The Frontier spent months tracking down patients, obtaining insurance records and seeking answers from treatment providers accused of exploiting people struggling with addiction. Here’s how we uncovered the story.
The Frontier and KOSU previously reported that judges in Oklahoma County routinely fail to consider whether defendants can afford bail, leaving poor and homeless people jailed on low-level charges. Other counties have already faced civil rights lawsuits.
For more than a decade, The Frontier has held powerful institutions accountable, exposed wrongdoing and told stories that might otherwise go unheard. Now we’re asking readers to help us continue that mission.
Democrats flipped six Republican-held state House seats and made substantial gains in Oklahoma’s largest counties, even as Republicans maintained their grip on statewide offices.
Legislative seats flipped to Democrats, including some held by Republican House leaders. Republicans also held onto all statewide offices and five congressional districts, while the governor’s race shifted sharply toward Democrats compared with 2024.
Reporter Kayla Branch discusses the desperation that led some Oklahomans to seek addiction treatment in California, the allegations of insurance fraud surrounding some facilities and what she learned when she traveled there herself.
After years of homelessness and addiction, Ernesto Akothe was ready to start over. But more than $25,000 in fines and fees stood in his way until a judge waived the debt. Not every qualifying defendant gets the same opportunity.
The Republican nominee has loaned his campaign more than $12.8 million, accounting for the bulk of the $25.3 million in personal loans that have fueled this year’s gubernatorial race.
Across Oklahoma, oilfield wastewater has continued to surface from the ground — even as regulators failed to contain it. This investigation examines how oversight fell short, how contamination spread and how families were left to navigate the consequences.
Chinese criminal networks have taken over much of the illicit marijuana market in Oklahoma, stoking a wave of crime that includes violence, money laundering and human trafficking. And authorities suspect some of those involved have links to powerful forces in the Chinese state.
There have been at least 25 police shootings in Oklahoma this year, at least 14 of which have been fatal.
Reporter Kayla Branch discusses the desperation that led some Oklahomans to seek addiction treatment in California, the allegations of insurance fraud surrounding some facilities and what she learned when she traveled there herself.
