StateImpact Oklahoma

Compacted tribes are sending their gaming money to the state of Oklahoma, where it will be held while courts decide on tribal-gaming compacts. StateImpact’s Robby Korth and KOSU’s Kateleigh Mills talk about what will happen to the money and who might be affected.

Minority students are far less likely to be recognized and included in gifted and talented programs across the country. But in Oklahoma, Native American students are recognized in the same numbers as white students. StateImpact’s Robby Korth visits a program in Tahlequah to ask why getting into gifted and talented classes is so important.

StateImpact reporters combed through 4,500 pieces of legislation. Here are some trends they found.

Stable housing options are limited for people leaving Oklahoma prisons. People running transitional housing options that offer a temporary residence where people can get on their feet say they can't completely meet the demand.

Oklahoma is entitled to $829 million from settlements with drug companies or court orders. But so far, none of the money has been spent on opioid addiction treatment. Here’s where the money stands for each company or group.

Following the nation's largest commutation, the state and community nonprofits are preparing to help several hundred people released from prison in the same day.

Four-day school weeks have become a popular recruiting tool for cash-strapped rural school districts across Oklahoma. But new rules created because of changing state law mean that the shortened school weeks could end. Parent and teacher activists are taking a fight to the capitol to try to save the four-day school week across the state.

A push toward a healthier state by the Oklahoma governor may mean more vaping laws.

In the classroom, no matter the support, living with dyslexia is simply a challenge. Oklahoma teachers are often blind to dyslexic students because of a lack of resources and direction for educating young people with the neurological learning disability. People with dyslexia often have trouble with word recognition, spelling and phonics.

Researchers from two universities asked Tulsa police for help understanding how U.S. police officers decide to use force on civilians. The university researchers believe their findings can help Tulsa police in their encounters with the public.

After being released in the nation's largest commutation on record, one man is picking up the pieces of his life. Warren Rawls wants to give up criminal life, find a job and be a father to his children. It's his sixth time leaving prison and he's determined it will be his last.

At the beginning of November, hundreds of new laws took effect in Oklahoma, including a big change to short-term health policies and new locations for eye clinics.

Despite experiencing some of the most severe weather events in the nation, there are no state laws requiring storm shelters in Oklahoma. Public shelters have largely been closed - leaving people with disabilities without a safe option​ during storms.

Some Oklahomans are afraid a new law that allows most adults to carry guns in public will be a public safety disaster. But, one sheriff from Oklahoma's northern neighbor Kansas, says a similar law hasn't been a problem for his state.

Expanding Medicaid in Oklahoma would extend health insurance to thousands of people - and an estimated $100 million dollar price tag.

A pretrial release program helped Rogers County decrease its jail population, but the program had to shutdown after disagreements over who to release led its staff to quit.

An interview with Lauren Weber , the Midwest correspondent for Kaiser Health News, regarding her reporting on a pattern of controversial businesses practices that lead to big profits for hospital management companies - and the closure or bankruptcy of eighteen rural hospitals. 

Oklahoma County government officials and civic leaders want change at the Oklahoma County Jail. Now, a group given oversight of the jail plans to change its management. 

State law requires children taken into state custody  in cases of neglect and abuse be given their own attorneys to advocate for their needs and protect their rights in court. Parents have a right to a separate attorney. But, it’s often hard to pair children with qualified attorneys. So the Oklahoma Supreme Court created a new task force to look for ways to improve the system.

Sovereign Community School is new charter school in Oklahoma City with a focus on Native American culture and identity. It’s also part of a movement of tribes and tribal citizens using publicly funded, privately run schools to take control over the education of Native children. 

A controversial proposal in the Oklahoma state legislature would delay the age kids would be eligible to start kindergarten and put Oklahoma on-trend with dozens of other states. But some childhood experts say the trend may not serve Oklahoma kids well.

The ongoing court case against opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson highlighted the role that doctors, and the medical boards who regulate them, have played in the continuing public health crisis.

Epic Charter Schools is being probed by state and federal law enforcement for manipulating student and embezzling state funds. Will regulators be able to close the loophole Epic appears to be exploiting? 

The first lawsuit in the country seeking to hold a pharmaceutical company responsible for the opioid crisis is currently awaiting a verdict in Oklahoma state court.

As Oklahoma reconsiders what students should learn in science class, climate change is top of mind for some. But requiring public schools to teach kids about the subject could prompt pushback from legislators, school administrators and parents.