OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma House has passed a sweeping package of tax hikes aimed at funding a teacher pay raise and averting statewide school closures set to begin next week. In a late-night session Monday, the House voted 79-19 for the $447 million package that includes tax increases on cigarettes, motor fuel, hotel and motel lodging, and oil and gas production. All of the House Democrats supported the plan, along with a majority of Republicans. The bill needed 76 votes to pass.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - A longtime energy company executive has been named the next president of the University of Oklahoma. The school's Board of Regents announced Monday that 65-year-old Jim Gallogly will become the university's 14th president on July 1. He succeeds David Boren, who announced in September that he'd step down in June. Boren has been the university's president since 1994. Gallogly is currently a director of Continental Resources in Oklahoma City.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Heavy rain is forecast across parts of the central United States and the National Weather Service says there is a threat of flooding. The weather service issued a flood watch Monday that will continue through Thursday night for northeast Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas, southern Missouri and southern Illinois. The weather service says rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches are expected with locally heavier amounts of 5 to 6 inches, particularly in Oklahoma and Arkansas.
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) - The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says an inmate at the Muskogee County jail has died after being found unresponsive in her cell. The OSBI says jailers found 23-year-old Brandy Edwardsen early Saturday and she was taken to a hospital where she later died. The body was sent to the state medical examiner for an autopsy.
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