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As country grows more polarized, America needs unity, the ‘Oklahoma Standard,’ Bill Clinton says

Published

3 months ago

April 20, 2025

arkansasadvocate.com – Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice – 2025-04-20 14:15:00

by Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice, Arkansas Advocate
April 20, 2025

OKLAHOMA CITY — On the 30th anniversary of the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, former President Bill Clinton said Americans must unite despite their differences, and that Oklahomans can help lead the way by serving as that role model for the rest of the nation.

Clinton, who was president at the time of the attack, returned to the site of the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing Saturday to deliver the keynote address to a crowd of over 1,600 that attended to remember and honor those who died and were injured in the attack.

While the event is typically held outdoors at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, the site of the bombing, it was moved indoors due to inclement weather. The crowd that arrived to commemorate the anniversary was so large that once the pews were packed, people stood along the walls and filled an overflow room.

People attend a remembrance ceremony Saturday on the 30th anniversary of the Murrah Building bombing. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

“The domestic terrorists who did this awful thing believed that it would spark a nationwide upheaval against the American government, and would eventually destroy our government, our democracy and our life,” Clinton said. “Instead, you gave them, as the mayor said so eloquently, the Oklahoma Standard. You gave them service, honor and kindness.”

Clinton, a Democrat, came to Oklahoma City days after the 1995 attack to address a devastated crowd assembled at the Oklahoma State Fair Arena. He said he’s returned to Oklahoma City in subsequent years to commemorate the event.

Three decades later, Clinton said that the country has again grown more polarized. When Oklahoma City was the “center of polarization” 30 years ago, it chose to move forward together, he said.

“America needs you, and America needs the Oklahoma Standard,” Clinton said. “And if we all live by it, we would get a fairer economy, a more stable society. We would understand one another, and we wouldn’t feel weak if we admitted we were wrong about something.”

Thirty years ago, a fertilizer and fuel oil bomb placed inside a Ryder truck outside the Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City exploded at 9:02 a.m., killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring around 850.

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were arrested for their roles. Both were found guilty. McVeigh was executed June 11, 2001, by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.

Michael Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison for failing to report his knowledge of the bombing plot.

Investigators said McVeigh held extremist views and planned the bombing on the anniversary of the end of the Waco siege between law enforcement and the Branch Davidians.

Other speakers at Saturday’s remembrance event included prominent Republican officials such as Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, former Gov. Frank Keating, and U.S. Sen. James Lankford. Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt also spoke. Most of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation was present, as were a few other former governors, current state lawmakers and other officials.

There have been nearly “11,000 tomorrows” since the bombing and in Oklahoma City, Holt said, and the city has grown in that time. He said 30 years since the bombing signifies a “generation.”

While younger Oklahomans may not remember the bombing, Stitt said, they live in a state shaped by it and the “commitment to service, honor and kindness” that followed.

Lankford said Oklahomans need to ensure the lessons learned from the bombing and its aftermath are passed to future generations to ensure there is “no generation that rises up that does not remember.”

The federal building housed agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the agency that initially launched the Waco raid. But the building also held a day care, military recruitment offices and other various federal agencies.

A child reads a plaque about the Murrah Building bombing in Oklahoma City at a remembrance ceremony on April 19, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

Family members of victims read the 168 names to the crowd Saturday in an effort to “humanize” the people, said Kari Watkins, president and CEO of the memorial museum.

The building was imploded after the rescue operations and evidence collections were completed. A new federal building was built nearby.

The memorial was built where the old federal building once stood. The 168 chairs erected at the site each represent an empty seat at the dinner table. The smaller chairs represent the children who died. A reflecting pool represents the time between 9:01 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. April 19, 1995. Officials were able to preserve an American elm tree that survived the blast. It is known as the “Survivor Tree.”

In the aftermath of the attack, the state became known for the “Oklahoma Standard,” a term used to describe the “selfless actions” of thousands who offered help.

Reporter Barbara Hoberock contributed to this story.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post As country grows more polarized, America needs unity, the ‘Oklahoma Standard,’ Bill Clinton says appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

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Grant Hardin used black marker & soup can to create disguise that allowed his escape

Published

1 day ago

July 10, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-10 22:12:16

SUMMARY: Grant Hardin, a convicted murderer, rapist, and former police officer, escaped a medium-security prison in Arkansas using a disguise he crafted from kitchen materials. He dyed a shirt with a black marker, fashioned a makeshift badge from a soup can, Bible cover, and button, and used an apron as a bulletproof vest. The escape, lasting 12 days in the woods, revealed serious staff failures: a kitchen worker let Hardin unsupervised for over an hour, and a guard left a gate open unattended. Two prison employees were fired, but lawmakers remain unsatisfied. Hardin’s threat level was reportedly too low for his offenses, prompting ongoing investigations.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Re-live the Beatles epic 1964 tour stop in Cincinnati

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-10 09:35:38

SUMMARY: The Beatles’ 1964 Cincinnati tour stop featured lively interactions and candid remarks. The band discussed their trip, politics—expressing skepticism about Goldwater—and addressed rumors about being banned in the U.S., dismissing them as baseless. They talked about novelty merchandise like mugs but denied inventing such items. The Beatles shared impressions of American movie stars like Burt Lancaster and Gordon, describing encounters as mixed but mostly positive. Their unique hairstyles were playfully explained as natural. The clip captures the group’s playful, down-to-earth nature amid their historic U.S. visit, blending humor, music, and cultural observations.

The Beatles came to Cincinnati to play a show in August 1964 as part of a 25-city North American tour. In this rare footage, see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they land at the airport to the delight of throngs of die-hard fans. The Fab Four also chatted with local media about whether they should be banned, what they knew about the upcoming presidential election and how they felt about American movie stars.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

US Education Department to revive student loan interest for borrowers in SAVE program

Published

2 days ago

July 9, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Shauneen Miranda – 2025-07-09 16:06:00

by Shauneen Miranda, Arkansas Advocate
July 9, 2025

WASHINGTON — Interest accrual on the debt of nearly 7.7 million student loan borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan will resume Aug. 1, the U.S. Education Department said Wednesday.

The Biden-era income-driven repayment plan better known as SAVE saw legal challenges from several GOP-led states beginning in 2024, creating uncertainty for borrowers who were placed in an interest-free forbearance amid that legal limbo.

The SAVE plan, created in 2023, aimed to provide lower monthly loan payments for borrowers and forgive remaining debt after a certain period of time.

In February, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court injunction that blocked the SAVE plan from going into effect. The department said Wednesday that it’s instructing its federal student loan servicers to start charging interest Aug. 1 to comply with court orders.

When the SAVE plan forbearance ends, “borrowers will be responsible for making monthly payments that include any accrued interest as well as their principal amounts,” the department said in a written announcement.

“For years, the Biden Administration used so-called ‘loan forgiveness’ promises to win votes, but federal courts repeatedly ruled that those actions were unlawful,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement alongside the announcement.

“Congress designed these programs to ensure that borrowers repay their loans, yet the Biden Administration tried to illegally force taxpayers to foot the bill instead,” she added.

McMahon said her department is urging borrowers under the SAVE plan to “quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan.”

“Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress,” she said.

‘Unnecessary interest charges’

Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, blasted the department’s decision in a statement Wednesday.

“Instead of fixing the broken student loan system, Secretary McMahon is choosing to drown millions of people in unnecessary interest charges and blaming unrelated court cases for her own mismanagement,” he said.

“Every day, we hear from borrowers waiting on hold with their servicer for hours, begging the government to let them out of this forbearance, and help them get back on track — instead, McMahon is choosing to jack up the cost of their student debt without giving them a way out.”

The agency has taken heat for its sweeping actions in the months since President Donald Trump took office as he and his administration look to dismantle the department.

The department is also mired in a legal challenge over some of its most significant efforts so far, including laying off more than 1,300 employees earlier this year as part of a reduction in force effort, an executive order calling on McMahon to facilitate the closure of her own agency and Trump’s proposal to transfer some services to other federal agencies. These actions have been temporarily halted in court.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed a massive tax and spending cut bill into law last week, part of which forces any borrower under the SAVE plan to opt in to a different repayment plan by July 1, 2028, or be automatically placed in a new, income-based repayment plan.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This article presents the developments around the federal student loan SAVE plan primarily through a critical lens toward the Biden administration’s policies, emphasizing legal challenges and statements from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a Trump appointee, who frames the administration’s actions as unlawful and fiscally irresponsible. It includes critical commentary from conservative officials and frames the Biden-era policies as politically motivated. Although it also quotes critics of the Education Department’s decision, the overall tone and source choices suggest a center-right leaning, reflecting skepticism of progressive loan forgiveness policies while focusing on legal and fiscal accountability.