State government made a lot of money in the month of September.  State Treasurer Ken Miller reports gross receipts topped $1 billion which set a new record. 

That is more than 8% above what the state brought in for the same month a year ago and Treasurer Miller says it, "indicates healthy (economic) expansion in Oklahoma."

The process of the first same-sex couple to marry in Cleveland County started with a squeak – the sound of the official stamp on a marriage license.

Kristen and Heather Dickey are now the first same-sex couple to marry in Cleveland County. The two have been together for over a decade, but Kristen Dickey says holding an official marriage license is pretty surreal.

The plaintiffs in a gay marriage lawsuit in Oklahoma have married during a ceremony on the steps of the Tulsa County Courthouse.

Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin were married late Monday afternoon before dozens of friends, family members and supporters. Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Judge Jane Wiseman officiated the ceremony.

Bishop and Baldwin were the lead plaintiffs who challenged Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage in 2004, shortly after 76 percent of Oklahoma voters approved the ban.

Prison records show a man convicted in a 1993 killing was one of 1,500 Oklahoma inmates released through a prison program.

The Oklahoman reports Antonio Ray Mason, who was convicted of second-degree murder, was set free in August. Prison officials say they restored his good behavior credits.

Updated 12:45 p.m. CDT

A federal appeals court has lifted its stay in gay marriage cases in Oklahoma and Utah, clearing the way for same-sex nuptials to begin in both states.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver lifted the stays Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the matter. The high court's decision effectively means gay marriage is legal in 30 states.

Unlike recent previous elections when Oklahoma voters had a litany of ballot issues to decide, next month there will only be three issues for voters to ponder.

In 2010, voters had eleven questions to consider, and two years later, six questions were on the ballot. Among them were forbidding courts from using Sharia, or Islamic law, making English the state's official language and requiring voters to show identification at the polls.

Representatives Mark McCullough and Earl Sears had one goal Wednesday during a hearing on their joint interim study: Begin the search for the optimal tax policy.

McCullough, R-Sallisaw, said each year of his legislative proposals to reduce the individual income tax or create or extend new tax credits were introduced but there was no real talk of tax policy.