What’s happening, Oklahoma?

A few years ago, my wife gifted me the Sunday New York Times, which comes with a digital account. For a news nerd like me, this was one of the best gifts ever — and I could go weeks, if not months without seeing anything about Oklahoma in their pages.

This week there have already been two stories, and one is a nightmare.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters made The Old Grey Lady Tuesday for his insistence that Oklahoma schools take an extra moment — beyond the one they already take daily — to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

That was not the nightmare story.

This one was. “Inside a ‘Hell on Earth’ in Oklahoma” by investigative reporters Danny Hakim and Rachel Nostrant was the harrowing tale of what allegedly happened at The Robert M. Greer Center in Enid a couple of years back.

The Times refers to coverage from The Frontier, a story from Kayla Branch that I featured in the May 20 edition of Oklahoma Memo. The Frontier has been all over this story from the start, and the Enid News & Eagle has been keeping up, too, supplementing its work with The Frontier’s.

Maybe it’s the dystopian cinematic visions I’m having one evening after watching the movie “Eddington,” but I could see Apera Tobiason’s quest to help these patients along with the personal nightmare she experienced as a movie in its own right.

Courage is contagious, and hers surely saved lives.

Likewise, these stories underscore the importance of journalism. I’m not a cynic, but without that fourth-estate pressure on state officials to step in, do the right thing, and not renew the previous provider, Liberty Healthcare, it never would have happened.

It never would have happened.

It never would have happened.

Journalism did that.

It turns out, journalism is going to have to stay on the case because the new providers, a company called Respectful Partners, retained many of the same folks from the previous regime — insanity.

Hoping for the best, but on the constant lookout for anything you the public need to know — that’s what newsrooms do.

If you’re moved to support The Frontier and their work, here’s a link to their donation page.

You can message me anytime at [email protected].

Weather Update ☀️

Rain chances start to go up, but otherwise hot and muggy.

🌡️ Wednesday's high in OKC 91°
🌡️ Wednesday’s high in Tulsa 92°

Open primary ballot plan OK’d by Oklahoma Supreme Court

By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — An initiative petition aiming to reform Oklahoma’s election system and open primaries can begin collecting signatures following a ruling from the Oklahoma Supreme Court. 

The state’s high court on Tuesday ruled 8-0 that a challenge to State Question 836 was premature. Opponents, including the Oklahoma state Republican Party, argued in June the state question’s gist was misleading and the suggested reforms would burden Oklahomans’ right to associate with political parties. 

“The People’s right to propose law and amendments to the Oklahoma Constitution through the initiative process is precious, and any doubt as to the legal sufficiency of an initiative petition should be resolved in its favor,” Justice Douglas Combs wrote in the majority opinion. 

The Supreme Court found the gist was not misleading, that any challenge at this stage was premature, and does not impose any “severe burden” on associational rights. 

The proposed state question needs almost 173,000 signatures to make it onto a future ballot. If approved, it would open primary elections to all voters. While Oklahoma primaries are currently closed, parties can choose to open them to 466,000 registered independent voters. Only Democrats currently do. 

State Question 836 proposes allowing voters to choose one candidate for each office and the top two voter-getters advance to the general election regardless of political party. Presidential primary elections would be unaffected. 

Click here to finish the story

Oklahoma pulls back curtain on opioid settlement money, but victims' families still have questions

By Sierra Pfeifer, KOSU
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From the panhandle to its eastern border, the opioid crisis has reached every corner of Oklahoma. Visit any of the state's 77 counties, any school district, tribe or community, and you will meet people who have lost a loved one or seen them struggle.

At the peak of the crisis in 2023, 810 people died of opioid overdoses in Oklahoma, adding to thousands more deaths over the course of a decade.

In the last six years, nearly 40% of the people who have died, including Diane Searle’s daughter, have been younger than 35.

“And for the parents that think, ‘oh, my kid would never do that,'" Searle said. “Those are very dangerous words, because I have 452 families that you can talk to.”

Searle started an advocacy and support group in Tulsa, called Families Supporting Families, after she lost her 19-year-old daughter, Jillian, to a heroin overdose in 2018.

“She had a great sense of humor. She was like the clown of the whole house. She loved animals. She loved her siblings,” said Searle, who wears a picture of Jillian on a purple lanyard around her neck. “She never thought she was popular. It was something she always struggled with. She's absolutely beautiful and she never really thought she was either.”

Families Supporting Families was made up of five mothers but quickly grew, Searle said. At first, she’d find people through obituaries or newspaper articles. Now, they find her. A registered nonprofit, the group hands out harm reduction supplies, holds assemblies at local schools, helps parents navigate legal battles and pools together money for overdose-awareness billboards.

As a direct result of deaths of Oklahomans like Searle’s daughter, the state has won more than $900 million from the distributors, pharmacies and companies that profited most from opioid sales. It’s a portion of the nearly $50 billion in settlement funds awarded via lawsuits to states so far.

The money comes from lawsuits filed by attorneys general throughout the country claiming corporations misleadingly promoted prescription opioids, leading to widespread addiction and devastation.

In 2019, out of more than 2,000 others filed around the nation, an Oklahoma lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson was the first case against an opioid manufacturer to go to trial. A ruling ordering the manufacturer to pay the state millions was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, but litigation inspired legal action against other companies in the industry.

Now, Searle and other community members have questions about where the money is going — and whether it’s helping those most in need.

“It should be public knowledge,” Searle said. “My kid died from opiates, she’s one of the statistics from that, so we should have public knowledge of what you’re spending it on.”

Click here to finish the story

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If you’d like to advertise in the Oklahoma Memo newsletter daily, reach out to me at [email protected]. I’d be happy to send you a rate card with all sorts of options.

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• A top-of-the-newsletter ad. Primo real estate. Banner image, 2-3 sentences with a call-to-action and a link.

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I will also offer one-time story placement, branded clearly as sponsored content. Keep it to 250 words or thereabouts with an image and a call-to-action. There are also opportunities on other platforms for us to work together.

Monthly contracts available, and I can be super flexible to make the partnership meet your business needs.

The Oklahoma Rundown 📰

A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• Oklahoma Supreme Court issues temporary stay on new social studies standards; Walters calls it 'embarrassing' (News On 6)

• Owasso Public Schools formerly denies most claims in Nex Benedict lawsuit (2 News Oklahoma)

• OKC police to continue using Flock cameras despite concerns of federal agency misuse (The Oklahoman)

• OSBI: Man fatally shot after firing at law enforcement officers in Cherokee County (Tulsa World)

• 5 things to know about the world's largest company partnering with a Tulsa firm on AI training (Tulsa World)

• OCPD: Pursuit suspect crashes into police unit, injuring 2 Oklahoma City officers (KOCO)

• What's changed, and what hasn't, now that Oklahoma's social studies standards are on pause (The Oklahoman)

• Mayor Nichols signs ordinance limiting access to sidewalks and medians, but urges changes (Tulsa World)

• Murray State College wrestler dies after car crashes into tree (KOCO)

• Unsolved 2014 murder in southwest OKC: Sister revives hope for justice (News 9)

• $800K GRANT: Revitalization around Hopewell Park in Muskogee (2 News Oklahoma)

• Ardmore non-profit facing closure after 16 years of service (KXII)

• Food truck laws bring new requirements for vendors Nov. 1 (KFOR)

• First responders, other professionals talk compassionate communication in mental illness support (Public Radio Tulsa)

• Oklahoma State University researchers track more kudzu sites around state (KOSU)

• Oklahoma lawmakers explore the benefits of using solar panels on working agricultural land (KGOU)

• Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman discusses city issues, initiatives with OU students at on-campus forum (OU Daily)

• Oklahoma State University professors release a different kind of brass album (KOSU)

• Oklahoma country music star Reba McEntire is engaged (KFOR)

• Former Cox Convention Center on track to be demolished by end of 2025 (The Oklahoman)

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The ‘Oklahoma Memo’ mission is simple: Reignite the daily news habit by connecting Oklahomans and those who love Oklahoma to quality sources of news and vetted information.

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(Cover photo of Ryan Walters was taken by Whitney Bryen, Oklahoma Voice, in 2023.)