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3 weeks ago | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock |Tres Savage
(Update: One day after the investigative committee received an estimate that the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services would need $27.4 million in supplemental funding to get the agency to the end of the fiscal year, the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency revised the estimate to around $30.6 million.
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1 month ago | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock |Matt Patterson |Bennett Brinkman
The state has had no shortage of rainy days over the past few weeks, but a new report from State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd shows the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office has not saved up for one. On the contrary, Byrd’s audit highlights poor financial practices within the agency — no surprise after her office released Part One of the review in June 2024, the same month Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason was reelected with 53.4 percent of the vote in a three-way race.
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1 month ago | 
nondoc.com | Tristan Loveless |Andrea Hancock
A review requested by the U.S. Department of the Treasury has alleged the previous administration of the Kiowa Tribe improperly spent several million dollars in COVID-19 relief funding between 2020 and 2022. The findings likely come as no surprise for the many Kiowa citizens who lambasted previous Chairman Matthew Komalty during ultimately unsuccessful recall and impeachment attempts.
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1 month ago | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock |Tres Savage
The Oklahoma House special committee formed to investigate financial issues with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services heard more than three hours of testimony Thursday, pressing Commissioner Allie Friesen for details about financial decisions, non-disclosure agreements, now-cancelled contracts in Tulsa County and whether planned reimbursement cuts had been halted.
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2 months ago | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock |Bennett Brinkman |Matt Patterson
It has been a difficult March in the state after high winds and wildfires ravaged communities, leaving four dead and 400 homes destroyed, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. In trying times, it is easy — understandable, in fact — to fall behind on other items of news, whether you were personally affected by the fires or simply hold concern for those who were.
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Feb 13, 2025 | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock |Tristan Loveless |Michael Mcnutt |Bennett Brinkman
The Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the death sentence of Daniel Raul Santiago Vasquez, convicted for murdering a woman in 2018 while she was seven months pregnant. The same day the court upheld Vasquez’s death penalty, it also held that refusing a breathalyzer test during a DUI traffic stop is admissible evidence and issued an order barring felons from owning airsoft guns.
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Jan 21, 2025 | 
nondoc.com | Michael Mcnutt |Tristan Loveless |Matt Patterson |Andrea Hancock
It has been a fraught few weeks for Oklahoma’s relationship with the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Dec 12, 2024 | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock
(Editor’s note: The following article contains graphic details about a woman’s death that readers may find upsetting.)When 32-year-old Kayla Lee Turley died Aug. 9, 2023, her death yielded no headlines and capped a tragic spiral that included several arrests for burglary and drug possession, as well as a divorce for which she was supposed to be in court that week.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
nondoc.com | Bennett Brinkman |Tristan Loveless |Andrea Hancock |Michael Mcnutt
Despite a stay in the civil case against Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen that had been set to begin this week, several other high-profile legal happenings in the state deserve your attention. The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department’s civil case against Swadley’s was stayed in October pending the outcome of the criminal fraud case against its officers, which alleges the restaurant overcharged the state for construction costs and other services. The civil trial was supposed to begin Monday.
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Dec 4, 2024 | 
nondoc.com | Andrea Hancock
After representing Ward 7 on the Norman City Council for 11 years, Stephen Tyler Holman is stepping away from the post — in order to challenge incumbent Mayor Larry Heikkila. Holman has served on the dais alongside Heikkila since 2021, when Heikkila defeated then-incumbent Brea Clark. As Heikkila seeks reelection, the 2025 mayoral matchup will take place alongside Norman elections for the City Council’s odd-numbered wards and a Norman Public Schools Board of Education seat.
