What’s happening, Oklahoma? It is Tuesday, August 26, and it’s my birthday. 🎉

All I want this year is for some of you to share this newsletter with your audience, your people, folks who live in Oklahoma or who are from Oklahoma and who would get value from it. If you’d rather not do that but wouldn’t mind sending me a note to let me know why you enjoy the ‘Memo,’ I could turn that into what they call ‘social proof.’

So, yeah. It’s my birthday, and for me it’s the start of a new year. I like to organize, make plans, resolutions even, and I give myself the gift of a fresh start, over and over.

I was telling my wife this weekend that I think we have several new years each year.

• There’s the actual new year, on New Year’s Day.

• How about the start of baseball season? I would argue that it’s a new year, too.

• Your birthday is a great time to set goals, start anew, etc.

• And then college football season.

We’re sure getting the weather to hype up the start of football season in Oklahoma. How much rain did you get on Monday? In northwest Oklahoma City, we got just under 3 inches of rain as evidenced by my rain gauge.

And it doesn’t look like the rain is slowing down anytime soon.

Drive safe, and if we start to see some flooding, remember: if you can’t see the bottom of the water, don’t assume you know where it is.

Happy New Year!

You can message me anytime at [email protected].

Weather Update 🌧️

The rain is just getting started across Oklahoma.

🌡️ Tuesday's high in OKC 73°
🌡️ Tuesday’s high in Tulsa 79°

Tulsa must dramatically boost its housing supply over the next decade, experts say

By Dylan Goforth, The Frontier
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Tulsa needs to increase its housing supply by 55% to meet the city’s demand over the next decade, city and state leaders were told Monday.

More than two dozen area lawmakers and Tulsa City Councilors met during a special meeting Monday at City Hall. Mayor Monroe Nichols continues moving to increase the city’s housing supply, but housing experts told councilors and lawmakers more needs to be done.

Only 830 residences were built per year from 2000-2021 in Tulsa, according to a study shown during the meeting. To meet demand, the city needs to produce 1,290 residences per year. Tulsa is far from alone — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates a national deficit of over 4.5 million homes, owing to underbuilding following the 2007-2009 economic recession. Rent in Tulsa has continued to rise in recent years. A 2023 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study showed the average rent in Tulsa is $1,352 per month. 

Click here to finish the story.

Oklahoma patient pipeline: How an insurance scheme brought hundreds to California for drug treatment

By Haley Parsley, Oklahoma Watch
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Recruiters approached people struggling with addiction on streets throughout Oklahoma and offered a lifeline: treatment and housing, in beautiful Southern California, for free.

The recruiters knew that at a drug treatment facility, with the right insurance policy, they were worth tens of thousands of dollars.

“If you want to change your life around or even if you just want a free-ride vacation to California for three months or whatever, you know, here it is,” one recruiter told Derek Dunn in 2022.

Dunn took the bait.

So did more than 880 other Oklahomans, lured to drug treatment facilities in California and Arizona between 2020 and 2025, insurance company Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma alleged in two federal lawsuits. The company said the scheme cost them $46 million in wrongful payments.

Across the region, patients observed that treatment facilities seemed to target Oklahomans. Russell Andrews attended South Coast Behavioral Health, a facility named in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma lawsuit, in 2022. 

Click here to finish the story.

Would you like to be here? 💰

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.

There will be 3 spots available for ads in the newsletter:

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

• This space here. One photo or image, one paragraph, a call-to-action and a link.

• A bottom of the newsletter ad. This one is for bargain hunters. Banner image, 2-3 sentences with a call-to action and a link.

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:

• DNA links Muskogee stepfather to 11-year-old girl's baby (2 News Oklahoma)

• Who will Oklahoma execute next? A switch up is underway (The Oklahoman)

• ‘So many problems’: After reporting to FBI, John Chancey resigns as Horse Racing Commission director (NonDoc)

• Man arrested in fatal shooting of his 4-year-old son, Tulsa police say (Tulsa World)

• Legionella bacteria found in water at Rose State College (KFOR)

• Oklahoma TSET investment board likely violated ‘spirit’ of transparency law, experts say (Oklahoma Voice)

• Sooner Survey shows where potential gubernatorial candidates stand among likely Republican voters (KSWO)

• Man shot by officer in Eufaula, OSBI investigating (KTUL)

• Tulsa police: Homeless man with machete shot, killed on Osage Trail in Tulsa (News On 6)

• 17-year-old girl allegedly shot in OKC by another teen is remembered for showing love to others (KOCO)

• Federal lawsuit filed two years after deadly Choctaw shooting (News 9)

• Oklahoma gains first full-time perinatal psychiatrist (KOSU)

• Osage Nation Health System breaks ground on first assisted-living facility (Osage News)

• Shawnee Tribe, business partners celebrate tribal casino expansion in Oklahoma Panhandle (KOSU)

• 'Just really exciting': $2.3M film studio coming to Collinsville (2 News Oklahoma)

• Durant approves three major projects (KXII)

• Homes in southern Woodward County damaged by high winds (Woodward News)

• Ponca City Police release name of deadly shooting victim, request public assistance (Kay News Cow)

• Garfield County commissioners vote to drop Expo Center tax vote (Enid News & Eagle)

• Commissioners tour newly appointed Woodward County Detention Center (Woodward News)

• Ike's Chili, two other historic Oklahoma restaurants receive $50,000 preservation grants (Tulsa World)

• City mourns passing of Charlie Rogers (McAlester News-Capital)

• Oklahoma City center is reliable resource for Muscogee Creek Nation citizens (Mvskoke Media)

• Grace Episcopal in Muskogee welcomes new rector (Muskogee Phoenix)

• Oklahoma sees nation’s 14th largest drop in alcohol use (The Black Wall Street Times)

• 'Boys from Oklahoma' tease 'repeat performance' next year in Stillwater: What they said (The Oklahoman)

• OU football injury updates: RB Jaydn Ott will play in opener, Taylor Tatum 'unavailable' (The Oklahoman)

Oklahoma Memo’s Mission, Social Media & Feedback

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.

✅ Save you time.
✅ Make you smarter.

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Contact Us

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