Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma
Charlette Hearne at the North Pole Store, near Broken Bow, Okla.
The lakes and streams of southeast Oklahoma are vital to the area’s economy, and Broken Bow resident Charlette Hearne has made it her mission to stand in the way of attempts to move water out of her part of the state.
Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma
A sign along Oklahoma Highway 43 near Sardis Lake.
President Barack Obama on Friday signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, which passed the U.S. Senate in the wee hours Saturday morning. The $10 billion federal bill directs money to Oklahoma to help fix and address multiple water-related problems and issues across the state.
The bill’s signing brings a formal conclusion to the years long dispute between the state and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations over control of water in Sardis Lake and across southeast Oklahoma. Continue Reading
Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma
Donald Trump wants Scott Pruitt to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Oklahoma attorney general is a fierce ally of fossil fuel companies and one of the EPA’s biggest opponents. The nomination draws a sharp line dividing industry and environmentalists that could test the limits of another big fight: state sovereignty.
Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma
The Grand River Dam Authority's coal-fired plant in Chouteau, Okla.
Oil prices are on the rebound, which should eventually generate revenue and help Oklahoma’s state budget situation. Still, another budget hole — that could be as large as $600 million — will likely have to be filled during the 2017 legislative session. One emerging idea that could put an extra billion dollars in state coffers: Selling the Grand River Dam Authority. Continue Reading
Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma
Trucks lined up at a disposal well in northwestern Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s oil and gas regulator for the first time will issue guidelines designed to reduce earthquake activity linked to hydraulic fracturing. Continue Reading
Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt at the state capitol in 2016.
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt made a name for himself fighting against the very federal agency he is poised to lead, and the pick is seen by many as a clear signal that Trump intends to dismantle the environmental legacy of President Obama. Continue Reading
Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma
Lake Texoma State Park is still open to the public, but much of it has been sold to Pointe Vista, which demolished the outdated lodge seven years ago.
It’s been 10 years since the state of Oklahoma sold hundreds of acres at Texoma State Park to a private developer that never fulfilled its promise to build an elaborate lakeside resort. Now the Chickasaw Nation is stepping in to bring some economic activity back to the area.
Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma
A 5.0-magnitude earthquake in November 2016 damaged dozens of buildings in downtown Cushing, Okla.
Attorneys are asking a district court judge to approve a class-action lawsuit against oil and gas companies after a 5.0-magnitude earthquake rattled near the town of Cushing in November. Continue Reading
“Gov. Mary Fallin and the state’s tribal governments have not always seen eye-to-eye,” The Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel and Curtis Killman report, “but that apparently is not preventing at least some of the tribes from giving Fallin their unreserved support for secretary of the interior in President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration.”
Oklahoma tribes join oil and gas industry in support of Gov. Mary Fallin for interior secretary
“Anytime we can get anybody in as secretary of the interior who we have a history of working with and who will help advance the priorities of Indian country, I’m in,” said Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker.Related story: Oil and gas industry would welcome Mary Fallin as secretary of interior. Continue Reading
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »
