OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Dozens of Oklahoma teachers are among hundreds of political hopefuls who signed up this week to run for office during a tumultuous second week in which frustrated educators and their supporters flooded the state Capitol. A total of 794 candidates filed for office by Friday, the last of Oklahoma's three-day filing period for offices on the ballot in November. State election officials say that is a record number for elections in at least 20 years.
WOODWARD, Okla. (AP) - A fast-moving wildfire has forced an evacuation order for about 1,400 people in three northwest Oklahoma small towns. Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander said his deputies are going door-to-door in Seiling, Taloga and Putnam telling residents to leave. Sander said some who had earlier been evacuated from the nearby town of Vici were being allowed to return home. Blazes have scorched more than 200,000 acres (809 sq. kilometers) in Dewey and neighboring Woodward counties.
MOUNTAINBURG, Ark. (AP) - A tornado ripped through a tiny town in the Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas on Friday, injuring at least four people. The twister struck Mountainburg, Arkansas, about 4 p.m. Friday as a line of severe thunderstorms rumbled across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. There were at least three entrapments as the tornado moved through the town of 624 residents about 20 miles northeast of Fort Smith, said Crawford County Emergency Management Director Brad Thomas.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A GOP Oklahoma lawmaker who faced criticism from interfaith leaders for his handling of the state House's visiting chaplain program says he is stepping down as the program's coordinator. Rep. Chuck Strohm of Jenks said in a statement Friday that, effective immediately, he is no longer serving in the role. Interfaith leaders chided Strohm for denying a House member's request for a local Muslim imam to serve as the visiting. Some House members said it blocked non-Christians from participating.
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