Tulsa
An Investigation into the Policies, Politics, and Pollution Threatening Oklahoma's Future The Question Nobody Wants to Answer Drive through rural Oklahoma, and you'll see what state leaders promote as economic development. A hazardous waste landfill accepting toxic materials from across the nation. Data centers consuming millions
Politics
The state spent years ending contracts with private prisons over violence and deaths. Now the same company is reopening those facilities—this time for immigration detention. It's a backdoor return that should alarm every Oklahoman. WATONGA, Oklahoma — On a cold morning in early 2026, the first buses rolled
Politics
A little-known bill quietly died in committee this spring. What it reveals about who really controls Oklahoma's deer—and the $200 million industry built around them. OKLAHOMA CITY — On a legislative calendar packed with debates over education funding and tax cuts, Senate Bill 1074 slipped through the
How a $5,000 tax dispute became a political scandal that exposed Oklahoma's broken accountability system By Staff Reporter Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — May 18, 2026 In September 2020, David Ostrowe picked up his phone and made three calls that would derail his career, embarrass Governor Kevin Stitt'
Police Corruption
A rare federal prosecution exposes the limits of police accountability in Oklahoma On a cold January evening in eastern Oklahoma, during what should have been a routine traffic stop, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper made a decision that would end his decade-long law enforcement career and land him in
Crimes
An eight-year scheme of fraud, luxury gambling, and broken trust in Indian Country Michael Anthony Houser appeared to be living the American dream. The 36-year-old accountant from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, had climbed the corporate ladder at one of the most successful tribal gaming enterprises in the nation.
Government Corruption
How Oklahoma's Cash Bail System Imprisons the Innocent An Investigation into America's Highest Incarceration Rate On any given morning in Oklahoma, more than 9,000 people wake up behind bars who have never been convicted of a crime. They are legally innocent—presumed so by the
Tulsa
How a shrinking Jewish community in Oklahoma is betting on an unconventional strategy to reverse decades of decline — and what it reveals about American Judaism's demographic future TULSA, Oklahoma — The house tours began on a Saturday morning with prairie views stretching toward the horizon. More than 50 people
Vian
How Vian's Culture of Political Protection Shielded Joshua Smith—Until Federal Prison A Follow-Up Investigation When Joshua Smith was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for the aggravated sexual abuse of a child, the national media focused on the crime itself—as they should have. A
Vian
An EastOklahoma.com Investigation: Inside the $1.5 billion marijuana cartel that exploited rural eastern Oklahoma communities and turned local residents into unwitting accomplices The Phone Call That Changed Everything Brenda Kay Morrison was folding laundry in her double-wide trailer outside Sallisaw when her cell phone rang on a
Vian
How One Small Town's Leadership Repeatedly Dismantled Its Own Police Department to Protect the Politically Connected An Investigation into Three Scandals, Two Police Departments That Quit, and One Family That Kept Getting Arrested The Arrest That Revealed the Pattern When Vian Mayor Dennis Fletcher was arrested on March
Vian
A Small-Town Mayor's Confrontation with Oklahoma's Controversial "Halo Law" On a brisk March evening at Ripley High School's baseball field, just west of Stillwater, Oklahoma, a minor parking dispute escalated into a test case for one of the state's