October News Byte 2023

The horror of real life

Happy “almost” Halloween, Verified News Community! We hope you have been having plenty of fall fun. I’m VNN’s Brittany Harlow with your quick October News Byte. 

It’s been a series of detailing real life horror stories this month, beginning with our latest episode of Stealing Tvlse. 

That story includes the 100th anniversary of an Indian Rights Association Investigation into Oklahoma’s corrupt probate system and one particularly harrowing instance of kidnapping and other crimes involving a Mvskoke teen heiress.

We also took home an award for collaboration of the year for our series at the 2023 LION Local Journalism Awards this month. Shout out to our partner Lucinda Hickory Research Institute who we have co-created Stealing Tvlse with since August of last year!

The much-anticipated movie “Killers of the Flower Moon” was released this October, a film about allotment and mineral rights crimes committed against the Osage. 

The Reign of Terror, as it came to be known, was also a subject of the groundbreaking podcast “In Trust”. Our partners at Osage News held a panel and community discussion about the podcast the weekend the film was released, attended by more than 200 people. 

In other Indigenous news, it was a BIG night for members of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma at REI Oklahoma’s annual event this month. 

VNN’s latest edition of Native Commerce News details big ups to AICCO State Board President Bailey Walker, Native Business Chloeta, and Tribal Business Mvskoke Fund.

And stay tuned for insights from VNN’s “Exploring Indigenous Allyship” Community Dinner, happening in November. We announced it would be happening this month and then it promptly sold out. 

As I’m sure many of you know, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

This topic took center stage at a community forum in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a town and state where domestic violence has been on the rise.  

In Michigan, help for survivors of domestic violence is on the way, in the form of confident clothing. The non-profit Redeemed Mobile Boutique is launching soon with the mission of helping survivors dress confidently. 

And speaking of confident women, SWAN Con was a clear success in Grand Rapids this month. Attendees said the event, while addressing the business side of things, also focused on bettering more than just your career, caring for self and overall life enrichment.

With Halloween weekend officially upon us, make sure to have fun and stay safe. And if you’re in Broome County and in need of assistance, swing by the Broome County Urban League. Rocky Brown tells us they will be giving donations away as part of their “No Tricks, All Treats” event while supplies last. 

You can find a lot more news from all of our VNN collaborators in the free VNN app, just go to app.verifiednews.network. And if you want to stay even more informed, subscribe to our email list and our YouTube channel. 

Thanks for tuning into this month’s News Byte. For VNN, I’m Brittany Harlow. See you in November!