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

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.

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

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.

Career Services’ Day Training has seen more than 6,800 applicants come through in its 10 years.

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cherokee Country serves Cherokee children and continually seeks volunteers to be advocates.

TAHLEQUAH – Rare seeds representing centuries of Cherokee cultural and agricultural history are headed for an Arctic vault built to protect the world’s crops.

Secretary of Natural Resources Sara Hill said representatives of Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway reached out after hearing about the tribe’s private seed bank in Tahlequah.

Because of its size, the project was planned in a northern and a southern phase, covering a portion of a highly traveled road in the county.

Councilors want to limit those who would be buried in it to only tribal citizens.

TAHLEQUAH – With 2019 marking the 14th annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Cherokee Nation officials signed a proclamation on June 14 at the W.W. Keeler Complex declaring June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in the CN.

In 2006, the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, with the support of the United Nations International Plan of Action, first proclaimed a day to recognize elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue.