Watonga prison reopening to house federal ICE detainees

CoreCivic announced it has been awarded a contract to resume operations at the company- owned 2,160-bed Diamondback Correctional Facility at Watonga, which has been idle for the last 15 years.

Oklahoma unemployment rate expected to increase

OKLAHOMA CITY – The latest unemployment rate in Oklahoma was pegged at 3.1% for four consecutive months, May through August. In comparison, the national unemployment rate was 4.3% in August, as reported on Sept. 19.The annual percentage rate on a credit card is now 21.1%; it was 14.

Oklahoma City bond issue: 11 categories, 547 projects proposed

Oklahoma City residents will vote Oct. 14 on a $2.7 billion bond issue that features almost a dozen propositions to finance infrastructure and community improvements across the 621 square-mile city.The election is open to Oklahoma City residents only. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Futurist to keynote Oklahoma Prosperity Summit

OKLAHOMA CITY – The State Chamber Research Foundation, in partnership with the Oklahoma Technology Alliance, will host the Oklahoma Prosperity Summit on Oct. 29, at the Oklahoma History Center-Chesapeake Event Center.

State lawmakers meet to examine safe gun storage program

OKLAHOMA CITY — There were 814 gun deaths in Oklahoma in 2023. Of that figure, 573 (70.4%) of those people died by suicide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — fifth highest percentage of suicide by firearm in the United States.

Cherokee Nation assumes Claremore Indian Hospital

WASHINGTON – Health services for Native Americans in northeast Oklahoma are expecting a major boost following Cherokee Nation’s assumption on Wednesday of the Claremore Indian Hospital, one of two federally run Indian hospitals remaining in Oklahoma.

Agency warns consumers about health insurance changes

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rising health care costs and recent policy decisions inWashington will affect Oklahoma consumers when they make their health insurance decisions for 2026, Oklahoma Insurance Department officials said in a news release.

FTC, agencies from 19 states, including Oklahoma, derail deceptive cancer fundraising scheme

OKLAHOMA CITY – A deceptive charity fundraising scheme and its operators who are accused in a 51-page complaint of raising millions of dollars to fund breast cancer screenings, but spending only a fraction of the donations on those procedures, have been outed and stopped.