People who are personally affected when justice is denied will never think about the state's courts and law enforcement in the same way. StateImpact’s Quinton Chandler reports wrongful convictions can do long lasting harm and change how individual Oklahomans view the criminal justice system.
As the school year draws nearer, COVID-19 is not the only disease putting pressure on Oklahoma’s children’s hospitals. Across the state, kids are being admitted amid an unseasonable surge in respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. With demand already high, a back-to-school spike in COVID-19 could create a strain on pediatric beds.
Oklahoma is making a big bet on helping students in the wake of a year interrupted by the coronavirus with mental health supports. StateImpact’s Robby Korth travels to Poteau to report how the district is leveraging a $35 million program to hire hundreds of counselors in schools across the state.
An advisory group hired consultants to find structural solutions to some of the Oklahoma County's Detention Center's longest running problems.
More than 100,000 Oklahomans have already enrolled in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income adults.
House Bill 1775 was supposed to do a lot of things: Ban critical race theory, ensure white students aren’t shamed for actions of their ancestors and limit difficult conversations in the classroom. But the actual effects are unclear. StateImpact’s Robby Korth sat down with Oklahoma State School Boards Association attorney Brandon Carey to discuss what the new law means for educators and students.
An Oklahoma lawmaker's belief that an innocent man is on death row inspired him to call for the creation of a special unit to review death penalty convictions.
A school year like no other has now led to a summer like no other for Oklahoma students. StateImpact’s Robby Korth traveled to Stillwater to see how schools are incorporating fun and going back to basics to get students ready for a more typical fall.
When a constituent first came came in to advocate for needle exchange programming, Oklahoma State Rep. Carol Bush wasn't sure what to think. That didn't sound like the kind of policy likely to succeed in Oklahoma's deeply conservative statehouse. She and other supporters focused on the policy's public safety benefits and leaned on famous Republicans who have supported similar legislation, including former Vice President Mike Pence.
Oklahoma continues to rank top three in the nation for Hepatitis C deaths, but health officials are hopeful recent policy changes will help reverse the trend. Hepatitis C — a viral liver infection — is a problem nationwide. It’s the most prominent chronic blood-borne infection and leading cause of liver transplants. It can cause many complications, including cancer.
The state partnered with substance abuse treatment providers to eliminate a counter productive wait time people struggling with addiction had to bear to get into treatment. Providers say the change is giving people a better chance to live.
As the academic year winds down, schools are already looking toward the next one. It’s bound to be more normal. But as StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports there’s also bound to be thousands of new teachers in Oklahoma’s classrooms.
Oklahoma has administered nearly 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Like all other states, it has done so free of charge to residents. That is possible largely because thousands of volunteers pitched into the effort.
A nonprofit helped women in two state prisons connect with strangers during the coronavirus pandemic. The women recounted their struggles and offered advice.
StateImpact’s Robby Korth didn’t get a haircut for over a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But, more than two weeks after getting fully vaccinated, he takes us inside Carwin's Shave Shop for his much needed trim.
Attending school remotely has been an inconvenience for students and parents, and a major burden for many. For children experiencing homelessness, it’s all but impossible. 25-thousand Oklahoma children didn’t have a permanent home - before the pandemic. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports how the state’s only school tailored specifically for homeless students is handling the crisis.
Over half of Oklahoma’s state prisoners are at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus. Prisoner advocates say incarcerated people needed access sooner than the state authorized.
The people who are willing and able to travel out to mass vaccinations sites have already done it. The vaccine program is entering a new chapter: reaching Oklahomans who are either vaccine hesitant or facing barriers.
A lawsuit settlement between Oklahoma’s State Board of Education and The Oklahoma Public Charter School Association will greatly change the way public schools are funded. StateImpact’s Robby Korth spoke to Chris Brewster, President of the charter school organization and superintendent of Santa Fe South in Oklahoma City about the genesis of the lawsuit and school funding.
The two companies surpassed a year of negotiations and never reached an agreement. Come July, the two could be out of network.
