A plan to tap $40 million from the state's Unclaimed Property Fund to fund the completion of a Native American museum in Oklahoma City has cleared a Senate panel.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 21-3 Wednesday morning for the bill to finish the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum along the banks of the Oklahoma River.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has asked a federal judge to strike down a regulation that is part of the federal health care overhaul law.

Pruitt made the request in a motion he filed late Tuesday in a lawsuit he filed in U.S. District Court in Muskogee that challenges implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers would get a pay increase under a bill that has unanimously cleared a Senate committee.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 22-0 on Wednesday for the bill by Edmond Republican state Sen. Clark Jolley.

Growing up in northern Minnesota, Paul Bogard grew to love the darkness as he watched the Milky Way at night. Moved by these early experiences and motivated to understand the consequences of artificial light pollution, Bogard explores the human, environmental, and economic consequences of artificially lighting the night sky in his book The End of Night: Searching for Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation says additional potential cracks have been found in the bridge connecting Lexington to Purcell, which could delay the planned reopening of the bridge.

Head engineer Casey Shell told residents of the two towns Tuesday that the James C. Nance bridge over the Canadian River may not open within 45 days as originally planned. The bridge was shut down Jan. 31 after cracks were discovered in structural beams of the bridge.

A bill making its way through the state Senate could make violations of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act more expensive for government entities.

Sen. David Holt (R-Oklahoma City) is the sponsor of Senate Bill 1497. It would allow those suing local governments over violations of the open meeting law to collect attorney fees. The new law would also allow the collection of those fees from the plaintiff if the suit is frivolous.

Electronic cigarettes and other vapor products would continue to be subjected to sales taxes, and not tobacco excise taxes, under a bill approved by a Senate committee.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 6-4 on Tuesday for the bill by Yukon Republican state Sen. Rob Johnson. The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

Oklahoma State University says its new Mathematics Learning Success Center is helping math students succeed at record rates.

The center opened in April, and since the fall semester students enrolled in lower-level math succeeded at a rate of 75 percent or higher.

The amount of calculus tutoring has more than doubled. Business calculus students set a record with a success rate of more than 85 percent, and calculus I students succeeded at a rate of 70 percent, surpassing the national average by 10 to 20 percent.