Oklahoma
Ryan Walters names Libs of TikTok creator to Oklahoma school library panel – Arkansas Advocate
OKLAHOMA CITY — An out-of-state conservative running the far-right-wing social media account Libs of TikTok will sit on an Oklahoma committee reviewing school library content.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced on Tuesday he named Chaya Raichik to a Library Media Advisory Committee at the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Over the past year, Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education passed new rules that prohibit pornographic material and sexualized content from school libraries. Violating the rules could result in an accreditation downgrade for a district.
The Library Media Advisory Committee reviews books in question to give recommendations on whether they contain banned content.
The volunteer committee is made up of parents, current or retired librarians, and English literature teachers, according to the state Education Department. And now it will add Raichik, a Brooklyn real estate agent who became a major voice in conservative social media channels.
She celebrated her committee appointment in a Tuesday social media post in all capital letters: “WE WILL GET PORN OUT OF SCHOOLS!”
Her account is known for calling out “pornographic” content in schools and for making anti-LGBTQ+ posts. Two Oklahoma school districts received bomb threats after being highlighted on Libs of TikTok.
“If you’re going to sexualize kids and introduce really inappropriate subjects in school, I’m going to call it out,” Raichik previously told Oklahoma Voice.
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Walters has shared Libs of TikTok posts multiple times and met with Raichik in September. He said she has a “much-needed and powerful voice” and referred to her social media presence as a “tremendous platform that will benefit Oklahoma students and their families.”
“Chaya is on the front lines showing the world exactly what the radical left is all about — lowering standards, porn in schools, and pushing woke indoctrination on our kids,” Walters said in a statement. “Because of her work, families across the country know just what is going on in schools around the country. Her unique perspective is invaluable as part of my plan to make Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents.”
Union Public Schools faced several days of bomb threats in August after Libs of TikTok shared a video from a district librarian, who satirically posted about pushing a “woke agenda.”
Libs of TikTok left out context from the video — a caption where the librarian stated her “woke agenda” was to teach children to love books and be kind. Walters shared the Libs of TikTok post on his own social media, stating “Woke ideology is real and I am here to stop it.”
The bomb threats against the Tulsa district stoked outrage throughout the state and prompted state lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, to urge elected officials to tone down political rhetoric around education.
An Education Department spokesperson, Dan Isett, said Raichik isn’t responsible for the threats.
“The people who post bomb threats are the people who post bomb threats,” Isett said.
It was only a few weeks later that Walters and Raichik raised the alarm about another Oklahoma school district — Western Heights Public Schools.
They complained an elementary principal in the southwest Oklahoma City district performed as a drag queen in his spare time. Raichik also drew attention to a possession of child pornography charge the principal had faced two decades earlier.
That charge had been dropped and expunged from the principal’s record.
The episode put Western Heights and the principal at the center of a national firestorm, as Walters called for him to be fired while speaking on Fox News’ prime-time broadcast. The district also received a bomb threat, but Oklahoma City police determined it wasn’t credible.
Both Walters and Raichik have vocally opposed transgender people and their presence in schools.
The state superintendent also targeted books with LGBTQ+ themes. He said graphic novels like “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “Flamer” by Mike Curato contain explicit sexual images and shouldn’t be available to students.
His administration called for 190 books centering LGBTQ+ perspectives to be reviewed. The titles came from the American Library Association’s Rainbow Book List.
School library content also appears to be a concern among the state Legislature. Two bills on the topic have been filed for consideration in the coming legislative session.
Senate Bill 1208 from Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, would prohibit pornographic content in school libraries and would require all school districts to submit a list of their library materials to the state Department of Education.
SB 1888 from Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, would ban books on the study of sex, sexual lifestyles or sexual activity and books that are “predominantly sexual in nature” from public schools.
This story was originally published by the Oklahoma Voice, which is a part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: [email protected]. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter.
Oklahoma
Fire in Oklahoma City scrapyard produces massive smoke plume visible from downtown
Oklahoma firefighters battle wildfire in Arapaho in March outbreak
Firefighters with the Hydro Fire Department responded to a grass fire in Arapaho, Oklahoma, on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Provided, Hydro Fire Department
A fire at a scrapyard near the OKC Fairgrounds has produced a massive plume of smoke visible in downtown Oklahoma City, officials report.
Oklahoma City Fire Department Assistant PIO John Chenoweth told The Oklahoman that the fire started at the scrapyard building near Northwest 10th Street and May Avenue, northeast of the OKC Fairgrounds.
The fire has been marked as “basically contained” as the Oklahoma City Fire Department is currently shifting to defensive methods. There are some active rubbish fires surrounding the metal building.
Chenoweth states there are no injuries, and all inside the building have been evacuated.
The cause of the fire and the extent of damage are unknown.
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Oklahoma fire map: See smoke, wildfires across state, red flag warnings
Track the latest wildfire and smoke information in Oklahoma with data that is updated frequently based on input from several incident and intelligence sources.
If you can’t see the map below, please click here.
How to prevent wildfires
While severely warm weather can worsen a wildfire spread, most are the result of human behavior. In fact, nearly 85% of wildfires in the U.S. are caused by humans, according to the National Park Service.
With its wide acres, rural areas and inconsistent weather patterns, Oklahoma is prone to grass fires. Forestry and safety experts offer several guidelines for residents on how to avoid starting a fire, which can often breakout from just one wrong spark.
- Avoid using welding equipment.
- Never drive on a flat tire.
- Extinguish cigarettes completely before properly disposing of them, and never throw them outside of a window while driving.
- Avoid parking on dry grass or dragging chains behind your car.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ranked in top 10 states attracting new residents, study says
Oklahoma real estate trends: What to know before buying a home in 2025
How affordable is Oklahoma real estate in 2025? What to know before you buy.
Oklahoma is in the top 10 states receiving new residents in the nation in recent years, a new survey suggests.
StorageCafe conducted a recent study utilizing U.S. Census data showing Oklahoma welcomed over 25,000 new residents in 2023, with millennials being the largest-represented generation among those entering the Sooner State.
Here’s what the study had to say about migration into Oklahoma.
Oklahoma among top 10 states to move to
According to StorageCafe, Oklahoma welcomed 25,000 new residents in 2023 in net migration.
New residents in Oklahoma were largely made up of millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, at 27%.
Though Oklahomans and Texans don’t seem to be eye to eye in the football arena, Texas is “by far the largest source” of new Oklahoma residents.
Among the major reasons for the increase in migrants is likely Oklahoma’s affordability, with 36% of millennials buying a home within their first year in Oklahoma.
In addition, Oklahomans found major success in recruiting former California and Colorado residents to move to the state, rounding out the top 3 states bringing new residents.
What are the states attracting the most residents?
These states are the states with the highest migration numbers:
- Texas (138,000)
- Florida (137,000)
- North Carolina (111,000)
- South Carolina (72,000)
- Georgia (62,000)
- Arizona (57,000)
- Indiana (32,000)
- Colorado (31,000)
- Tennessee (28,000)
- Oklahoma (25,000)
Oklahoma
Why Oklahoma HC Brent Venables Says John Mateer is ‘Focused’ Ahead of Spring Ball
NORMAN — High highs and low lows defined John Mateer’s first season at Oklahoma.
Mateer, who transferred to OU ahead of the 2025 season, led the Sooners to a 10-3 record and their first College Football Playoff appearance since 2019. He threw for 1,215 yards and logged 11 touchdowns in OU’s first four games, helping them win each of them.
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“His best football was as good as there is in college football,” OU coach Brent Venables said.
In the back half of the season, though, Mateer wasn’t as efficient. After returning from a hand injury that kept him out of the Kent State game, Mateer completed only 59.4 percent of his passes for 1,670 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions over the Sooners’ final eight contests.
Venables is well aware of the good and the bad from Mateer’s first season in Norman. And the coach is pleased with Mateer’s focus throughout the first few months of the offseason.
“He’s in the building every day with his coaches, and very focused in that space,” Mateer said. “And I’ll meet with him frequently as well, from a leadership standpoint.”
Mateer’s up-and-down campaign came after his superb season at Washington State in 2024. As the Cougars’ starter that year, he threw for 3,370 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The SEC, though, is much more challenging than the primarily-Mountain West schedule that Mateer faced at WSU.
Venables is confident that Mateer will be more consistent in his second season with the Sooners, thanks to one year in the conference under his belt and the reps against Oklahoma’s defense throughout its spring and fall camps.
“I try to give him a defensive lens with plays that we’ve made some different cut ups for him,” Venables said. “The more you know about the other side of the ball, like intimately, deeply, like you know it maybe better than your side of the ball you can just elevate your game to another level.”
Though Mateer’s production dipped late in the season, he was far from the only inconsistent player on OU’s offense.
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The Sooners scored more than 30 points in only one of their final eight games. Oklahoma also averaged just 316.3 yards per game during that stretch and rushed for only 3.4 yards per carry.
OU’s front office did plenty to reinforce the unit during the offseason.
The Sooners signed three wide receivers — Trell Harris, Parker Livingstone and Mackenzie Alleyne — from the transfer portal. Oklahoma also added multiple tight ends, offensive linemen and running backs from the portal. The Sooners will also have several true freshmen — like running backs DeZephen Walker and Jonathan Hatton Jr. and wide receiver Jayden Petit — who may contribute immediately.
Venables noted how Mateer has grown as a leader since the start of last season and that he is much more “relational” than he was previously.
Ultimately, the coach believes that Mateer is in a better position to be one of college football’s best quarterbacks in 2026.
“He cares about the freshman walk-on guy as much as the new right tackle, and those are some of the qualities that John has that make him very endearing to everybody in the building,” Venables said. “He’s a passionate and an enthusiastic guy too, but he’s never been an over-the-top fake kind of guy, and you can’t fabricate just being genuine and authentic. And so he’s very relational with the guys.”
Oklahoma will begin its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.
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