Oklahoma Watch

Two education measures finalized this week mark a win for those who subscribe to the philosophy that public tax dollars should follow students to the school of their choice. 

Oklahoma’s boost to its COVID-19 contact tracing efforts led to no insights and was marred by technology problems and a failure to collect the proper data, a new legislative report finds.

About two-thirds of Oklahoma prison workers and just under half of the inmates have opted not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from the state Department of Corrections, a sign that vaccine hesitancy remains high and some facilities may not reach the immunity threshold necessary to prevent future outbreaks.

There will be no school report cards this year, one of many disruptions caused by COVID-19. 

After a year of COVID-19 restrictions, Oklahoma’s long-term care facilities are beginning to reopen to visitors. It could still be weeks or months before families are reunited.

It took one minute and 55 seconds for an Oklahoma House legislative committee to give the green light to a bill that would make it easier for teachers to carry guns in classrooms.

State public health officials are feeling optimistic about the pace of vaccinations and lower cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19, leading to changes this week in Oklahoma’s nursing home visitation policies and a new phase in the vaccination rollout.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 Monday to advance death row inmate Julius Jones’ commutation request to a Stage Two Review, a more comprehensive hearing where new testimony and evidence may be introduced.

Oklahoma next week will open more groups to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine as the state now has more than one-third of its adult population with at least one dose.

A bill that would modify State Question 780, a 2016 voter-approved ballot initiative that reclassified several drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and has helped reduce Oklahoma’s prison population, has advanced past committee and is eligible for a Senate vote. 

Oklahoma public health officials are hoping to close a widening gap when it comes to recording deaths related to COVID-19.

A proposal to adjust the school funding formula could strip millions from urban and rural districts and shift it to others. 

Like many Oklahomans with an incarcerated family member, Sharla Halencak hasn’t seen her son Clinton in more than a year.

More than half a year after voters approved a state question that will require Oklahoma to offer health coverage to more than 200,000 low-income adults, state officials are still unsure how they’ll pay it. 

Staff shortages and equipment transition for the relocated Public Health Lab in Stillwater have caused state health officials to outsource certain tests to private labs, and in some cases to a public health lab in Minnesota.

Nearly seven weeks after COVID-19 vaccines reached Oklahoma nursing homes, first doses have been delivered to residents and staff at nearly every long-term care facility in the state.

As Oklahomans wait for the state’s limited COVID-19 vaccine supply, more than 62,000 doses allocated for long-term care residents and staff remain in freezers.

More Oklahomans than ever before skipped over selecting individual candidates and instead voted for their party’s entire slate of candidates with a single pen stroke in 2020.

Oklahoma’s congressional delegation could see political repercussions after all five of the state’s U.S. House of Representatives members voted against certifying President-Elect Joe Biden’s electoral college win.