Oklahoma
How earmarked funds help upgrade Oklahoma communities
Earmark is the term many know, but technically it’s congressionally directed spending in the Senate, community project funding in the House, which is exactly what earmarks are: funding directed by members of Congress for projects in their community.
Fifth District Congresswoman Stephanie Bice visited the Edmond Water Treatment Plant on Tuesday to present city leaders with a symbolic check for $4 million.
The money is part of the Housing and Urban Development budget and is to be used to update the electrical grid in a city that, like all municipalities in Oklahoma, is funded predominantly through sales tax.
“Sometimes the revenue doesn’t meet the need, and this is one way that I can actually bring federal dollars back home to Oklahoma to help my communities across the 5th district,” said Bice.
Federal dollars like this have helped upgrade the 911 center in Logan County, the airport in Chandler, and the Forensic Science Institute at UCO.
Bice facilitated funding for 15 projects this way, and she’s certainly not alone. According to the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Fiscal Year 26 appropriations contained just over 7600 earmarks, totaling about $14.3 billion, less than 1% of all discretionary. The Oklahoma delegation accounted for 66 of those earmarks, worth about $314 million.
“These are dollars that would have been spent by agencies, by federal agencies, and I think it’s incumbent upon me as an elected official representing this community to be able to secure those dollars and bring them back home for projects that are really vital,” said Bice.
By law, the projects are listed on each member’s website.
Oklahoma
Main Card Results | UFC Oklahoma City
Du Plessis returns to the Octagon for the first time since losing his middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev last August. Standing across from him is Usman, a former welterweight champion who defended his title five times, with signature wins over Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. The pair headline a stacked card filled with rising contenders and can’t-miss prospects.
Where To Watch UFC Oklahoma City
Live results, highlights, fight recaps, post-fight interviews and more will be added throughout the event. Preview each matchup below before the action begins. The main card kicks off Saturday at 8pm ET/5pm PT live on Paramount+ in the United States.
UFC Oklahoma City Main Card Results:
Oklahoma
‘ALWAYS OPTIMISTIC!’ Tulsa’s U.V. Okies level up with Nintendo donation
TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa’s U.V. Okies are six-time undefeated Wii bowling champions of the Tulsa Senior Inter-League — and now they’re leveling up.
Nintendo America contacted University Village Retirement Community after the senior bowling team’s story went viral- thanks to their Instagram reels, and features by news outlets like the New York Times and 2 News Oklahoma.
WATCH: POSITIVELY OKLAHOMA: Tulsa Gaming Seniors level up to Nationals:
POSITIVELY OKLAHOMA: Tulsa Gaming Seniors level up to Nationals
Inspired by their story, the company is donating Nintendo Switch 2 systems to each retirement community in the Tulsa league.
Wayne Wall, Life Enrichment Coordinator at University Village, said the outreach came as a surprise.
“I did not expect to hear from Nintendo at all,” Wall said.
GALLERY: “ALWAYS OPTIMISTIC!” Tulsa’s U.V. Okies level up with Nintendo donation
The company reached out to Wall about what the team had come to represent.
“They contacted me and said we’re excited about how Wii bowling is bringing people together at this stage of their life and helping them to have that camaraderie and have fun in this stage of their life and we would like to do something to contribute to that, to be a part of that,” Wall said.
Nintendo donated two Nintendo Switch 2 systems for each retirement community in the league, along with additional gear like extra Joy-Cons, and games. Teams from across Tulsa picked up their gifts at the championship celebration on July 16, 2026, at University Village in Tulsa — and the timing could not have been better. The old equipment had run its course.
“The Wii systems were becoming obsolete and hard to replace,” Wall said.
Come spring 2027, the Tulsa league will make the switch to bowling on the Switch 2. Competing Tulsa teams hope the new systems evens things out.
Fritz Gernandt of the Town Village Strikers had a message for the six-time champions.
“I can only say it once and really loud, look out,” Gernandt said.
The U.V. Okies are not intimidated. Phyllis Wimer, 95 — known on the lanes by nicknames like “The GOAT” and “The Killer” — has already been putting in work on the Switch 2.
KJRH
“I’ve got the new system at home, and I have bowled a 300 on it, and I’m the only one so far that has,” Wimer said.
Dorothy Salen, 101, who led the U.V. Okies in the national league last fall and goes by “Dangerous Dorothy,” is keeping her trademark outlook heading into the new season.
“Always optimistic!” Salen said.
For the U.V. Okies, the game — and the fun — is never over.
The team has one more Wii bowling match planned before their equipment gets retired. They will play the staff at University Village to raise money for Alzheimer’s awareness next week.
2 News Oklahoma was the first to bring you the story of the U.V. Okies success, and we’ve been updating you along the way.
You can learn more about University Village HERE.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere —
Oklahoma
Oklahoma first responders join rescue efforts as deadly Texas floods claim more lives
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklah. — Deadly flooding in Texas has prompted another wave of Oklahoma first responders to head south to help with rescue and recovery efforts as the death toll continues to rise.
Days of relentless rain have battered the Texas Hill Country, an area often called “Flash Flood Valley,” turning rivers into violent torrents that ripped out trees, washed away roads, and left communities underwater.
In Kerr County, floodwaters tore apart a roadway, leaving twisted pavement and debris behind.
The devastation comes one year after catastrophic flooding that claimed more than 130 lives across Texas.
Hundreds of rescue crews from across the nation have mobilized to Texas, including teams from Oklahoma and the United Cajun Navy, to save lives and limit further loss.
On Tuesday, Gov. Kevin Stitt and the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management deployed 25 members of Oklahoma Task Force One to Texas. Brad Smith, an Oklahoma Task Force leader, said, “It’s nothing we haven’t seen before. We know what to expect.”
By Thursday, another Oklahoma team rolled south, made up of Oklahoma City firefighters, an Oklahoma City police officer and members of the Yukon Fire Department. Guymon’s specialized swiftwater search and rescue team also responded. “This is a highly trained group of people, very experienced,” Smith said. “We’ve been to out-of-state deployments on this type of thing before and feel very confident in the type of work we’ll be expected to do down there.”
The crews are joining a growing interstate response centered in the Texas Hill Country, now the epicenter of the flooding disaster.
Amy Metz, chief meteorologist with the United Cajun Navy, described the intensity of the flooding and the challenges it has created for rescuers. “They couldn’t get boats to somebody who was submerged in a vehicle in a tree, and so I did hear later after about an hour and a half there were able to get that man to safety,” Metz said.
Metz also described damage caused by the force of the water. “It picked up a barge, one that was there to do some cleanup from last year’s floods, got lifted and thrown down the dam probably a half mile up to a mile away, crashing into a bridge that is now gone,” she said.
At least two people have died, and more than 200 people have been rescued.
Several rounds of slow-moving thunderstorms during the past two days have flooded six Texas counties.
Metz said the rainfall totals have been extreme. “Since Monday, the Hill Country has seen at least 20 inches of rain. That could very well have gone up to 30 in some places and with it river rise. The gauges did show within one hour it shot up 25 feet,” she said.
Metz said the United Cajun Navy is prepared to help with boat ferry deliveries and highway cleanup with chainsaws once flooding subsides.
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