Latest Oklahoma Headlines
All the headlines from our Oklahoma Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rate Increases OK’d for Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association
Nov 18 2019 // Proposed rate increases for both private passenger and commercial auto insurance rates have been approved for the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA). The Texas Department of Insurance granted TAIPA’s...
Judge Trims Oklahoma Opioid Penalty on J&J to $465M to Reflect Math Error
Nov 17 2019 // An Oklahoma judge on Friday said Johnson & Johnson must pay that state $465 million for fueling the opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of painkillers, down from his original award of $572 million. The...
U.S. Attorney: Oklahoma Man Sentenced for Stealing Almost $370K from Employer
Nov 15 2019 // A Tulsa, Oklahoma, man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to repay nearly $370,000 after being found guilty of stealing from his employer. Ernest Everette Howard, 49, of Tulsa, must $368,329.61 in...
Attorney: Oklahoma’s Tulsa County to Pay $10M to Settle Jail Death Suit
Nov 15 2019 // Officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 37-year-old man, who died in 2011 after lying naked in a Tulsa County, Oklahoma, jail cell for five days with a broken neck. Documents filed in federal court in...
Gwartney Appointed VP, Employee Benefits at Oklahoma’s Universal Insurance
Nov 14 2019 // Dason Gwartney has been named vice president and employee benefits practice leader at Universal Insurance Agency in Durant, Oklahoma, a unit of First United Bank. Gwartney joins First United/Universal with more than 25...
10 Hospitalized After Flu Shot Mix-Up at Oklahoma Facility
Nov 13 2019 // Ten people at an Oklahoma care facility for people with intellectual disabilities were hospitalized after they were apparently accidentally injected with what’s believed to be insulin rather than flu shots,...
Oklahoma Workers’ Comp Commission Names Hammonds Johnson General Counsel
Nov 7 2019 // Lauren Hammonds Johnson has been appointed general counsel at the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC). The general counsel will work directly under Commissioners Mark Liotta, Jordan Russell and Megan...
New Oklahoma Law Allows Use of School Bus Cameras to Ticket Drivers
Nov 6 2019 // New legislation in Oklahoma that allows law enforcement to use cameras on school buses to track down drivers who illegally pass stopped buses went into effect on Nov. 1. House Bill 1926, by Rep. Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee) and...
No Major Damage as Earthquakes Rattle Kansas, Oklahoma
Nov 4 2019 // The U.S. Geological Survey says several earthquakes were recorded in south-central Kansas and northern Oklahoma this weekend, but no significant damage was reported. The Kansas City Star reports that one earthquake with a...
Number of Volunteer Firefighters Continues to Grow in Oklahoma
Oct 31 2019 // Nearly 500 new volunteer firefighters have joined Oklahoma rural fire departments in the four years after legislation passed that eliminated the age limit for new volunteers. Oklahoma House Majority Leader Mike Sanders...
Kansas-Oklahoma Border Shaken by 3.7 Magnitude Quake
Oct 25 2019 // A 3.7 magnitude earthquake centered near the Kansas-Oklahoma border was felt as far as 75 miles away, but no injuries have been reported. The Kansas City Star reports that the temblor happened just after 4 p.m. Tuesday and...
Oklahoma County to Pay $12.5M to Settle Suit Over Inmate Death
Oct 24 2019 // Officials in northern Oklahoma have agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of an inmate in a restraint chair at the county jail. According to court records, the Garfield County Board of...
California Governor’s OK of Cannabis Tax Bill Among Several Industry-Related Bills He Signed
Oct 17 2019 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been quite friendly to the cannabis industry lately, signing into law more than a half-dozen cannabis-industry related bills. The bills were intended to add to or subtract from the...
Oklahoma Judge Says He Miscalculated Award in Opioid Case by $107M
Oct 17 2019 // An Oklahoma judge on Oct. 15 acknowledged making a nearly $107 million miscalculation in determining how much drug maker Johnson & Johnson must pay the state to help address the state’s opioid crisis. Following a...
Combs Named Chief of Staff at Oklahoma Insurance Department
Oct 8 2019 // Oklahoma Insurance Department Deputy Commissioner of Licensing Services & Policy Counsel Buddy Combs has been appointed to fill an upcoming chief of staff and first deputy commissioner vacancy at the department. The...
Johnson & Johnson Says Oklahoma Judge Miscalculated Opioid Award
Oct 3 2019 // An Oklahoma judge made a $107 million miscalculation when he ordered consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to help clean up the state’s opioid crisis, attorneys for the company argue in a...
Relation Insurance Acquires Oklahoma’s Premier Consulting Partners
Oct 3 2019 // Relation Insurance Services (Relation) has acquired the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based insurance brokerage Premier Consulting Partners LLC (Premier). Founded in 2014 by CEO Russell Brown, Premier offers a full suite of...
Manufacturer, Staffing Agency Sued for Harassment, Retaliation at Oklahoma Site
Oct 2 2019 // U.S. officials say Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and ManpowerGroup US Inc. (Manpower) violated federal law when they fired a female employee who complained about sexual harassment at a JCI manufacturing facility in Norman,...
Johnson & Johnson Appeals $572M Ruling in Oklahoma Opioid Lawsuit
Sep 30 2019 // Consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson is appealing an Oklahoma judge’s $572 million order against the company and its subsidiaries for helping fuel the state’s opioid crisis. The company filed an appeal...
Workers’ Comp Loss Costs to Drop 5% in Oklahoma Next Year
Sep 24 2019 // A 5.1% percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs in Oklahoma for 2020 has been approved by Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, the state insurance department announced. Loss costs are the...
