Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/)
After being sworn in as Oklahoma’s 28th governor Monday, Kevin Stitt laid out his vision and priorities for improving the state. Oklahoma Watch reporters offer analysis through annotations.
Fewer people in Oklahoma City are homeless, according to the latest counts. But more are unsheltered at night, even in the dead of winter. So Oklahoma Watch asked those on the streets, “Where do you sleep?”
Hospitals are required to disclose prices for the first time, a move the industry fought for years. However, the prices may be of little help in deciphering byzantine medical bills or for comparison shopping because they don’t reflect what patients actually pay.
When Kevin Stitt becomes Oklahoma’s 28th governor Monday, he will have 180 days to release the names of the individuals, businesses and trade groups that helped pay for his inauguration. Critics of the disclosure rule say it takes too long for the public to find out who’s trying to curry favor with newly elected governors.
Incoming Gov. Kevin Stitt is asking the attorney general to review his plan to step away from his mortgage company as it becomes a bank and to approve a conflict-of-interest policy for his family investments. Meanwhile, the state Banking Board on Wednesday approved the new bank’s state-charter application contingent upon federal regulators’ approval.
State officials have issued 2,852 emergency teaching certificates from June through December for the 2018-19 school year. Find out how many emergency certified teachers were approved for your school district or school.
For Oklahoma Watch, 2018 was the year when we plunged into visuals. Whether it was the elections, the teacher walkout or stories on education, the death penalty, drug addiction or a rural hospital closing, we enveloped you in imagery,
Oklahoma bucked expectations as enrollment on the federal health-care marketplace climbed to a record level for next year. But community groups say a slashing of help from outreach counselors could limit coverage of rural residents.
A businessman outmaneuvers community opponents to bring a charter school to the struggling community of Seminole. Now, he wants to establish more charters in other rural towns.
The Oklahoma Ethics Commission is proposing to close a gap in state campaign finance laws that keeps certain funding and spending on efforts to influence legislation a secret. Some groups immediately objected.
Incoming Gov. Kevin Stitt and lawmakers have proposed a three-pronged look into state agencies’ spending and activities: accountability audits, a new financial transparency office and expansion of the governor’s power to appoint agency heads. How much transparency will it bring?
With no announcement, law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma are beginning to collect DNA from individuals arrested on felony charges – the first step in implementing a controversial state law passed two years ago.