OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has denied clemency for a death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month.

The five-member board voted 3-2 Friday against commuting the death sentence of James Lewis DeRosa. He faces a June 18 execution for the stabbing deaths of 73-year-old Curtis Plummer and 70-year-old Gloria Plummer in 2000.

During the hearing, DeRosa expressed remorse for the LeFlore County couple's death and took responsibility for the killings.

Four members of the Plummers' family urged the board to deny clemency.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Convicted criminals who maintain their innocence would have a way to seek DNA testing in their cases under a bill that is nearing final passage in the Legislature. The bill's passage would eliminate Oklahoma's dubious distinction as the only state in the nation without such a program.

The Oklahoma House voted unanimously on Thursday for the Postconviction DNA Act, which allows those convicted of violent felonies or who have been sentenced to 25 years or more in prison to file a motion in court to request forensic DNA testing in their case.

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) — An eastern Oklahoma man has been bound over for trial in connection with a 1997 killing.

Sequoyah County Special Judge Larry Langley ruled Friday that Rex Robbins III should be bound over for trial in the beating death of 28-year-old Mitchell Nixon. The Southwest Times Record reports that Robbins was bound over on a first-degree murder charge and an alternate charge of first-degree felony murder.

He was also bound over on a robbery charge for allegedly taking Nixon's pickup.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Backers of a museum devoted to Oklahoma popular culture say they're still hopeful state lawmakers will approve $40 million to help build it.

A proposal to divert the money over four years for the so-called OKPOP Museum in Tulsa narrowly passed a Senate budget committee by a 13-12 vote on Thursday.

The measure now heads to a similar committee in the House, where plans for the museum fell apart last year.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — State officials say Oklahoma's unemployment rate dipped below 5 percent in April.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says the state's unemployment decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.9 percent last month. That remains well below the national unemployment rate of 7.5 percent.

The commission says nonfarm employment rose by 1,800 jobs in April in Oklahoma. The professional and business services sector saw the greatest increase at 1,300 jobs, while leisure and hospitality jobs dropped by 2,000.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A police report says a Tulsa man arrested in the death of a 20-year-old woman told authorities he was acting in self-defense when he struck her with a machete.

Joshua Andrew Reynolds was arrested on a first-degree murder complaint in Thursday's death of Melissa Lemery. Police found Lemery's body in the backyard of a Tulsa home.

The Tulsa Health Department’s Regional Prevention Coordinator  staff with the assistance of trained student volunteers recently conducted Tobacco Reward Reminder Visits  throughout Tulsa County in March.

61 tobacco retailer establishments were visited during recent RRVs. Of those retail establishments visited only one sold tobacco to a minor, resulting in a compliance rate of 99.9%.

"Hey, Alan Lambert, here! This weekend on Big Band Saturday Night, lots of rare music and plenty of memories. We'll be saying happy birthday day to crooner Perry Como. Join me at 8 o'clock on 89.5...Big Band Saturday Night."

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has announced the third-annual Governor's Energy Conference will be held in Tulsa.

The event is presented by the governor's office and the University of Tulsa Collins College of Business. It will be Oct. 9 at the Tulsa Convention Center downtown.

The conference traditionally brings together top energy policy makers, executives and other people involved with the energy industry.

Gov. Fallin says this year's conference will focus on workforce development and research in the energy industry.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A group of Tulsa residents wants to change the name of the Brady Arts District after its namesake was linked with the Ku Klux Klan.

Several people went before the Tulsa City Council on Thursday and said the city shouldn't be honoring Tate Brady.

Brady was a Tulsa businessman who died in 1925 and many say he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The city says it only has the authority to change the name of Brady Street because all other references didn't come from the city government.