Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library delivers free, age-appropriate books monthly to families with children ages 0-5.

The program is administered by the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness or OPSR, which works to expand access to early childhood care, education and support for Oklahoma families.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is currently available in 74 Oklahoma counties, leaving only Logan, Pawnee and Noble Counties without access.

Dolly Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995 in Tennessee in honor of her father, who was not able to read or write. Now, the program is available in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

In 2020, the Oklahoma state legislature passed Senate Bill 1803 to provide 50% of the funding for the program. The other 50% is funded by local partners.

Erin Bell, director of early literacy for OPSR, said in 2022 there were around 4,000 children enrolled in the program. Today, over 100,000 children across the state are enrolled.

Bell said each book includes a letter from Parton and individualized tips for the next time parents read the book to the child. It might say to ask a child to point out everything in the book that’s red, or, next time families are in the car, point out objects children have seen in their books.

“It not only provides them with a low-barrier way to have books in the home, but it also gives parents a way to really just foster that love of reading and foster those early literacy skills in a very natural way,” Bell said.

Bell said as she travels the state to work with local community partners, she hears stories of how the Imagination Library program has impacted families. She said many children don’t know Parton as a famous singer, they feel a personal connection to her as a consistent figure in their lives.

Bell remembered an earlier comment from a parent this year that they were not able to afford high-quality books and that the program helped them establish a reading routine with their children.

“A parent said that the program had really blessed them because they were not able to afford high-quality books, and through this program they were able to make sure that their child had wonderful books to read at home, and that they’d started a reading routine because of the program,” Bell said.

OPSR partners with nonprofits in each county to provide about $1.30 per child each month and facilitate fundraising and publicizing the program.

Bell said a community partner must be a 501(c)(3) organization, have sufficient funding to cover a few years, and commit to being the face of the program for the community.

OPSR will be able to offer start-up assistance for partners through additional funds from the legislature, Bell said.

Bell said oftentimes these partners play an integral role in enrollment, since many are trusted members of their communities.

“Local program partners really are the lifeblood of the program,” Bell said. “For example, in Madill, Oklahoma, they don’t know me because I’m here in Oklahoma City, but they know their financial secretary at their school, … and they trust her.

“They really make sure that the program really comes alive for the kids.”

A study by the Dollywood Foundation found that children enrolled in the program in the U.S. were nine times more likely to initiate shared book reading than children not enrolled. It also found children were 11 times more likely to be interested in reading and three times more likely to demonstrate concepts about print compared to children not enrolled.

According to Bell, some states that have had the program for a while are seeing improvements among kids enrolled in it. She said those outcomes indicated enrollment in the program may lead to higher education and early literacy outcomes in Oklahoma.

“Those are school readiness indicators, … 15 minutes a day will make a huge impact on that child’s ability to read later,” Bell said. “We do see that in states that have had (the program) for a long time, there have been some significant improvements with the kids who are enrolled in the program.”

Bell emphasized how important community partnerships are to the success of the program in Oklahoma, like rural electric cooperatives, which ensure their counties have funding.

She also highlighted the legislature's commitment, which has consistently funded the program since 2020. She said other states, like Missouri, are losing their programs because state lawmakers aren’t providing sufficient funding.

Bell said OPSR partners with the state Department of Education, and it also serves as the state early childhood advisory council.

“It also takes that commitment from the state Capitol, from the legislators who understand how important it is,” Bell said. “Our leaders are really committed to this.”

The organization’s goal is to reach 65% of enrollment for all eligible children across 77 counties, Bell said. With the recent growth in the program, enrollment is at about 41% among eligible children across all but three counties.

Eligible families can enroll in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library online, and interested community partners can either complete an application or contact OPSR.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, sued Paycom on Tuesday for alleged discrimination against an employee with a severe allergy.

The complaint alleges that Paycom, the Oklahoma City-based payroll software company, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it failed to reasonably accommodate the employee and eventually terminated her. The employee at the center of the suit worked for the company for about a month in 2024 and suffered at least five allergic reactions on the job.

“Employers have a legal obligation to explore and provide reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities — especially when the potential consequences of inaction are life-threatening,” Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District said in a Wednesday press release. “No employee should be forced to choose between their health and their livelihood.”

The former employee, Katie Jorgenson, suffered from an anaphylactic allergy to onions and had informed Paycom about her condition during the hiring process, the EEOC complaint said. Shortly after beginning work at the company as a Benefits Coordinator in May 2024, Jorgenson was exposed to onions in the workplace and suffered two allergic reactions, one of which required treatment from paramedics.

Upon her request, the company offered Jorgenson a private workspace from 10:00am to 2:00pm during the workday, but she continued to experience onion exposures and, at one point, an allergic reaction that required her to go to the hospital. The company subsequently declined a medical doctor’s recommendation to allow Jorgenson to work remotely or in an “enclosed office away from food areas.”

The company ultimately relocated Jorgenson to another floor of her office building, where she was stationed about 15 feet away from a breakroom. The company did not inform employees using the breakroom about Jorgenson’s allergy, according to the complaint, and she suffered two subsequent allergic reactions. Jorgenson informed the company’s Human Resources department that she would “like to work without continued reactions.”

On June 19, 2024, less than a month after Jorgenson began work at Paycom, the company terminated her.

The complaint argues Paycom violated the ADA by refusing to “provide reasonable accommodation for Jorgenson’s known physical limitations” and discharging her on the basis of her disability.

“As a result of Paycom’s unlawful conduct, Jorgenson was repeatedly exposed to onions at work, triggering life-threatening allergy attacks,” the complaint said. “Paycom knew about this recurring exposure, which was both preventable and foreseeable, yet failed to take meaningful steps to accommodate her.”

In a statement to KOSU, a Paycom spokesperson wrote that the company does comment on pending litigation, but affirmed its commitment to "the well-being of our employees."

"We maintain a workplace that complies with applicable federal, state and local employment laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act," the spokesperson wrote.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Western Oklahoma, requests a jury trial. The EEOC asked the court to demand Paycom compensate Jorgenson for the lost earnings and emotional distress she suffered as a result of the company’s treatment. The complaint also seeks an injunction to ensure Paycom can’t refuse to hire someone because they require an accommodation for their disability.

Norman comic book store owner and writer Matt Price is bringing back a title you might be familiar with if you played with motorcycle action figures in the 1980s.

Matthew Price remembers reading Team America and seeing the toys as a kid. And now, he’s bringing the team back. His new comic book Team America Racing follows a team of young competitive motocross racers as they compete across the U.S.

Originally published by Marvel and owned by Ideal Toys, the brand ended up in the hands of Dave Witting, owner of Comic Shop News, a news publication that Matt Price also writes and edits for.

Despite the new publisher not owning the rights to the Marvel comics, Price considers the book a spiritual sequel that is updated for a new generation of readers.

“I kind of took the tactic of what is different in 2025, 2026 about being a young person competing at a high level. What does representing your country mean in 2026,” said Price.

Price will be signing copies of the book on July 4 at his store Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.

Listen to the full episode here, on the NPR app, or wherever you get podcasts.

About 25 miles east of Downtown Tulsa, Inola bills itself as the Hay Capital of the World.

But a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter would give Inola a new superlative: home of the largest economic development project in Oklahoma history.

The smelter has backing from President Donald Trump, Gov. Kevin Stitt and other state and federal officials, who say domestic aluminum production is a matter of national security.

But many Inola residents are concerned about how hydrogen fluoride emissions will affect surrounding plants and livestock.

At a meeting Monday, Inola’s mayor and board of trustees officially hit pause on zoning approvals for the smelter.

Residents ask town officials to ‘pump the brakes’

As town leadership met Monday night to consider a moratorium that would pause their approvals process for the smelter, hundreds of attendees packed Inola High School’s fine arts room. About 100 people who couldn’t fit were sent to the gym to watch on TV.

Christine Roam was one of dozens wearing teal “Stop the Inola Smelter” t-shirts. She says the moratorium will allow more time to gather data and develop enforceable agreements with the company behind the smelter.

“There are so many unanswered questions about the environmental impacts that this smelter is going to have,” Roam said. “And so it seems prudent for a project this large to pump the brakes and to give us the opportunity to review everything and make sure that the representations that are being made about how clean and modern this smelter is actually are accurate.”

Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson addressed the town council Monday night. She said the $5 million in federal funding pledged to this project is contingent on meeting clean energy standards.

“This is the newest technology. This is closed-loop technology, that emissions will not leave the plant. They are captured,” Robertson said, eliciting grumbles from the crowd. “All right. I guess it's not as friendly here as where I came from.”

Many Inola residents said they were disillusioned with the Trump Administration’s characterization of the smelter. It doesn’t match what the company behind the smelter put in its February application for an air quality permit from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Roam said.

“We've heard President Trump say this is going to be the most modern and the cleanest smelter,” Roam said. “We're not seeing that in the air permit application, and we don't want to just take their word for it. So we need time in order for that information to come out, for this community to feel comfortable that it actually is going to be what they represent.”

Inola resident Thomas Harrington feels that should be an easy ask.

“Just show me that it's safe and show that with what you're going to put in a legally enforceable document,” Harrington said.

Harrington said he’s pro-energy and pro-development. But he’s also strongly in favor of the moratorium — he addressed the town council multiple times during the public comment portions of Monday’s meeting, and he said he’s tried to talk with the smelter’s proponents as well.

“I'm like, you have an easy battle to win,” he said. “And you're digging reverse on us for some reason…. We are Oklahomans. We want this kind of stuff. You just have to frame it in a way that doesn't treat us like they kind of have been.”

Letters urge support for smelter

Ahead of Monday’s meeting, town leaders received letters from Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, Tulsa Ports and Trump.

“Any actions taken by the Town of Inola that wrongfully interfere with Tulsa Port’s [sic] stated purpose will necessitate a response to protect the integrity of Tulsa Ports and the Port of Inola,” Tulsa Ports lawyer Randy Shorb said in a letter to the town’s board of trustees.

Shorb’s letter also assured town officials that compliance with state and federal environmental regulations “is common for industries located in our industrial park.”

Oklahoma Primary Aluminum is the local arm of Emirates Global Aluminium, the United Arab Emirates-based company behind the project. It also threatened legal action.

“Given the tens of millions of dollars already invested in the property and Project, Oklahoma Primary Aluminum would have an obligation to its stakeholders to pursue available legal remedies to recover those investment losses,” Executive Director Ziad Fares wrote. “Such litigation would impose substantial expense on Inola.”

Trump’s letter took a more encouraging approach. Robertson, the Department of Energy official, read it aloud to the town council.

“I strongly urge you to approve the Oklahoma aluminum smelter without delay, so that together we may strengthen our national security, supercharge our economy, and lead our nation boldly into the golden age of American greatness,” the letter concluded.

“Build it in Mar-a-Lago,” an attendee called in response.

After nearly six hours of public comments, presentations from state and federal officials, and discussions behind closed doors, Inola’s city leadership unanimously approved a 60-day moratorium on approvals for the smelter.

Oklahoma City has contracted with Flock Safety to capture vehicle data on public roads since 2023, aiming to solve crimes more quickly. But critics say the company facilitates mass surveillance.

In many ways, Jarrett Freeman considers himself a normal Oklahoma City resident. He runs a company that provides IT support for small businesses, using the fact that a real person will always answer the phone as a selling point for his services. And outside of work, he keeps a quiet life.

But over the past few months, Freeman has brought a nationwide movement to OKC.

“I am so far outside of my comfort zone,” Freeman said. “I don’t leave my house. I run the business from here. I don’t go out and party and hang out with people. So talk about being out of comfort zone.”

Earlier this year, Freeman filed a public records request on automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in Oklahoma City. The devices capture vehicle data on roads throughout the country, like license plate numbers and car makes, allowing law enforcement officers to access the information in hopes of building safer communities. But many privacy advocates worry the risks they present to citizen surveillance far outweigh the gains in solving crimes.

Since receiving his responses in March, Freeman has voiced his concerns to OKC’s City Council and found some of its members share his apprehension. They quickly began working together. Freeman, three city council members and representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and local organizations participated in a May town hall to advocate against widespread use of the technology.

Now, they await the results of their efforts. The City Council is expected to vote on renewing its contract with Flock Safety, its current ALPR vendor, as soon as next week.

How are ALPRs used in Oklahoma?

The use of ALPRs in Oklahoma is a legal gray area. State law expressly permits it to enforce insurance laws but doesn’t address any other use cases.

Oklahoma City began its contract with Flock Safety in June 2023, renewing it in both 2024 and 2025. But the cameras were first deployed in 2022 as part of an initial pilot.

According to the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Operations Manual, the purpose of the technology is to “help identify stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, missing persons, or locate vehicles connected to a crime or other law enforcement connected activities.”

Flock Safety allows its technology to be used to solve a variety of crimes. OKCPD officials declined an interview request from KOSU, but said in a statement that the system has helped track stolen cars, as well as vehicles related to missing persons cases. The Oklahoman reports that officers used Flock cameras to solve a homicide in 2023, as well as a 2025 shooting in Midtown.

Flock also hosts National Lookup, a tool that allows participating agencies to access data from other departments across the country in exchange for sharing their own data. National Lookup aims to help agencies solve cases that span states and counties more quickly, but critics of the company point to this feature specifically as an argument that Flock facilitates dangerous mass surveillance.

OKCPD officials did not answer questions about whether the department participates in National Lookup. However, the department’s contract with Flock states that OKCPD would be granted access to several other agencies’ data throughout the state when doing business with Flock.

A version of the department’s manual, published in February, said that “ALPR data will not be shared as part of a law enforcement information database.” The manual was updated this month to remove that sentence, with the new text reading, “ALPR data may only be shared with other law enforcement agencies with the approval of the System Administrator.”

“As is standard in public safety, policies are periodically reviewed and updated to ensure they align with current best practices, legal standards, and operational needs,” a spokesperson replied when asked about the change.

The records request

In his filing, Freeman requested documents pertaining to the purchase, renewal, auditing, transparency reporting and data sharing of Flock. For him, the smoking gun in the request is explicit confirmation that the department does not keep a list of prohibited uses (although it does state all uses must be for official law enforcement duties only) or publish reports of its internal use. It has internal guidance requiring a case number and type when searching, but this is not official policy.

Advocates — one of whom Freeman has now become — say these guardrails are crucial. One of their main concerns is that bad actors in police forces contracting with Flock can use their access to the platform to stalk individuals. Take, for instance, a police officer in Milwaukee who used Flock to search for the vehicles of the person he was dating and their ex dozens of times.

So, Freeman decided to do something about his concerns. He started a website, deflockokc.com, where he posted all the documents he received in his request, as well as a petition from the ACLU of Oklahoma to remove the cameras from the city.

He also did something that scared him: he spoke to the City Council about his issues with Flock.

“This is not a company that respects the authority of the municipalities that it serves,” Freeman said in his statement. “Flock’s business model depends on getting cameras on the ground before contracts are served, before oversight exists, using free trials that don't require a vote. And installation is prioritized over documentation and accountability.”

After the meeting ended, Freeman decompressed.

“Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying,” Freeman said, laughing a bit. “I was just rattling in my shoes. Literally, I was shaking.”

His comment caught the attention of a few council members. JoBeth Hamon of Ward 6 and James Cooper of Ward 2 stopped to chat with him once the meeting had ended.

Cooper began serving on the Council in 2019 and has voted against Flock’s initial contract and renewal each year.

‘“What happens when you take out that human element of the police officer, and it is now a robot? That’s the stakes,” Cooper said. “And I'm not an alarmist, but I am very practical. And in this instance, I think it is a very prudent, practical move for us to end our contract with Flock.”

Why law enforcement values this technology

Oklahoma City is not the only municipality in the state to utilize Flock’s services. Edmond, Guthrie, Harrah, Jenks, Tulsa and more are on the list.

Capt. Richard Meulenberg, who leads the communications unit at the Tulsa Police Department, said that his city has seen a decrease in auto thefts and an increase in auto recovery after implementing ALPRs in 2022. And over the last three years, they’ve achieved a 100% solve rate for homicides. He said that in cities like OKC and Tulsa, where people drive almost everywhere, ALPRs can be especially impactful.

“Public transportation isn't super awesome. So most people drive,” Meulenberg said. “So having a way to capture vehicular traffic has been tremendously helpful in isolating who might have been at the scene, be it suspects or material witnesses or even other victims sometimes.”

OKC Mayor David Holt shares Meulenberg’s appreciation for the enhanced crime-solving opportunities ALPRs like Flock provide.

“I would also point out that most of this information is gathered in public, and there is no expectation of privacy in public,” Holt said. “I think that for the most part, that's how our residents feel, and they appreciate the opportunity that it provides for public safety.”

So far, federal courts have ruled that Flock usage is within localities’ constitutional rights. However, individual cities in other states have chosen to remove their cameras.

Meulenberg is aware of the concerns surrounding Flock and understands why some Oklahomans may be more skeptical of it.

“It’s hard to say, ‘Well, look at all the good it does,’ if someone has one illicit use,” he said. “So even though theoretically you can say, ‘Well, it's saved lives, child trafficking, kidnapping, all those type of things, you could say that.”

Tulsa PD’s policy manual includes specific instructions about Flock that OKCPD lacks. It explicitly restricts data searches to criminal investigations, Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts, Blue Alerts and missing persons cases. It also prohibits officers from entering personally identifiable information into the system.

“I can completely understand where people are coming from because they're interested in it,” Meulenberg said. “And it seems like it's cloaked in secrecy for some reason. I don't see the reason for it because the police department doesn't operate outside the Constitution, so everything we do is above board.”

The town hall

Hamon, Cooper and Ward 7 Councilman Camal Pennington gathered in late May with more than 100 other Oklahoma City residents at Mayflower Congregational Church for a town hall on mitigating the use of Flock in the city. Freeman spoke as part of the event’s panel.

Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at ACLU’s national office, gave a presentation on why his organization finds Flock dangerous, and what can be done to stop it. Though banning ALPRs entirely is the most thorough way to eliminate the perceived risks, he also encouraged attendees to consider stricter rules on their use as an option.

Cooper put it more bluntly: “I want the maximalist position of ending the contract, but I don’t always get what I want, like a Rolling Stones song.”

Marlow suggested some different regulatory ideas, such as allowing ALPR hits to be generated only for more serious crimes, as well as automobile infractions, like insurance noncompliance. He also said limiting the length of time which ALPR data may be stored could make the technology safer. A 48-hour retention period, for example, would make it more difficult for a rogue officer to track weekly or other regular visits, like doctors’ offices and houses of worship. The standard retention period on Flock systems is 30 days.

Marlow also pointed to Flock specifically as the “most problematic” ALPR vendor in the U.S. Among his concerns are allegations that Flock uses workers in the Philippines to classify vehicle images for artificial intelligence training. And in Denver, the city council ended its Flock contract after a public records request found a program that gave immigration agents access to some Colorado data.

Some cities, like Tulsa, choose to opt out of the National Lookup feature. Meulenberg said some other agencies can access Tulsa PD data, but that’s only after the two agencies enter into an agreement. Agencies that don’t have explicit permission from Tulsa PD can’t access the information, even if they also use Flock systems.

Looking ahead in Oklahoma City

Freeman said he knows that the arguments against Flock may not sway all council members this time. They may see real benefits. But he hopes his initiative will spur the change in direction he wants to see.

“If we can get them to really look into our vendors, it's not even just Flock,” Freeman said. “Who are we paying to do things for the city? Are they reputable? Are they trustworthy? And if we can get those questions flowing, maybe we can at least get the right questions to be brought up, or at least people thinking in the right lanes.”

The city is set to vote on its third Flock renewal this summer, possibly as early as July 7. Regardless of the result, Freeman has a message for anyone who wants to make a change in their community.

“Three months ago, I was just a guy sitting behind a computer screen, and I decided to start asking some questions,” Freeman said. “You don't have to be somebody special to start making waves.”

As the State of Oklahoma stares down a deadline to lower its error rate for federal food benefits, numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show the rate has slightly increased.

The latest USDA numbers show Oklahoma’s error rate for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) slightly increased in the past fiscal year to 11.04%. This is the first measuring stick that states can choose to calculate how much they will have to pay for SNAP in the future.

But Deborah Smith, deputy director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, said the figure does not fully reflect the actions the department has taken to lower the error rate.

“We always want the error rate moving in the right direction but at the same time, this release really looks at a period kind of before the new federal requirements were in place,” Smith said. “Really we see some slight fluctuations from year to year. All states do.”

Using the latest number, Smith said the state would owe about $250 million in SNAP benefit costs. But she is confident it will be lower soon, and some more recent data suggest it could be cut in half for the next fiscal year.

In a statement, Stacy Dykstra, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s CEO, said the additional millions of dollars in costs would put pressure on the state budget and increase the risk of cuts to essential services.

"For the Regional Food Bank, that could mean more families turning to us for help at a time when the need is already high,” Dykstra said in the statement. “Oklahoma needs more time to make thoughtful, accurate improvements to SNAP so we don’t unintentionally increase hunger. We urge Congress to delay the cost shift and give states the time needed to get this right.”

Oklahoma ranks sixth among states with the highest food insecurity rates, with nearly 17% of households experiencing food insecurity in 2022-2024, according to the USDA report.

Meeting the threshold

Oklahoma and the rest of the nation are facing high costs because of the Trump Administration’s Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Under the law, states are responsible for a larger share of administrative costs and might have to pay for a percentage of benefit costs for the first time. The state has until fiscal year 2028 to lower the error rate to 6% to avoid paying the cost for benefits.

Smith said this has been a massive undertaking for Oklahoma’s DHS.

“We have really been kind of at an all-hands-on-deck,” she said. “It's been a top operational priority for the agency and we've invested significant time, staff resources, system improvements to really strengthen program integrity while still making sure that eligible Oklahomans get their benefits they qualify for.”

She said the department began to make plans to address error rates in 2023 and two years later, it began to implement changes including improved new hire training, pre-certification case reviews and having SNAP shoppers use an app to report changes to their situations.

Although the new error rates will not be released until next June, Smith said the state department’s preliminary estimate for the first six months of FY 2026 is 6.9%.

Because of the department’s initiatives to lower the rate, she said department leaders are confident Oklahoma will fall below the federal threshold.

When the USDA released the new error rates, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a press release that the new numbers show poor state accountability in SNAP.

“USDA has taken historic action to help interested states curb SNAP waste, and I hope other states, regardless of political leadership, prioritize needy families and the American taxpayer over politics,” Rollins said.

SNAP error rates are not fraud; they are over- and under-payments made to recipients.

Leaders from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services say the errors are largely due to mistakes by benefit recipients, like not updating information quickly enough if they get a pay raise. In FY 2025, Smith said about 74% of error findings in Oklahoma were due to unreported changes.

“But these findings really tie back to the complexity of the program and just real world changes in people's lives,” Smith said.

This comes as SNAP enrollment is falling across the country.

As of March, there were about 113,000 fewer Oklahomans getting food aid compared to the same time last year, according to preliminary USDA data. That’s roughly a 16% drop in participation.

Anti-hunger advocates say this is mainly because of the Big Beautiful Bill Act’s different changes to SNAP and should not be viewed as a success.

Although the program’s participation typically changes with the economy, according to the left-leaning think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, it’s unlikely that reduced need is leading to the decline.

Juliana Shriver learned about kratom for the first time last year, after she saw green powder on her adult son’s kitchen counter in Yukon. When she asked about it, he said not to worry — it’s legal, he told her.

Kratom, which originates from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia, is used in herbal products that can have both stimulant and opioid-like effects, depending on dosage. It's often sold online, at smoke shops or behind gas station counters.

In Oklahoma, the drug is legal, though lawmakers passed regulations in 2025 that prevent kratom and its concentrated counterparts from being sold to minors. Fourteen other states have passed similar legislation. Nine states ban kratom completely.

Shriver hopes Oklahoma will ban it next.

Her son, Kevin Wynes, died in the hospital on December 1, 2025. Her family had rushed the 31-year-old to the emergency room after he had started having seizures less than a month earlier. Shriver points to Wynes’ kratom use as a contributing factor in his death.

“Kratom is legal and widely sold, often marketed as a natural supplement and a safer alternative to alcohol or prescription medication,” Shriver said. “I don't think people that are using it, I don't think that they're told the truth when they're purchasing it.”

Although many people are drawn to kratom for its purported health benefits, it has not been approved for medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kratom interacts with the brain’s opioid receptors in ways that can lead to dependence and serious health consequences. The Mayo Clinic has linked the drug to liver damage, seizures and other negative symptoms.

In Oklahoma, kratom and related substances are showing up in an increased number of toxicology reports, according to the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Between January 2025 and May 2026, analogous compounds were present in 58 fatal overdoses, the agency recently reported.

“For Kevin, kratom was a coping mechanism for anxiety, depression, and physical pain,” Shriver said in a speech during a Yukon City Council meeting to raise awareness about the issue. “It was not something he viewed as dangerous. It was not something he believed required secrecy or intervention. Like many, he trusted its legal status and availability.”

Under the Obama administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration described kratom as “a drug and chemical of concern,” and moved to significantly restrict access by classifying its main compound as a Schedule 1 drug, making it illegal to sell.

The proposal was later withdrawn after being met with backlash from kratom users, industry advocates and members of Congress, including newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

A more recent proposal to restrict access during the first Trump administration was also dropped, according to an investigation by The New York Times. 

Shriver believes Wynes had been taking kratom for at least five years, in increasing dosages. The discovery motivated her to advocate against the drug, seeking to protect other Oklahoma families from the same pain and loss she has experienced.

“I lost a son to something that I feel could have been regulated better, if not banned,” she said.

She said her son was the type of person who helped strangers "without hesitation" and that he loved people deeply. His daughter just celebrated her third birthday.

“He's missing a lot, and we're missing a lot,” she said. “Nothing's been the same.”

A federal data analysis shows an Oklahoma utility led the nation in electricity disconnections per its customer base.

In 2024, power was shut off hundreds of thousands of times after Oklahoma residents fell behind on electricity payments. The most recent information available shows the state led the nation in utility shut-offs relative to its size. Consumer advocates say the high rate likely stems from a lack of ratepayer protections and lower-than-average income.

StateImpact Oklahoma previously reported on a first-of-its-kind federal report showing Oklahoma's high disconnection rate. New numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) detail which utility companies are behind the reported shut-offs.

Power disconnections from investor-owned utilities aren't commonly shared. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates the state's utilities, doesn't keep those records. The EIA published its report after gathering data directly from utilities.

Public Service Company of Oklahoma disconnected power 290,739 times in 2024. Some likely occurred multiple times at the same address. By absolute numbers, the company ranks fifth nationally for shut-offs. But it exceeds all other utilities in its disconnection rate based on customer size. That analysis comes from advocacy organizations Energy and Policy Institute and the Energy Equity Project.

PSO spokesperson Matt Rahn pointed to the utility's prepaid program, Power Pay, as the primary reason for the high rate. Customers add funds to their accounts to keep the lights on rather than pay at the end of the month. Electricity is turned off if the balance runs out. Rahn said about 73% of 2024's disconnections, about 213,200 occurrences, came from customers enrolled in Power Pay.

"We provide multiple notices and payment assistance options before disconnection and follow all Oklahoma Corporation Commission requirements designed to protect customers," he said.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric shut off power 167,275 times in 2024, according to the federal data. That number came from 85,415 residents, spokesperson Dustin Gabus said, since some addresses received more than one shut-off. The company doesn't cut power for customers with a balance below $75, Gabus said. Its public disconnection policy states customers must pay a $21 fee to be reconnected.

Gabus said the company is exploring new billing and payment options in addition to the financial assistance it already offers, but did not provide specifics.

"Our goal is not to disconnect any customer, and we will continue to evaluate programs to ensure our customers can stay connected," he said.

What Oklahoma rules say about electricity disconnections

Oklahoma has some consumer protections in place. The Corporation Commission does not allow utilities to cut off power when the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures below 32 degrees or when the heat index or actual temperature is expected to be 101 degrees or higher.

Neighboring states, including Missouri and Arkansas, suspend disconnections at 95 degrees. Advocates like AARP Oklahoma have pushed for the state to adopt the same hot weather threshold in recent years. Oklahoma's temperature thresholds could be lowered through a rule change at the Corporation Commission or by the state legislature.

Lowering the temperature threshold would likely increase the number of days ineligible for electricity shut-offs. National Weather Service data from 2024 show the Oklahoma City area had 31 days at or above 95 degrees in hot weather months. The region had six days at or above 101 degrees. That temperature data does not include the heat index, which could also determine whether electricity gets shut off.

AARP Oklahoma frequently intervenes in utility rate cases at the commission and pushed for more consumer protections in January 2024. State Director Sean Voskuhl said he hears from residents who are trying to keep up with electricity rate increases amid financial hardship.

"People are really struggling making difficult trade-offs and either not paying their bill, or paying it later, or not the full amount," he said.

The high disconnection rate could also stem from Oklahoma's lower-than-average income. In 2024, the state ranked 42nd in the nation based on wages and other earnings like proprietors' income, dividends and government benefits.

Residential electricity rates in the state averaged around 12.24 cents per kilowatt-hour that year, according to EIA. As of March 2026, they averaged at 13.56 cents per kilowatt-hour. Monthly bills include other items like fuel costs and the winter storm charge.

The Corporation Commission is currently reviewing PSO's latest rate increase proposal, which could add about $25 to average monthly bills. The utility company said the increase comes from investing in infrastructure upgrades.

Although final rate increases are typically lower than original proposals, paying just a few additional dollars each month can cause financial strain. Voskuhl said the state can do more to assist low-income residents.

"A $25 a month increase would be devastating for many Oklahomans, and especially those on fixed incomes," he said. "We're fighting that right now, so we will see how that goes."

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is pressing 15 universities and museums to repatriate Indigenous remains and items. The University of Oklahoma is one of them.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, vice chair of the committee, sent a series of letters to institutions on June 8 asking for status updates in ongoing efforts to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

NAGPRA, which requires entities receiving federal funding to repatriate Indigenous remains to their corresponding parties, was first approved by Congress in 1990.

In a letter sent to OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., Schatz asked for updates about the number of remains repatriated and the number requiring repatriation. Schatz wrote the university previously reported it intended to publish Notices of Intent to Repatriate 2,090 ancestral remains and 15,738 funerary items.

According to Schatz, the university must also update the committee regarding an anonymous complaint of NAGPRA noncompliance OU received in September 2023. That year, the university appointed the independent NAGPRA Oversight Committee featuring academics and tribal members.

A spokesperson for OU said the university has received Schatz’s letter and will respond in a timely manner.

“The University remains firmly committed to fulfilling its obligations under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,” OU wrote. “These efforts are guided by the University’s Associate Vice President for Tribal Relations and NAGPRA Oversight Committee and include meaningful and ongoing consultation with Tribal Nations. Tribal consultation remains central to the University’s inventory review, repatriation, and reporting processes.”

ProPublica reports the university has yet to return 1,477 remains, having already made almost 2,400 available for return. OU has also reportedly made around 107,000 funerary objects available, though it has yet to repatriate 7,798. The remains and items are primarily held through the university’s Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, located on campus.

Schatz’s letters follow new regulations added to NAGPRA in January 2024. That’s when the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs gave tribes more authority in recollecting their remains and set a deadline for museums and other organizations to return them.

Organizations that fall under NAGPRA have until January 2029 to consult with tribes and finish reporting Native artifacts in their collections.

The Oklahoma City Council voted last Tuesday to redact discriminatory language from 13 plats, covering areas of Crown Heights, Edgemere Park and Lincoln Terrace.

The resolution marks the newest step in the city’s Plat Amendment Project, an effort organized by the Oklahoma City Human Rights Commission last year to wipe outdated, racially discriminatory clauses from the city’s land records.

“I think that although the language in the plats hasn't been legally enforceable, the impacts of that sort of racist behavior, other racist behaviors, are still felt today by the city,” Emma Winiski, the compliance officer for the Human Rights Commission, said in an interview. “And so if we want to move forward, it doesn't mean erasing that history or ignoring that it happened. I think the Human Rights Commission and the City would say, like, we believe that it's important to acknowledge that history and then make a statement that that's really not how we want to behave.”

Plats are documents that map out streets, blocks and lots across a municipality and establish parameters for construction, land use and occupancy. Oklahoma City has 6,000 plats, many of which date back to the early 20th century. According to a presentation Winiski gave at Tuesday’s city council meeting, at least 260 of these plats contain discriminatory language barring members of minority racial groups from living in particular neighborhoods. Winiski estimated that between nine and 12 percent of the city’s total plats include this language.

In 2024, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a law that allows municipalities to amend plats with restrictive covenants, prompting the Commission’s effort, according to a city webpage about the Plat Amendment Project.

One of the plats amended by the City Council, spanning three blocks in Lincoln Terrace, is dated February 23, 1927. The original document, available for download on the city’s Open Data Portal, establishes that “no lot or lots herein platted shall ever in any manner be owned or held by or for… any person of African descent,” noting an exception for the servants of white occupants. In Oklahoma City and across the country, these restrictions, known as “racially restrictive covenants,” also targeted Asian and Jewish populations.

Racially restrictive covenants emerged in the U.S. as thousands of Black Americans moved from the Southern states at the beginning of the Great Migration, and cities aimed to segregate housing, NPR reported. In 1926, these restrictions became more popular after the Supreme Court ruled in Corrigan v. Buckley that a racially restrictive covenant in Washington, D.C. carried legal standing.

A 1948 Supreme Court decision and the 1968 Fair Housing Act formally outlawed racially restrictive covenants, but the text remained in many land records.

To facilitate the amendment project, officials and volunteers reviewed plat archives to identify documents for revision, Winiski said in her presentation to the City Council. Ahead of the resolution’s vote, the Commission notified property owners living in the affected area of the planned changes, and received approval from the city’s Planning Commission.

In March, 75 volunteers attended a Commission-hosted event to help review plats and flag discriminatory language. Winiski said that the Commission is planning another volunteer event at the end of the summer.

“I think for some people, they're surprised that this language exists in their own land documents or just across the city,” Winiski said. “As far as the response, especially at the volunteer event, it was really positive. I think that people were happy that this effort had been kicked off and was maintaining momentum.”

After the new redactions are processed, residents will be able to view the amended versions of the plats online with their original copies attached, according to a city press release. The Commission plans to review additional plat documents and advance further amendments in the coming years.

Oklahoma City has partially drained the Oklahoma River between Walker Avenue and First Americans Boulevard. Officials say the move will allow for sewer main repairs.

The Oklahoma River is a rebranded section of the North Canadian River that’s been reshaped with low-water dams. The dams are located at May Avenue, Walker Avenue and Eastern Avenue (which is called First Americans Boulevard where it crosses the river), forming three basins.

Wastewater lines, which carry sewage to wastewater treatment plants, run beneath a small drainage inlet on the north side of the river, across from OKANA Resort. That’s where city crews noticed an issue earlier this month.

“During routine inspections of the area, crews noticed a sinkhole along the inlet where pipes are located and requested Public Works lower the river to allow us to investigate,” Jennifer McClintock with the Oklahoma City Utilities Department said in an email.

The city had not identified the exact cause of the issue as of Thursday, McClintock said.

The sewer main sits below the inlet. Because of this, “staff are confident that no untreated wastewater entered the inlet or river,” according to a press release from the city.

To allow utilities crews and contractors to access the sewer main, Oklahoma City Public Works lowered the dam gates to a level that allowed the basin to drain slowly. The gradual lowering of the river is complete, leaving around 8 feet of water in the eastern basin.

The change in water level shouldn’t harm wildlife or have major effects on other parts of the river, according to both McClintock and Shannon Cox, a spokesperson for OKC Public Works.

It’s not rare for the river to be drained, Cox said. The basins are periodically drained for maintenance, improvement and repairs.

“Crews collect debris, dredge and maintain the hydraulics on the three river dams,” Cox wrote in an email. “Occasionally, contractors are hired to repair cracks, remove sediment, and repair debris barriers.”

The city drained the eastern basin last year for maintenance, and plans to drain it again in November for the construction of a pedestrian bridge over the waterway.

Officials said in the press release that they did not have a timeline for the current repairs, and some recreational activities in the basin are on pause.

“City officials are working closely with Oklahoma Boathouse Foundation staff to ensure repairs are completed and the river is refilled before upcoming national events scheduled within the next few weeks,” the city’s press release said.

McClintock cautioned people not to walk where the water has receded and to avoid active construction areas.

The Luther Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday evening to place a moratorium on data center rezoning and permitting through the end of the calendar year, delaying action on a proposal that has drawn widespread criticism in the rural town.

Luther is the latest Oklahoma community to delay action on data center proposals amid intense local resistance. On June 9, the Edmond City Council voted to enact a moratorium on data center development through Dec. 31. In April, the Oklahoma City Council enacted a similar ordinance, before amending it last month to carve out exemptions for data centers that had already received zoning permits and for facilities with electrical loads of no more than 75 megawatts. Tulsa and Broken Arrow have passed moratoriums, too.

“By concentrating on the facts, the evidence, and the criteria that matter most to our community, we place ourselves in the strongest possible position moving forward,” Luther Trustee Jerrod Davis said at the beginning of the meeting, where the board also heard public comments on the Master Design Statement attached to the proposed data center’s permit application. “The question before us is not whether we can stop a project simply because some of us oppose it. The question before us is whether the proposal meets the standards that this community has established.”

Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting took place outdoors on Main Street to accommodate a crowd of hundreds. At the three-hour-long meeting, Luther residents spoke in public comments uniformly supporting the moratorium and opposing the pending proposal, which would be developed by Atlanta-based firm Beltline Energy.

The Luther trustees voted to enact a six-month moratorium on rezoning or permitting for new data center proposals, set to expire on Dec. 31. They amended the original ordinance to establish the same moratorium for existing proposals, including the Beltline Energy site. The law, as initially drafted, would have only paused consideration of pending applications until Sept. 1, or for roughly 90 days.

The ordinance includes a clause that would allow the board to extend the moratorium beyond the initial six-month period, according to Beth Anne Childs, an attorney for the town of Luther.

Childs said at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting that she consulted with colleagues in Oklahoma City and Edmond to ensure Luther’s moratorium “stayed within the parameters of our neighboring jurisdictions.” She recommended that the Board consider setting a different deadline for the pending proposal to avoid legal challenges by the applicant.

J. Kelly Work, an attorney representing a group of Luther residents in opposition to the data center, argued that the moratorium would allow the town time to study the environmental impacts of data centers, field community feedback and to amend its zoning ordinances to establish specific regulations for data center construction. He also supported extending the 90-day moratorium for pending proposals to match the 6-month timeline for new applicants.

“Moratoriums, as you all likely are aware, are being adopted by communities all around the country as the number of these data center applications proliferate,” Work said in a speech to the Board at the beginning of Thursday’s meeting. “They're new, they're hugely impactful, and it is reasonable and appropriate to take the time that is necessary and to include the community to ensure that appropriate safeguards are put in place.”

Data centers are large computing facilities frequently used to power cloud systems and artificial intelligence. They’ve come under fire in Oklahoma and nationwide for their toll on local water supplies, their contributions to noise and light pollution and their infrastructure demands. The proposed Beltline Energy facility would span a 320-acre property and border several local landowners.

Many residents who offered public comment on Wednesday said they would live near the data center and were worried about the noise it would produce. Others described concerns about the center’s water usage, the health and safety risks associated with the data center and its impact on the rural character of the town.

“My entire family lives within one mile of the proposed data center location,” one resident said at the meeting. “This includes 20 immediate family members. As with everyone else, I know we do not want this in our backyard. It destroys the very desire and appeal that is rural Luther life, not to mention potential hazard this imposes. We refuse to be the guinea pigs of this new technology.”

According to Town Manager Rian Harkins, Wednesday marked the town’s first Board of Trustees meeting held outdoors. Applause rang over Main Street after the board approved the moratorium, and attendees frequently cheered on speakers. Some residents carried signs and wore t-shirts proclaiming their opposition to data centers.

Other towns have moved forward with constructing data centers.

Last year, the Yukon Municipal Authority voted to sell 182 acres of land to BLE Landholdings, an LLC linked to Beltline Energy, for the construction of a data center in the city. Community members signed a recall petition to oust the city's mayor and vice mayor.

In March, the Tulsa City Council enacted a nine-month moratorium on data center construction there, exempting two projects already in development. Last Monday, Broken Arrow’s city council established a six-month moratorium on new data center permits and rezoning.

Luther Mayor Terry Arps signed a nondisclosure agreement with Beltline Energy on behalf of the town of Luther last May. In a statement to News9, Arps said the agreement was never formally approved by the Board of Trustees. A Frontier investigation last week found that many municipal leaders across the state have signed nondisclosure agreements with data center developers.

In light of the moratorium, the Board of Trustees voted to take “no action” on an ordinance to establish a unique Specific Use Permit process for data centers.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Harkins told reporters that the town “could” seek proposals from consulting firms to conduct an environmental impact study for the Beltline Energy proposal, but that the town would need to ensure it had the resources to fund the research. Leaders would discuss with Beltline the possibility of securing the company's support for the study, Harkins said, though he noted that conducting the research independently would give officials “a little bit more flexibility in making sure we can tell the public we paid for it.”

Come January 2027, Oklahoma will have a new governor. On Tuesday, Oklahomans narrowed a field of 15 hopefuls to six.

Democrats advanced State Rep. Cyndi Munson, and Republicans will head back to the polls in August for a runoff primary between former state lawmaker Mike Mazzei and Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Three independent candidates will be waiting for them in November.

Republican primary

Drummond and Mazzei each captured just over a quarter of the Republican votes in the nine-candidate GOP race. Their next closest rival, Chip Keating, received less than 20%.

Drummond was the first Republican to announce his candidacy in January 2025 and was long seen as the frontrunner in the race. He narrowly finished ahead of Mazzei by less than one percentage point of the vote.

As Oklahoma’s Attorney General since 2023, Drummond has targeted illegal marijuana operations, pushed for better open records compliance and distributed millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds.

The Oklahoma State University alumnus and U.S. Air Force veteran has frequently found himself at loggerheads with Gov. Kevin Stitt. Drummond has criticized Stitt’s adversarial relationships with Oklahoma-based tribes, Stitt’s support for a public Catholic charter school and Stitt’s “weaponization” of audits.

At a watch party in Tulsa on Tuesday night, Drummond said his platform is about honesty. He asked voters who supported his opponents to back him in August.

“This runoff is not about finding a candidate you agree with 100% of the time. It's about choosing a leader you can trust 100% of the time,” Drummond said. “Oklahoma cannot afford another weak politician like Mike Maizei, a politician who changes with the political winds. Our state needs proven leadership, steady conviction, and a governor who will stand his ground when Oklahoma's future is on the line.”

Mazzei (rhymes with “daisy”), received an endorsement weeks before the primary from President Donald Trump, who commended his track record as a “MAGA warrior” and his “America First” platform in a post on social media.

He credited that endorsement for his strong performance and thanked the president in a speech to supporters in Bixby. And he credited the endorsement to “that praying wife of mine, Noel.”

Mazzei said leading up to his birthday on May 30, his wife had prayed for the endorsement as a birthday present. And though Mazzei spoke to Trump and was endorsed on Truth Social the day before on his actual birthday he picked up the local newspaper, “and it says May 30, 2026, which is my birthday. And on the other side of the front page, it says, President Trump endorses Mike Mazzei.”

Mazzei said Oklahoma has “unlimited potential for growth and prosperity.” He said the millions he contributed to his own campaign is an investment in the state’s future.

Cyndi Munson claims Democratic nomination

Cyndi Munson will face the winner of the Republican runoff election this November. Munson garnered 75.1% of the vote, outpacing two other Democratic candidates.

Munson, who grew up in Lawton, was the first Asian American woman elected to the state legislature, where she currently serves as the House’s minority leader. If elected, Munson said she wants to increase public school investments, lower health care costs and repeal Oklahoma’s total abortion ban. She said she would work to repeal the parental choice tax credit, which offsets costs for parents who wish to transfer their students out of public schools.

A faithful crowd of Munson’s supporters filled the taproom at Lively Beerworks on Tuesday night to watch the votes roll in. Many people wore the bright green color that has become synonymous with Munson’s campaign in Oklahoma. Kids also showed their support, with one handing Munson a homemade fidget toy.

Prior to her time at the Capitol, Munson worked at multiple nonprofits serving children, including Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma.

Dana Carter, 51, said she has been a long-time supporter of Munson. Carter said she believes Munson will stand up for the rights of all Oklahomans, no matter their political party. Still, Carter said she knows it will be an uphill battle for Munson to beat her Republican competitors.

“She’s going to have to mobilize the people that already support her and expand her reach,” Carter said. “It's going to take every single one of her supporters to get out, drag their friends and family to the polls and make it happen.”

In an interview at her watch party, Munson said she thinks authenticity matters more to Oklahomans than party affiliation. She criticized what she described as “dysfunction” and “infighting” among the state’s Republican leadership.

“I would just encourage Oklahomans to look back on what's happened over the last couple of decades, where we're ranked in things that are most important, like education and healthcare,” Munson said. “And what does your day-to day-life look like? Republicans have had an opportunity to make things different, and they haven't. And I think Oklahomans are going to respond to that in this upcoming election come November.”

Independent candidates for governor Jerry Griffin, Orlando Lynn Bush and Robert Brooks will also appear on the general election ballot in November.

More than 40% of Oklahoma County’s eviction filings come from the same 100 properties.

Candidate self-funding has soared past $22 million in the Republican primary race for Oklahoma governor, with a Trump-endorsed candidate alone pouring almost $10.9 million into his campaign.

Four Republican gubernatorial candidates have loaned millions of their own money to their campaigns ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, according to Oklahoma Ethics Commission reports filed this week. These zero-interest personal loans vastly exceed the amount the candidates have raised from campaign donors.

Former state Sen. Mike Mazzei, a Tulsa financial planner who recently scored an endorsement from President Donald Trump, has loaned $6.9 million to his campaign since April, new ethics records show. That pushed the total amount of his personal campaign loans to nearly $10.9 million since first launching his gubernatorial bid.

Former House Speaker Charles McCall, a banker from Atoka, has self-funded the second-highest amount in the governor’s race with $5.6 million in total. That includes $2.5 million over the most recent campaign finance reporting period of April 1 to June 1, according to Ethics Commission records.

Oklahoma City businessman Chip Keating has spent $3.5 million of his own money on his gubernatorial bid, including $1.5 million since May, his ethics reports show.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a lawyer and rancher from Hominy, for the first time made personal loans to his campaign for governor. He started with a $2 million loan on April 17 and followed with $500,000 more on May 29, according to his campaign finance records.

The only other gubernatorial candidate of any party to make a personal campaign loan is Kenneth Leroy Sturgell, also a Republican, ethics records indicate. Sturgell, a small business owner from Goldsby, loaned his campaign $11,000.

Self-funding in the 2026 race already outpaces past election cycles. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, a self-made millionaire, put $4.9 million of his own funds into his 2018 gubernatorial campaign and nearly $2 million when running for reelection.

Former State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones ran against Stitt in the 2018 Republican primary. Jones loaned his campaign about $16,000 in that race, a decision he said is appropriate for candidates to do “if you believe in what you’re doing and you believe in what you’re trying to accomplish.”

But, the amount candidates are allowed to self-fund ought to be capped, said Jones, also a former Oklahoma Republican Party chairman. Otherwise, it creates a significant advantage for the wealthy over other quality candidates who don’t have the same personal resources.

“Now you’re seeing more and more people that jump into politics, their greatest asset is they have more money in their bank account and not necessarily they have better ideas and better plans to serve in that office,” Jones said.

Political candidates in Oklahoma have been able to loan personal funds to their campaigns for many years, said constitutional attorney and state historian Bob Burke. However, as campaigns have become more expensive, the dollar amounts of these personal loans “have skyrocketed.”

“It is an absolute prohibition on middle income or low income Oklahomans from running for governor,” Burke said. “That would have excluded more than half of our past governors.”

Candidates who make these loans can repay themselves with campaign donations.

The larger the personal loans, Burke said, the more candidates in the past have relied on large donors to cover the significant deficits. That diminishes the importance of small donations of $25 or $100 that most Oklahomans are able to make, he said.

Since April 1, Keating leads all GOP gubernatorial candidates in fundraising from individual donors, who are allowed to contribute no more than $3,500 to a campaign. He raised $390,000 from these individual contributions during the latest April-June reporting period, plus $1,000 from the Oklahoma Optometric Political Action Committee, according to his finance reports.

Drummond is a close second in donor fundraising over the months preceding the primary. His campaign raised more than $340,000 in individual contributions since April, ethics records show. He also collected $12,000 from political action committees.

Mazzei raised $116,318 from individual donors and $5,000 from a political action committee, according to his campaign finance records.

McCall’s donors have contributed $105,195 since April. He reported no political action committee contributions in that time.

The governor’s race also has attracted millions more in spending from 501(c)(4) organizations, known as “dark money” groups, that don’t have to disclose their donors. These groups have purchased millions of dollars worth of advertising and mailers to support and oppose certain gubernatorial candidates, state records show.

Joining Mazzei, Drummond, Keating and McCall in the Republican gubernatorial primary are Sturgell, former Sen. Jake Merrick, Leisa Mitchell Haynes, Jennifer Domenico and Calup Anthony Taylor.

If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday, the top two vote earners will advance to an Aug. 25 runoff election.

Rep. Cyndi Munson, former Sen. Connie Johnson and Arya are running for the Democratic nomination for governor. Independent voters will choose between Jerry Griffin, Robert E. Brooks Sr. and Orlando Lynn Bush to be their nominee in the Nov. 3 General Election.

Other statewide races have seen more limited amounts of self-funding.

State Chief Financial Officer David Ostrowe, a Republican, has loaned more than $1 million to his campaign for lieutenant governor, according to state records. One of his GOP primary opponents, Sen. Darrell Weaver, put $32,253 into his campaign, including spending personal funds on travel mileage, his ethics reports show.

Both Republican candidates for Attorney General have put hundreds of thousands of dollars into their primary race. Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment Jeff Starling has loaned $500,000 to his campaign, and former state Rep. Jon Echols loaned $300,000.

Peggs Public Schools Superintendent John Cox, a Republican, is the only candidate for state superintendent who’s made personal loans to his campaign, pouring in $136,896.

Other candidates in the state superintendent race have reported spending their own money, though not in the form of a personal loan.

Republican candidate Robert Franklin spent $5,000 of his personal funds on various campaign costs — like mailing fees, printing, signs and travel mileage — and then was reimbursed through the campaign, his expense reports show.

Fellow GOP superintendent candidate James Taylor reported $3,410 in individual contributions from himself to his campaign. His campaign finance records show another $3,980 in joint individual contributions from himself and his wife.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.

“Left wing, right wing, chicken wing, it don’t make no difference to me.”

That phrase was coined by Woody Guthrie on a 1939 radio show in Los Angeles, shrugging off his playing a political rally. Woody never ran for political office, but for those who do, they usually pick a political side.

As part of KOSU’s primary election coverage, which you can find here, I noticed a Gary Ty England on the ballot for U.S. Senate. No, that’s not the late renowned TV meteorologist (who coincidentally died one year ago Wednesday), but rather Oklahoma country musician Ty England (no relation).

The Oklahoma City native was playing acoustic gigs in Stillwater when he met his future college roommate Garth Brooks. He played guitar for Garth for six years before launching his own solo career. His 1995 debut for RCA Nashville charted six singles, including his No. 3 hit “Should’ve Asked Her Faster.“

Now, he’s trying his hand at politics in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. His website says he’s running for strong borders, fiscal responsibility and practical support for veterans and rural communities.

England faces government watchdog Sean Buckner, data developer Nick Hankins, U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern and first responder Brian Ragain in the Republican primary.