Reading · Oklahoma Redux · RSS Amplifier

Am I back in California? The thought passed through my mind several times this month. By the time we left California at the end of 2020, there no longer was a “wildfire season” lasting a couple of months; wildfires could break out any day of the year. I was most thankful to be back in Oklahoma when fires ravaged the Los Angeles area in January 2025 — towns so very near where I’d lived, wiping out entire communities.

But wildfires in Oklahoma? I didn’t remember wildfires when I was growing up, but maybe our news field was much more localized then. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, between 1960 and 1980 (my formative years), Oklahoma had 145 wildfires. That sounds like a low number that would correlate with my memory.

That contrasts dramatically with a shorter time period (2000 to 2007) in which there were 17,499 wildfires reported in Oklahoma, with March having the highest number, according to okstate.edu. I didn’t do a deep dive into the data, but, if accurate, we can say Oklahoma is experiencing more wildfires than 40 years ago.

What I do know is that this month, there were many days my computer warned me of high winds and wildfires.

News reports and photos showed Guthrie’s residents — human and wildlife — suffered through wildfires in mid-March, while other towns throughout the state also experienced wildfires — Sayre, west of Oklahoma City, Lawton in the south of the state, clusters around Bartlesville and Tulsa and spots along the east side of the state, among other locations. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said more than 4,000 people were forced to evacuate due to the fires.

Let’s hope that “the powers that be” are working on mitigation plans to address minimizing wildfires in the state to the fullest extent possible.

After President Donald Trump removed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from his cabinet, he filled the position with Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mullin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. He won a U.S. Senate seat in 2022, becoming the first tribal citizen to serve in the U.S. Senate since Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed Alan Armstrong to serve out Mullin’s term through Jan. 3, 2027. Oklahomans will vote for a new U.S. Senator on Nov. 3, 2026.

A native Oklahoman from Bartlesville, Armstrong graduated from OU and went to work with energy company Williams, assuming the position of President and CEO in 2011.

Read more here.

At the end of the month, with unanimous consent, the Oklahoma Senate advanced SB 504 which would increase the legal age to marry from 16 to 18 years old.

The bill authored by Sen. Warren Hamilton (R-McCurtain) follows up his 2025 legislation which increased the age of sexual consent to 18. “We still have a loophole in the law that allows the very thing we corrected with age of consent under the guise of holy matrimony, and this bill seeks to close that loophole,” said Hamilton,

The bill has not yet passed the House.

Marriage age in the U.S. is set by each state. As of September 2025, only 16 states had set the minimum age at 18, without exceptions.

Read more here.

House Bill 3015 would allow Service Oklahoma to partner with businesses to issue mobile or digital versions of state identification cards, driver’s licenses or permits.

The bill has passed the House and now awaits Senate review.

Read more here.

When an Oklahoma college student’s failing grade for an essay about gender roles sparked controversy across the country last November, it prompted some Republican lawmakers to change Oklahoma law to protect students from potential bias based on political beliefs at state universities.

Read more here.

On March 5, a 47-year-old mother and her 13-year-old daughter were killed when their vehicle was struck by a tornado west of Fairview, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The mother had been on the phone with her other children, telling them to seek shelter, when phone contact was lost.

Read more here.

The University of Oklahoma, during the next 17 months, will be looking at the entire campus for growth scenarios and assessing how the facilities, infrastructure, mobility systems and open spaces support academics, research and campus life.

Read more here.

Oklahoma-based grocer Homeland will be closing four stores, consolidating other locations and possibly selling some stores to stabilize their business.

The stores scheduled to close are: