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.
- The Oklahoma City NBA team has a name: Thunder. The team logo sports the colors of the state: sky blue and sunset colors. Hundreds of fans waited in line to shop for T-shirts and other team memorabilia.
- Oklahoma embraced evacuees from Louisiana as Hurricane Gustav came ashore as a weakening Category 2 storm. The rebuilt New Orleans levees held, although the system won’t be complete until 2010. The resulting tropical depression brought unseasonably cool temperatures and dropped more than 4 inches of rain in some areas of Oklahoma.
- The Republican National Convention opened in St. Paul, Minn., on a subdued note, opening the day Hurricane Gustav came ashore in the Gulf. Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin struck back at critics with a fiery address. McCain spoke of his love for the country and pledged to end the partisan rancor in that paralyzes Washington.
- Democratic candidate Barack Obama asked supporters to help victims of the hurricane.
- Jack Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist convicted of illegally trading expensive gifts for political favors, was sentenced to four years in prison.
- The U.S. military handed over control of the Anbar province, reducing to seven the number of Iraqi provinces still under U.S. control. The 25,000 American troops in the province will focus on training Iraqi forces.
- A U.S. investigation disputed a U.N. report that up to 90 civilians died in a raid on an Afghan village. The U.S. says up to seven civilians and 30 to 35 Taliban fighters were killed.
- The source of the E. coli outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma is still a mystery. Hundreds of people have become ill, including dozens of children, and one person has died. Food at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove is believed to have been the source of the outbreak. Tests ruled out the restaurant’s well water.
- At least five people testified before a grand jury about the fatal shootings of two girls near Weleetka.
- Federal prosecutors are seeking more than $2 million in civil penalties from a New Jersey vitamin company, accused of selling drugs used to make methamphetamines in clandestine labs in Oklahoma.