VERDIGRIS, Okla.—A woman and her three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home Thursday evening in what may be a murder-suicide following an hourslong standoff, authorities said. The names of the victims weren’t immediately released. The standoff began in the small town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, when a police officer driving…

A $2 billion theme park and resort complex is being built in northeast Oklahoma and is set to rival the world’s top resort destinations, officials announced on July 19. Known as the “American Heartland Theme Park and Resort,” the 1,000-acre development with a 125-acre theme park will be located just west of Grand Lake on Route 66 and will…

McALESTER, Okla.—Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for stabbing a Tulsa woman to death with a butcher knife in 1995 after his escape from a prison work center. Jemaine Cannon, 51, received a lethal injection at 10:01 a.m. and was pronounced dead 12 minutes later at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It was the second…

OKLAHOMA CITY—An Oklahoma appeals court on Thursday threw out a first-degree murder conviction because of a sexual relationship between the judge and a prosecutor in the case. In a 3–2 decision, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new trial for defendant Robert Leon Hashagen III, who was sentenced to life in prison after…

A slew of state lawmakers have received suspicious letters containing white powder in recent months, including most recently in states such as Kansas and Tennessee, leading to buildings being evacuated and investigations being launched. Several Republican leaders in Tennessee received letters containing a white powder substance last month, prompting a temporary lockdown of a legislative office…

A Tulsa, Oklahoma, initiative to increase its tax base by offering $10,000 for the relocation of remote workers to the city has—five years later—proven successful, according to a financial report (pdf). Justin Harlan, managing director of Tulsa Remote, said the program was implemented to “reverse the ‘brain drain’ from small and mid-sized cities.” “Tulsa, with…

Oversight failures by state officials resulted in the misallocation of over $29 million in federal pandemic relief funds that may now have to be repaid by taxpayers, according to Oklahoma Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd. Byrd’s office on Tuesday released an audit report (pdf) that looked into around $14 billion in Oklahoma state spending in fiscal…

OKLAHOMA CITY—A man scheduled to be executed in September for the 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma dance student plans to reject his chance for a clemency hearing, saying there is little hope the state’s Republican governor would spare his life. Anthony Sanchez, 44, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on…

TULSA, Okla.—Thousands of residents in Oklahoma and Louisiana remained without electricity Wednesday as work crews continued to repair power lines damaged by weekend storms. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, less than 92,000 customers remained without power after three tornadoes northeast of the city caused extensive damage Sunday, including downed trees and hundreds of snapped utility poles. The…

A coalition of states has filed a lawsuit seeking a review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to grant waivers to California that allows the state to ban new diesel-powered heavy-duty truck sales in 2035. Iowa’s Attorney General Brenna Bird led the group of 19 states that filed the legal action on June 5…