Oklahoma Watch (http://oklahomawatch.org/category/ow-radio/)
Research shows that older prisoners are less likely to commit new crimes after they’re released. A new proposal would allow the state Pardon and Parole Board to give early release to nonviolent offenders who are age 50 or over and have serious health issues.
Law enforcement agencies are bearing much of the brunt of dealing with mentally ill people in crisis. But a unique new program is trying to take some of that burden away from police and prevent the mentally ill from unnecessarily ending up in jail.
As families and friends become one for the holidays, thousands of children remain separated from their incarcerated parents. Private groups try to connect parents and children.
Eight years ago Oklahoma set a goal of recycling 10 percent of its solid waste, and recycling programs have sprouted up or expanded across the state. But is Oklahoma meeting its objective?
As the election approaches in Oklahoma, one of the big questions is whether many of the educators running for the Legislature for the first time will win or lose. An Oklahoma Watch radio report spotlights the campaigns of three of these political rookies.
Weeks into the school year, Oklahoma teachers may already be wondering if their August buying spree on behalf of their students was big enough.
The methamphetamine scourge is spreading again in Oklahoma, with fatal overdoses from the drug spiking last year, according to numbers from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
As Oklahoma schools prepare to start classes, they are wrestling with the challenges of the budget crunch. But the pain might be less if counties collected more school taxes lost because of wrongly assessed property values.
Although the governor suspended an Oklahoma Highway Patrol program allowing troopers to seize funds loaded on to prepaid debit cards, the practice hasn’t stopped at the local level.
Even with government subsidy programs, in-home storm shelters are out of financial reach for many Oklahomans. The state’s largest cities also don’t provide community storm shelters.
Interim Oklahoma Corrections Department chief Joe Allbaugh faces seemingly intractable problems in the prison system. He has ideas for changes and says he is decisive.
