StateImpact Oklahoma
309 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsStateImpact Oklahoma reports on education, health, environment, and the intersection of government and everyday Oklahomans. StateImpact Oklahoma is a collaboration of KGOU, KOSU, KWGS and KCCU.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
StateImpact Discusses: Critics argue Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol could constitute cruel and unusual punishment — and that the state shouldn't be allowed to hide the details behind it
February 27, 2022 21:15 - 4 minutes - 10.2 MBOklahoma secrecy laws allow the state to obscure where it gets lethal injection drugs. Given the state's track record, the critics say, that shouldn't be the case. StateImpact Editor Logan Layden talks with health reporter Catherine Sweeney about the state's controversial protocol, the drugs it uses to execute Oklahomans, and the secrecy laws that obscure where officials buy them.
How Oklahoma’s classroom curriculum bans affect Black educators and families
February 24, 2022 10:00 - 4 minutes - 6.11 MBFor the last year Oklahoma Republicans have derided Critical Race Theory as a racist way of teaching that discriminates against white students. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports it’s been a difficult debate to watch for at least one Black father and scholar of the subject.
"There's going to be a real blip." Medical professionals are concerned about delayed routine screenings and their long-term effects.
February 16, 2022 21:21 - 4 minutes - 5.8 MBResidents have been missing out on cancer screenings, diabetes management and other services that prevent and detect disease.
'A world of wounds': Decline in grasshopper populations offers window into consequences of climate change
February 10, 2022 15:12 - 4 minutes - 6.14 MBFor the last two decades, the grasshoppers of the Konza Prairie Biological Station in Manhattan, Kansas, have been declining significantly — even as their main food source, grass, has nearly doubled in abundance. Researchers analyzed decades of grass samples and found that increased CO2 and climate change have caused these plants to become less nutritious. And this process — nutrient dilution — is happening all over the world.
Amid noisy controversies Oklahoma school librarians do their best to create ‘informed citizens’
February 03, 2022 11:00 - 4 minutes - 5.92 MBThe books in Oklahoma school libraries don’t end up on the shelves by accident. A few parent groups and legislators are trying to limit what appears in school libraries. StateImpact's Robby Korth reports on how librarians decide which books are available to kids.
Medicaid, marijuana, and culture wars: StateImpact Oklahoma discusses the upcoming legislative session
January 27, 2022 10:45 - 4 minutes - 5.85 MBThe Oklahoma Legislature is back in session on February 7th. Managing editor Logan Layden led a discussion with the StateImpact Oklahoma reporters on what they'll be covering, including how to deal with Medicaid expansion, new regulations on the marijuana industry, and the influence of state government on what's taught and read in schools.
Newly released records shed light on issues in Oklahoma's public health lab and pandemic center
January 20, 2022 03:26 - 4 minutes - 6.1 MBWhen Gov. Kevin Stitt announced in October 2020 that his administration would soon move the state’s Public Health Laboratory from Oklahoma City to Stillwater, opposition came quickly. The Frontier’s Kassie McClung and Kayla Brand partnered with StateImpact and spent more than a year requesting emails, invoices and other documents related to the public health lab and the state’s newly Pandemic Center for Innovation and Excellence.
The Omicron variant is hitting Oklahoma hard and creating troubles unseen in earlier surges
January 13, 2022 00:44 - 4 minutes - 6.05 MBOklahoma recorded some of its highest daily case counts of the pandemic in the past week. You wouldn’t think so, just looking around. Virtually no mask mandates in businesses or cities. Many employers requiring in-person work. Schools and universities welcoming all of their students back to the physical classroom. But health officials say new issues have cropped up this time: more dire work shortages, new causes for vaccine hesitancy and hospitals already strained by other viruses.
Unintended consequence of SQ 780 may impact access to drug treatment courts
January 06, 2022 22:00 - 4 minutes - 6.32 MBDrug treatment courts help those charged with drug and alcohol offenses straighten out their lives, with documented success, such as with former Oklahoma Sen. Cal Hobson. But efforts to reform the state’s criminal justice system are causing unintended consequences for the program.
Even with green light, few Oklahoma schools are requiring masks
December 16, 2021 11:00 - 4 minutes - 5.65 MBFewer Oklahoma schools are requiring masks in their classrooms than at any point during the pandemic. In a conversation with StateImpact Managing Editor Logan Layden, education reporter Robby Korth says going into the spring 2022 semester that already dwindling number could get even smaller.
Oklahoma City's arts scene is growing, but rising rents and COVID fallout are squeezing its artists
December 08, 2021 22:27 - 4 minutes - 6.37 MBPopulation growth, short housing supply and slow wage growth are threatening the city's affordability. Artists, who suffered lost gigs and fewer opportunities throughout the pandemic, are feeling the strain.
‘It's like WPA Money’: How federal COVID-19 relief funds are helping schools make infrastructure improvements
December 02, 2021 10:30 - 4 minutes - 6.18 MBFederal relief money for the coronavirus has injected more than $1 billion into Oklahoma’s public schools. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports that in many places, it’s giving schools a chance to catch up on much needed infrastructure improvements.
Politics dial up intensity at Oklahoma school board meetings
November 11, 2021 10:00 - 4 minutes - 6.39 MBSchool board meetings used to be pretty boring. But now they’ve become a battleground over big political topics like the coronavirus and race. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports with The Oklahoman’s Nuria Martinez-Keel on what’s happening at these meetings in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma's cafeterias have been hit hard by the coronavirus
November 04, 2021 10:00 - 4 minutes - 5.61 MBA national food shortage means lunchrooms across Oklahoma are short on much of what they need to serve students. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports on the efforts child nutrition employees make to ensure kids are fed.
Oklahoma's recent COVID-19 hospitalization spike created a strain on oxygen — and not just for hospitals
October 27, 2021 23:44 - 4 minutes - 6.04 MBAs thousands of Oklahomans battled COVID-19 in ICUs earlier this year, hospitals’ demand for liquid oxygen skyrocketed. The strain highlighted supply chain and infrastructure challenges inside and outside the medical system.
ACLU lawyer discusses challenge to Oklahoma’s critical race theory ban
October 21, 2021 10:00 - 4 minutes - 6.29 MBEarlier this week, the ACLU announced it would lead a coalition of civil rights and educational groups suing Oklahoma over its controversial critical race theory ban in federal court. StateImpact’s Robby Korth talked with ACLU of Oklahoma legal director and attorney Megan Lambert about the legal action.
Oklahoma School for the Deaf welcomes new, more inclusive Bison mascot
October 14, 2021 09:00 - 4 minutes - 6.2 MBHost: Earlier this month Oklahoma School for the Deaf unveiled a fresh logo featuring their new Bison mascot. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports the Bison name flips a new page in the storied history of Oklahoma’s school for deaf students. NEWSPAPER CLIPPING PAGE FLIP RK: John Reinenger is thumbing through a book of old newspaper clippings. The pages are from his days as a student at Oklahoma School for the Deaf here in Sulphur, a school that competed under the name Indians in his time. He’...
Oklahoma urgent cares face cutbacks and shutdowns amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic strain
October 05, 2021 17:32 - 4 minutes - 6.02 MBIn a weekly update to state agencies, the Oklahoma State Department of Health warned that strain has led to cutbacks. It reads, in part, "Urgent care centers are reporting decreased hours or are shutting down due to inability to serve patient volume or redirect staff to other facilities to support increase in patients." Like all other health providers, the centers are experiencing staff shortages, high demand and burnout.
White House COVID-19 response adviser talks boosters with StateImpact Oklahoma
September 30, 2021 01:53 - 4 minutes - 5.58 MBDr. Cameron Webb is the senior policy adviser on COVID-19 equity on the White House’s response team. After federal regulators approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for booster doses, Webb talked with StateImpact about who should get the third dose and why.
Santa Fe South was the first district to implement a mask mandate in Oklahoma this fall. Here’s how it’s going
September 23, 2021 10:45 - 4 minutes - 6.13 MBA growing number of schools around Oklahoma are starting to mandate masks in their hallways, with opt out provisions. StateImpact’s Robby Korth takes us inside the first public school in Oklahoma to require masks this semester.
Oklahoma medical groups expand free therapy program for doctors amid COVID-19 fallout
September 16, 2021 00:20 - 4 minutes - 5.76 MBDr. Mary Clarke says there's an age-old problem: doctors don't talk about their own problems. She is the president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association. That group saw trouble coming. Doctors, who already tend to struggle with mental health, started dealing with something plaguing all of us for the past 18 months: the pandemic. Financial struggles, family separation and more created even more risk factors for the state's physicians.
Coronavirus pandemic causes lagging kindergarten and pre-k enrollments
September 09, 2021 09:00 - 4 minutes - 6.08 MBEarly childhood education is something Oklahoma has traditionally done well. But as parents fear the effects of COVID-19 on their youngest children, the state is seeing a steep drop in the number of students enrolled in Pre-K and kindergarten programs. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports on the decline.
An Oklahoma teacher shares her battle with the coronavirus
September 02, 2021 09:45 - 4 minutes - 6.39 MBAs the school year started in August, cases of COVID-19 among teachers and students grew across Oklahoma. StateImpact's Robby Korth and KOSU's Kateleigh Mills spoke with an Oklahoma City metro teacher named Anna about her experience catching the coronavirus and missing more than a week of classes.
Oklahoma adds basic dental coverage to Medicaid amid a dire lack of care
August 25, 2021 22:51 - 4 minutes - 6.01 MBAbout every other person in Oklahoma can't get dental insurance. Nonprofits scramble to fill in the gaps, caring for people who come in with broken teeth, painful abscesses and worse. State officials took a major step in ramping up access this year, opening preventative coverage to adults enrolled in SoonerCare.
Hofmeister: school boards ‘best suited to address’ masking in schools
August 20, 2021 14:43 - 4 minutes - 5.53 MBThe Biden administration lashed out at Oklahoma’s policies limiting mask wearing in a letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt and state schools superintendent Joy Hofmeister Wednesday. StateImpact’s Robby Korth sat down with Hofmeister to discuss its contents and Oklahoma City Public Schools’ masking requirement rules, Thursday. In a statement sent by a spokesman, Gov. Stitt says Oklahomans want to make their own decisions about whether their children should wear masks in school. "The fact that Presiden...
As a new school year starts, StateImpact is tracking COVID-19’s impact
August 19, 2021 21:44 - 4 minutes - 10.8 MBSchool is in session across Oklahoma, even as the pandemic continues to rage and the Delta variant impacts more and more children. Managing editor Logan Layden sat down with StateImpact reporters Robby Korth and Catherine Sweeney for a discussion on the disruptions already occurring.
Wrongful convictions leave unhealed wounds
August 12, 2021 09:00 - 4 minutes - 6.1 MBPeople who are personally affected when justice is denied will never think about the state's courts and law enforcement in the same way. StateImpact’s Quinton Chandler reports wrongful convictions can do long lasting harm and change how individual Oklahomans view the criminal justice system.
"Unheard of:" Rare summer RSV surge fills Oklahoma children's hospitals
August 04, 2021 21:38 - 4 minutes - 5.93 MBAs the school year draws nearer, COVID-19 is not the only disease putting pressure on Oklahoma’s children’s hospitals. Across the state, kids are being admitted amid an unseasonable surge in respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. With demand already high, a back-to-school spike in COVID-19 could create a strain on pediatric beds.
How one Oklahoma school district is using the state’s Counselor Corps to improve mental health accessibility
July 29, 2021 10:30 - 4 minutes - 5.73 MBOklahoma is making a big bet on helping students in the wake of a year interrupted by the coronavirus with mental health supports. StateImpact’s Robby Korth travels to Poteau to report how the district is leveraging a $35 million program to hire hundreds of counselors in schools across the state.
Architectural-engineering firm aims to fix Oklahoma County’s constitutionally challenged jail
July 22, 2021 11:00 - 8 minutes - 8.06 MBAn advisory group hired consultants to find structural solutions to some of the Oklahoma County's Detention Center's longest running problems.
A decade in the making, Medicaid expansion takes effect in Oklahoma
July 15, 2021 15:46 - 4 minutes - 5.9 MBMore than 100,000 Oklahomans have already enrolled in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income adults.
What Oklahoma teachers need to know about the state’s so-called ‘Critical Race Theory’ ban
July 08, 2021 10:00 - 4 minutes - 6.45 MBHouse Bill 1775 was supposed to do a lot of things: Ban critical race theory, ensure white students aren’t shamed for actions of their ancestors and limit difficult conversations in the classroom. But the actual effects are unclear. StateImpact’s Robby Korth sat down with Oklahoma State School Boards Association attorney Brandon Carey to discuss what the new law means for educators and students.
‘We should know’: Glossip supporter, Oklahoma lawmaker wants more scrutiny in death row cases
July 01, 2021 10:00 - 4 minutes - 4.16 MBAn Oklahoma lawmaker's belief that an innocent man is on death row inspired him to call for the creation of a special unit to review death penalty convictions.
Oklahoma schools boost summer offerings to combat negative effects of COVID-19 on learning
June 24, 2021 10:00 - 4 minutes - 5.54 MBA school year like no other has now led to a summer like no other for Oklahoma students. StateImpact’s Robby Korth traveled to Stillwater to see how schools are incorporating fun and going back to basics to get students ready for a more typical fall.
"It's all about meeting people where they are:" Oklahoma legalizes clean needle exchange programming
June 17, 2021 11:00 - 4 minutes - 6.14 MBWhen a constituent first came came in to advocate for needle exchange programming, Oklahoma State Rep. Carol Bush wasn't sure what to think. That didn't sound like the kind of policy likely to succeed in Oklahoma's deeply conservative statehouse. She and other supporters focused on the policy's public safety benefits and leaned on famous Republicans who have supported similar legislation, including former Vice President Mike Pence.
Health officials are hopeful Medicaid expansion and new safe syringe program will curtail Oklahoma's Hepatitis C deaths
June 11, 2021 20:44 - 4 minutes - 3.84 MBOklahoma continues to rank top three in the nation for Hepatitis C deaths, but health officials are hopeful recent policy changes will help reverse the trend. Hepatitis C — a viral liver infection — is a problem nationwide. It’s the most prominent chronic blood-borne infection and leading cause of liver transplants. It can cause many complications, including cancer.
Oklahoma paid for more addiction treatment and providers say its saving lives
June 03, 2021 22:28 - 4 minutes - 4.13 MBThe state partnered with substance abuse treatment providers to eliminate a counter productive wait time people struggling with addiction had to bear to get into treatment. Providers say the change is giving people a better chance to live.
Oklahoma continues to battle teacher shortage, but pandemic hasn’t caused a mass exit yet
May 27, 2021 19:45 - 4 minutes - 3.86 MBAs the academic year winds down, schools are already looking toward the next one. It’s bound to be more normal. But as StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports there’s also bound to be thousands of new teachers in Oklahoma’s classrooms.
"History in the making:" Thousands of volunteers turn out for Oklahoma's COVID-19 vaccine effort
May 21, 2021 01:05 - 4 minutes - 3.92 MBOklahoma has administered nearly 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Like all other states, it has done so free of charge to residents. That is possible largely because thousands of volunteers pitched into the effort.
‘Every day is a great day’: Women in Oklahoma prisons encourage people struggling through the pandemic
May 13, 2021 21:20 - 4 minutes - 4.1 MBA nonprofit helped women in two state prisons connect with strangers during the coronavirus pandemic. The women recounted their struggles and offered advice.
StateImpact gets a haircut: Oklahoma City barber talks about covid effects while trimming ungroomed reporter’s hair
May 06, 2021 15:00 - 3 minutes - 3.52 MBStateImpact’s Robby Korth didn’t get a haircut for over a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But, more than two weeks after getting fully vaccinated, he takes us inside Carwin's Shave Shop for his much needed trim.
How Oklahoma’s only school for children experiencing homelessness fought through the coronavirus pandemic
April 22, 2021 14:00 - 4 minutes - 3.82 MBAttending school remotely has been an inconvenience for students and parents, and a major burden for many. For children experiencing homelessness, it’s all but impossible. 25-thousand Oklahoma children didn’t have a permanent home - before the pandemic. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports how the state’s only school tailored specifically for homeless students is handling the crisis.
Oklahoma prisons ahead in vaccinations but advocates say earlier access could have saved lives
April 15, 2021 21:42 - 4 minutes - 4.1 MBOver half of Oklahoma’s state prisoners are at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus. Prisoner advocates say incarcerated people needed access sooner than the state authorized.
Empty appointments at mass vaccination sites mark a new priority: hesitant and hard-to-reach Oklahomans
April 09, 2021 02:17 - 4 minutes - 4.26 MBThe people who are willing and able to travel out to mass vaccinations sites have already done it. The vaccine program is entering a new chapter: reaching Oklahomans who are either vaccine hesitant or facing barriers.
Oklahoma charter school leader explains lawsuit that has ‘seismic effect’ on education funding
April 01, 2021 15:00 - 4 minutes - 3.99 MBA lawsuit settlement between Oklahoma’s State Board of Education and The Oklahoma Public Charter School Association will greatly change the way public schools are funded. StateImpact’s Robby Korth spoke to Chris Brewster, President of the charter school organization and superintendent of Santa Fe South in Oklahoma City about the genesis of the lawsuit and school funding.
OU Physicians and Blue Cross Blue Shield Oklahoma's rate dispute could force thousands to find a new doctor
March 25, 2021 21:49 - 4 minutes - 4.46 MBThe two companies surpassed a year of negotiations and never reached an agreement. Come July, the two could be out of network.
Oklahoma spring assessments aim to measure learning loss during pandemic
March 18, 2021 14:00 - 4 minutes - 4.03 MBSpring assessment tests are an annual spring tradition in Oklahoma. But this year, they'll look quite a bit different. StateImpact's Robby Korth goes to Calumet to see how a school that normally thrives is prepping.
Oklahoma lawmakers introduce now-traditional abortion bills in a changing political environment
March 04, 2021 21:49 - 4 minutes - 4.39 MBThe proposed abortion policies don’t vary much from past versions, but they could have a better shot at implementation because of shifts on the U.S. and Oklahoma supreme courts.
Educating students at El Reno's Hillcrest Elementary
February 25, 2021 16:05 - 3 minutes - 3.34 MBIn part two of a story about what in-person school looks like in Oklahoma, StateImpact’s Robby Korth takes us to Hillcrest Elementary School in El Reno. The district has gone to great lengths to make in-person schooling work. This story was produced by KOSU’s Kateleigh Mills.
'Kids need to be in school' In-person Learning in El Reno, Oklahoma
February 25, 2021 16:00 - 3 minutes - 3.27 MBThe vast majority of Oklahoma students are attending school in person. But what does that look like? StateImpact’s Robby Korth visited El Reno High School to find out.