Day: November 21, 2019

[From left to right] Community organizer Greg Robinson of the METCares Foundation, former State Senator Jabar Shumate, Rev. Robert Turner of the historic Vernon Chapel AME church, Black Wall Street tour guide Alaagba Fagbenro Amusan, and founder of the Black Wall Street Gallery Dr. Ricco Wright walk Greenwood Ave. with New Jersey Senator and 2020 Presidential Candidate Cory Booker [centered]. Photo by Black Wall Street Times’ Staff Author’s Note: I am infinitely obliged to have stumbled, seemingly by accident, into the footsteps and shadows of my community’s preeminent storytelling profession. Today, I…

An Oklahoma woman was all smiles for her mugshot despite facing a murder charge in the stabbing that killed her husband, investigators said. Shanda Johnson-Williams, 48, was arrested Tuesday in the suspicious death of her husband, 48-year-old Jamie Williams, in Ft. Towson, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) wrote on Facebook. Deputies from the Choctaw County Sheriff’s Office found Williams unresponsive in his home on Sunday and called OSBI agents for assistance, officials said. Shanda Johnson-Williams faced a first-degree murder charge in her husband’s death, investigators said. (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation) Williams was pronounced dead…

SAPULPA, Okla. An Oklahoma couple has been charged with child neglect after teachers noticed something was going on with a teenager in their classroom. In September, officers were called to Sapulpa Middle School after teachers became concerned about a 14-year-old child. According to an affidavit obtained by KJRH, teachers told investigators they began taking care of the teen after noticing his poor hygiene and lack of medical care. They told police that they had been giving the child, who has special needs, a shower and clean clothing on an almost daily…

OKLAHOMA CITY  Pamela Smith says she is simply seeking justice for a crime that happened decades ago. In the 1990s, Smith says she was repeatedly raped by an Oklahoma state government official while she was in custody. After bringing her allegations against the official to light, Smith says she was assaulted with a glass salt shaker. “This is not your run-of-the-mill rape case. This is a civil rights violation,” said James Johnson, with the New Black Panther Party of Tulsa. Smith says that investigators found the salt shaker, and delivered…

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that cities may approve some regulations of the medical marijuana industry. The court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by the city of Broken Arrow in a case filed by marijuana grower Austin Miller. Miller said the city exceeded its authority in 2018 by adopting regulations including a $2,500 annual permit fee on dispensaries and allowing marijuana to only be grown indoors in industrial areas. The state Supreme Court first overturned a district judge’s injunction blocking the rules. Now, it has ruled that legislative amendments…