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.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has named Natalie Shirley secretary of education and workforce development.

Shirley has been president of Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City since 2011 and is the first female president in the OSU system. Fallin named her to the cabinet secretary's post Thursday and she will begin serving in the position on Monday.

Fallin says one of her top priorities for 2015 is to increase educational attainment in Oklahoma and that Shirley will lead the way for providing the skills people need to get a good job.

An Oklahoma lawmaker has filed a measure to notify the public when inmates escape from state prisons.

The measure by Rep. John Paul Jordan of Yukon will act as an "Amber Alert" or "Silver Alert" system for the public whenever a prisoner escapes into the general population. Jordan says it would notify the public and give them an opportunity to protect themselves.

The relationship between racial identity and national identity is a contentious subject in France.

France’s National Assembly voted in 2013 to remove any references to race from national legislation, and French President François Hollande has asserted his belief that racial distinctions have no place in French society.

University of Oklahoma sociologist Loretta Bass calls this attitude toward racial issues the “Ostrich Policy.”

As earthquakes continue to rattle Oklahoma and scientists study links to oil and gas production, many Oklahomans want to know what, if anything, is being done to address the shaking.

An investigation by StateImpact shows that while authorities are quietly scrutinizing wells in quake-prone parts of the state, most of the companies that operate the wells are staying silent.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs on Wednesday began presenting its case against a Sequoyah County doctor who it says prescribed 4.6 million doses of narcotics during 18 months in 2013 and 2014.

The administrative hearing against Dr. Ronald V. Myers Sr. was expected to continue all week and perhaps longer. The bureau is seeking to revoke Myers’ license to prescribe controlled dangerous substances in Oklahoma.

One of Congress' most vocal skeptics of climate change is backing a measure saying it is real and not a hoax — but says it's arrogance to believe human beings are causing it.

In a surprise move, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) joined an effort Wednesday by Democrats to get the GOP on the record about climate science. The Republican-controlled Senate backed the non-binding measure 98-1 Wednesday. It reads, "Climate change is real and not a hoax."

Many Republicans deny the science or say they don't have the expertise to form an opinion. Inhofe said Wednesday he doesn't buy what most scientists accept — that the burning of fossil fuels from human activities is to blame.

A Democratic state representative has filed a measure that would allow the Oklahoma attorney general to investigate and prosecute officer-involved civilian fatalities.

House Bill 1319 was announced Wednesday by state Rep. Mike Shelton of Oklahoma City. The proposal would give the attorney general the discretion to open an investigation into any death in Oklahoma caused by a law-enforcement officer.

Shelton says the public deserves to know that an impartial, thorough investigation is going to be conducted when a law enforcement officer causes the death of a civilian.