StateImpact Oklahoma

Federal and state authorities are investigating the cause of the deadly explosion and fire at a natural gas drilling rig in southeastern Oklahoma on Monday. 

The State Department of Education surveyed thousands of former teachers about why they left the profession, and what it would take to get them back. The survey results, released Monday, suggest most quit because of low pay.

This is the Manager’s Minute.

With a new year beginning, KGOU is renewing its commitment to serving you with trustworthy journalism.

Our goal is to deliver relevant, interesting, explanatory stories that tell not just what happened, but explore the why and how.

Along with our partners, we have expanded StateImpact Oklahoma to provide in-depth coverage of energy and environment, health, education, criminal justice and more.

2018 is an election year, so much of our focus will be on politics and policy.

On June 26, voters will decide if Oklahoma will become the 30th state to legalize marijuana for medical use. But regulating the new industry could prove difficult.

If State Question 788 passes, licenses will be required for each stage of marijuana cultivation, including dispensaries, commercial growers, processors, and individual medical marijuana cards.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that black infants in Oklahoma are twice as likely to die before their first birthday than white or Hispanic babies, making Oklahoma one of the worst states for black infant mortality.

This is the Manager’s Minute.

Happy New Year, everyone!

2017 was a year of growth for KGOU. We added a new transmitter in Clinton that increases our broadcast footprint to include a large part of western Oklahoma. KGOU is now broadcasting to 32 counties from nine locations around the state.

Ratings for NPR and KGOU are on the rise, and we’ve increased our number of listeners in the last 12 months. KGOU now has more than 90,000 weekly listeners in the Oklahoma City metro area.

A group led by a long-time energy industry leader wants Oklahoma voters to approve an increase in taxes on oil and gas production to help fund public education.

Currently, taxes on oil and gas production are discounted for the first three years making the effective tax rate somewhere around 3.2 percent. Mickey Thompson with Restore Oklahoma Now on Wednesday filed the paperwork for State Question 795 to increase that rate to 7 percent across-the-board.

This is the Manager’s Minute.

We hope you’ve noticed a new voice on KGOU over the last couple of weeks. Jackie Fortier joined the StateImpact Oklahoma reporting team in mid-November.

StateImpact is a collaboration between Oklahoma’s public radio stations (KGOU, KOSU, KWGS and KCCU) and for six years now has been delivering in-depth, enterprise reporting on policies affecting everyday Oklahomans.

Senior reporter and editor Joe Wertz focuses on energy and environment stories, Emily Wendler on education, and Jackie Fortier will lead StateImpact’s health reporting.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s plan to spray chemicals and biological agents in simulated terrorist attacks at an abandoned school has alarmed residents and caused a stir on both sides of the Oklahoma-Kansas border.

This is the Manager’s Minute.

From time to time, circumstances require us to change our programming schedule…and this is one of those times.

To the Point is going podcast-only, so in its 2:00 p.m. time slot we’re adding Fresh Air Monday through Thursday.

Science Friday will continue to air Fridays from 1:00 to 3:00, and Fresh Air will repeat at 7:00 on weeknights.

Current Conversations is going on hiatus, so we’re adding an extra half hour of All Things Considered Monday evenings from 6:30 to 7:00.