KFOR Oklahoma's News 4’s Post

What an exciting honor!!

2024 marks 75 years of Oklahoma's News 4! As we celebrate this milestone, we are combing through the KFOR archives to look back on some of the Sooner State's most memorable moments.

Happy Birthday, Oklahoma! November 16 is Statehood Day here in the Sooner State. On this day in 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation to make Oklahoma the 46th state in the Union.

Cracking down on criminal organizations who are buying up Oklahoma land for pot farms was the intent of a new law set to go into effect in November. However, there are worries the language was too broad.  Senator Mike Brooks-Jimenez, D-Oklahoma City, an immigration attorney, initially voted against the bill out of concern for people in Oklahoma who are not citizens but can still legally buy property. Those include visa and green card holders as well as 31,000 people in Oklahoma with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN). Brooks said ITINs paid $26m in state income taxes last year alone. “Their impact on the economy and their ability to buy property is a big deal for sure,” said Senator Brooks. Under the new law, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office said it will create a form that would ensure that the “property rights of US citizens and other bona fide residents are protected, while prohibiting land ownership by illegal foreigners.” “Even small lines in a single document can sort of change the meaning of of what that document does,” said Will Gattenby, the interim CEO of the Oklahoma Association of REALTORS®. Just two weeks before the law goes into effect, the OAR and the AG’s office agreed on verbiage. News 4's Katelyn Ogle has more on the law's impact and the new legal framework:

Hughes "Uncle Redd" Van Ellis, one of the three last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. He was 102. Ellis, a WWII Veteran, sought justice his entire life, alongside his sister, 109-year-old Viola Ford Fletcher, and 108-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle. Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, says just two days before his passing, Ellis urged the fight for justice to continue. "In the midst of his death, there remains an undying sense of right and wrong. Mr. Ellis was assured we would remain steadfast, and we repeated to him, his own words, 'We Are One' and we lastly expressed our love." Read more about his life and legacy: https://trib.al/4brQkDk

Despite the Senate voting to withdraw their participation from the special session on tax cuts, the Speaker of the House said he will continue their side of business in hopes of a resolution. Governor Kevin Stitt called the special session to reduce the current income tax and put Oklahoma on the path to zero income taxes. When Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat invited Gov. Stitt to an Appropriations and Budget Committee meeting Tuesday to detail his plan on how to go about zero income tax, the Governor never showed up. So, the Senate voted to adjourn sine die - meaning they have not made a plan to reconvene for the special session. Undeterred, the House reconvened Wednesday morning where members were adjourned until a call of the chair. This means the House is still in special session but will not meet regularly to discuss the Governor’s requests. News 4's Capital Bureau Chief, Kaylee Olivas has more on what Speaker of the House Charles McCall had to say on the session:

The Oklahoma City council voted Tuesday to allow a special election December 12, 2023, where residents can decide on a proposed arena for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The planned building would cost a minimum of $900 million and would be paid for by a temporary penny tax that would not increase the current sales tax. It would begin when the one cent Maps4 tax ends in 2028. The team says it will stay in OKC until 2050 and pay $50 million towards the project, if voters approve it. KFOR's Adria Goins has more on the measures approved by the council as well as what councilmembers and voters alike think of the proposals:

Students are frustrated after federal agencies reported that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) around the nation were underfunded by billions of dollars. Officials stated that Oklahoma’s Langston University was underfunded by more than $418,000,000. A letter from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture was sent out to 16 governors in each state that had a land-grant HBCU that was established under an 1890 law. The law told states that to observe equality more they would have to equally disperse funding between a land grant institution founded in 1862 with an HBCU. In this case, Langston was meant to receive an equal amount of funding compared to Oklahoma State University. Officials claim, from 1987 to 2020, that didn’t happen and the institution missed out on $418.9 million. KFOR's Dylan Brown has more on the issue and how Langston students are reacting:

It’s been almost 50 years since 22-year-old Glynn Simmons was wrongfully convicted for the murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers during an Edmond Liquor Store robbery. He, along with Don Roberts, were sentenced to death following a jury trial that only took two-and-a-half days. It’s been 20 years since News 4’s Ali Meyer first sat down with Simmons to talk about the inconsistencies and lack of evidence presented in his trial. Roberts was released on parole in 2008, but Simmons remained in jail until July 2023 after a judge determined his trial was unfair and granted him a new trial – 48 years later. Now, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office says they are seeking to dismiss the case entirely. KFOR's Hunter Elyse sat down with Glynn just hours after the family heard the news from Ali Meyer. “It’s been a real joyous day and cried a bunch of tears, tears of joy, you know, waiting on this. I’m free to do what I want to do,” said Glynn Simmons. See more of Simmons’ and his family’s reaction: