Tara Blume

Article here: kfor.com/news/local/o...

Treat family sues Oklahoma law enforcement, sleepy driver & his Company over response to crash that severely injured son. In the video, Troopers tend to a fallen deputy without checking on the other two drivers. kfor.com/news/local/t...

🚨Today, OK Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready said
"Unfortunately, we believe that out of those 300,000 plus folks (with ACA coverage) there's going to be maybe 100K people that are going to drop off and no longer have insurance..."
@kfor4.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2025/10/07/g...

Rising costs outpace funding: "The agency’s new 2026–2033 plan pushes back or cuts dozens of road projects across the state. One high-profile delay is the planned interchange rebuild at I-44, Lake Hefner Parkway & OK-66—now removed from the 8-year plan."
kfor.com/news/local/o...

Stricter scoring causes major drop in Oklahoma math, reading test results Statewide test scores for reading and math have dropped significantly in Oklahoma public schools since the state returned to more rigorous scoring, according to results the state Department of Educati...

OK State Report Card is in: more RIGOROUS scoring reflected in large drops.
2024-25: 27% of 3rd graders classified as proficient/advanced in reading compared to 51% the year before.
-- 33% of 3rd graders math proficient compared to 38% the year before. From OK Voice
www.kgou.org/education/20...

Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor, pleads guilty to sexually abusing a child Under a negotiated plea agreement, Morris was given a ten year sentence, but he will only serve six months in county jail.

more info here: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

JUST IN:
@nbcnews.com
Reports that megachurch pastor Robert Morris pleads guilty... is given a 10-year sentence, but will only have to serve 6 months. He must also register as a sex offender and pay $250K in restitution. @kfor4.bsky.social

Things to know about the former megachurch pastor charged with child sexual abuse OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma woman recalled a traveling evangelist who preached at her family’s church in Osage County more than 40 years ago. The preacher, along with his wife and son, e…

The former megachurch pastor charged with child sexual abuse is scheduled to appear at 2:30 PM today in the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska.
kfor.com/news/ap-top-...

NEW: AG Drummond orders an investigative audit of OSDE, citing "the former Superintendent's well-established history of mishandling tax dollars." Gov Stitt is planning a noon presser in Tulsa tomorrow on the future of OK Education, which will likely name Walters' replacement.

The website for the OK State Dept. of Education has a new look, one day after Supt. Walters' resignation.
Here are a couple of screen grabs from their front-facing webpage in September. The link takes you to the page as it looks today. @kfor4.bsky.social
oklahoma.gov/education.html

$4 Billion dollar budget deadline panic. “So, a day or two notice is not enough time in anyone’s world for a board member to review all of that information, digest it, and then have an opinion to vote on it,” kfor.com/news/oklahom...

The @okczoo.bsky.social is sharing this video and images of "a female giraffe calf, born Tuesday, September 23, 2025, in the state-of-the-art Giraffe Barn at Expedition Africa presented by Inasmuch Foundation." Congrats to parents Julu & Demetri. (No name yet)
@kfor4.bsky.social

Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals The Pentagon has summoned military officials from around the world for a gathering in Virginia. Top generals and their staffs don’t know the reason for the meeting.

"None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns."
wapo.st/4nidndf

-- Mike Gundy is reportedly out as OSU coach

"StudioEIS, an internationally acclaimed sculpture and design firm in Brooklyn, New York, spent four years creating the lunch counter and realistic, life-sized depictions of the original “sit-inners” — Clara Luper, along with students ages 7-17."

"I thought about my father... who had never been able to sit down and eat a meal in a decent restaurant." Clara Luper.
A 5-ton bronze lunch counter was placed into its permanent home today in downtown OKC at the original site of the Katz Drugstore sit-in. More 4PM
@kfor4.bsky.social

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

The OKC National Memorial and Museum announces the sudden passing of former U.S. Attorney Pat Ryan. During the Denver trials of the bombing suspects, Ryan "always wore his white cowboy hat to remind family, survivors, and first responders an Oklahoman was fighting for them."
Photo courtesy OKCNM

NEW: The Oklahoma County District Attorney will NOT file charges in connection with the Jackie Chan movie with nudity that played in Supt. Ryan Walters' Office while he met with State Board of Education Members.
@kfor

Background here:
kfor.com/news/local/b...

The initial OHP report indicates the Minco school bus struck a deer and overturned once. "Unit 1 was eastbound on SH-152. Unit 1 struck a deer. Unit 1 departed the left side of the roadway and overturned 1 complete time." 17 passengers, 6 injured, 38-year old driver Cody Schmidt.

Watching reels instead of reading books? (I'm guilty too)
Compared to the first reading assessment of 12th graders in 1992, the average score was 10 points lower in 2024.
nces.ed.gov/nationsrepor...

A new Nation's Report Card shows drops in science, math and reading scores It's the first Nation's Report Card since the Trump administration began making cuts to the U.S. Education Department. The scores reflect the state of student achievement in early 2024.

The Oklahoma School Report Cards have still not been released by OSDE. Here is a summary of the Nation's Report Card (it was last taken in 2019) with the biggest score-drops among students who were in the lowest percentile. Report link in thread.
www.npr.org/2025/09/09/n...

This is the kind of choice that leads to a military that tells you you’ll take Kyiv the first day

Pennsylvania LLC claims $5 million in Oklahoma Lottery scratch off A Pennsylvania company is raising eyebrows after raking in more than $5 million from Oklahoma Lottery scratch-offs in a single day this month, sparking questions about how groups of out-of-state pl…

What the heck? A Pennsylvania LLC buys multiple winning OK scratch-off tickets, totaling over $5 million. The man who registered the LLC long ago is a retired statistician with a Univ. of Penn PhD. His son says he didn't buy the tickets. @spencerhumphrey.bsky.social
kfor.com/news/local/p...

"According to the email sent out by OSDE, districts have until December 31 to choose a vendor for the assessments. There is no list of approved vendors as of now." The Office of Educational Quality & Accountability has these questions/concerns.⬇️

'Waste of taxpayer money': Concerns surround OSDE new assessment plan After announcing the end of some state testing, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced there will be testing, but with districts choosing their vendors for tests. Regardless, the agency that w…

OSDE sends a letter to parents saying that if the waiver to end current state testing is approved, the school districts (there are over 500) would choose new tests from a vendor list. So- no ability to directly compare tests district to district. (1/2)
kfor.com/news/oklahom...

There is a high wash-out rate for employees because of the high skill, patience & speed needed. "When we try to find new employees, we have to train them from scratch, and that can take months, even years, for them to build up and get more efficient." A pair of overalls is $70.

Inside the Costs and Challenges of Making Clothes in the US More than 97 percent of clothing sold in the United States is made overseas where labor is much cheaper. Now, with the ongoing trade war, talk of buying American has been top of mind for many but what...

The @todayshow.com featured Round House Jeans in Shawnee, one of the last clothing manufacturers in the U.S. While proud of their operation, they admit "our profit margins (in the US) are extremely low" and they rely heavily on their Bangladesh operation. (1/2)
today.com/video/inside...

Meanwhile, "Oklahomans have until the end of the day Friday (8/08/20025) to tell the State Department of Education what they think about some controversial proposed changes to how the state assigns letter grades to public schools." by @spencerhumphrey.bsky.social (4/4)
kfor.com/news/oklahom...

Group of parents wants standardized testing put on hold this year due to pandemic A group of parents wants standardized testing, statewide, put on hold this year due to the pandemic.

Some parents wanted testing paused post-pandemic to which Walters said “We’ve got to know how well our students are learning, where they are at in relation to other states... I believe it’s essential that we have that data to see where our students are.”🧵
kfor.com/news/local/g...