TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Shawnee Heights baseball standout Deacon Pomeroy made it official with Oklahoma State baseball on Monday, signing his National Letter of Intent at the high school.

Pomeroy has been committed to the Cowboys for over a year, and told 13 Sports that finally signing his NLI took a big weight off his shoulders.

As one of the top recruits in the state, he’s racked up his fair share of accolades in his high school career.

The catcher and power hitter is the reigning 5A Player of the Year, UKC Player of the Year, and a 1st Team All-State Selection.

He believes Oklahoma State is a program that will help him reach his ultimate goal, making it to the MLB.

“It really felt like family,” Pomeroy said about his visit to Stillwater. “That seemed what they really intended for us to be. They took very good care of us, and honestly they have very top notch facilities. So it’s kind of a no-brainer at that point.“

For now, he’s excited to enjoy his final year of high school baseball with the Thunderbirds.

“It’s that last bit of kind of feeling like this is for fun. Like just go out here and have fun with the boys and just go play,” he said.

Pomeroy can also be found hitting the court with the boys basketball team this winter.

Copyright 2024 WIBW. All rights reserved.

Oklahoma’s chief school officer and Trump administration education secretary hopeful is now demanding that students in the state watch a video of him praying for Donald Trump.

In an email circulated to Oklahoma public school superintendents last week, Ryan Walters ordered them to play the video to “all kids that are enrolled” in their districts as well as to the students’ parents.

Walters wrote that it was “a dangerous time for this country” and that students “rights and freedoms regarding religious liberties are continuously under assault,” the Oklahoman reported.

In the bizarre video, Walters announced a new office in the state called “the Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism.”

“For too long in this country we’ve seen the radical left attack individuals’ religious liberty in our schools. We will not tolerate that in Oklahoma. Your religious Liberties will be protected,” Walters said, before bowing his head in a prayer for Trump.

“I pray for our leaders to make the right decisions. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring about change to the country,” he said.

When grilled by CNN’s Pam Brown about what gives him the authority to demand schools play the video to their students, Walters accused Brown of pushing a “left-wing narrative” and maintained that Trump “has a clear mandate.”

open image in gallery

“He wants prayer back in school. He wants radical leftism out of the classroom. He wants our kids to be patriotic,” he said. “He wants parents back in charge with school choice. We’re enacting upon that agenda here in Oklahoma.”

Several school districts in Oklahoma said they have no intention of showing the video, the Oklahoman reported.

The office of the state’s Republican attorney general, Genter Drummond, also weighed in and said that Walters cannot mandate schools to play the video.

“There is no statutory authority for the state schools superintendent to require all students to watch a specific video,” Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, told the newspaper.

“Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents’ rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights.”

open image in gallery

Advertisement

Walters, who ordered schools to incorporate the Bible into classrooms and backs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s pledge to scrap the federal Department of Education, is thought to currently be in the running to be named Trump’s new education secretary.

In June, he notified all Oklahoma state schools to “immediately” incorporate the Bible into classroom curriculum, drawing immediate outrage and threats of lawsuits.

“Effective immediately, all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum” in grades five through 12, according to the notice from the Republican school superintendent.

“The Bible is one of the most historically significant books and a cornerstone of Western civilization, along with the Ten Commandments,” the notice reads.

At a press conference at the time, Walters said that every school in the state “will have a Bible in the classroom,” and that every teacher “will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”

The move, which led to him being sued by more than 30 educators and parents, propeled him into the national spotlight.

Officers said Xavion Paggett went to the BOK near 71st and Sheridan to cash a check, but he pulled out a gun and demanded money.

Monday, November 18th 2024, 9:57 pm

By:

News On 6

TULSA, Okla. –

A man was arrested on Thursday after police say he pointed a gun at a bank teller and demanded cash.

Officers say Xavion Paggett went to the Bank of Oklahoma near 71st and Sheridan earlier in November to cash a check.

Instead, authorities said he pulled out a gun, pointed it at the clerk and demanded money.

Investigators say Paggett ran off without the money when another employee showed up.

He’s charged with attempted robbery. His bond was set at $250,000.