Sometimes it’s easy to miss an event, so here’s a look back at the past week or so to help bring you up to date:
Republican presidential contender John McCain says he supports a measure in his home state banning the use of affirmative action in state and local government. McCain also promoted oil drilling off the U.S. coast.
Democrat Barack Obama was meeting with economic advisers, concerned about the rising cost of living. He said the economy needs more stimulus measures from Congress and called the GOP economic policies reckless.
McCain released a television ad comparing Obama to celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Obama’s campaign called McCain’s complaints “baloney.”
Oklahoma’s 20 busiest structurally deficient bridges have yet to be fixed, and the state is planning work on only five of them soon. Nearly one-quarter of the state’s bridges need to be replaced or overhauled.
Oklahoma educators have begun a petition drive to fund public school at the regional average. Oklahoma’s per pupil funding is $6,900; the regional average is $8,300.
Flooding in Ruidoso, N.M., kept hundreds of people away from their homes and campsites. The rain was a remnant of Dolly, which grazed the Gulf Coast.
An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale hit Southern California from Los Angeles to San Diego, causing minor damage and shaking up residents.
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was indicted on charges he failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts. Sen. Jim Inhofe’s re-election campaign will donate to charity $10,000 received from a political action committee Stevens controlled.
About 2,600 Oklahoma National Guard troops will be returning from Iraq in the next three months. Guard officials say it has been the largest deployment of state personnel since the Korean War.
About 40 Air Force Reservists from Tinker’s 507th Air Refueling Wing have returned from six months in Iraq.
Suicide bombers, some of them women, killed 57 Shiite pilgrims in Iraq.
A 2-month-old baby was killed by a Labrador retriever puppy in Tulsa. The infant was left unattended in a baby swing while the mother and grandmother were sleeping, authorities said.
American Airlines is moving some of its Boeing 777 maintenance work from Fort Worth to Tulsa where the company has about 5,800 union workers.
The nationwide salmonella outbreak originally blamed on tomatoes has been traced to a Mexican farm growing Serrano peppers.
NASA reports its Phoenix spacecraft has found evidence of water on Mars.
Oklahoma County District 2 Commissioner Brent Rinehart lost in the primary. Republicans Brian Maughan and J.D. Johnston will meet in a runoff Aug. 26. Among other races, Republican incumbent Jim Inhofe will face Democrat Andrew Rice in November.
The mother of a girl who died of injuries suffered at an Oklahoma City motel was arrested after police concluded she knew it was dangerous to leave her three children in the care of her boyfriend. No charges have been filed against the mother, Elizabeth Nicole Guerrero, or her boyfriend, Herman Bailon.
Oklahoma gymnast Jonathan Horton was moved into the U.S. team’s No. 1 spot after Paul Hamm, the defending Olympic all-around champ, was forced to withdraw. Hamm injured his hand at the U.S. Championships in May.