Catastrophic flooding in May and June impacted much of the tribe’s 14-county area, home to thousands of Cherokee families.

This fall the tribe will also open its 469,000-square-foot outpatient health center on the W.W. Hastings Hospital campus.

The tribe honors two from the Army, one from the Navy and one from the Air Force.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Kevin Stitt says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved disaster assistance for 41 Oklahoma counties as a result of spring flooding and severe weather in the state.

The storms produced historic flooding throughout the northern half of the state and spawned a tornado that struck near Tulsa International Airport on May 21.

Stitt announced the approval Tuesday, saying it makes federal funding available for cities, counties, rural electric cooperatives and the state to repair infrastructure and other costs associated with the storm response.

Stitt said damage estimates from the storms stand at $22 million.

The counties approved for assistance extend from west to east across the northern half of Oklahoma and Stitt said assistance was also approved for individuals and business owners in 27 of the counties.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – The leaders of five of Oklahoma’s most powerful tribal nations have approved a resolution denouncing the new Republican governor’s plan to force negotiations for a bigger slice of revenue from Oklahoma’s tribal casinos.

The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes approved the resolution July 12 during a meeting in Tulsa. The Oklahoma-based Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole nations represent about 750,000 Native Americans across the country.

In an editorial published this week, Gov. Kevin Stitt said the existing compacts should be reevaluated now that the gambling industry has matured in Oklahoma. In a statement, Stitt said he’s been clear since his campaign that he’d seek a “fair-market deal” from the tribes.

Tribal leaders and the governor disagree over what triggers a 15-year renewal of the compacts.

Cherokee Nation citizens living in Benton, Crawford, Sebastian and Washington counties could be eligible.

TULSA (AP) – The number of Oklahoma earthquakes registering a magnitude of 3.0 or greater is on pace to decline for the fourth straight year after state regulators began directing oil and natural gas producers to close some wells and reduce injection volumes in others.

The Tulsa World reports that 27 earthquakes have been recorded in 2019, down from 97 by this time in 2018 and 144 in the first half of 2017.

Oklahoma's Corporation Commission began imposing volume limits on oil companies' disposal wells in mid-2015, after the quakes were linked to the underground injection of wastewater.

Numerous lawsuits have been filed in recent years accusing the oil companies of triggering earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey has calculated Oklahoma's short-term hazard levels to be similar to active regions in California.

Eligible applicants must be citizens of a federally recognized tribe and be residents in the Cherokee Nation jurisdictional area.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Dozens of tribes now have direct access to the FBI’s National Sex Offender Registry as tribal authorities try to combat high rates of sexual violence, federal officials said July 11.

The Justice Department announced an automated system that links a sex offender registry for tribes with the FBI’s database, saying it will make information sharing seamless.

The opioid prescription rate for Cherokee County was 21 percent higher than the state rate.

First-language Cherokee speakers visit the Rocky Mountain Community to sign the Cherokee Speaker Roll.