Brianna Bailey
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briokc.bsky.social
Brianna Bailey
@briokc.bsky.social
Managing editor for @readfrontier.bsky.social. I report on Oklahoma and live here too.
Reposted by Brianna Bailey
State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tulsa.
Despite Stitt’s hardline rhetoric, the state plans to fund housing for those swept by Operation SAFE in Oklahoma City
State officials are negotiating a deal to cover the cost of rent and other services for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, a move that contrasts sharply with the approach taken in Tuls...
www.readfrontier.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Brianna Bailey
The state will continue to face monthly fines unless it significantly decreases wait times for people in the criminal justice system waiting in county jails for mental health treatment.
Oklahoma mental health department fined nearly $1 million for noncompliance with consent decree
The state will continue to face monthly fines unless it significantly decreases wait times for people in the criminal justice system waiting in county jails for mental health treatment.
www.readfrontier.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:40 PM
🛢️ @readfrontier and
@propublica are hosting two free events in OKC and Tulsa to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater. RSVP here 👇👇👇👇
www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
Overpressured and Underregulated: a Frontier and ProPublica event
Join nonprofit newsrooms The Frontier and ProPublica to discuss how oil and gas extraction is contaminating Oklahoma’s groundwater.
www.readfrontier.org
November 10, 2025 at 7:57 PM
The crime is called felony murder. Prosecutors don't actually have to prove that you killed or intended to kill anyone to get a conviction.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/a-br...
A brother confessed to murder and got life without parole. Tremane Wood got death
Death penalty
www.readfrontier.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:05 PM
The crime is called felony murder. Prosecutors don't actually have to prove that you killed or intended to kill anyone to get a conviction. www.readfrontier.org/stories/a-br...
A brother confessed to murder and got life without parole. Tremane Wood got death
Death penalty
www.readfrontier.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM
“We didn’t know what it was or if it would harm anyone,” one area resident said.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/it-s...
It smelled like a ‘buried body.’ A small town was overwhelmed by fumes from an oil waste disposal facility
Residents near Enid say the smell of an oilfield waste disposal site made them feel sick. State officials weren’t sure who was in charge of enforcement.
www.readfrontier.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Seven years after I first started writing about Wayne Thompson's case, I got to see him walk out of prison a free man today. www.readfrontier.org/stories/conv...
Convicted of murder as a teenager, Wayne Thompson is free after more than four decades in prison
Oklahoma officials repeatedly rejected Thompson’s release, weighing the violent nature of the crime over his efforts to change. Now he has a second chance.
www.readfrontier.org
October 27, 2025 at 10:35 PM
He fell into the blades of an auger at a poultry plant and died. He was a father, an immigrant, and a contract worker on the night shift.
His name was Leovigildo Ramírez Castillo — and his story should shock us all.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/an-i...
An immigrant’s death at an Oklahoma poultry plant highlights dangerous conditions for workers
Current and former employees describe a punishing pace of work and questionable safety standards at a Heavener plant where recent immigrants fill a constant need for laborers.
www.readfrontier.org
October 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Months before a man fell into an auger and died, another worker warned of lax safety practices at an Oklahoma poultry plant. www.readfrontier.org/stories/an-i...
An immigrant’s death at an Oklahoma poultry plant highlights dangerous conditions for workers
Current and former employees describe a punishing pace of work and questionable safety standards at a Heavener plant where recent immigrants fill a constant need for laborers.
www.readfrontier.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Private donations have kept Oklahoma's resource hotlines running for nearly a decade while state money has been on hold.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/211-...
211 hotlines call on Oklahoma lawmakers for state funding
Private donations have kept the resource hotlines running for nearly a decade while state money has been on hold.
www.readfrontier.org
October 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Brianna Bailey
Most youth who lack permanent housing in the state don’t fit the federal housing department’s definitions of homelessness and often don’t qualify for services.
Less help for Oklahoma homeless youth unless they’re sleeping in a shelter or outside
Most youth who lack permanent housing in the state don’t fit the federal housing department’s definitions of homelessness and often don’t qualify for services.
www.readfrontier.org
October 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Here are 5⃣ key takeaways from @readfrontier's investigation into Tulsa police officers suspected of driving under the influence. www.readfrontier.org/stories/five...
Five things to know about The Frontier’s investigation into Tulsa police officers suspected of driving under the influence
We got the officer disciplinary records that the Tulsa police union didn’t want the public to see.
www.readfrontier.org
October 1, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Oklahoma has a long way to go on a plan to improve wait times for people with severe mental illness in the criminal justice system, and still can’t provide an accurate count of how many are stuck in jails waiting for treatment and for how long, consultants said.

www.readfrontier.org/stories/repo...
Report: Oklahoma plan to reform mental health treatment ‘marred by inconsistencies,’ flawed data
Months after a deal to end a class-action lawsuit over treatment for people with severe mental illness, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health still can’t provide an accurate count of how many peopl...
www.readfrontier.org
September 26, 2025 at 10:31 PM
As of Thursday afternoon, Ryan Walters's office had issued no official announcement on his departure to his Oklahoman constituents, who elected him with 56% of the vote in 2022. Calls to his press secretary went straight to voicemail. www.readfrontier.org/stories/ryan...
Ryan Walters has yet to answer questions about his pending resignation
A small, celebratory group gathered outside the state education building with signs that read ‘Bye Bye Ry-Ry’ and ‘NO LYIN’ RYAN.’
www.readfrontier.org
September 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
A deal between the City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation doesn’t apply to Freedmen descendants who don’t have documentation of a degree of Indian blood. @cliftonhowze.bsky.social and Allison Herrera find out why.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/desp...
Despite tribal citizenship, traffic tickets for Freedmen descendants to remain in city court
A deal between the City of Tulsa and the Muscogee Nation doesn’t apply to Freedmen descendants who don't have documentation of a degree of Indian blood.
www.readfrontier.org
August 18, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Five years after a landmark ruling that found much of eastern Oklahoma is Indian Country, tribal nations are still fighting with towns over who has jurisdiction to prosecute traffic violations and other municipal charges.
www.readfrontier.org/stories/some...
Some Oklahoma towns still ticket tribal citizens, in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling
Some Oklahoma towns still ticket tribal citizens, in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
www.readfrontier.org
August 14, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Brianna Bailey
Carrie Simpson, 54, expected to get high with friends that night in April on the first floor of a white turn-of-the-century house with asbestos siding that had been converted into apartments.

But things didn’t go as planned.
In Enid, a fatal overdose highlights a lack of drug treatment options
There’s a shortage of drug treatment programs in Western Oklahoma. Many people don’t have transportation and the nearest provider is in another town.
www.readfrontier.org
July 30, 2025 at 8:55 PM