Stitt praises Texas; 'no mercy' for Julius Jones; smuggled guns lead to prison time. Your morning headlines for Thursday, March 4, 2021

DAILY HEADLINES [The Oklahoman]( 4 Mar, 2021 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [SUBSCRIBE FOR ALL ACCESS]( What stories do you wish The Oklahoman were chasing? What do you wish we knew? [Tell us!]( Contact information is optional. [Sign up here]( to get daily coronavirus updates in your email. [Subscribe]( today! View the [print replica]( of today's newspaper for more stories! [Gov. Kevin Stitt praises Texas governor for lifting mask mandate, business restrictions]( Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday praised Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for lifting the state's mask mandate, despite health officials urging states to continue COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Latest News/Sports ['No mercy' for Julius Jones, Oklahoma County district attorney tells pardon and parole board]( Top prosecutors are urging the state Pardon and Parole Board to show "no mercy" when it meets next week to consider the commutation of Julius Jones, the Black death row inmate convicted of first-degree murder in the 1999 killing of Paul Howell, a white Edmond businessman. [This Oklahoma man smuggled guns to his Kurdish "brothers-in arms." Now he's going to prison]( An Oklahoma gun smuggler was sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for shipping Glock pistols hidden in tools to Kurdish freedom fighters. [Subscribe to The Oklahoman]( [An Oklahoma angler, a Texas lake and an Alabama Rig equals a 15-pound bass]( It's big bass time and an Oklahoma angler had a big week in his first ever visit to O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas. [Koeman transforms Barcelona amid club chaos, elections]( Whoever becomes Barcelona president will have a hard time getting rid of Ronald Koeman as coach. [EuroLeague still hoping for fans to attend its Final Four]( EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu is an optimistic person by nature. Business [EU proposes fix for gender pay gap: Show me the money!]( The European Union executive wants to force employers to be much more open about how much their staff earn to make it easier for women to challenge wage imbalances and close the gender pay gap. [Square, Inc. to buy majority of Tidal and put Jay-Z on board]( Financial technology company Square, Inc. said Thursday that it has reached an agreement to acquire majority ownership of Tidal, the music streaming service partly owned by Jay-Z. [US jobless claims tick up to 745,000 as layoffs remain high]( The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits edged higher last week to 745,000, a sign that many employers continue to cut jobs despite a drop in confirmed viral infections and evidence that the overall economy is improving. Opinion [Point of View: What we need to learn from power outages in Oklahoma]( What can we learn from the problems facing both Oklahoma and Texas? You are receiving this communication as a member of the The Oklahoman. The Oklahoman values your online privacy. For more information, view our [privacy policy]( now. Please do not reply to this message. [Manage Preferences Or Unsubscribe]( The Oklahoman 100 W Main St, Suite 100 Oklahoma City, OK 73102 © 2021 The Oklahoman. All rights reserved.