Cup finals on Sunday, July 19. No, there won’t be any OSU alumni playing,...
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SECURING SUPPORT
Political onlookers across the country are paying attention to Oklahoma’s GOP primary for the governor’s seat as a test of the president’s influence within the Republican Party. Both candidates in the runoff have secured a host of endorsements seeking...
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‘MORE THAN A LOGO’
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt donned a fresh accessory at the end of his State of the City address. A blue and pink scarf bearing the name and logo of his city’s new professional soccer team: OKC United. The club’s branding, which pays homage to the...
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STILL UP IN THE AIR
Oklahoma City is continuing to work with California developer Scot Matteson on his plans to build multiple towers in Bricktown despite the project not meeting a 2025 deadline to start construction. The developer, however, hasn’t given up on the $2.5...
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‘FAR TOO LONG’
The state of Oklahoma and all poultry companies in the decades-long lawsuit over Illinois River pollution have reached what Attorney General Gentner Drummond hopes is the final attempt at ending the dispute. According to language in the latest...
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MEASURE OF HOPE
Six years ago, University of Oklahoma student Blake Burgess passed out in his house. A roommate called 911, and paramedics took him to Norman Regional Hospital. Almost a week later, Blake, 21, died of cardiac arrest after severe blood clotting with an...
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How did OKC become a whitewater canoe slalom hotbed? It’s been a wild ride.
ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships July 20-25 McClendon Whitewater Center Gary Marrs looked at his boss and wondered if he was being set up. h Then an assistant to Oklahoma City mayor Kirk Humphreys, Marrs had known his boss for years because of a...
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COMING TOGETHER
The 50th anniversary of the National UNITY Conference, hosted by United National Indian Tribal Youth, kicked off Friday, July 10, in downtown Oklahoma City. The five-day, youth-led annual conference brings together about 3,000 Native youth and...
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MADE IN THE SHADE
Plans are advancing for construction of terraced seating at Riversport Rapids as the city prepares to begin construction of both temporary and permanent improvements at the venue in advance of it hosting the 2028 Olympic canoe slalom and kayak cross...
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THE ROAD AHEAD
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is moving forward with spending $75 million on construction of a junction that will be key to the Toby Keith Expressway linking two major interstates. The expressway, previously referred to as the “east-west connector...
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Trump seeks to combine elections, defense bills
President Donald Trump is demanding that Republicans combine a series of voting reforms with a defense spending bill his administration is pushing Congress to pass, in a long shot bid to bring both measures to his desk before lawmakers leave on an...
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OUTAGE IMPACT
Thousands of Oklahomans are still without power after severe storms left a trail of damaged power lines and trees south of the Oklahoma City metro on Saturday, July 4. Oklahoma Gas & Electric reported that about 30,000 customers were affected over the...
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CASH CROSSROAD
EDMOND – City engineers could use most of the proceeds from a 10-year capital improvement sales tax on one major project: finishing the Covell corridor from Santa Fe Avenue to Interstate 35. The sales tax was already earmarked for road and street...
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OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ HODGENVILLE, KY The 56 steps, cut from pink granite, ascend to a neoclassical temple that seems plucked from ancient Greece and deposited on a Kentucky hilltop. One for each year of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. • If the first eight...
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FARE CHANCE?
Each day of the week, Oklahoma City’s streetcar tightens travel between downtown’s urban districts. Over the last six months, its temporary free fare has drawn in residents who otherwise may not have visited other areas because of walking times or the...
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COMMON GOAL
The entire room stood up, put their hands on their hearts and started singing the Mexican national anthem at Cloud Puncher Restaurant for the FIFA World Cup 2026 opener. Juliana Lopez, founder of OKC Latina, had never been in an environment like this...
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OHCA proposes $218M in Medicaid payment cuts
Just days after its board approved a flat budget with no provider cuts for the new fiscal year, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority told the federal government it plans to cut more than $200 million in payments to state hospitals under the state’s...
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