Oklahoma's Rural and Urban Gap Widens

Pastor Noel’s church operates a free clinic that caters to the uninsured. Noel said he also is uninsured.

Jade Rennels, a Norman food stamp recipient is shopping at Natural Grocers, which sells natural and organic grocery items.

The May 20, 2013, tornado in Moore killed seven children and turned much of Plaza Towers Elementary School into rubble

Seven students died when a tornado struck Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore.

Seven crosses, for seven dead students, have been posted near the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore.

Albert Ashwood, director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Randi Hobbs is one of 10 current dentists participating in a state program that provides cash incentives for dentists to practice in underserved rural areas. She practices in Sulphur.

The tornado of May 13, 2013, traveled a course that was mostly south of the ones that struck Moore in 1999 and 2003. After those earlier tornadoes, dozens of residents received federally funded grants to help pay for installing shelters in their homes. The green dots show the locations, which are clustered in the paths of the earlier tornadoes.

Cassie Clark, a part-time administrative assistant, falls into the health care “coverage crater” because she’s not eligible for Medicaid but doesn’t make enough money to qualify for new tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.

Top 10 states with highest incarceration rate

Entrance to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The warden, Anita Trammell, is the first woman to head the prison.

The prison’s “C Unit” was closed earlier this year, leaving one general-population cell house. Recently, however, the state decided to reopen C Unit because of overcrowded jails with inmates awaiting transfer to state prisons.

The East Gate of the penitentiary, where inmates arrive.

Guard tower next to the F Cell House, which was closed last year because it was not cost-efficient to operate.

A corridor inside the now-vacant East Cell House.

A main corridor leading to areas with Death Row, disciplinary and administrative segregation, and the execution chamber.

Rows of cells in Unit A, the last remaining facility for general-population inmates. That will change when Unit C is reopened.

Chart shows how the number of Oklahoma inmates in private prisons has grown over the years. Chart breaks the numbers down for each of the three private prisons: the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing; the Davis Correctional Facility in Holdenville; and the Lawton Correctional facility.

Patients sign up for appointments at the East Central Oklahoma Family Health Center in Wetumka.

Misty Bellinger of Wetumka says she doesn’t know much about the Affordable Care Act, but she’s interested in finding a better health insurance policy than the catastrophic plan she has now.

An Oklahoma City church provides an ad-hoc meeting place for people interested in learning more about the Affordable Care Act.

Affordable Care Act advisor Steven Goldman discusses the range of plans that will be available through the online health insurance marketplace.

Tiece Dempsey of the Oklahoma Policy Institute fields questions about the impact of the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin speaks to constituents, as captured in a video posted by the Think Progress blog.

Army Reservist Thomas Sweet, 29, is among 1,700 who participated in the Out of the Darkness Walk in Washington, D.C., on June 1 to raise money for suicide prevention. He was introduced as a representative of the men and women in the military who have died by suicide. Sweet decided to take the 16-mile walk in memory of his brothers-in-arms who have committed suicide and his sister who suffers from depression and made a suicide attempt.

A guard monitors the barred Rotunda area at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Got a question about the Affordable Care Act? Email it to newsalerts@oklahomwatch.org and we’ll try to run down the answer.

One person was killed and three were injured in this Aug. 18 crash in Tulsa involving drunken driving, police said. A 27-year-old man who was intoxicated and speeding in a Ford Mustang crossed into oncoming traffic on Memorial Drive and leapt a center media into the path of a Nissan Versa. The passenger in the Mustang driver’s car was killed.

Michael Bowden, a former Duncan police officer, was charged Nov. 2004 with three counts sexual battery in Stephens County and found guilty in April 2005. Received a six month suspended sentence, and will be required to register as a sex offender for life. However, Bowden’s state peace officer certification wasn’t revoked until 2012.

Ronald Arganbright, a former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, was charged with multiple sex crimes in Beckham County in April 2011. Arganbright was found guilty of lewd acts with a child and use of electronic device to facilitate sexual contact with a minor in April 2012. Sentenced to three years in prison, Arganbright could be released in 2015.

Since 1978, the Oklahoma prison population has increased from about 4,000 inmates to nearly 27,000 by Oct. 1, 2013.

Former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Patrick Venable leaving a courtroom during his preliminary hearing at the Payne County Courthouse in Stillwater Monday, Jan. 23, 2012.

The 751 rebates for purchase of home storm shelters awarded in a lottery so far by the state have been concentrated in the Oklahoma City area, disproportionate to its share of the state population. Relatively few rebates were won in the state’s outlying areas.

The greater Oklahoma City area, with 35 percent of the state’s population, received 74 percent of the rebates.

The Tulsa area received relatively few storm-shelter rebates for its population count.

When mapped, data from the National Weather Service shows that tornadoes from 1990 through May 2013 touched down in all parts of the state, although the deadliest and most destructive struck central Oklahoma.

City leaders are scrambling to find ways to keep the Pauls Valley General Hospital in operation. The hospital declared bankruptcy in February.

Bruce Mayhan, lab manager at Pauls Valley General Hospital, looks at a blood sample through a microscope in the hospital’s lab.

Zinda Coffey, drug room assistant, takes a phone call while working at the Pauls Valley General Hospital’s pharmacy.

A bus at the downtown Oklahoma City station.

The Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Michelle Hightower, who teaches at Oakridge Elementary School in Oklahoma City.

Elaine Dodd was instrumental in creating Oklahoma’s Prescription Monitoring Program in 1990. Photo by Warren Vieth.

Don Vogt of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs has administered the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program for nearly nine years. Photo by Warren Vieth.

Bianca Rose, who leads recruitment for Oklahoma City Public Schools, highlights the state’s economic growth and low cost of living in trying to attract teachers.

A home once stood in this bare lot in Moore east of Interstate 35. Despite a buzz of construction activity in demolished neighborhoods, many lots are empty. Some are for sale.

Construction crews work to rebuild homes in the Moore neighborhood just east of Interstate 35.

Many homes, like this large residence west of Moore, near the tornado’s beginning path of destruction, remain damaged and vacant.

Remnants of the tornado’s destruction linger, such as this large residence in south Oklahoma City, damaged and vacant.

New homes are springing up on plots of land where houses once stood near the border between Moore and Oklahoma City. Many already sold to new owners.

This large home on Pennsylvania Avenue in south Oklahoma City still awaits repairs. Addresses are painted on plywood to identify the properties.

New, unoccupied homes line streets alongside empty lots in a neighborhood near the boundary of Moore and Oklahoma City.

The newly-built home of JoAnn and Allen Anderson is flanked by empty lots. Their neighbors chose not to return and build again. The Anderson family survived the tornado by taking shelter in their bathroom. They spent almost a year renting until the new house was finished and have been in the home for two months.

The empty lot on the west side of the Anderson home.

A front view of the Canadian Valley Technology Center located in El Reno, Oklahoma. The center was hit by the May 30 tornado.

The newly built office at the OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma. the auction house was hit by the May 30 tornado. Though the office was completely destroyed, the tornado occurred on a day when very few employees were on the job. No one was hurt in the disaster, but two cows were killed and eight others were lifted up and carried across the highway before being dropped by the tornado. They survived.

Employees at the OKC West Livestock market took cover in storm shelters being offered for sale at the auction house lot. The shelters were not bolted to the ground, but the employees and restaurant patrons who took cover here survived. Other employees hid under weight scales on the premises.

This is the newly replaced home of Toxie and Marti Williams. Toxie works as a nutritionist for the OKC West Livestock Market. The family home sits just north of the sale barns and was completely destroyed in the May 30 tornado. Marti recalls watching the weather on her phone and making the decision that she and Toxie, along with their two sons and dogs, flee the storm in their car. They were unhurt. The family had renters insurance but is still going through the proceedings on that. They didn’t use FEMA aid, as the home itself is included in Toxie’s salary and was replaced quickly by the company. Marti cites help from all over in the wake of the disaster.

The May 20 tornado destroyed the Moore Medical Center just west of I-35. Until a new hospital is built, expected in 2016, temporary structures on the site provide emergency services. The hospital is part of the Norman Regional Health System.

The tornado that obliterated parts of Moore on May 20, 2013, left many residents there wanting government aid to help them buy residential storm shelters.

Michael Brose, executive director of Mental Health Association Oklahoma.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy spoke at the Zarrow Mental Health Symposium.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy speaks at the mental health symposium.

Eight pounds of crystal meth were seized last year during an eight-month investigation.

Mary Sosa, who campaigned for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, said the Hispanic community must do more to encourage its residents to run for office.

The state removed all 212 inmates from the Avalon Tulsa halfway house in January after a video was released showing an alleged guard-sanctioned fight between inmates. Today the facility again is holding more than 200 offenders.

Wind turbines near Hunter in Garfield County spin on Thursday. Tax incentives offered to wind-power companies have drawn criticism.

Tax breaks for energy companies have soared since 2010. In this photo, despite freezing temperatures Thursday, members of the Tomcat Drilling Rig 5 crew continued their quest for oil next to U.S. 81 north of Enid.

Tax breaks for energy companies have soared since 2010. This drilling rig is shown operating in September in northern Garfield County.

Calls to a national gambling helpline from Oklahoma show that most people struggling with gambling addiction cite slot machines as the main problem.

The Wellness Clinic in Roland, Okla., has come under scrutiny by narcotics and medical board officials.

Aaron Smoot died of a drug overdose in August 2011.

Oklahoma City’s Exodus House is an organization which helps former inmates reintegrate into society.

Joy Hofmeister, superintendent of public instruction, fielded questions from the audience at the “Oklahoma Watch-Out” forum on Tuesday, March 3.

Lt. Governor Todd Lamb speaks during an event in Norman.

Quinton Chavez pitches to his 9-year-old son, Emanuel Chavez, while playing baseball at Santa Fe South High School in south Oklahoma City.

Dr. Janna Morgan, who directs the mental health services unit for the Corrections Department, has had to travel to prisons to conduct therapy sessions herself because of a shortage of mental-health staff.

An Oklahoma City fireman walks near explosion-damaged cars on the north side of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City after a car-bomb blast the morning of April 19, 1995.

Chairs of the fallen are aligned in the footprint of the destroyed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

The limbs of the Survivor Tree embrace the 9:03 Gate at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Two bronze gates stand at each end of the reflecting pool, inscribed with the time one minute before, and one minute after, a terrorist bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

The street that once ran in front of the destroyed building is now a reflecting pool, running the length of where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building once stood.

Bronze chairs stand in the footprint of the Alfred. P. Murrah Federal Building. Each one sits on a glass base with the name of one victim.

A tree that survived the bombing is incorporated into the memorial, to honor the survivors.

The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum

Tabitha Kincannon was released from prison in March and has felt empowered by her trauma therapy at Just the Beginning, a nonprofit based in Tulsa.

Mental-health experts Dr. Nicole Washington (left), Roxanne Hinther and Janet Cizek talk about mental health for women at the Oklahoma Watch-Out forum.

Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a Washington D.C. research group. LeRoy was speaking during a May 21, 2015, “town hall” session in Oklahoma City on the topic of tax breaks.

Michael Davis, president of Oklahoma Finance Authorities, discussing tax breaks with a reporter on May 21, 2015.

Expansion of Michelin’s tire manufacturing plant in Ardmore and Goodyear’s plant in Lawton are being subsidized by the state for nearly $89 million over 13 years.

The execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Among all state and local law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol received the most funds from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Equitable Sharing Program. In fiscal r 2014, the agency received $667,593 through the program.

Savannah Kalman is suicide prevention program manager at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuses Services.

Oklahomans with disabilities and professionals who care for them attended the Oklahoma Health Authority Board meeting.

Tribal council leaders, parents and youth are concerned about the impact that legalizing marijuana could have on communities in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Michael Lockhoff plays with his daughter in their backyard in Tulsa. The Lockhoffs struggled last year, when she was 6, to work with schools to meet their child’s educational and emotional needs.

Josh Gwartney, principal of the early childhood center at Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools, displays the paddle available to be used on students.

Police in the City of Bixby, near Tulsa, suspected a cancer victim was a drug trafficker and seized his money.

Norman police stop and search a pickup at a local gas station.

Criminal defense attorney and former police detective James W. Todd.

Police in Bixby, which is near Tulsa, suspected a Broken Arrow man was a drug trafficker and seized more than $15,000 in cash from his vehicle.

Cato Institute attorney Adam Bates testifies at a special hearing on civil asset forfeiture at the State Capitol. State Sen. Kyle Loveless is seated at his left.

A state marketing campaign for Insure Oklahoma includes six billboards along interstate highways.

Kathleen Lord and Don Knight, attorneys for Richard Glossip, speak to the news media Wednesday.

More than 800 people attended the 21st annual Zarrow Mental Health Symposium on Thursday and Friday.

Buffy Heater, chief strategy officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, is evaluating options for shifting part of Oklahoma’s Medicaid population into a “coordinated care” program using private-sector contractors.

David Boren at an OU press conference. Boren recent proposed a statewide penny sales tax to fund education.

In a prekindergarten class at Skelly Elementary School in Tulsa, 4-year-olds listen to Ama Debra tell a story.

Brad Collins, services analyst director for 12&12, indicates a meeting hall for those from Alcoholics Anonymous. Collins says the proposed facility would help not only those who suffer from alcoholism, but those picked up after a one-off night of partying as well.

Brad Collins, of nonprofit addiction recovery center 12&12, said an alternative to jail provided by 12&12 would help both those with alcoholism and those who need to sleep off a one-night party.

Engineer and award-winning author Brian A. Hopkins recently battled Hepatitis-C, which he contracted decades ago in blood transfusions after a motorcycle wreck.

Brian Hopkins writes: “Last Harvoni. 90 day/$90,000 treatment done. ” Hopkins had to take the drug to battle Hepatitis-C acquired decades ago from a blood transfusion.

Engineer and author Brian A. Hopkins battled hepatitis C, which he contracted more than two decades ago in blood transfusions after a motorcycle wreck.

Passengers board an Embark bus in Oklahoma City. Buses would still play a central role in a regional transit system proposed Tuesday.

Oklahoma City area mayors are proposing a transit system connecting cities by “heavy rail,” or passenger trains running on existing freight lines like this one through Norman. That would require negotiating with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw cries as he is led from the courtroom after the verdicts were read for the charges against him at the Oklahoma County Courthouse on Thursday. He was accused of sexually assaulting 13 black females between December 2013 and June 2014. A jury found him guilty on 18 of 36 counts.

Daran Steele of Oklahoma City says he believes he was racially profiled by two police officers in 2013.

Oklahoma Watch Executive Editor David Fritze moderates a forum on mass transit with, left to right, Danny O’Connor, director of transportation planning for the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments; Lauren Branch, former chair of the Oklahoma Alliance for Public Transportation and executive director of NewView Oklahoma, and Jason Ferbrache,administrator of the Central Oklahoma Parking and Transit Authority.

Eight years ago, Donray Moore (left) and her husband Ron of Sand Springs (not shown) placed their son Skyler (to her left) on the waiting list for state-funded services for the developmentally disabled. The family is still waiting for those services. Donray’s husband died earlier this year. Along with Skyler’s brother Madison, Donray and Skyler are shown here at a family support meeting in Tulsa. In the foreground are Melissa Sublett (left), attorney for the Oklahoma Disability Law Center, (Right) and Lisa DeBolt, whose son receives services and works with families through Sooner Success.

Tulsa Community College freshman Zoey Radcliffe, center, looks at her notes while preparing for a final in her remedial math course. Thousands of Oklahomans take remedial college courses each year to relearn content they should have learned in high school.

Screenshot from CannLabs, a company for which Oklahoma’s new corrections director, Joe Allbaugh, holds 250,000 shares. Allbaugh resigned from the company’s board shortly before accepting the position.

Danny lost his job and became homeless for the first time, living on the streets in Norman.

Gov. Mary Fallin delivers her sixth annual “State of the State” address.

Schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister (center) talks with legislators before the governor’s speech.

House Speaker Jeff Hickman gavels the assembly to order.

Videographers for the news media shoot from the booth above.

Leaders and representatives of Native American tribes stand when governor recognizes them.

Gov. Mary Fallin’s husband, Wade Christensen waves as he, Fallin’s daughter Christina (second from right) and other family members are recognized in the gallery.

A legislator looks at a budget-related chart distributed for the governor’s address.

State Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, listens to the “State of the State” address.

House and Senate members, gathered in the House chamber, applaud during the “State of the State” address.

Fallin shakes hands with Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman.

Legislators converse with a U.S. Supreme Court justice on the House chamber floor.

Gov. Mary Fallin enters the House chamber to deliver her “State of the State” address on Feb. 1. Political observers say she will need to work intensely behind the scenes to succeed in pushing through the revenue-raising measures she proposed.

Joe Allbaugh, interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, describes himself as a quick decision maker who wants to make a difference.

The Cleveland County Juvenile Detention Center in Norman is among 17 county juvenile facilities that aren’t required to follow federal rape-prevention standards.

State Rep. Mike Shelton appears at a rally for Bernie Sanders.

The polling station at the Enterprise Baptists Church in Rural Norman, Oklahoma.

Real estate developer Grant Humphreys wants to stop operating Carlton Landing Academy, located on the shores of Lake Eufaula, as a private school and re-open it as a public charter school.

A bullet shell lies near a church in northeast Oklahoma City. This photo was taken as part of the mobile video project, “Talk With Us: Poverty in Oklahoma City Neighborhoods.”

Women represent less than a fifth of superintendents in Oklahoma. Stacey Butterfield, superintendent of Jenks Public Schools, followed her mother and grandmother into a career in education.

The North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre is owned by Corrections Corp. of America.

Cara Brown (left) and Gloria Ferrell of Tulsa allege in a lawsuit that despite availability of jobs, Stand-By Personnel never offered them a position because of discriminatory practices. The company denies the allegations.

Edmond resident Jay Mandraccia casts her primary ballot during early voting Thursday at the Oklahoma County Board of Elections. Regular voting will be held Tuesday.

Homeless and other low-income people took refuge from the heat on Thursday in WestTown day shelter west of downtown Oklahoma City.

Tracy McDaniel, principal and co-founder of KIPP Reach Academy in Oklahoma City, said the school has been working on increasing its retention rate of students.

Penny Reynolds, executive director of Sisu Youth, hopes to secure funding to open a 10-bed night shelter at Church of the Open Arms in Oklahoma City.

Empty beds for homeless youths sit in the night shelter at City Rescue Mission in downtown Oklahoma City.

Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine have soared as Mexican “ice” has become more available.

The Oklahoma Judicial Center houses the state Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Tulsa high school history teacher Vince Facione expected to spend at least $300 before the first day of school. He gives each of his 190 students a three-ring binder.

Mikah Carlos studies at Arizona State University and lives in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. She said a poll worker refused to let her use her tribal ID to vote in a recent election in Arizona.

Residents in Sparta, Ga., display American flags from their front porch on July 3, 2016. There have been 114 allegations of fraud investigated by the Georgia secretary of state since 2012.

Lawmakers in Texas passed controversial voter ID legislation in 2011, citing concerns of voter fraud. Aspects of the law have since been deemed unconstitutional by a federal court.

Dallas Stokes, a volunteer for the AMOS Project, a nonprofit social justice organization in Cincinnati, registers people to vote. In May, a federal judge struck down a restrictive voting law in the state that Republicans said was meant to curtail voter fraud.

Rikki Cosper stands in the McGee Bright Start Early Education Center in Norman, where she is director. She also heads the Licensed Child Care Association of Oklahoma. Her center is one of 3,409 remaining child-care homes or centers in the state; the number has declined by 34 percent since 2008.

Janet Roloff, managing attorney at the Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma’s McAlester office, represents a Fort Towson couple who couldn’t afford a private attorney in a legal action to foreclosure on their mobile home.

Sixth grader Nathaniel Anderson, of Grove, is an advocate for dyslexic students like himself. He spoke at the State Capitol earlier this month.

The Oklahoma City Police Department’s headquarters in downtown Oklahoma City, where the property room is located.

Swipe through this gallery of photos, taken in latter 2015, to tour the Oklahoma City Police Department’s property room, where nearly 1,900 guns were checked in from the streets that year. From 2011 to 2015, the number of handguns and long guns checked into the property room rose by 23 percent.

This 2016 photo shows handguns confiscated by the Oklahoma City Police Department and placed in a barrel in the department property room.

Gary Clark, diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago, is treated at the hospital after being sprayed with pepper balls, shocked with Tasers and shot with guns by Wagoner County and Broken Arrow officers in August 2014.

Steve Lyons, a retired police officer who serves on the board of National Alliance of Mental Illness Tulsa, said his son, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was treated poorly in the past in the Tulsa County Jail. The jail will soon open mental-health units.

Plastic bottles filter onto a pile at Tulsa Recycle and Transfer Inc.’s facility. Over 300 tons of mixed recyclables are processed at this facility each day.

Jimmy Hartford teaches an AP calculus class to 10 students at Cushing High School.

Aubrielle McElroy eats breakfast in her classroom at Remington Elementary in Tulsa. All elementary schools in the Tulsa Public Schools district started offering free breakfast and lunch to all students without requiring applications at the start of the school year.

Inmates using wheelchairs or walkers are a common sight outside one of the chronic care clinics at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington.

Community members gathered in the cafeteria of Tulsa’s McLain High School on March 28 for a forum on the district’s search for a new principal for the school.

An oil derrick sits on the grounds of the Oklahoma Capitol.

House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, sharply criticized the state budget bill during debate on the floor Friday, saying it fails to fund core services enough. Republicans have accused Inman of refusing to compromise because he is running for governor.

Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, argues in opposition to the 2018 fiscal budget during debate on the House floor.

The University of Oklahoma’s Bizzell Memorial Library is the iconic building on campus, located on the south oval.

Dorothy Varallo-Speckeen looks in late spring 2017 at the transcript from her July 2013 interrogation by a Moline, Illinois, police detective about a toddler Varallo-Specken babysat who suffered two broken legs. Varallo-Specken pleaded guilty to and served time for misdemeanor battery causing bodily harm but says she felt coerced into admitting a crime she says she didn’t commit

Dorothy Varallo-Speckeen July 22, 2013, Moline, Illinois, police interrogation.

Erin Taylor - seated with paperwork — Erin Taylor, of Oklahoma City, describes the paperwork needed to get her son on Medicaid and the developmental disabilities services wait list.

Bee's Knees artwork — Artwork from the Bee’s Knees, a group of developmentally disabled artists in El Reno, hangs on Erin Taylor’s wall. Taylor, of Oklahoma City, has a 15-year-old developmentally disabled son who is on the state waiting list for services.

Erin Taylor with portrait of her son — Erin Taylor, of Oklahoma City, shows a portrait of her son, Henry Weathers, now 15 years old. Weathers was born with a congenital heart condition that has required multiple surgeries and led to an intellectual disability.

Lobbyists representing oil and gas clients celebrated in May 2017 after a bill extending lateral drilling distances passed the Legislature.

Some people living near coal-fired power plants such as this one in Belews Creek, N.C., have been relying on bottled water for over two years since high levels of certain chemicals were found in their well water.

Tim Kent, environmental director of the Quapaw tribe, climbs to the top of a pile of mine waste in Picher, Okla. Chat piles litter the landscape there, and Kent said cleanup could take another hundred years at the current rate. (

Picher, Okla., reached its largest population in 1926 during the height of mining activity. Since then, almost everyone has moved out.

unsafe crib — Taffy Henderson, a maternal and child health promotion specialist with the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, demonstrates an unsafe sleeping environment in a crib. Henderson uses the cribs in classes she teaches on safe sleeping.

Lilly Fragoso, a paraprofessional in Jenks Public Schools, assists special-education student Jacob Miller. Paraprofessional provide instructional support for special education teachers and don’t require a degree.

Angie Hopkins, a paraprofessional with Jenks Public Schools, works with special education student Ryan Chen.

Ramona Roberts, a special education teacher in Jenks Public Schools, works with students Tim Foster (center), Michael Copeland (left), Elijah Sexton (bottom right) and Hunter Falconer (right). Jenks has had special education teacher vacancies in the past, but managed to fill its positions this year.

University of Oklahoma Professor Gary Davis signs to his American Sign Language I class, which is part of the College of Education’s special education program.

Students sign along with their professor in an American Sign Language I class at the University of Oklahoma. The class is conducted in sign language, and it is the first time ASL is being offered at OU.

Professor Gary Davis signs to his students during a lecture in his American Sign Language I class. The class is offered through the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Educational Psychology.

A Norman High School defensive lineman (black) clashes with an Edmond Santa Fe High School offensive player.

A Norman High School (black) defensive lineman collides with an Edmond Santa Fe High School offensive player. Norman Public Schools reported more than a dozen concussions among student athletes last school year.

Norman High School offensive players (in black) prepare to block the Edmond Santa Fe High School defense.

Audiologist Jillian Detwiler reviews a patient’s hearing aid function at the John W. Keys Speech and Hearing Center in Oklahoma City. Detwiler oversees the Cabaret Hearing For Seniors Program, which provides high-quality hearing aids for only $100 a pair to low-income people.

Employees of oil and gas companies waited in the rotunda before the Oklahoma House began meeting to debate and vote on a tax package proposing to hike the gross production tax from 2 percent to 4 percent.

Many oil and gas industry workers brought signs to the State Capitol warning that jobs were on the line in any vote that would raise the gross production tax.

The seclusion room in this Mustang school classroom is at the far corner of the classroom.

Students can rest on a mat with a beanbag chair in this Mustang school’s seclusion room.

In its budget request for fiscal year 2019, the state Corrections Department is seeking $107 million for “immediate facilities needs.” The list for cell blocks, such as the one above, upgrades for air conditioning, replacing a boiler for heating, and replacing damaged water and sewer lines.

Shackles for holding inmates outside their cells hang from a rail at the penitentiary in McAlester — a reminder that the maximum-security facility holds inmates considered the most dangerous, even as it is arguably the most in need of repair.

A handwritten sign at the state penitentiary reminds staff not to remove the trash can that catches water from leaks.

The underbelly of a steel walkway used for transporting food at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary shows signs of wear, with layers of rust peeling off.

Open, frayed wiring reflects the renovation and maintenance needs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Corrections officials points to many signs of years of neglect due to what they say is inadequate funding.

A billboard for TSET’s Shape Your Future wellness campaign along an Oklahoma City highway. Shape Your Future is one of the agency’s advertising efforts to decrease smoking and obesity, and make Oklahomans healthier. Some legislators have questioned TSET’s spending and priorities.

The Key, a used-car dealership in south Oklahoma City, is among the businesses that have required certain buyers with low credit scores to agree to have GPS devices attached to their vehicles.

Gov. Mary Fallin takes her first oath of office as governor in 2011 as her husband, Wade Christensen, looks on.

Gov. Mary Fallin delivers her eighth and final State of the State address on Feb. 5, 2018.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, at the joint session for the State of the State address on Feb. 5, 2018.

Every new male inmate in the Oklahoma prison system arrives through this gate (left) at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center in Cleveland County. Blood is drawn from inmates for testing and certain results can lead to further tests for hepatitis C.

All new Oklahoma inmates are first brought to the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center in Cleveland County.

James “Jim” Gallogly speaks to a crowd following his introduction as the University of Oklahoma’s next president in the University Memorial Center ballroom.

A chalked message at the rally for education funding at the State Capitol.

State employees set up or carried signs in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a teacher walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Putnam City teacher Melanie Spoon and her daughters, Merideth Dry (left) and Addison Dry (right), hold signs in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Ida Freeman Elementary School teachers (left to right) Ginger Tate, Katie Cook and Kimberly Wilcox along with UCO education major Lydia Wilcox hold signs in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Teachers hold signs as they march around the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Teachers, students and supporters march in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Hilldale High School sophomore Aislyn Hensley holds signs in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Lee Elementary School teacher Jeromy Benson holds a sign in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Alana McGinnis, left, Jeremiah Still, center, and Solomon Still stand next to a teacher dressed as a T-Rex at the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Teachers, students and supporters march around the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Durant teacher Juli Wood, left, and her daughter Emma Sawyer, who is an education major at the University of Central Oklahoma, pose with their signs in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Amy Burkhalter, an education major at the University of Central Oklahoma, holds a sign in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Broken Arrow teacher Alli Blanenship, left, education major Whitney Stull, center, and Broken Arrow teacher Isaiah Winters pose in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Ellie Ness, a teacher at Southmoore High School, poses in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding. Her sign says “I walk for my students and funds for education.”

Teachers, students and supporters sit in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Sequoyah High School student Dakota Denton, left, and Verdigns High School student Emily Danks pose in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Tahlequah teachers Barbara Casey, left, and Deena Jones pose in front of the Capitol on April 2 during a walkout aimed at increasing education funding.

Roya White holds her daughter Ember White at Lions Park in Midwest City. Roya White was fired from her waitressing job while pregnant with Ember. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

Cody Stephens, left, and Roya White, right, help their daughter Ember White down the slide at Lions Park in Midwest City. Roya White was fired from her waitressing job while pregnant with Ember. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

Heather Davis looks at a pile of baby clothes that she bought for her daughter, Analynn, who died in the hospital. Davis was fired from her job the day she was discharged from the hospital. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

Freshman English books are in need of replacement at Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health’s main building, located on 10th Street in Oklahoma City.

Melissa Provenzano, an assistant superintendent at Bixby High School, filed to run for District 79 representative at the Capitol on April 11. Provenzano is among the surge of female candidates running for office this year.

Filings to run for office opened at the Capitol on April 11, the 8th day of the teacher walkout.

Oklahoma City resident Jeremy Brown, in front of the Cleveland County Courthouse, was arrested last year on various charges, including driving under the influence and obstructing an officer, and entered the county’s program for pretrial release without having to post bail. He had trouble meeting the commitments and left after being arrested on a separate charge. Then he posted bail.

Keli Tointigh had never met her cousin’s youngest child, pictured here on a swing, before a DHS employee arrived in December to bring the child and her brother for the Tointighs to care for.

Keli Tointigh latches the gate in her backyard while the children she and her husband took into their care look on. The Tointighs agreed to foster the children after the DHS called unexpectedly last year and asked.

Robin Wertz, of Exodus House in Oklahoma City, which helps people released from prison gain a footing as they re-enter society, has been out of prison for 11 years. But she still in prohibited from voting, and won’t be able to cast a ballot until 2024.

Two men cast ballots at the Oklahoma County Election Board Thursday, the first day of voting for the June 26 elections. The slate includes primary races for statewide offices and legislative seats, as well as State Question 788 on medical marijuana. Early voting ends June 24.

Two voters cast ballots at the Oklahoma County Election Board Thursday, the first day of voting for the June 26 elections. The slate includes primary races for statewide offices and legislative seats, as well as State Question 788 on medical marijuana. Early voting ends June 24.

Voters cast ballots at the Oklahoma County Election Board Thursday, the first day of voting for the June 26 elections. The slate includes primary races for statewide offices and legislative seats, as well as State Question 788 on medical marijuana. Early voting ends June 24.

“I Voted” stickers are seen at Oklahoma County Election Commission offices.

Candidates lined up at the State Capitol on April 11 to file to run for office. They had to submit a declaration of candidacy form and, if applicable, a form disclosing criminal history. But candidates do not have to file financial disclosure forms during the campaign.

Crescent Public Schools Superintendent Bart Watkins said while his district spends a relatively high percentage of its funding on instruction, it has been forced to make cuts, including a number of positions.

A tank filled with liquid nitrogen is seen outside of an Oklahoma City business that sells nitrogen for various commercial uses.

These tanks containing dry nitrogen are seen outside of an Oklahoma City business that sells the gas to various industries.

Mariah Lewis, 4, shows classmate Chloe O’Day, 4, a card during a game at Children’s Discovery Center in Norman on July 24. The center’s director, Heather Davenport, said there is a long waitlist of parents hoping to get their children into daycare following the closure of a YMCA after-school program earlier this year.

A Monsanto facility in Stonington, Ill., on May 19, 2015.

John Rex Charter Middle School sixth grader Charlie Marshall raises his hand and waits for a teacher to help him during class. Nearly 75 students share a large classroom at the Oklahoma City school with four teachers available to answer questions and clarify lessons taught on the students’ Chromebooks.

John Rex sixth grader Quaria Rea completes an assignment on her computer. Personalized learning programs like the one at John Rex allow students to work at their own pace.

John Rex sixth grader Quaria Rea talks to her classmate on Aug. 14. Students change seats frequently in the unconventional classroom in Oklahoma City.

A video that teaches drawing techniques is seen on a student’s computer at John Rex Charter Middle School. Students at the Oklahoma City school spend much of their day on laptops watching videos and listening to lessons provided through digital programs.

John Rex sixth grader Jamya Boyd writes on a dry erase board as she prepares to take a learning assessment. Assessments are completed at where a teacher is stationed to answer questions and observe the students being tested.

John Rex sixth graders Isaiah Ward, left, Charles Shelburn, center, and Keishon Graim work on their laptops during class on Aug. 14. Students are allowed to work in bean bag chairs and other seating that is available inside and outside of the classroom during certain times of day.

John Rex sixth graders Darrien Womack, left, and Bella Longley work on an assignment together. The students are perched on a large cushion inside the classroom while others are seen through the glass working in the hallway.

John Rex sixth grader Rogelio Morales watches a video on his laptop. Students disperse across the room and in the hallway for a break from schoolwork in the afternoons.

Students at John Rex Charter Middle School in Oklahoma City – sixth graders Finley Cunningham, top left, Direon Kelley, bottom left, Charlie Marshall and Taylor Ellis – sit on cushions in the hallway during a break from schoolwork. The students say the seats are more comfortable than their desk chairs, where they work much of the day.

John Rex sixth grader Marisa Scott lays on the hallway floor while using her laptop. Once released from their desks, many students sprawl out on the floors and cushions around the school and even walk the halls with laptops to stretch their legs.

John Rex sixth graders Collin Suiter, left, and Samuraya Lopez are converse in class. The large classroom is housed at the Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City. Several large windows provide natural light and views of vegetation.

LuVona Copeland, the principal at Okmulgee ACE High School, gives a tour of the school on Aug. 7 where many classrooms contain several different styles of chairs and workspaces giving students options of where to work based on how they’re most comfortable.

Voters cast their votes in the runoff election today at a polling station in Norman.

Textbooks are shown lined up on a desk at Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City in April. Under federal criteria, textbooks could be considered an instructional expense. But under an order by Gov. Mary Fallin, they are listed as part of administrative services, a state education attorney says. Identifying classroom expenses can be challenging, educators say.

Members of the state Senate are shown here in May 2018. Seven of the 48 senators are women.

Kay Stokes pushes her husband, Roger, in a wheelchair outside of Grace Living Center where Roger lives in Oklahoma City on Sept. 13.

Kay Stokes pushes her husband, Roger, in a wheelchair outside of Grace Living Center in Oklahoma City on Sept. 13.

Students work on computers in a John Rex Charter Middle School classroom at the Myriad Gardens complex in Oklahoma City.

Kindergartener Wriley Cox eats a snack in the hallway of Le Monde International School, a public charter school in Norman.

Teacher Brenda Grant waits for the last of her students to enter her classroom at Santa Fe South High School.

High school student Adriana Gutierrez performs during a talent show at Santa Fe South High School, a public charter school based inside an old department store at the former Crossroads Mall in Oklahoma City.

A student walks the halls of Le Monde International School in Norman.

Teacher Breanna Blackwell talks to students in her science classroom at Santa Fe South High School in Oklahoma City.

Students and staff gather in a common area at Santa Fe South High School in the former Crossroads Mall in south Oklahoma City.

Pre-kindergarten teaching assistant Rose Mashinda talks to students in a French class at Le Monde International School, a public charter school in Norman.

Kindergartener Maryann Wilson sits at her desk during class at Le Monde International School, a public charter school in Norman.

Language arts elementary teacher Erin Yeaman and her fourth-grade student Niveah Galloway pin papers to a bulletin board outside of Yeaman’s classroom at Le Monde International School in Norman.

Junior Dalissa Villalobos works on a project at Santa Fe South High School.

High school student Liliana Guevara walks away from a dry-erase board in a classroom at Santa Fe South High School, an Oklahoma City charter school.

The Pauls Valley Hospital Authority decided on Friday, Oct. 12 to close the 62-bed Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center. The hospital had filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy to restructure debt in 2013 and emerged from bankruptcy in 2016.

The exterior of Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center is seen on Oct. 3, 2018. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

A gavel is shown in a courtroom in the Cleveland County Courthouse.

The University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Katie Guess, 36, (right) raises her hand during a vote taken at a house meeting at Oxford House Boomer in Norman on Oct. 9, 2018. Oxford Houses require an 80 percent approval from residents to allow new applicants to move in.

Christina Deaton, 32, reviews financial records during a house meeting at Oxford House Boomer in Norman on Oct. 9, 2018. Like most Oxford Houses statewide, Boomer does not have any residents on medication-assisted treatment such as Suboxone or Methadone.

May Morgan signs her name in front of a volunteer before receiving a ballot at the Grady County Election Board in Chickasha on Friday, the second day of early voting.

Voters enter the McClain County Election Board building in Purcell on Friday, Nov. 2, the second day of early voting.

Sgt. Ziakiya Byers, an Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office deputy, shows the kit used to obtain DNA from those arrested on felony charges. The process requires a cheek swab, which is rubbed on a “paper transfer” and accompanied by a fingerprint. The kit is provided by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Tricia Willyard, an educator who lives in Ketchum, struggled with her decision to retain her son in first grade, which school officials recommended. She later moved him to a different school, and he is doing well. She is shown here talking to her son, now a third grader.

Tricia Willyard, the mother of a boy who was retained in first grade, is a speech-language pathologist at Ketchum Elementary School.

Tricia Willyard teaches speech and language at Ketchum Elementary School. She said she transferred her son to the school because it has a strong intervention program.

Tricia Willyard’s son, who was retained in first grade over reading struggles due to dyslexia, is now a third grader and is doing “phenomenal,” Willyard says.

Businessman Paul Campbell speaks before students at the Academy of Seminole, a charter school he founded in rural Oklahoma. Campbell said the “thesis” of the school is that “on day one of your ninth grade, literally hour one … we start talking about what you want to do with your life.”

The most costly procedure on Integris Baptist Medical Center’s list for 2017 involved the hospital’s intensive care unit. A translation for “ECMO OR TRACH W MV >96 HOURS OR PDX EXC FACE, MOUTH & NECK W MAJ O.R.” is placing a person on life support, in which a machine pumps their blood and “breathes” for them, for more than four days, and then performing a major operation. An example of such an operation would be ….

The Agency Performance and Accountability Commission met this week at the state Capitol to brief lawmakers on the results of their agency audits. The sessions were closed to the public.

Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks on the House floor at the Capitol during his first State of the State address on Feb. 4, 2019. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

The Oklahoma City skyline is seen from Skydance Pedestrian Bridge. Downtown Oklahoma City includes several opportunity zones.

A new housing development is seen behind a ferris wheel in Oklahoma City’s Wheeler District. The area is part of one of downtown Oklahoma City’s opportunity zones.

Downtown Oklahoma City includes several opportunity zones.

Governor Kevin Stitt speaks to Oklahoma Watch reporter Paul Monies at the Capitol on March 26, 2019. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

Voters cast their votes at a polling station in Oklahoma City on June 26, 2018.

A vote here, polling place sign is seen at Oklahoma County Election Commission offices.

DOWELL, A. L. (DR.) /FORMER CITY COUNCILMAN: UNKNOWN: Caption reads, Happy that their four-year desegregation fight has ended in victory are Dr. Alfonzo Dowell and his son, Robert. Photographer UNKNOWN. Original Photo UNKNOWN. Published on O-08-12-65.

In 1961, an Oklahoma City optometrist, Dr. Alfonzo L. Dowell, sued the school district for refusing to admit his son to the all-white Northeast High School. Dowell and his son are shown here in July 1963.

Black students are shown on a bus in 1972 during court-ordered bussing of students in Oklahoma City schools to achieve racial integration.

Civil rights pioneer Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher – mother of Bruce Fisher – stands with Tulsa attorney Amos Hall and Thurgood Marshall, later a justice of the Supreme Court, during their 1948 legal battle.

Mrs. Warren Welch, director of the Oklahoma City PTA Council, talks with the district’s board members about the next legal move after an integration order in 1963.

Liza Greve, shown here in front of her Edmond home, leads Oklahomans for Health and Parental Rights. The group opposes efforts to eliminate vaccine exemptions under state law and publicizes concerns over the risks of vaccines.

Children who attend Epic Charter Schools, their parents and other supporters assembled at the State Capitol on March 11 for an advocacy and education day.

Vehicles threaten Oklahoma’s air quality with a range of pollutants, including carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and dust and other particulates. The number of vehicle miles traveled in the state, as well as urban congestion, continue to increase even as better emission controls and alternative fuels have emerged. Near I-35 and I-240 in Oklahoma City, traffic jams are common.

A customer gives her contact information to a volunteer with Dream Action Oklahoma during its “garra sale” fundraiser on July 13.

A young girl looks through a bag of toys at a “garra sale” hosted by the pro-immigrant goup Dream Action Oklahoma July 13.

Dream Action Oklahoma, which advocates for immigrants, made available various cards in Spanish at its “garra sale” July 13, including one with a phone number to call for reporting the presence of immigration agents and another outlining constitutional rights.

A girl and her grandmother shop at a “garra sale” hosted by the pro-immigrant nonprofit Dream Action Oklahoma on July 13. The sale was hosted to raise funds for the organization and raise awareness of undocumented immigrants’ rights.

A sign is seen outside of 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City, where Epic Charter Schools leases 40,000 square feet for administrative use.

A client pulls frozen meat from a freezer at the Urban Mission food pantry in Oklahoma City.

Susanna Bishop, communications director in the Norman dispatch center, said one report came via the app during the 2018-19 school year. The app was rolled out late in the year but a teacher used it to report a medical emergency at Jackson Elementary School, where a student had a seizure.

Susanna Bishop works at her station in Norman’s police dispatch center. Alerts from the Rave Mobile Safety app appear on her phone and screens, including a location of the incident. The features are intended to help law enforcement respond more quickly.

The Rave Mobile Safety app features a large “active shooter” button at the top and other buttons for reporting emergencies such as a fire or medical emergency.

Bail bond offices, restaurants and locally owned shops line Central Avenue in Idabel, the seat of McCurtain County, where Geoffrey Briley is scheduled to be tried in January in the murder of Tamera Moore.

McCurtain County Assistant District Attorney Emily Maxwell Herron takes a call in her office. Herron prosecutes domestic violence cases in McCurtain, Choctaw and Pushmataha counties.

The McCurtain County Courthouse sits on the north end of Central Avenue in downtown Idabel. The courthouse is attached to the sheriff’s department and county jail, where Geoffrey Briley is being held while he awaits a jury trial scheduled for January.

Tamera Moore’s headstone is perched on a small hill in the Wheelock Cemetery in Millerton, just east of Valliant, where Moore was found dead in her home on Sept. 4, 2017.

Michael Walden, special victims detective with the Idabel Police Department, said he personally responds to most domestic-violence calls to help make sure sufficient evidence is collected.

Geoffrey Briley, at McCurtain County Jail

A photo of Tamera “Tammy” Moore (right) and her mother Robbie Flowers is displayed on the headstone for Moore’s grave.

The home page of a new website, unitedforoklahoma.com, includes a video promoting the benefits Oklahoma’s tribes provide to the Oklahoma, economic impact numbers and quoted testimonials.

Materials from a sexual assault nurse examiner kit are spread out on a table at the YWCA in Oklahoma City. Swabs, photos, measurements and victim accounts of an incident are all part of the evidence collected by the specially trained nurses.

Brylee Brungardt-Davis, 12, plays the flute with her eighth grade peers at Hefner Middle School in Oklahoma City on Aug. 22. Brylee is in the school’s virtual program and takes most of her classes at home but still attends band classes at the school.

Hefner Middle School eighth graders Noah Claunch (left), Brylee Brungardt-Davis (center) and Madyson Hammond look at music sheets during band on Aug. 22.

Eighth grader Brylee Brungardt-Davis laughs with her friend in band class at Hefner Middle School on Aug. 22.

Eighth grader Brylee Brungardt-Davis plays the flute in band class at Hefner Middle School on Aug. 22.

Vander Brungardt-Davis works on class assignments on his tablet at an Oklahoma City library on Aug. 22. The sixth grader also plays saxophone in the Hefner Middle School band and runs cross-country.

Vander Brungardt-Davis, 10, works on class assignments on his tablet at an Oklahoma City library on Aug. 22. The sixth grader started taking virtual classes for the first time this year.

Brylee Brungardt-Davis, 12, works on class assignments from her phone in an Oklahoma City library on Aug. 22.

Brylee Brungardt-Davis said it is convenient to work on class assignments when she has the flexibility to use any device that’s available to her as long as she has internet access, like a smartphone.

Brylee Brungardt-Davis works on class assignments from her phone in an Oklahoma City library on Aug. 22. Brylee said she learns more in her online classes because she doesn’t have to worry about loud or rowdy classmates distracting her.

Brylee Brungardt-Davis (right) and her brother Vander Brungardt-Davis are enrolled in Putnam City Schools virtual classes, along with their two siblings who are in high school. Brylee, 12, said she gets more school work done because she isn’t distracted by classmates.

Second grader Elaine Jiang gets out of a minivan during morning drop-off at Jones Elementary School in Tulsa.

Jones Elementary teacher Carol Moshiri talks to pre-kindergartener James Williams on his way to class on Sept. 13., 2019. James is holding hands with fifth grader Leola Hopkins and first grader Nola Southern walks in front of them.

Students and parents walk toward the entrance to Jones Elementary School in Tulsa.

Jones Elementary third grader Mailyn Veleta-Santibanes smiles at reading specialist Lindsay Wilson after being dropped off at school.

Oklahoma Watch Executive Editor David Fritze talks with Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt about the MAPS 4 proposal during a public forum on Sept. 17, 2019.

Shelby Lynch, education manager at The Care Center, asks students to raise their hands if they know three adults they can talk to “no matter what.” The question is part of a child abuse prevention training called Roar.

Shelby Lynch, education manager at The Care Center, teaches child abuse prevention training. The lesson, designed for elementary students, is called Roar.

Students at Parkview Elementary in the Mid-Del School District roar during a child prevention lesson put on by The Care Center on Sept. 17.

Shelby Lynch, education manager at The Care Center, teaches child abuse prevention training. Each student takes home a parent guide that Lynch hopes families will use to reinforce lessons about body empowerment.

Members of the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, whose offices are located in a downtown Oklahoma City high-rise, include Gov. Kevin Stitt and four others. Brandt Vawter is currently acting secretary.

Two elementary students look at books in a classroom at Le Monde International School, a public charter school in Norman, on Sept. 14, 2018.

Rows of books are seen in Ketchum Elementary School on Nov. 14, 2018.

Kevin Finlay, an attorney for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, speaks to defendants in a Cleveland County courtroom in September. The inmate Finlay is advising wanted to ensure his sentences would be served consecutively before agreeing to any terms.

Kevin Finlay, an attorney for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, fills out paperwork at a table inside a Cleveland County courtroom on Sept. 26, 2019. Another public defender speaks to defendants in the background.

Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt speaks to an audience at the Tower Theatre at the showing of the documentary “Resilience” on Sept. 30, 2019. The film explores the science behind the effects of adverse childhood experiences.

During a batterer intervention session on Oct. 22 in Oklahoma City, a newcomer complained about his wife who is the victim of his abuse. The group facilitator told the man he had no right to put his hands on his wife, even if she was being disrespectful and yelling at him. The man rolled his eyes and hung his head at the facilitator’s response.

Forrest Britton, a batterer intervention facilitator at Catalyst in Oklahoma City, talks to a class of 14 men about commitments and relationships during a session on Oct. 22.

Judge Brett Butner congratulates Aries Gokey on his new baby during domestic violence court reviews on Sept. 27 in Seminole County Court. Gokey had completed 37 of 52 batterer intervention classes and told the judge he was concerned about the cost of his remaining sessions, but said he hoped to finish soon.

Anthony Ramsey, right, talks to Carla Presley, a batterers intervention facilitator, during a court review of Ramsey’s progress on Sept. 27. Ramsey had not yet completed an intake assessment or started classes. Judge Brett Butner, who presides over the monthly reviews for domestic violence offenders in Seminole County, told Ramsey to keep trying.

Judge Brett Butner talks to Jason Trekkel, who stands next to his batterer intervention facilitator Carla Presley, during domestic violence court reviews on Sept. 27 in Seminole County court. Since 2019, Trekkel has pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery in the presence of a minor, and no contest two counts of threatening to commit an act of violence. After court in September, he was again arrested on charges of stalking and threatening violence, according to court documents.

Domestic violence court is held once a month at the Tulsa County courthouse. Tulsa is one of few Oklahoma courts that has the specialized docket.

Domestic violence court is held once a month at the Tulsa County courthouse. Felony cases are seen by Judge Kelly Greenough and misdemeanor cases by Judge April Seibert.

Judge Kelly Greenough presides over Tulsa County’s monthly felony domestic violence reviews. In September, she saw nearly 100 offenders in a single day.

Galen Younger, a victims’ advocate for the YWCA in Oklahoma City, carries flags across the south lawn at the state Capitol. Each flag represents a victim killed during a domestic violence incident last year. The flags will be on display throughout October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Melissa Blanton, left, chief of the Victim Services Unit for the Attorney General’s Office, stands next to Mackenzie Malison, policy and communications coordinator for the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, at the YWCA’s wreath ceremony kicking off Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter speaks on the State Capitol’s south lawn during the YWCA’s wreath ceremony kicking off Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Batterer intervention Facilitator Sherri Jolly speaks to her clients on the south lawn of the State Capitol during a domestic violence awareness ceremony. The group stood at the back of the lawn while a domestic violence victim shared her story of pain and survival.

Sean Jones and his batterer intervention facilitator, Sherri Jolly, attended a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event on Oct. 9. Jones is about three months into his third attempt to complete the yearlong program, which is part of his plea deal in lieu of prison time for a domestic abuse charge.

Sean Jones and his batterer intervention facilitator, Sherri Jolly, attended a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event on Oct. 9. Jones received a deferred sentence in lieu of prison time for a domestic abuse charge, which included a year of probation and the 52-week intervention course.

Oklahoma County plans to launch its first domestic violence court for felony offenders in February with Judge Susan Stallings presiding over the cases each month. The specialized docket is modeled after Tulsa’s domestic violence court sessions with the goal of increasing accountability for abusers.

A family grieves while holding a photograph of their loved one who was a victim of domestic violence. Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch

Eighty two flags adorn the south lawn at the State Capitol during Domestic Violence Awareness Month – one for every person who lost their life to domestic abuse last year.

Weeding through the politics of the current tax credits debate can be a daunting task, especially when one must factor in lobbyists, campaign contributions, party alliances and the ever-elusive motives of political gain.

Yet, there is one more factor rarely discussed, a factor that is shaping Oklahoma’s future.

“Naturally, there is a divide of Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature,” noted former State Treasurer Scott Meacham. “But there’s an even greater divide there between rural and urban legislators.”

Mike Southard, Ada Jobs Foundation president, fears the divide is becoming greater and will ultimately impact where the state invests its tax credits and incentives. Southard made that conclusion after attending the first hearing held by the Task Force for the Study of State Tax Credits and Economic Incentives in August.

“I was so mad by what I heard, I haven’t gone back,” Southard said. “People were told they couldn’t even speak until they first rattled off how many jobs a tax credit had created for them … but economic incentives are much more complex, especially in Oklahoma’s rural communities.”

Southard pointed to Boeing’s plans to move more than 500 engineering jobs from California to Oklahoma as an example. The Aerospace Employer & Employee Tax Credit program is credited with playing a role in that decision – a study by Boeing and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber shows will cost the state $3.5 million but is projected to infuse $270 million into the Oklahoma economy.

“Naturally, everyone would like a Boeing to come to town,” Southard said. “Who wouldn’t? What people don’t realize is those types of deals are rare – extremely rare. For us, here in Ada, I’d rather see 10 new businesses with 10 jobs each, staying for the next 10 to 20 years. That would have just as great an impact on our community.”

Southard wonders if rural Oklahomans can successfully make that argument to the task force. He’s not alone.

“Our voice in rural Oklahoma is barely being heard,” said State Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre. “The bedrock of Oklahoma’s economy is the oil and gas industry and agriculture. As for oil and gas, outside of corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City or Tulsa, nearly all of the work is done in rural parts of our state. No one seems to think about that much. Then there’s agriculture. You won’t see big corporations coming to the defense of agriculture like they do with oil and gas. Why don’t we have any tax credits for rural farmers?

“The truth is the power has already gradually shifted toward the urban communities.”

The political gap between rural and urban Oklahoma is slowly widening.

Redistricting for the 2012 elections is already complete, with 61 of 101 House districts going to counties with populations greater 69,700 – Oklahoma, Tulsa, Cleveland, Comanche, Canadian, Rogers, Payne, Wagoner, Muskogee, Creek and Pottawatomie. Those same counties will also account for 28 of the Senate’s 48 districts.

While the redistricting process is, in itself, based on a complex format, Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, said the shift clearly gives urban Oklahoma “greater influence” and therefore more responsibility.

“For the first time in state history, urban legislators will outnumber rural legislators,” said Rep. Dank, the task force’s co-chairman. “We have to remember the threshold for these tax credits is the cost-benefit to the taxpayer, regardless of whether you’re talking about 10 or 12 jobs in Sapulpa or 200 jobs in Oklahoma City or Tulsa.

“Rural Oklahoma is important to all of us. Will urban legislators listen to rural Oklahoma? That’s the hope.”

Mark VanLandingham, The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s vice president of government relations and policies, doesn’t buy into the notion there is a growing imbalance in power between rural and urban Oklahoma.

“I think rural Oklahoma has, and will continue to have, a strong voice,” VanLandingham said. “Why? They have a very strong rural caucus.”

The Rural Venture Capital Formation Incentive Act and Small Business Capital Formation Incentive Act have both been touted for rural economic development in the past, but both are scheduled to expire Dec. 31. Dank and others expects those programs to fade quietly into the sunset because of their “lack of transparency.”

Instead, small businesses now are encouraged to apply for the Small Employer Quality Jobs Program, which offers cash incentives for companies in communities with fewer than 7,000 residents. The incentives, however, are tied directly to the creation of new jobs.

There must be five new jobs for communities of 3,500 or fewer residents; ten new jobs for communities between 3,500 and 7,000 residents; and 15 jobs for communities over 7,500 residents.

Yet not every tax credit or incentive is tied to job creation. The state’s Historical Preservation Tax Credit is a prime example and is also being heavily scrutinized, although some claim it spurred major revitalization projects statewide in Shawnee, Cordell, Ardmore, Sapulpa and other towns.

In Shawnee, more than $11.4 million was invested a two-phase restoration of The Aldridge Hotel, a nine-story prairie “skyscraper” built in 1928 as the Hilton Phillips Hotel. The hotel, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, is now a 60-unit apartment complex for low-income seniors.

“For $250,000, that hotel could have been leveled and that would have been the end of that,” said Southard, Shawnee’s former community development director. “Instead, the investment is made. Afterward, over $20 million is re-invested in Shawnee’s downtown. Without that historic preservation tax credit, that hotel is never rehabilitated and Shawnee’s downtown doesn’t experience that revitalization. That’s something to think about.”

Oklahoma’s Rural and Urban Gap Widens

Support our publication