In the aftermath of Tuesday's tornado in Muskogee and the failure of the tornado sirens to go off until after the EF1 twister (with a final path length of 14.3 miles) had blown through southern neighborhoods in the city, officials have tracked down the issue that caused the delay:

MUSKOGEE, Okla. April 17, 2026 -  The City of Muskogee is providing an update regarding the delayed activation of the Outdoor Warning System during the severe weather event on April 14, 2026.

Following an extensive investigation by the contractor responsible for maintaining and servicing the Outdoor Warning System, the City of Muskogee has been informed of the conditions that prevented the timely activation of the sirens.

The investigation found that the system controlling the sirens functioned properly and issued the activation command immediately after the tornado warning was released by the National Weather Service. However, a disruption in the system’s communication link prevented that activation command from reaching the sirens.

Last night around 11pm, a tornado struck southern portions of the city of Muskogee, with damage focused in the Grandview 7 and Hilldale areas. It seems to have been relatively minor, with no injuries reported that I have heard.

However, I noticed that tornado sirens did not go off in the city limits of Muskogee until the tornado was already crossing the Arkansas River headed toward rural portions of the county between Fort Gibson and Braggs, well after the damage had already been caused. 

Contrary to assumptions that some are posting on social media, the National Weather Service has no input or responsibility for activating sirens during severe weather. That lies with the local government bodies, in this case, the city emergency management department. The city will activate the sirens during damaging wind events in addition to tornado warnings. This storm system dropped a tornado in fairly rapid fashion, so whether the failure was because the system itself failed or because it wasn't activated by those responsible remains to be seen.

Here is the response from the City of Muskogee:

Muskogee Responds to Severe Storm 

MUSKOGEE, Okla. April 15, 2026 - The City of Muskogee is aware of concerns regarding the delayed activation of outdoor storm warning sirens during last night’s severe weather event.

Some notable pieces of legislation:

• The Legislature has passed a $12.8B state budget (largest in state history) at an uncharacteristically early date: House leadership  and Senate leadership comments. Look in-depth at the appropriations: House budget portal, Senate budget dashboard. Includes another $2,000 teacher pay raise. Here's more on the other budget bills that fill in the details from the main bill.
• Conservative State Rep. Jim Shaw got national attention for a brief question that blew the cover off HB 3660, which would legalize procedures for composting of human bodies. The authors of the bill are presenting it as a cheaper funeral choice...
• Of particular interest to the Muskogee/Fort Gibson area: the Senate unanimously passed SB 1319, directing the Corporation Commission to establish a process for homeowners to receive remediation assistance if their property is contaminated by a substance under the commission’s jurisdiction. This was a local story after a family in Fort Gibson had to leave their home after it was infiltrated by a leak from an abandoned well.

TSET failure shows need for reform

In 1998, four major tobacco companies agreed to a settlement with 46 states, including Oklahoma. The tobacco companies promised to pay participating states at least $206 billion over the first 25 years in exchange for those states dropping litigation.

In 2000, Oklahomans approved a constitutional amendment requiring that the state’s annual payments from tobacco companies be deposited into the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) with investment earnings earmarked for smoking cessation and other health-related measures.

In theory, TSET was supposed to eliminate “politics” from spending decisions. In practice, it simply eliminated voter input and left unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats in charge of TSET spending.

The results are embarrassing, at best. After a quarter-century, Oklahoma still ranks among the worst states for smoking. States that simply spent their tobacco settlement money on general expenditures are doing much better.

Candidate filing for 2026 statewide, legislative, and judicial offices concluded yesterday, and boy were there some surprises.

First up, the official press release from the Oklahoma State Election Board, then a quick recap on the filing news:

Oklahoma City, April 3rd — The 2026 Candidate Filing Period closed today – April 3, 2026 – at 5:00 p.m. The Secretary of the State Election Board announced that a total of 611 candidates filed for state, federal, legislative, or judicial office, making the 2026 Candidate Filing Period the second largest candidate filing period in the past 25 years. The largest occurred in 2018 when a total of 794 candidates filed for office.

Washington, DC (March 17th) – Congressman Josh Brecheen recognizes the students from Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District who received nominations from our office and have received appointments to the United States Service Academies.

With Mullin's resignation to take the cabinet position, Governor Kevin Stitt this morning announced his selection of energy executive Alan Armstrong to fill Mullin's seat for the remaining nine months of the Senate term.

Armstrong, stepping down as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at Tulsa-based Williams Companies, says he will be focused on achieving permitting reform for large-scale infrastructure and energy projects. Stitt indicated conversations with Senate leadership and the White House led to specific requests for an appointee that could help in this area.

Given Armstrong's limited time as the placeholder for the Senate seat, there is a very short window of time in which he will have ability to act on legislation. Stitt said he chose Armstrong to help work across the aisle to bring movement on this particular area of policy (again, with confirmation from Senate leadership and the Trump administration).

Stitt mentioned transmission line projects during the press conference, in addition to other energy-related issues, which will likely cause ears to perk up among local activists across the state (and region) who have fought against similar projects and proposed wind-energy farms.

You can watch Stitt and Armstrong at the press conference here:

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 20, 2026) - Governor Kevin Stitt today signed an executive order requiring a comprehensive review of how Oklahoma’s public education funding is being spent.

Under the Governor’s leadership, state appropriations for Oklahoma’s public school system have increased more during the last seven years than in the past 25 years combined. Between local, state, and federal dollars, $9.6 billion is allocated to public education each year, representing the largest annual investment of taxpayer dollars.