Oklahoma

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Pharmacist Gets Life Sentence for Killing Robber

He pumped five bullets into already unconscious victim

(Newser) - An Oklahoma pharmacist was sentenced to life in prison today for the shooting death of a teenager who tried to rob his store. Jerome Ersland, 59, was charged with first-degree murder, but will have the possibility of parole, reports MSNBC . As he left the courtroom, Ersland told a reporter the...

4 Sentenced in 'Rapest' Tattoo Attack

Gang tattooed victim's forehead

(Newser) - Four Oklahomans accused of kidnapping a man and tattooing "RAPEST" on his forehead and "I like little boys" on his chest before beating him unconscious and leaving him for dead have pleaded guilty and been sent to prison. The two male defendants were sentenced to 10 years each...

Cherokees: Oops, the Other Guy Won Election

Councilman Bill John Baker's victory was just too unlikely...

(Newser) - Lo and behold, Cherokee Nation officials have reversed unofficial election results, saying the tribe's longtime leader was re-elected in Saturday's voting. Unofficial results had shown longtime councilman Bill John Baker defeating Principal Chief Chad Smith by 11 votes yesterday. But Smith actually did win his fourth term as...

Cherokees Elect New Chief —By 11 Votes

Race to lead Oklahoma tribe was contentious

(Newser) - In a close election that ran overnight, the Cherokee Nation elected a new principal chief today, with final results posted on the tribe's website showing longtime councilman Bill John Baker defeating three-term incumbent Chad Smith by 11 votes. More than 15,000 votes were cast, and the margin between...

Violent Storms Kill 13 in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas
 13 Killed in Violent US Storms 

13 Killed in Violent US Storms

Death toll in Oklahoma reaches eight, including one child

(Newser) - The death toll in the violent storms slamming Oklahoma is up to eight. The state medical examiner’s office said this morning that one of the victims is a child. Other severe storms raked the central US last night and early today, ripping the roof off a fire station and...

For Felon Mayor-Elect, Redemption Is Denied

Small town OK with past, Ariz. board isn't

(Newser) - Christopher Linder persuaded the people of a small Oklahoma town to elect him as their mayor despite his criminal past, but he couldn't persuade a clemency board in Arizona to scrub his felony convictions. The 33-year-old former gang member, convicted of transporting marijuana and taking part in a drive-by...

Birther Bills Pop Up in More Than a Dozen States

Debate could take center stage during election

(Newser) - Forget the evidence ; ignore the Supreme Court and Michele Bachmann . With some 45% of Republicans believing Barack Obama is foreign-born, more than 12 state legislatures have seen bills requiring candidates to prove citizenship, reports the New York Times . And Oklahoma is poised to make its measure law, calling for even...

Oklahoma 4th State to Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks

Gov. Mary Fallin signs two laws restricting abortions

(Newser) - Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill yesterday restricting abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy because, the bill presumes, at that point a fetus can experience pain. The "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" makes performing such an abortion a felony, although exemptions are allowed when the mother is at...

Toll Hits 25 in Southern Storms
 Toll Hits 47 in Southern Storms 
UPDATED

Toll Hits 47 in Southern Storms

Tornadoes, rain, hail pelt the region

(Newser) - A devastating storm system ripped its way through the South yesterday, pummeling the region with tornadoes, flash flooding, and hail the size of softballs. The death toll shot up today to at least 47, reports NBC News, with emergency crews searching for more victims in hard-hit areas of Virginia and...

9 Dead After Storms in Oklahoma, Arkansas

Tornado, violent winds rip through both states

(Newser) - Destructive storms that tore across the country's midsection left at least nine people dead after smashing uprooted trees into homes in Arkansas and ripping apart the only school in the tiny Oklahoma town of Tushka, officials said today. The fatalities in Tushka were two sisters in their 70s, and...

In Oklahoma, Worst Drought Since Dust Bowl

Grassfires tearing across South

(Newser) - Oklahoma, home of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, is parched. The four months since Thanksgiving have been the driest since before the Dust Bowl in 1921, the AP reports, and the drought is raging from Louisiana to Colorado. Grass fires have torn through Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Forty percent...

Mom Gets 10-Year Sentence for Selling $31 of Pot

Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow's kids were involved, judge says

(Newser) - When Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow sold $31 worth of marijuana to a police informant, she never expected to find herself in prison at all—let alone for 10 years. Spottedcrow and her mother, Delita Starr, were caught selling to the same informant from Starr’s house on two separate occasions. Though...

Nurse Loses License Over Affair With Dying Patient

Amber Van Brunt admits to falling 'in love' with wheelchair-bound man

(Newser) - Bad idea: Having sex with a married man. Worse idea: Having sex with a married man who also happens to be your hospice patient. A nurse has lost her license for 20 years after admitting to doing just that, the Oklahoman reports. Amber Van Brunt, 33, is appealing the Oklahoma...

Hubby: Shooting Wife in Head Was Sex Fantasy Gone Bad

Gun turned out to be loaded, Oklahoman tells cops

(Newser) - Pressing the muzzle of a gun to his 50-year-old wife's head and pulling the trigger while they were having sex apparently was a major turn on for an Oklahoma man—until the gun actually fired and killed her. At least that's the story husband Arthur Sedille, 23, is giving cops....

Teacher Arrests Student for Using a Marker

Police then sent him to a juvenile detention center

(Newser) - A little over-reaction, maybe? An Oklahoma City teacher put a student under citizen’s arrest last week—for using a permanent marker. A little-known city law, probably aimed at stopping graffiti, bans people from using such markers on private property without the owner’s consent. The teacher told police the...

Oklahoma Executes Man Using Animal Drug

John Duty executed with new mixture of lethal injection drugs

(Newser) - Oklahoma has found a way around the nationwide shortage of a drug used in lethal injections . Convicted murderer John David Duty was put to death yesterday using a cocktail of drugs that included pentobarbital, a sedative typically used to euthanize dogs and cats, Tulsa World reports. He is believed to...

Facebook Yanks Jailed Killer's Page

Oklahoma inmate posted pics of himself with booze, weed

(Newser) - In many ways, Justin Walker was a typical Facebook user who turned to the site to post gripes about everyday life and pictures of himself partying with his buddies. Problem was, Walker is serving 30 years in an Oklahoma jail for murdering a sheriff. Walker—a member of the Aryan...

Federal Judge Blocks Oklahoma's Sharia Ban

Judge decides ban probably violates constitution

(Newser) - A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing Oklahoma from adding to its constitution a ban on courts considering international or Sharia law. The judge found in favor of a Muslim leader who argued that his constitutional religious rights were in jeopardy, the Oklahoman reports. The ban was approved...

Judge Blocks Sharia Ban in Oklahoma

Council on American-Islamic Relations had filed suit

(Newser) - A federal judge has temporarily blocked implementation of Oklahoma's new amendment prohibiting the use of Sharia law in the courtroom. Voters in the state overwhelmingly passed the ban on the use of Islamic law, known as Sharia, as well as international legal standards as a basis for state court decisions....

English-Only, Anti-Sharia Measures Pass in Oklahoma
Oklahoma Votes Yes
to English, No to Sharia
unusual BALLOT MEASURES

Oklahoma Votes Yes to English, No to Sharia

...and the results of other unusual ballot measures

(Newser) - Oklahoma's voters passed a pair of ballot initiatives last night—and progressives and immigrant-rights groups are alarmed, AP reports. One of them requires that all official state actions be conducted in English, with exceptions for Native American languages and in cases when federal law requires otherwise. The other—described as...

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