Wilkens gets OSA hearing date, Juneteenth Festival tragedy, and Freedman argument recap
VNN Weekly Digest June 16 - June 22
Here’s a look at the week’s top stories:
Judge rules April Wilkens to remain in prison until September hearing
(OKLAHOMA) Room 413 was so packed at the Tulsa County Courthouse on Tuesday that people were turned away, forced to wait in the halls to learn if April Wilkens would be released from prison this week.
Tuesday’s hearing related to the petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus by Wilkens’ legal team, who argued that Wilkens is serving an illegal sentence due to her being incarcerated for 27 years.
Tragedy at Tulsa Juneteenth Festival
(OKLAHOMA) On Saturday, June 21st, one person lost his life and seven others were injured by gunfire.
At 11:00 PM, officers working at the busy Juneteenth Festival heard shots ring out, and chaos erupted as people began running in multiple directions.
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Freedman case oral arguments recap
(MUSCOGEE NATION) The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court livestreamed oral arguments in SC-2023-10 to their Youtube channel on June 10, 2025.
Due to a MCN SC court order, reproductions of the oral arguments were not allowed and the video was removed by the MCN SC shortly after from YouTube.
SC-2023-10 is a challenge filed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Citizenship Board of an MCN District Court decision. The MCN District Court reversed a MCN Citizenship Board decision denying Rhonda Grayson and Jeffery Kennedy’s MCN citizenship applications and ordered the board to reconsider them in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866 between the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the United States.
WEATHER ACROSS AMERICA
(NATIONAL) Extremely dangerous heat wave expands from Midwest to East Coast, severe weather and excessive rainfall potential for portions of the Great Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, and extreme heat shifts from the Northern Plains to the Midwest and Great Lakes and then the East Coast.
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