Tulsa County DA race pits experience against calls for change Incumbent Steve Kunzweiler is running on a decade of high-profile prosecutions and stability. Challenger Colleen McCarty argues those same years show it’s time for a different approach.

Incumbent Steve Kunzweiler is running on a decade of high-profile prosecutions and stability. Challenger Colleen McCarty argues those same years show it’s time for a different approach.

Restrictions on in-state tuition and welfare benefits among Oklahoma immigration bills moving forward Dozens of bills targeting illegal immigration did not advance this legislative session, but a few proposals have survived.

Dozens of bills targeting illegal immigration did not advance this legislative session, but a few proposals have survived.

Oklahoma lawmakers add data center restrictions to groundwater metering measure Lawmakers advanced a bill that would reshape how Oklahoma tracks the water it pulls out of the ground. After a change during the legislative process, the measure would also add requirements for data c...

Oklahoma lawmakers advanced a bill that would reshape how the state tracks the water it pulls out of the ground. After a change during the legislative process, the measure would also add requirements for data centers seeking to use Oklahoma groundwater.

Rammstein. Jane's Addiction comes pretty close.

Markwayne Mullin’s leadership PAC spent nearly $1.5 million on travel, events and other expenses Federal rules do not require Oklahoma’s U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin to shut down his leadership PAC if he is confirmed to lead the Department of Homeland Security. The committee has spent money on f...

While most of #Oklahoma's congressional delegation sent Leadership PAC money to other candidates, two-thirds of Sen. Markwayne Mullin's went to other expenses, including luxury hotel stays, Washington Nationals tickets, private jet rentals, golf outings & gear www.readfrontier.org/stories/mark...

As data centers boom in Oklahoma, so does water demand From Pryor to Stillwater and Muskogee, local officials say supplies are sufficient, even as Google alone used more than 1.1 billion gallons in a single year.

From Pryor to Stillwater to Muskogee, Oklahoma is courting massive data centers.

But keeping those servers cool requires huge amounts of water.

Our latest reporting found Google’s Pryor facility alone used over 1.1 billion gallons in one year.

What happens as more projects come online?

“We’ll be one of the largest customers of the city water so we believe (the) city can make revenue from our operations to cover the (water line) extension cost,” the CEO of a mid-sized crypto mining firm wrote to Muskogee city officials.

The facility used ~150mm gallons last yr.

With $1.5 million federal grant, Tulsa police will process some untested kits. Old sexual assault cases could be reopened The Tulsa Police Department's project could serve as a statewide model of best practices on how to handle and respond to cases of sexual assault.

This winter storm is giving off 2021 vibes. Stay safe out there. If you’re from small town #Oklahoma you know there’s was a time where there was a church and dispensary on about every street corner at one point. Anyway, here’s a story from from the 2021 storm: www.readfrontier.org/stories/with...

Read our story - A fragile aquifer, a proposed mine and a fight over Oklahoma’s water - at the link in the comments.

Fact Check: Are claims about Oklahoma data centers holding up? From the state’s ‘Behind the Meter’ power law to promises about electric bills and transparency, The Frontier reviewed the facts behind recent statements on data center development.

From the state’s ‘Behind the Meter’ power law to promises about electric bills and transparency, The Frontier reviewed the facts behind recent statements on data center development.

Listen Frontier: Inside Oklahoma’s data center surge and the potential hidden costs Frontier reporter Clifton Adcock unpacks how state leaders are selling the data center boom, what utilities are asking regulators to approve, and why ratepayers feel left in the dark.

I interviewed @cliftonhowze.bsky.social about his story for @readfrontier.bsky.social about the proliferation of data centers popping up across Oklahoma.

Great stuff in here from @cliftonhowze.bsky.social consistently one of the state’s best journalists

State Delays Push Data Center Developers to Private Land - Oklahoma Watch Months of delays by Oklahoma land commissioners in approving a commercial lease for a Lawton-area data center led the developer to withdraw, costing the state potential education revenue.

Months of delays by Oklahoma land commissioners in approving a commercial lease for a Lawton-area data center led the developer to withdraw, costing the state potential education revenue.
oklahomawatch.org/2025/12/09/s... (via @oklahomawatch.bsky.social) #okgov #okleg #data #electricity #oilandgas

Did no one even ask if TSET could have helped cover the gap in building the originally envisioned new state mental health center instead of simply going with a smaller operation that won't get the job done? www.oklahoman.com/story/news/p...

Oklahoma deserves the truth. Help us fight for it This Giving Tuesday, you can help The Frontier continue to do the reporting our state deserves.

Investigative journalism is expensive, slow, and meticulous.

In a world where newsrooms are shrinking and some are dying, the kind of work we do isn’t possible without reader support

Despite Stitt’s hardline rhetoric, the state plans to fund housing for those swept by Operation SAFE in Oklahoma City State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tuls...

State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tulsa.

Watonga confronts economic need and ethical unease over housing ICE detainees The reopening of a private prison in a small Oklahoma town will bring hundreds of jobs, even as CoreCivic faces national scrutiny for alleged mistreatment and isolation of immigration detainees.

CoreCivic, a private company that owns five other facilities in Oklahoma, announced in early October that it was awarded a new five-year contract with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement and the state Department of Corrections to resume operations at its 2,160-bed facility in Watonga.

Tomorrow’s your chance to attend for free a panel discussion exploring how energy industry practices impact our groundwater.

Come early, grab a snack, hear what the reporters uncovered—and bring a friend. Because when we stay informed together, we’re stronger.

www.eventbrite.com/e/overpressu...

Watonga confronts economic need and ethical unease over housing ICE detainees The reopening of a private prison will bring hundreds of jobs to the shrinking town, even as CoreCivic faces national scrutiny for alleged mistreatment and isolation of immigration detainees.

The reopening of a private prison in a small Oklahoma town will bring hundreds of jobs, even as CoreCivic faces national scrutiny for alleged mistreatment and isolation of immigration detainees.

Oklahoma spares Tremane Wood from execution with minutes to spare It’s the second time Gov. Kevin Stitt has commuted a death row prisoner’s sentence to life in prison without parole.

It’s the second time Gov. Kevin Stitt has commuted a death row prisoner’s sentence to life in prison without parole.

He thinks the trooper he killed is still alive — Oklahoma can’t execute him unless he understands his crime A new law requires continued treatment for death row prisoners too mentally ill to execute, even those who have been persistently psychotic for decades.

He thinks the trooper he killed is still alive — Oklahoma can’t execute him unless he understands his crime.

Tulsa’s surveillance gamble Police credit Flock cameras with reducing violent crime. But after millions spent, the data tells a murkier story — and the system may violate the law.

Police credit Flock cameras with reducing violent crime. But after millions spent, the data tells a murkier story — and the system may violate the law.

Oklahoma tribes step in to feed citizens as federal shutdown threatens food aid Tribal nations, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole are deploying funds to ensure their citizens don’t go hungry — and urging state leaders to do the same.

Tribal nations, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole are deploying funds to ensure their citizens don’t go hungry — and urging state leaders to do the same.

We’re small but scrappy and your donations keep us going Now through the end of the year, your donations to The Frontier will be matched.

A lot of hard work goes into making sure our reporting is accurate and fair. We spend weeks and sometimes months digging up records and convincing people to talk. Then there’s writing, rounds of edits and fact-checking.

Your donations help fund this work. And every dollar counts.

It smelled like a ‘buried body.’ A small town was overwhelmed by fumes from an oil waste disposal facility Residents near Enid say the smell of an oilfield waste disposal site made them feel sick. State officials weren’t sure who was in charge of enforcement.

At one point, a local resident sent state regulators photos of animals that the resident said had wandered onto his land, covered in oil.

But the smell from the out-of-state waste was “above and beyond anything that was imaginable,” he said.

Overpressured and Underregulated: a Frontier and ProPublica event Join nonprofit newsrooms The Frontier and ProPublica to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater.

Join nonprofit newsrooms The Frontier and ProPublica to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater. The event is free - sign up at the link below.

Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it. Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...

Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drinking water.

Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It. Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...

“A handshake instead of a hammer.” Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It.
@nickbowlin.bsky.social @readfrontier.bsky.social

Less help for Oklahoma homeless youth unless they’re sleeping in a shelter or outside Most youth who lack permanent housing in the state don’t fit the federal housing department’s definitions of homelessness and often don’t qualify for services.

Most youth who lack permanent housing in the state don’t fit the federal housing department’s definitions of homelessness and often don’t qualify for services.

Despite tribal citizenship, traffic tickets for Freedmen descendants to remain in city court A deal between the City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation doesn’t apply to Freedmen descendants who don't have documentation of a degree of Indian blood.

A deal between the City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation doesn’t apply to Freedmen descendants who don’t have documentation of a degree of Indian blood. @cliftonhowze.bsky.social and Allison Herrera find out why.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/desp...