Brianna Bailey

Groups that serve victims of crime in Oklahoma face shrinking funding Oklahoma organizations serving abused children and domestic violence survivors have lost up to 80% of their federal support, even as demand continues to rise.

New from @readfrontier.bsky.social: There's less money to help victims of crime in Oklahoma www.readfrontier.org/stories/grou...

Outcry over 73-day prison stay spurs push to tighten Oklahoma early release program Norman resident Sara Polston was released a few months into her eight-year prison sentence for a crash that left Micaela Borrego with a traumatic brain injury. The case is fueling a legislative effort...

After a wealthy Oklahoma woman got out of prison after just 73 days, Sen. Warren Hamilton has introduced legislation to keep people serving prison time for DUI who caused severe injuries from qualifying for early release via GPS monitoring. www.readfrontier.org/stories/outc...

As data centers boom in Oklahoma, so does water demand From Pryor to Stillwater and Muskogee, local officials say supplies are sufficient, even as Google alone used more than 1.1 billion gallons in a single year.

More data centers = more water demand. With at least 10 new facilities on the way, local leaders say they can handle it — but long-term water needs are rising. 💧📊 www.readfrontier.org/stories/as-d...

Their Water Was Undrinkable. Oklahoma’s Oil Regulators Failed to Help. State regulators discovered strong signs of oil pollution, including high levels of salt and toxic metals, in one family’s drinking water. But for two years, they repeatedly delayed basic tests to fin...

The Boarman family’s water was undrinkable: It corroded taps. It withered plants. Their ice maker expelled clumps of salt.

But why was this happening? For two years, Oklahoma delayed basic tests that could help them find out.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/salt...

Their Water Was Undrinkable. Oklahoma’s Oil Regulators Failed to Help. State regulators discovered strong signs of oil pollution, including high levels of salt and toxic metals, in one family’s drinking water. But for two years, they repeatedly delayed basic tests to fin...

Oklahoma officials found signs of oil&gas pollution in Tammy Boarman's drinking water, which left sores in her mouth and corroded appliances. In the end, the state closed her case, with basic questions left unanswered @readfrontier.bsky.social+@propublica.org

www.readfrontier.org/stories/salt...

Fact check: What Stitt got right — and wrong — in his final State of the State address We rate Gov. Kevin Stitt’s statements on personal income, Medicaid, marijuana and Ronald Reagan from his State of the State address.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/fact...

Despite court orders to improve, report shows growing waitlist for mental health treatment in jail Court-appointed monitors warn the state is falling behind on promised reforms as hundreds remain jailed while awaiting care.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/desp...

'I’ll trade places with him:’ Ex-death row inmate pleads for brother’s freedom The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously voted to reduce Tony Mann’s life-without-parole sentence after his younger brother — now free — told members Mann didn’t participate in the murder that...

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously voted to reduce Tony Mann’s life-without-parole sentence after his younger brother — now free — told members Mann didn’t participate in the murder that sent them both to prison.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/ill-...

A fragile aquifer, a proposed mine and a fight over Oklahoma’s water State regulators are reviewing a proposal to expand sand mining over the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, despite Oklahoma’s moratorium on new mines in the area.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/a-fr...

Oklahoma lawmaker will try again to slow state’s eviction timeline, which includes holidays. The state has one of the quickest processes in the country, churning out nearly a quarter of a million eviction filings over the past five years.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/okla...

Fact Check: Are claims about Oklahoma data centers holding up? From the state’s ‘Behind the Meter’ power law to promises about electric bills and transparency, The Frontier reviewed the facts behind recent statements on data center development.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/fact...

Held without bail in Oklahoma’s ICE facilities, immigrants turn to federal courts for release Oklahoma has seen a spike in immigrants challenging their detention in federal court. Hundreds of detainees are being held in county jails and for-profit facilities across the state as the Trump admin...

www.readfrontier.org/stories/held...

Fact Check: Sorting truth from spin in Stitt and Drummond’s fight over tribal hunting rights As the governor attacks the attorney general over wildlife enforcement in Indian Country, we reviewed state, federal and tribal law — and found some of Stitt’s claims about hunting rules don’t hold up...

www.readfrontier.org/stories/fact...

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Great stuff in here from @cliftonhowze.bsky.social consistently one of the state’s best journalists

Oklahoma’s data center boom Is about to hit the grid — and your power bill A wave of big data centers is triggering a scramble for new electricity generation. OG&E and PSO are pushing to charge ratepayers more as they race to keep up.

A wave of big data centers is triggering a scramble for new electricity generation. OG&E and PSO are pushing to charge ratepayers more as they race to keep up.

Oklahoma’s data center boom is about to hit the grid — and your power bill A wave of big data centers is triggering a scramble for new electricity generation. OG&E and PSO are pushing to charge ratepayers more as they race to keep up.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/okla...

Despite Stitt’s hardline rhetoric, the state plans to fund housing for those swept by Operation SAFE in Oklahoma City State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tuls...

State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tulsa.

Despite Stitt’s hardline rhetoric, the state plans to fund housing for those swept by Operation SAFE in Oklahoma City State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tuls...

www.readfrontier.org/stories/desp...

Oklahoma mental health department fined nearly $1 million for noncompliance with consent decree The state will continue to face monthly fines unless it significantly decreases wait times for people in the criminal justice system waiting in county jails for mental health treatment.

The state will continue to face monthly fines unless it significantly decreases wait times for people in the criminal justice system waiting in county jails for mental health treatment.

Watonga confronts economic need and ethical unease over housing ICE detainees The reopening of a private prison in a small Oklahoma town will bring hundreds of jobs, even as CoreCivic faces national scrutiny for alleged mistreatment and isolation of immigration detainees.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/wato...

Tulsa to pay $26.25 million to man wrongfully convicted of rape after decades-long fight The settlement comes after William Henry Jamerson spent more than two decades in prison for a rape conviction that was overturned last year.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/tuls...

Overpressured and Underregulated: a Frontier and ProPublica event Join nonprofit newsrooms The Frontier and ProPublica to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater.

🛢️ @readfrontier and
@propublica are hosting two free events in OKC and Tulsa to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater. RSVP here 👇👇👇👇
www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/

He thinks the trooper he killed is still alive — Oklahoma can’t execute him unless he understands his crime A new law requires continued treatment for death row prisoners too mentally ill to execute, even those who have been persistently psychotic for decades.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/he-t...

A brother confessed to murder and got life without parole. Tremane Wood got death Death penalty

The crime is called felony murder. Prosecutors don't actually have to prove that you killed or intended to kill anyone to get a conviction.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/a-br...

A brother confessed to murder and got life without parole. Tremane Wood got death Death penalty

The crime is called felony murder. Prosecutors don't actually have to prove that you killed or intended to kill anyone to get a conviction. www.readfrontier.org/stories/a-br...

It smelled like a ‘buried body.’ A small town was overwhelmed by fumes from an oil waste disposal facility Residents near Enid say the smell of an oilfield waste disposal site made them feel sick. State officials weren’t sure who was in charge of enforcement.

“We didn’t know what it was or if it would harm anyone,” one area resident said.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/it-s...

Overpressured and Underregulated: a Frontier and ProPublica event Join nonprofit newsrooms The Frontier and ProPublica to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater.

We're hosting a free event on Nov. 18 in Oklahoma City to talk about the pollution problem. Come have a beer with us: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/

Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it. Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...

www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...

Convicted of murder as a teenager, Wayne Thompson is free after more than four decades in prison Oklahoma officials repeatedly rejected Thompson’s release, weighing the violent nature of the crime over his efforts to change. Now he has a second chance.

Seven years after I first started writing about Wayne Thompson's case, I got to see him walk out of prison a free man today. www.readfrontier.org/stories/conv...