President Obama spent very little time on foreign policy and foreign affairs during Tuesday night's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

But he did call on lawmakers to pass a resolution authorizing the use of force against self-proclaimed Islamic State militants.

The house, crouching in the middle of a neighborhood in east Perry, sat unoccupied for years.

Its shingles were rotted, and its metal porch railing was bent. Weeds and brush rose from the foundation past gaping, empty windows.

Last year, city officials notified the owners that they needed to clean up the property. The city wasn’t prepared for the counteroffer.

The Otoe-Missouria Tribe, which oversees the property, held in federal trust, proposed instead to raze the home and build a casino.

Tuesday the Oklahoma City Council approved a request for proposals for a hotel catering to the convention center that will be built as part of the series of projects funded by the MAPS 3 temporary sales tax extension.

During the meeting, the council heavily stressed the importance of building enough parking for the hotel, convention center, and other uses around town, as well as alternate funding to make sure developers can complete the project.

New Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister has named a longtime educator from the Oklahoma City area as the first person to take a leadership position in her administration.

Hofmeister said Thursday that Robyn Miller will oversee policy research and development as well as teacher quality initiatives for the state Department of Education.

Miller comes to the agency from Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, where she has served as chair of the School of Education since 2007.

An Oklahoma lawmaker has filed legislation that would authorize retail liquor stores to sell refrigerated high-point beer in the state.

Currently, high-point beer can only be sold at room temperature and only in liquor retail stores. Under the measure by Sen. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma City, consumers would still have to purchase high-point beer at liquor stores, but liquor stores would have the option to use refrigeration and sell cold high-point beer.

The Oklahoma Department of Health says influenza has taken the lives of 16 people during the past week.

Health officials reported Thursday that 47 Oklahomans have died due to flu-related illness since the flu season began Sept. 28. Almost 1,200 others have been hospitalized, including 100 during the past week.

A record 61 people died in the state during the previous flu season to break the previous record of 46 deaths recorded in the 2009 season, when the state began tracking the statistic.