Investigative Journalism — East Oklahoma Original investigations and deep-dive reporting from EastOklahoma.com — digging into the stories that matter most to communities across eastern Oklahoma. From public records requests and court documents to on-the-ground sourcing, our investigative reporting holds institutions, officials, and systems accountable across Green Country and beyond.
Feature Story
THE POTLINE ARITHMETIC How a proposed $4 billion aluminum megaproject in Rogers County promises green jobs while quietly positioning Oklahoma to become America's undisputed capital of toxic fluoride pollution. INOLA, Okla. -- If you drive twenty-five miles east of Tulsa into Rogers County, the landscape softens into rich,
Oklahoma City
On a muggy afternoon in Oklahoma City, the narrative of a hometown heroine was dismantled in the stark, unvarnished language of a state indictment. For nearly eight years, Jennifer Lynn Roberts was a fixture of regional feel-good local news segments. She was the founder and executive director of the
Crimes
By EastOklahoma.com Investigative Unit When federal lawmakers in Washington injected billions of dollars into state agencies to solve heartland crises—specifically the lack of accessible healthcare and child care in working-class communities—the narrative was pitch-perfect. In suburban strip malls and rural towns stretching across Eastern Oklahoma,
Crimes
Inside the multi-town fraud network that turned a routine retail courtesy into an automated cash machine. By EastOklahoma.com Staff If you have spent any time waiting in line at the customer service desk of a Walmart Supercenter on a Friday afternoon, you know the rhythm. It is the
Tulsa
Inside Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s blockbuster investigation into the state’s managed care rollout, foreign botnets, and an administration looking the other way. When an ordinary envelope from SoonerCare arrives in your mailbox, you expect a routine notice—a prescription update, a quarterly breakdown, or a reminder about an
Tulsa
A convicted arms dealer now controls a three-state apartment empire. But the court record that handed it to him points to a $33 million money trail, an unnamed umbrella company, and 46 people and entities pulled into the fight — none of which has been reported. The headlines wrote themselves.
Government Corruption
The state helped bust a $191 million cattle Ponzi scheme. Now it may be aiming the same weapon at families who just wanted beef. In 1967, a federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Oklahoma was asked to decide what a beaver is. Not biologically — legally. A company called Continental Marketing
Tulsa
The Congressman Who Trades Millions: Kevin Hern, Oklahoma’s Stock-Market Senator-in-Waiting In the spring of 2026, as Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) cruised toward the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, a familiar pattern reemerged. Financial disclosure reports showed the multimillionaire congressman and businessman had once again
Muskogee
In a packed council chamber on a warm June evening in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the city's political and community worlds collided. The agenda was short but explosive: a legal opinion questioning whether Deputy Mayor Derrick Reed could continue serving as both an elected city official and the longtime director
Pawhuska
In Osage County, Oklahoma, the path to public office is supposed to run through the voters. But a detailed timeline of documents, meeting minutes, internal communications, and public records reviewed by EastOklahoma.com raises serious questions about whether Shawna Myers — a Republican Party insider and current county employee — has been
Claremore
Claremore, Oklahoma, is the kind of place where neighborly disputes are supposed to stay small. A dispute over a property line, some loud music, or kids cutting across lawns. The sort of thing that might end with a terse conversation or a call to the local police, who then mediate
Crimes
He ran for sheriff on a promise to restore law and order to Coal County. Less than a year into office, Jason Smith stood accused of being the county's most prominent lawbreaker — drunk on duty, violent toward his own wife, sexually harassing female deputies, and allegedly aided in