State

Impact strength

Five local organizations benefit from sizable Impact Oklahoma grants as the nonprofit gears up for its next grant cycle.

Impact Oklahoma distributed almost $250,000 this year to five local organizations.

By Miguel Rios Oct 10, 2019

Impact Oklahoma Sooner Theatre OKC Metro Alliance Putnam City Schools Foundation Variety Care Central Oklahoma Humane Society Oklahoma University Women’s First sober living recovery program commercial kitchen Connie Schlittler Nancy Coggins performing arts theater culture grants beneficiaries philanthropy nonprofit Trauma Drama scholarships special needs community education health and wellness healthy families Circles of Impact Shannon Presti Woman of Influence Social Capital membership mixer

Freedom fighters

After one of its best years, Freedom Oklahoma readies to ramp up its advocacy for the state’s LGBTQ+ community.

Freedom Oklahoma aims to build off a successful year for Oklahoma’s LGBTQ+ community by focusing more on diverse sects of the community and advocating for more issues.

By Miguel Rios Oct 9, 2019

News Freedom Oklahoma Allie Shinn Jason Dunnington Randy Randleman LGBTQ LGBT LGBTQ+ Oklahoma Oklahoma City Norman James Cooper gay Pride Legislature conversion therapy unity unity gala gala Devon Boathouse Stonewall 50 Stonewall Riots Chelsey Branham Lawmaker of the Year SCOTUS Supreme Court of the United s LGBTQ Oklahomans nondiscrimination interim study advocacy LGBT History Month LGBTQ History Month Gay History Month

Changing conditions

While Oklahoma already reckons with effects of climate change, a primarily youth-led movement seeks sweeping reform to address the crisis.

Ninety-seven percent of climatologists agree that human activities result in a warming climate.

By Miguel Rios Oct 3, 2019

News Climate change youth climate strike US youth climate strike global youth climate strike Matthew Salcido Barbara Mayes Boustead flooding food scarcity water availability climate strike Grant Roberson Enviro Justice OK anti-capitalist anti-fascist Sierra Club Sierra Club of Oklahoma Devon Energy Chesapeake Energy Chase Katharine Hayhoe National Weather Service climatologist meteorologist severe weather Red River Houston Omaha Nebraska winter outlook carbon footprint

Powerful women

Following one of its most successful years, a local nonprofit continues recruiting and training progressive women to run for office.

Before flipping Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional district, Kendra Horn served as executive director of Sally’s List.

By Miguel Rios Sep 27, 2019

News Sally’s List Sara Jane Rose Alyssa Fisher lobbying recruiting candidates candidate training Kendra Horn elected office public official pro-choice progressive candidates women candidates capitol Planned Parenthood Sally Rae Merckle Mock Annie’s List nonpartisan nonprofit civic engagement education health care economy criminal justice reform Carrie Blumert Nikki Nice Chelsey Branham Powerful Women Tina Tchen Barack Obama Michelle Obama White House Council on Women and Girls

Costly justice

The closure of a local hearing site along with a record-breaking backlog of cases make court proceedings costly and slow.

Carlos came to the United States from Chihuahua, Mexico, about 35 years ago. An undocumented immigrant, Carlos has lived in New Mexico, Kansas and most recently Oklahoma with his family in pursuit of the American Dream.

By Mollie Bryant for Big If True and Miguel Rios for Oklahoma Gazette Aug 12, 2019

immigration court immigration court Kelli J. Stump American Immigration Lawyers Association green card Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse TRAC Syracuse University Oklahoma City Dallas U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review EOIR hearings ICE Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Northern Triangle of Central America Central America Guymon Oklahoma Panhandle Giovanni I. Perry Larry E. Davis Michelle L. Edstrom Oklahoma Western District Court Barbara T. Baker Paola M. Alvarez de Bennett trial hearings

Shots fired

The debate over permitless carry laws in Oklahoma continues.

In the past decade, the increasing frequency of high-profile shootings at schools and churches have made the right to own and carry a gun the subject of intense debate not only at the federal level but in state legislatures as well.

By Nikita Lewchuk Aug 6, 2019

Jennifer Birch Moms Demand Action Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association OK2! Second Amendment gun rights gun control Don Spencer permitless carry Kevin Stitt Mary Fallin firearms red flag laws Extreme Risk Protection Orders ERPO Carl Newton Lori Walks Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ Mayflower NRA National Rifle Association

Abortion ruling

District judge Cindy Truong recently ruled to uphold a law banning a specific second-trimester abortion procedure.

An Oklahoma judge made history by upholding a law banning a second-trimester abortion procedure.

By Miguel Rios Jul 26, 2019

Abortion Cindy Truong second-trimester dilation and evacuation D&E Julie Rikelman Center for Reproductive Rights J. Blake Patton Blake Patton Walding & Patton Tulsa Women’s Clinic Oklahoma Supreme Court appeal American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ACOG Mike Hunter Attorney General fetal demise House Bill 1721 TRAP targeted regulation of abortion providers reproductive justice reproductive rights news news

Immigration rally

Several local organizations and immigration activists are demanding the closure of camps and reunification of families at a Saturday rally in Lawton.

Immigration activists will meet in Lawton on Saturday to demand closures of camps where immigrant children and families are detained.

By Miguel Rios Jul 17, 2019

Immigration immigration rally concentration camps detainment camps Dream Action Oklahoma Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice American Civil Liberties Union Brenda Lozano Serena Prammanasudh Fort Sill Lawton Close the Concentration Camps Close the Camps United we Dream asylum seekers detained immigrants David L.Moss Criminal Justice Center Tulsa County Jail Okmulgee County Jail Garvin County Detention Center Pauls Valley ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement Priya Desai Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez AOC Esquire Andrea Pitzer One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps Waitman Wade Beorn Jewish Community Relations Council of New York U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Poppy planting

While Oklahoma’s trial against opioid manufacturers continues, the history of the drugs’ promotion and marketing is getting a fresh look.

Poppy flowers, the plants used to make opium, became an agricultural product nearly 8,000 years ago, and the practice of using them to achieve an altered state of consciousness is nearly as old.

By Nikita Lewchuk Jul 11, 2019

Bitter pills

Arguments heat up in Oklahoma’s case against opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

The first trial of a pharmaceutical company related to the opioid epidemic began May 28 at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman. The lawsuit, brought by Oklahoma attorney general Mike Hunter, will attempt to hold Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, accountable for the high number of overdose fatalities in the state of Oklahoma in the past two decades.

By Nikita Lewchuk Jul 2, 2019

Factchecking Oklahoma: What caused the migrant children crisis?

Back in 2014, the Obama administration housed 2,000 unaccompanied migrant children in Fort Sill, an Army base near Lawton, Oklahoma.

By Mollie Bryant Jun 25, 2019

Retroactive law

A new law provides commutation for hundreds of incarcerated Oklahomans with the ability to expunge felonies from their records.

Nearly a thousand Oklahomans will be released from prison early — potentially in time for the holidays.

By Miguel Rios Jun 13, 2019

Damion Shade Oklahoma Policy Institute OK Policy Jason Dunnington House Bill 1269 HB1269 retroactivity bill question 780 SQ 780 Department of Corrections Pardon and Parole Board Jon Echols Legislature Kevin Stitt Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation OSBI Legal Aid Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma expungement commutation simple drug possession court debt criminal justice criminal justice reform

Factchecking Oklahoma: Is state ed funding up $2 billion?

Former Gov. Frank Keating co-wrote an op-ed claiming state ed funding increased $2 billion, but appropriations numbers tell a different story.

To say that taxes are unpopular among Oklahoma conservatives is an understatement. If the past decade is any indication, Republicans here are willing to hold the line on this issue, even when it comes to educating the state’s children.

By Mollie Bryant May 28, 2019

education education funding Frank Keating Larry Parman taxes public school funding Oklahoma Senate Republicans Oklahoma Department of Education Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Jeff Hickman Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs Curtis Shelton Office of Management and Enterprise Services OMES appropriations Deana Silk National Assessment of Education Progress

Rooted in love

Muslim Oklahomans continue celebrating Ramadan and repelling hate with love amidst growing Islamophobia across the world.

Ramadan is considered the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, a month of high spirituality in which Muslim people fast and focus on reflection and growth.

By Miguel Rios May 15, 2019

Ramadan Muslim Islam Oklahoma Muslims ImagelineStudios Qazi Islam Imad Enchassi Imam Imad Enchassi Adam Soltani CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR-OK white supremacy Islamophobia discrimination prejudice Hijacked by Hate Christchurch shooting Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City ISGOC Donald Trump

Factchecking Oklahoma: Is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau driving up banking costs for Oklahomans?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might have the driest name in federal government since Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, but drama surrounding the agency that regulates financial services like payday loans is anything but boring. The CFPB was created in 2011 in response to financial institutions’ actions connected to the Great Recession.

By Mollie Bryant May 13, 2019

Cover: Shadow of doubt

Seven years after DACA was implemented, Dreamers continue wrestling with the uncertainty of their future.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) opened doors for me that had been locked for a long time.

By Miguel Rios May 10, 2019

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals DACA Dreamers immigration undocumented Donald Trump Trump administration Barack Obama Obama administration Denver Juarez Colorado Mexico college scholarships driving Javier Hernandez immigration attorney Tasneem Al-Michael Taz Al-Michael Brisa Ledezma Miriam Ortega Yovana Medina ywca historic Capitol Hill Santa Fe south Merlin Bell Chelsey Branham Oklahoma Bar Association Jalisco CATO Institute Migration Policy Institute economy American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 deportation Video

Health gap

Several organizations are calling on lawmakers to expand health coverage to more than 100,000 uninsured Oklahomans.

Oklahomans throughout the state are urging lawmakers to expand health care coverage before the legislative session ends.

By Miguel Rios May 1, 2019

Medicaid Health care health Emily Virgin Carly Putnam Rebecca Greenhaw Coalition to Expand Coverage Rally for Coverage Affordable Care Act Joseph Alsay SoonerCare St. Augustine of Caterbury Episcopal Church Legislature Marcus McEntire health insurance ballot initiative Question 802 League of Women Voters of Oklahoma ACLU of Oklahoma Oklahoma Policy Institute Oklahoma Senate Oklahoma House of Representatives Kevin Stitt governor Gov. Kevin Stitt Gov. Stitt Medicaid expansion

Strong foundation

Rep. Kendra Horn raised the most money among the state’s Congressional delegation, but she stays focused on addressing the needs of Oklahomans.

Freshman congresswoman Kendra Horn completed her first 100 days in Congress boasting support for bipartisan legislation and community outreach.

By Miguel Rios Apr 24, 2019

Kendra Horn Congress Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District Shutdown to End All Shutdowns Act education health care women families Markwayne Mullin Tom Cole Indian Health Service Violence Against Women Act Paycheck Fairness Act For the People Act of 2019 Save the Internet Act economy

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