Tag Archives: Oklahoma

The Oklahoman reports: State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters said Thursday that more than 500 Bibles had been purchased for Oklahoma public school classrooms. The purchase was separate from a prior request for proposal issued by the Oklahoma Department of Education for 55,000 Bibles. The announcement — which did not provide specific details about how the Bibles were procured or how …

Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate reports: Benjamin Glaze, a former “American Idol” contestant, was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week after authorities say they found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on a smartphone in his home. The Tulsa Police Sexual Predator/Digital Evidence Recovery Unit says it received a tip about Glaze, 26, back in April 2024, claiming that …

The Wichita Falls Times-Record reports: The city manager of Waurika, Oklahoma, has been arrested on child sex-related charges. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a press release that Charles Kyote Dunn, 30, is charged with possession and manufacture of child sexual abuse material and loitering around residence to watch occupants. Dunn, who was also a Waurika reserve police …

Via press release from Americans United: More than 30 Oklahomans – including parents and children, public school teachers and faith leaders – today filed a lawsuit urging the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block state Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ mandate that all public schools incorporate the Bible into their curricula. The lawsuit, Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters, also …

The Oklahoman reports: The state’s multicounty grand jury on Tuesday blamed Gov. Kevin Stitt and state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, without specifically naming them, for the misspending of pandemic relief funds, calling it “grossly negligent.” . Grand jurors did not issue any indictments, saying they found insufficient evident to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a crime was committed. They …

Tulsa’s ABC affiliate reports: A jury found an Inola pastor guilty of rape and two counts of lewd or indecent acts involving young girls Thursday morning. Four years ago, Inola pastor Roy Shoop was arrested. “I felt I was looking the devil right in the eye,” said Sheriff Scott Walton from the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office as he explained the …

The Oklahoman reports: Superintendent Ryan Walters isn’t just talking about buying Bibles for schools. Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge …

Fox News reports: Oklahoma’s top elected education official said Thursday he is very close to his goal of placing a Bible in “every school” in the Sooner State to both combat “woke” curricula in today’s textbooks and ensure students have access to an incredible “historical document.” In a phone interview with Fox News Digital, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan …

Tulsa’s Fox affiliate reports: A Tulsa pastor was arrested and charged with rape, child sex abuse and incest. He just resigned from his church over the weekend. According to an affidavit, Bertheophilus Maurice “Judge” Bailey Sr. began sexually assaulting his victim when she was a child. It went on to say the abuse got worse as she got older. Until …

The Oklahoman reports: The Tishomingo Public Schools superintendent issued an apology Thursday and canceled Friday’s homecoming activities and football game after a photo of six high school students displaying a racial slur went viral on social media. The image depicts six Tishomingo High School boys wearing Scrabble tiles spelling out a racial slur, an action that the school district’s superintendent, …

Oklahoma City’s Fox affiliate reports: Dozens of trips, all across the country, were paid for with your tax dollars that were meant for public education. Our previous reporting revealed you’re paying a $60,000 contract to help promote State Superintendent Ryan Walters on the national stage. But that’s not all. We poured through travel records to find out what else you’re …

Oklahoma City’s NPR affiliate reports: Dozens of school district superintendents across the state say they will not change their instructional practices to accommodate State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ classroom Bible directive. June 27, Walters announced at a State Board of Education meeting that “every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching …

The Associated Press reports: Oklahoma’s education board has revoked the license of a former teacher who drew national attention during surging book-ban efforts across the U.S. in 2022 when she covered part of her classroom bookshelf in red tape with the words “Books the state didn’t want you to read.” The decision Thursday went against a judge who had advised …

The Associated Press reports: Oklahoma’s Bixby school district has lots to show off for a fast-growing Tulsa suburb: a state-of-the-art new high school set to open by 2025, a new ninth grade gymnasium and plans for a $12 million upgrade to a football complex that already rivals that of many small colleges. But, what the district does not have as …

Oklahoma City’s Fox affiliate reports: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) arrested a man in Duke for first-degree rape and child sexual abuse. According to OSBI, the bureau was requested on July 19 to assist in a case regarding sexual assault. Damion Surles, 40, was identified as the suspect who allegedly interacted inappropriately with a minor. Surles was arrested …

Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate reports: The superintendent of Bixby Public Schools has filed a lawsuit claiming Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters defamed and slandered him during a news conference in late July. In a lawsuit filed by Robert Miller Jr. in Tulsa County, the Bixby Public Schools superintendent says Walters made “maliciously uttered slanderous and defamatory statements” during a July …

Oklahoma City’s CW affiliate reports: Twenty-one Republican lawmakers have signed a letter that calls for a committee to investigate State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. That committee could ultimately recommend that Walters be impeached. It is up to House Speaker Charles McCall to form that investigative committee. On Tuesday, he told his caucus that at …

Tulsa’s ABC affiliate reports: The Tulsa Fire Department has shared a video showing a dog getting a hold of and chewing on a lithium-ion battery that appeared to be in some type of charger. The dog chewed on it until the battery exploded, causing a dog bed to catch fire. Two dogs in the home got away from the fire …

CNN HOST PAMELA BROWN: “You’re saying that the teaching of the Bible in the classroom is a must, that every teacher must accept that. The bible includes beheading, rape, and incest. Do you support teaching children about those topics?” RYAN WALTERS: “I support teaching children our history accurately and what we’ve seen is the radical left and the teachers’ union …

NBC News reports: Oklahoma educators who refuse to teach students about the Bible could lose their teaching license, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said in an interview with NBC News on Friday. Walters issued a memo Thursday instructing all Oklahoma schools to teach students in grades five through 12 about the Bible’s influence on the nation’s founding and historical …