Oklahoma News

Oklahomans who use common cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine can breathe easier after a House committee Tuesday rejected a measure that would have required them to obtain a doctor’s prescription to buy them.

The 7-6 failure to pass House Bill 2375 combined with last week’s vote by a Senate subcommittee to defeat a similar measure spells doom for the proposal. The failure of either measure to advance essentially ends consideration for House and Senate bills on the topic this year.

Oklahoma lawmakers edged closer toward trying to outlaw abortion on Wednesday by approving “personhood” legislation that gives individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception.

The Republican-controlled state Senate voted 34-8 to pass the “Personhood Act” which defines the word person under state law to include unborn children from the moment of conception.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin granted a 30-day stay of execution on Thursday to a convicted murderer scheduled to be put to death next week so that state attorneys could study whether he should be granted clemency.

Garry Thomas Allen, scheduled for lethal injection on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting death of his estranged girlfriend. But the state’s pardon and parole board recommended his death sentence be commuted to life in prison.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys don’t have much of a chance at making the NCAA tournament this year, but that doesn’t mean that they will quit. They pulled off a huge upset of second ranked Missouri on Wednesday, beating them 79-72.

Freshman Le’Bryan Nash scored a career high 27 points for the Cowboys, who got a major boost from some other players as well. Brian Williams also scored a career high 22 points for the team, according to ESPN.

An Oklahoma hospital in country singer Garth Brooks’ hometown must return his $500,000 donation because it failed to build a women’s center in honor of his late mother, jurors ruled Tuesday. More >

Four Oklahoma companies have made Fortune Magazine’s 2012 list of the “Top 100 Best Companies To Work For.”

Among the top 100 were Chesapeake Energy at No. 18, Devon Energy at No. 28 and American Fidelity Assurance at No. 47. All three have headquarters in Oklahoma City. Tulsa-based Quick Trip also made the top 100 list at No. 66.

“Fat paychecks, sweet perks, fun colleagues, and over 70,000 jobs ready to be filled — these employers offer dream workplaces,” according to Fortune’s website.

Thanks to a federal court ruling, the controversial law passed by Oklahoma voters barring judicial consideration of international or Sharia law in court cases has been stayed. The law would amend the state’s constitution to explicitly require judges to only use state and federal law when deciding cases and expressly prohibits the use of Islamic Sharia law. But the law is misleading in several respects and is based largely on public anxiety over an isolated incident in New Jersey. In passing the initiative, Oklahoma ingrained in the state constitution that Islam vis a vis Islamic law is to be publicly and legally stigmatized.

Sarah McKinley, the Oklahoma mom who shot and killed an intruder after asking a 911 operator if it was okay to shoot, was cleared of wrongdoing Thursday. More >

A teenage mother in Blanchard, Oklahoma protected herself and her 3-month-old baby in a somewhat badass fashion when she shot and killed an intruder over the weekend. More >

The defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks are still searching for the first win of the season and will have their hands full tonight against the undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dallas was trounced by Miami on Christmas in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals and suffered a 115-93 setback on Monday versus Denver in the finale of a season-opening two-game homestand. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points, Jason Kidd and Sean Williams both had 12 and Vince Carter netted 11 points for the Mavericks, who committed 20 turnovers and have lost two straight to start a season since the 2006-07 campaign.