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SHERMAN, TX -- Police say a rise in bogus 911 calls could make it difficult for them to respond to real calls for help. many kids are eagerly awaiting the end of school in a few days...but police sayMore >> SHERMAN, TX -- Police say a rise in bogus 911 calls could make it difficult for them to respond to real calls for help.More >> SHERMAN, TX -- Drivers have been dodging roadwork on Highway 75, as workers replace tiny sections of pavement. At rush hour, these small-scale repairs can sometimes cause a big delay. [cg :1 kten nbcMore >> SHERMAN, TX -- Drivers have been dodging roadwork on Highway 75, as workers replace tiny sections of pavement. At rush hour, these small-scale repairs can sometimes cause a big delay.More >> The city of denison has a new mayor tonight... [take vo] {***vo***} [cg :1 kten nbc - l3 2-line locator ew mayordenison, tx] until last year.. 34-year-old jared johnson had served as a councilman.More >> DENISON, TX -- A man who is familiar to council members has been sworn in as mayor.More >> The mayor of gunter apologized tonight...for comments he made at a council meeting last week. The meeting before last thursday's special meeting was canceled... Tonight kten's alex belser asked the mayorMore >> GUNTER, TX -- The mayor apologized for comments he made at a council meeting. This comes after a recent meeting was cancelled.More >> DURANT, OK -- They have a job that's more dangerous than many: the police officers sworn to protect our lives. On Thursday, officers took a moment to salute those who lost their lives as part of a nationalMore >> DURANT, OK -- They have a job that's more dangerous than many: the police officers sworn to protect our lives. On Thursday, officers took a moment to salute those who lost their lives as part of a national event.More >> @ two men fishing in lake texoma...find themselves holding on for dear life. Tonight we hear about their harrowing ordeal and the men who saved them. The two pottsboro residents were out fishingMore >> DENISON, TX -- Two men fishing in Lake Texoma found themselves holding on for dear life. Now the Army Corps is honoring the men who saved them.More >> DURANT, OK -- Police in Durant are looking for a man who robbed two women inside their hotel room. The women apparently met the man at the Choctaw casino and caught a ride with him back to the MagnusonMore >> DURANT, OK -- Police in Durant are looking for a man who robbed two women inside their hotel room.More >> ARDMORE, OK – The Ardmore Main Street Authority hosted its first ever cash mob Wednesday afternoon. A cash mob is a group of people that get together and choose a local business, and agree to go to thatMore >> ARDMORE, OK – The Ardmore Main Street Authority hosted its first ever cash mob Wednesday afternoon.More >> ARDMORE, OK – Ardmore Animal Care is feeling strained as it approaches capacity for the animals it can handle. Jeannine Jackson, executive director of Ardmore Animal Care, says that so far this year, they'veMore >> ARDMORE, OK – Ardmore Animal Care is feeling strained as it approaches capacity for the animals it can handle.More >> DURANT, OK -- Maranda Williams frequents the Cumberland Cove area, but recent reports of alligators has made her rethink her family's safety. "We get a spot and we go camp and the guys go out in the boatMore >> DURANT, OK -- Maranda Williams frequents the Cumberland Cove area, but recent reports of alligators has made her rethink her family's safety.More >>
OKLAHOMA CITY -- PRESS RELEASE -- A measure that critics said would allow creationism and intelligent design into public school classrooms won the approval Tuesday of a House committee, which a year ago voted down the proposal.
Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, the author of House Bill 1551, has said her measure would allow teachers the freedom to teach without fear of losing their jobs and to teach various scientific theories.
The House of Representatives Common Education Committee, which a year ago voted 9-7 to not pass the measure, flipped its vote Tuesday and voted 9-7 to pass it. It now goes to the full House.
Kern has said HB 1551 was not intended to bring religious beliefs, such as creationism, into the classroom. The bill states it was to protect the teaching of scientific information and shall not be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine.
Victor Hutchison, Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education president and professor emeritus of the University of Oklahoma's zoology department, said the bill's language comes from the creationist Discovery Institute in Seattle.
"They claim not to be religious-based, but they use religious organizations to help push the bill," he said.
Louisiana is the only state to have passed a version of the bill, Hutchison said. The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology canceled its planned convention in New Orleans and 74 Nobel laureates have written letters calling for the law's repeal, he said.
HB 1551 states that public school teachers shall not be prohibited from helping students understand, critique and review the "scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories."
Hutchison said the National Academy of Sciences and American Association for the Advancement of Science haven't found any legitimate scientific weaknesses to evolution, providing an opening to introduce supplementary creationist intelligent design materials into class.
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