Category Archives: State

Smart Home Open House

By Staff Report

Oklahoma Human Services, in collaboration with Soaring on Hope Pediatric Therapy, will debut a new Smart Home demonstration site from 1 – 4 p.m., Wednesday Feb. 11 at 4908 S. Sheridan Rd. in Tulsa. Tours will be available to the public and attendees will be introduced to emerging tools and technologies designed to support safety and independence for aging Oklahomans and those with disabilities. 

The Smart Home demonstration site includes a fully functional living room, bedroom and kitchen, all equipped with state-of-the art technology to demonstrate how Oklahomans in these demographic groups can benefit from resources tailored to their unique needs.  

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Teach to Protect from Fentanyl

By David Arnett

Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, is renewing a call for action on Rain’s Law, House Bill 1484, legislation that would require age-appropriate fentanyl abuse prevention and drug poisoning awareness education in Oklahoma schools. Approved by the full House and a Senate Committee, leadership in the Senate is apparently not interested in bringing it to a floor vote. How many must die to move the bill?

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Real Education Election Reform

By Jonathan Small, OCPA

Critics often note voter turnout in Oklahoma elections is lower than in most states, yet those critics seldom demand the reform that would do the most to boost election participation: moving more elections to the November ballot.

Oklahomans know when gubernatorial and presidential elections are scheduled, but many do not know when school-board elections occur. That’s by design. Holding school-board elections on obscure winter or spring dates guarantees low turnout and allows a very small group—typically, those directly employed by a school district—to have outsized sway.

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End OSSAA’s Control Over School Sports

By David Arnett

Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, has introduced legislation to put an end to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s unchecked authority over students’ ability to participate in school sports.

Senate Bill 1890 proposes creating a new entity, the Oklahoma Athletics and Activities Commission, to supervise, regulate and coordinate school sports and other secondary school activities. The bill also repeals an existing law that forces many students transferring districts to sit out for a year before continuing to participate in school sports or other regulated activities.

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Operation Blunt Force

By David Arnett

Coordinated with 27 law enforcement agencies across the nation

Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced today that his Organized Crime Task Force, working alongside 27 law enforcement partners nationwide, arrested 20 individual scumbags linked to a very evil yet sophisticated criminal enterprise. The Hao Chen Organization was responsible for approximately one million pounds of marijuana worth $1.5 billion in street value.

The investigation targeted an organization led by Hao Tong Chen that ran fraudulent medical marijuana licensing schemes in Oklahoma from approximately 2021 to 2025. Law enforcement executed more than 50 search warrants and recovered 12 firearms during the course of the investigation.

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