Observer's Weekly Wrap

Welcome to the Observer's Substack-only news digest

Temperatures hit 100 for the first time this summer in Oklahoma City, and the rest of the South and Europe baked in record-setting highs. Here’s a bit of what was going on while we were all praying our AC held out:

Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond announced he was taking bids for private law firms to investigate and potentially represent the state in litigation against energy companies for price gouging during the January 2021 Winter Storm Uri that plunged the region into subzero temps.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted on party lines to advance legislation creating a code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court. This comes after news broke of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and even Chief Justice John Roberts face allegations of taking elaborate gifts from wealthy donors who later had business in front of the nation’s top court.

Twice-impeached, twice-indicted former President Donald Trump announced on his personal social media company that he received a letter from the special investigator in the federal case against him that he was, in fact, a target of a criminal investigation.

Oklahoma executed Jemaine Cannon Thursday for a 1995 Tulsa murder after his last minute appeal to the the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals was denied. Cannon was nearly deaf and blind and would likely die within a year, according to a statement by the Oklahoma Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The State of Oklahoma is set to execute two more inmates later this year.

In more Oklahoma news:

The Oklahoma Senate will soon reconvene to attempt (again) to override two of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s vetoes. The bills extend tobacco and gaming compacts with the Native Nations in Oklahoma, a thorny point of contention between Stitt, the legislature, and the Nations. The last veto override in the Senate barely failed, even though the bills originally passed both chambers easily.

After an eight-year delay, Oklahomans can now register to vote online. Welcome to the modern era, Okies!

And finally, Observercast favorite and Tulsa State Representative Monroe Nichols announced he will run for Tulsa mayor. Nichols will not seek re-election to the state House.

You can find the latest Observercast here airing Tulsa State Rep. Melissa Provenzano’s July Newsmakers conversation. Look for next week’s Observercast with Oklahoma Policy Institute’s Shiloh Kantz early next week, where we discuss the latest Kids Count report and the state of “pro-life” Oklahoma’s children.

Coming events:

Join us August 13th at 7 pm for the next Brews and Views at BIG Brew Co. in Norman where we talk with leaders in the Oklahoma trans community.

And don’t forget!

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