By Janelle Stecklein | Editor
“The meeting with Todd Blanche is off” - John Cornyn of meeting with President Donald Trump’s pick to become the next U.S. Attorney General
Todd Collard and Candice Mentink, owners of Caskets of Honor, celebrate a legal victory Thursday inside the Oklahoma County Courthouse. (Photo by Barbara Hoberock/Oklahoma Voice)
By Barbara Hoberock
A district judge on Thursday ruled an Oklahoma couple can challenge the constitutionality of a state law that only lets funeral directors sell caskets.
The state had sought to dismiss the case, but Oklahoma County District Judge Don Andrews denied the motion.
Candice Mentink and Todd Collard, who own a business in Calvin, sued the Oklahoma Funeral Board to overturn a state law, which they said prevents them from selling their specialty caskets.
Margie Quin, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, has been named as a defendant in two proposed class action lawsuits alleging DCS warehouses and mistreats children. Tennessee fared poorly in a new federal audit examining the number of foster children placed in hotels, office buildings and other potentially unsafe settings. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
By Robbie Sequeira
More than 9,000 children in foster care had to temporarily stay in hotels, office buildings and other potentially unsafe settings when states couldn’t find suitable places for them, according to a new federal audit.
Jim Priest, one of two Democratic candidates to take Markwayne Mullin’s seat in the U.S. Senate, sits for an interview in the KOSU studio on July 6. (Photo by Natalie Armour/KOSU)
By Sabrina Thaler and Natalie Armour, KOSU
KOSU interviewed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Priest about how he would approach a race against Republican nominee Kevin Hern, Priest’s attitude toward the President Donald Trump and what his priorities would be in Congress.
Voters fill out their ballots at a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, polling place during the South Dakota primary election on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
By Amelia Twyman
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not planning an aggressive campaign at voting sites during the upcoming midterm elections, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in response to a States Newsroom inquiry about a letter from U.S. Senate Democrats voicing concerns about armed federal agents at polling places.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2026. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
By Ashley Murray
A vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to permanently fill the nation’s top law enforcement role was postponed Wednesday after two Republican senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — remained dissatisfied with Blanche’s handling of the administration’s “anti-weaponization” fund and a tax immunity deal.
ICYMI
US Senate panel backs Trump’s CDC nominee after tense hearing | Shauneen Miranda
US Senate panel advances Trump Labor Department nominee | Shauneen Miranda
TSET to continue contract with Georgia university despite Oklahoma lawmaker concerns | Courtney Bell
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