Texas rarely grants clemency for death row inmates, but that's not stopping a group of bipartisan lawmakers from showing their support for a man scheduled to be executed in October.

Oklahoma has executed a man for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery.

Three Republican Oklahoma state lawmakers will go before voters for the second time in about two months in runoff elections.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has narrowly recommended to the governor that he spare the life of a man on death row.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that the approval of what would be the nation's first state-funded Catholic charter school is unconstitutional.

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Oklahoma over a new state law that seeks to impose criminal penalties on those living in the state illegally.

Severe storms have battered parts of the Midwest, unleashing a curtain of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes in the region.

Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell says “our heart aches for the loss of life” in tornadoes that left four dead and about 100 injured in Oklahoma.

Small towns in Oklahoma are beginning a long cleanup after tornadoes flattened home and buildings and killed at least four people, including an infant.

Oklahoma is the latest Republican-led state to impose criminal penalties for those who reside in the state illegally.

Diversity initiatives would be defunded or banned from universities and other public institutions under a slate of bills pending in Republican-led legislatures, with some lawmakers counting on the issue resonating with voters in this election year.

Sports betting has spread rapidly across U.S. states in the past five years.

Oklahoma has executed a man who claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed two men in Oklahoma City in 2001.

A federal judge in Oklahoma has declined to stop a new law from taking effect that makes it a felony crime for health care workers to provide gender-affirming care to young transgender people.

An Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled to be executed in September for the 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma dance student says he plans to reject his chance for a clemency hearing.

Ron DeSantis ventured far from the usual presidential campaign trail Saturday, heading to a rodeo in reliably red Oklahoma to make the case that he’s the top alternative to Donald Trump — even as the former president’s indictment threatens to upend the 2024 Republican primary race.

For Native American students, tribal regalia is often passed down through generations and worn at graduations to signify connection with the community.

Prominent death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean, whose book “Dead Man Walking” was turned into a movie, is calling on Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to grant a 60-day reprieve to a prisoner scheduled for execution.

Oklahoma is the latest state to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Crews scrambled to restore power to thousands of residents after tornadoes plowed through Oklahoma during another deadly spring storm in the U.S., killing at least three people and damaging dozens of homes.

Gov. Kevin Stitt is calling for the resignations of four officials in southeast Oklahoma after a newspaper's audio recording apparently captured some of them talking of knowing hit men and complaining about two of the paper's journalists.

Oklahoma voters have rejected a state question to allow recreational use of marijuana.

The world's largest poultry producer is among nearly a dozen poultry companies that face a March 17th deadline to reach agreement with the state of Oklahoma on how to clean a polluted watershed.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has reversed its position and now says it will allow an anti-death penalty minister inside the execution chamber for an upcoming execution.

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has held off a tougher-than-expected challenge to his reelection, defeating Democrat Joy Hofmeister.

Residents in southeastern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas began assessing damage and working to recover Saturday after tornadoes tore through the region and killed at least two people.

Many of the 39 Native American tribes based in Oklahoma have played a role in state politics for decades, often quietly and behind the scenes.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has rejected clemency for a man facing execution for the 1997 hammer killing of a man.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is granting death row inmate Richard Glossip a 60-day stay of execution while a state appeals court considers his claim of innocence.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Oklahoma can prosecute non-Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal land when the victim is Native American.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed into law the nation’s strictest abortion ban.

Oklahoma is only days away from enacting the toughest U.S. state ban on abortion and providers are preparing to stop terminating pregnancies.

Abortion providers in Oklahoma say they will no longer provide the service in the state after the governor signs the latest anti-abortion measure heading to his desk.

Oklahoma has joined Texas this week with new abortion restrictions.

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

A seemingly divided Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over Oklahoma’s authority to prosecute some crimes on Native American lands, following a 2020 high court decision.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Oklahoma's ongoing battle with Native American tribes over the state’s authority to prosecute people accused of crimes on Native American lands.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a bill prohibiting the use of nonbinary gender markers on state birth certificates.

With violent crime increasing in much of the U.S., Republicans see a winning strategy in portraying Democrats as soft on crime ahead of this year’s elections.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed into law a bill making it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The Oklahoma House has given final legislative approval to a bill that would make performing an abortion a felony.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider limiting a recent decision about Indian land in Oklahoma that the state says has produced chaos in its courts.

Oklahoma has executed a man for the 1985 shooting death of an Oklahoma City-area schoolteacher.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has rejected a request by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt that his state’s National Guard be exempt from a Pentagon requirement that all military members be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Oklahoma's governor has spared the life of Julius Jones, just hours before he was scheduled to be executed.

A dispute between the Oklahoma governor and the Pentagon over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate is setting up the first critical test of the military’s authority to require National Guard troops to get the shot.

Julius Jones’ execution has been halted, four hours before he was scheduled to receive a lethal injection.

A federal appeals court has rejected the appeal of four Oklahoma death row inmates scheduled for execution during the next three months, including one next week.

Oklahoma has executed a man who stabbed a prison cafeteria worker to death in 1998 in the state’s first lethal injection following a six-year moratorium.

Republican leaders in Oklahoma are expressing outrage after learning the State Department of Health issued a birth certificate this year with a nonbinary gender designation.

Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders might be running for governor of Arkansas, but she's not talking much about the state.

Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board is recommending the governor commute the death sentence of Julius Jones for a 1999 killing.

Four tiny Georgia public school districts have temporarily shut down in-person instruction within days of starting school, saying high COVID-19 case counts among students and staff makes it unsafe to continue.

The latest federal data shows that two-thirds of adults in New York state have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The commission formed to observe the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre has booted Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt from his seat on the panel.

Oklahoma is making voting slightly easier, a contrast to other Republican-led states.

South Korea’s daily increase in coronavirus infections exceeded 500 for the fourth straight day, a pace unseen since January, as experts raise concern about another viral surge amid a slow rollout in vaccines.

Japan has confirmed 345 cases of the more contagious new variants, mostly the kind first found in Britain, the health ministry said. ___WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand has removed remaining coronavirus restrictions on the city of Auckland after containing a small outbreak. Ad___WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is planning to announce during his prime-time address Thursday night that he’ll deploy 4,000 additional U.S. troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts. Thursday’s announcement from the Department of Corrections comes a year after suspending visits at prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic. John Bel Edwards has loosened his COVID-19 restrictions.

Another man died at a health-care facility after a lack of water pressure made medical treatment impossible. ___OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt pleaded with residents Thursday to limit water usage after city officials said some hospitals faced what Holt called a crisis because of a sharp drop in water pressure. Integris Baptist lost water pressure at two of its hospitals, according to city utilities director Chris Browning. The drop in water pressure was due largely to customers running faucets to prevent frozen and burst water lines, and nearly tripling the amount of water used, according to city utilities director Chris Browning. She says “‘Frozen’ is always a good choice.”Ad___AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)The Latest on winter weather across the U.S. (all times local):OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Stitt’s disaster declaration request for all 77 Oklahoma counties comes a day after the governor spoke with Biden by phone. ___NEW ORLEANS — Rolling power blackouts necessitated by severe winter weather hit water systems in at least two Louisiana cities. He implored residents to stop running water, noting that temperatures had risen above the freezing mark___RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. — The Louisiana Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed three deaths related to winter weather this week.

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2017, file photo, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sits at a meeting in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office is attempting to return $2 million worth of an anti-malaria drug once touted by former President Donald Trump as an effective treatment for COVID-19, a spokesman said Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Alex Gerszewski, a spokesman for Attorney General Mike Hunter, said Hunter is attempting to negotiate a return of the 1.2 million hydroxychloroquine pills Oklahoma acquired in April from a California-based supplier, FFF Enterprises. He said the office was acting on a request from the Oklahoma State Department of Health, which authorized the purchase. The attempt by Oklahoma to return the hydroxychloroquine was first reported by the online news publication The Frontier.

There were 1,225 new confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing the state total to 60,873. ___WASHINGTON -- Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech will seek emergency government approval for their coronavirus vaccine, as the U.S. aims to begin administering doses by the end of the year. ___LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Kentucky reported a new daily record of 3,649 coronavirus cases Thursday amid warnings by Gov. He and public health experts are warily watching the number of patients hospitalized with the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. ___WASHINGTON — Infection disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he “wants to settle” concerns about a coronavirus vaccine as he returns to the White House podium for the first time in months.

Health officials had asked workers in central Auckland to stay home on Friday while they investigated the case but say they can now return to work. — Surge of coronavirus cases appears to be slowing in Germany and France, but still straining hospitals. Alaska has had over 20,000 cases, including 477 new cases reported Thursday. She is scheduled Friday to address the situation and is expected to announce new public health restrictions aimed to curbing spread. That’s the impassioned message that dozens of parents and school administrators are sending to public health officials in Pennsylvania’s third-most populous county.

Gary Herbert speaks as he joins state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn at a press conference at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, clarifying the state's mask mandate on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. Minnesota’s per-capita new case counts are better than neighboring Wisconsin and the Dakotas, which have some of the country’s highest transmission rates, but have still raised alarm with the state's health officials. In Idaho, where 1 of every 223 residents tested positive for the virus over the last week, Republican Gov. With Trump still not conceding the race, some Republican governors have greeted Biden’s efforts in a more measured way. In Oklahoma, where cases also are on the rise, Republican Gov.

(AP Photo/Anupam Nath)LONDON — Ireland’s government is putting the country at its highest level of coronavirus restrictions for six weeks in a bid to combat a rise in infections. The board members hail from top California top universities and medical providers, along with state and local public health officials. ___AUSTIN, Texas -- Health officials in Texas have reported 4,319 COVID-19 hospital patients, the most since Aug. 28. Khan’s remarks come amid a slight increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in recent weeks. Pakistan also reported 440 new confirmed cases, raising its total cases to 323,452 since February when Pakistan reported its first case.

Like other states, health officials in Wisconsin had warned since the pandemic began that COVID-19 patients could overwhelm hospitals. Nearly 678 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people have been diagnosed over the past two weeks, leading the country for new cases per capita, according to the COVID Tracking Project. The space isn't exclusively for coronavirus patients but could be used to treat them if needed. Last week, the state had the nation’s sixth-highest rate of coronavirus infections per 100,000 people, according to a White House coronavirus task force report dated Sunday. The number of reported coronavirus cases in Oklahoma increased by 980 on Wednesday, with 13 additional deaths, state health officials said.

Ralph Northam announced Friday that he and his wife have both tested positive for the coronavirus, though he said he is showing no symptoms. He's among four governors around the country who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, but one of the others turned out to be a false positive. The governor and first lady were notified Wednesday that a member of the Executive Mansion staff developed COVID-19 symptoms and that the staff member's virus test came back positive. Mike Parson, a Republican who has steadfastly refused to require residents to wear masks, announced he’d tested positive. Kevin Stitt in July became the first governor to announce he’d tested positive.

The directive comes amid concerns about an uptick in coronavirus cases in certain Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish populations. New York City’s current overall infection rate remains low, but official figures indicate the affected neighborhoods accounted for 20% of the city’s coronavirus cases in recent weeks. ___BOSTON — An outbreak of coronavirus infections at a major Boston hospital has grown to 19 confirmed cases. ___DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa has reported a jump of 1,086 new coronavirus cases, the second consecutive day of new cases exceeding 1,000. There are currently nearly 985,000 worldwide coronavirus deaths.

Nebraska's online virus tracker on Monday showed 800 cases were confirmed Friday through Sunday, bringing the state's total to 24,618 since the outbreak began. Florida reported 191 new deaths, another one-day high for the state, while Arizona recorded 104, and Arkansas had a single-day record with 20. Mississippi Republican Gov. His return came on the same day the state reported over 1,400 new cases the second consecutive day of record highs. The storm pounded the Rio Grande Valley, where hospitals have been overwhelmed with coronavirus cases.

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma voters will decide Tuesday whether to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of low-income residents and become the first state to amend their Constitution to do so. While an increasing number of Oklahoma voters took advantage of mail-in voting for Tuesday's primary, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. statewide. Amending the Oklahoma Constitution will prevent the Republican-controlled Legislature, which has resisted Medicaid expansion for a decade, from tinkering with the program or rolling back coverage. Oklahoma is one of 14 states, along with neighboring Texas and Kansas, that have not expanded Medicaid under the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority has projected that about 215,000 residents would qualify for a Medicaid expansion, for a total annual cost of about $1.3 billion.

Oklahoma voters will vote in Tuesday's primary election on State Question 802, which would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to expand Medicaid health insurance. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, Pool, File)OKLAHOMA CITY A question on whether to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma and a crowded Republican field vying to challenge the state's lone congressional Democrat are drawing the most attention ahead of Tuesday's primary election. According to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, states that have expanded Medicaid through a ballot measure include Idaho, Maine, Nebraska and Utah. This is going to cost our state $200 million," Stitt said during an event this week with Americans for Prosperity. Republicans clearly see OK-5 as one of their best chances to flip' a House seat, and theyre correct to see it that way," said Matthew Motta, a political science professor at Oklahoma State University.

TULSA, Okla. Supporters of President Donald Trump were lining up Saturday outside metal barriers surrounding the Tulsa stadium where the president will hold his first rally in months, ready to welcome him back to the campaign trail despite warnings from health officials about the coronavirus. Trump also will speak at an outdoor event to be held inside the barriers. Protests also are planned for Saturday, and some Black leaders in Tulsa have said they're worried the visit could lead to violence. Tulsa has seen cases of COVID-19 spike in the past week, and the local health department director asked that the rally be postponed. The Trump campaign said it will hand out masks and hand sanitizer, but there is no requirement that participants use them.

OKLAHOMA CITY So many people have expressed an interest in attending President Donald Trumps rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that the governor said hes asked the campaign to consider a larger, outdoor venue to accommodate them. Kevin Stitt said Monday after talking with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that nearly one million people have requested tickets to the event. Some Trump supporters have already started waiting in line outside the 19,000-seat BOK Center in downtown Tulsa. The Trump campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on whether theyre considering moving the event to a larger venue or accepting Stitts invitation to tour the Greenwood District. Oklahoma County Republican Party Chairman David McLain said Monday that the Trump campaign intends to fill every one of the venues seats.

MCLOUD, OK An Oklahoma woman who failed to report her boyfriend for abusing her children and who spent about 13 years longer in prison than he did for the abuse was released Friday. Tondalao Hall left a women's prison in McLoud, Oklahoma, after serving 15 years behind bars. "Secondly, for all the people God has placed in my life, my children and my family for sticking by me. The case has outraged women's rights groups and brought further attention to Oklahoma's high rate of incarceration, particularly of women. The American Civil Liberties Union in 2017 filed a lawsuit challenging what it said was a disproportionate sentence because Braxton was also abusing Hall.

(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)OKLAHOMA CITY, OK More than 450 inmates walked out the doors of prisons across Oklahoma on Monday as part of what state officials say is the largest single-day mass commutation in U.S. history. The release of inmates, all with convictions for low-level drug and property crimes, resulted from a bill signed by new Republican Gov. Releasing the inmates will save Oklahoma an estimated $11.9 million over the cost of continuing to keep them behind bars, according to the governor's office. The board last week considered 814 cases and recommended 527 inmates for commutation. She said she was surprised at the number of women she met in prison serving long sentences for drug crimes.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Oklahoma County District Judge Don Andrews rejected a request by Oklahoma City Democratic Rep. Jason Lowe for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the "permitless carry" law from taking effect on Friday. But the judge said Rughani failed to prove that the law taking effect would cause irreparable harm to the plaintiffs. "We're going to fight hard to keep this dangerous law from taking effect," Lowe said after the hearing. Dubbed "constitutional carry" by its supporters, the bill approved overwhelmingly by the GOP-led Legislature was the first signed into law by new Republican Gov. Spencer and other gun rights advocates plan to hold a rally at the state Capitol on Friday to celebrate the new law taking effect.