By Emma Murphy | Reporter
“I don’t want to tell my patients to leave the state when I can easily give them the care they need right here in my office. This is not how healthcare should work. My patients deserve access to all of their options for care, and the state needs to allow us to do our jobs.” - Elizabeth Pinard of the impact of Oklahoma’s abortion ban
Tammy Cramer’s dock is now on dry land as lake levels have dropped at Cedar Lake near Hinton, Okla., Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Photo by Nate Billings/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Barbara Hoberock
Residents of a drying up waterfront community expressed outrage Tuesday after a state agency allowed an unpermitted dam to remain upstream of their lake.
After the meeting, one of the dam’s owners, former state Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, offered the residents $100,000 if they could raise $300,000 for seed money to form a rural water district. They’d also have to agree not to sue him.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board approved a consent order with Coffee to allow the dams to continue holding water that Cedar Lake residents say used to fill their lake. State law allows a dam owner to seek a permit after construction.
Jenks High School students use laptops and paper worksheets in an advanced chemistry class at the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center on Nov. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel
As questions swirl nationwide about the appropriate role of technology in children’s education, some Oklahoma parents, lawmakers and districts are calling for a reduction to in-school screen time.
An abortion procedure room pictured on March 3, 2025 at Planned Parenthood in Columbia, Missouri. (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)
By Emma Murphy
Two Oklahoma mothers, who said they were forced to leave the state in order to terminate nonviable pregnancies, sued state leaders Wednesday, challenging the limits of the state’s abortion ban.
ICYMI
UPCOMING EVENTS
Oklahoma Voice staff will participate in the following events:
5 p.m. Sept. 30, Bricktown Brewery in Oklahoma City. Editor Janelle Stecklein will participate in a panel that focuses on the role legal support plays in accountability reporting. Host: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
2:30 p.m. Oct. 23, Tulsa Central Library. Editor Janelle Stecklein will participate in a panel discussing how to cover state government. Host: Oklahoma Local News Summit
9 a.m. Oct. 27, Omni Hotel in Oklahoma City. Education reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel will moderate a panel at The Oklahoma Education Policy Conference. Host: University of Oklahoma
If you're interested in having us talk in your town, email Janelle Stecklein at [email protected]
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