Over the past year, pandemic relief efforts have been winding down. One of the first to go: universal free lunch for public school students.

For more than two years during the pandemic, the waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture meant all kids qualified for free breakfasts and lunches. It saved families with one child hundreds of dollars per year, and for families with multiple kids, it saved thousands. It meant families who might qualify for free or reduced lunches didn’t have to handle paperwork, and no students had to navigate lunch debt.

But Congress decided to let the program lapse. Across Oklahoma, schools are figuring out how to help families weather the change.

More than 2,000 feet underground in Carlsbad, New Mexico, sits the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  

WIPP is the country’s only deep geological repository for nuclear waste of any kind — the U.S. doesn’t have a permanent repository for high level waste like spent nuclear fuel . But its other claim to fame is it’s also a case study in “consent-based siting,” which is the practice of getting community buy-in for nuclear storage sites.

Now, a $3 million research project led by the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Public Policy Research is aiming to develop a new framework for consent-based interim siting of spent nuclear fuel. As the nation’s nuclear waste storage crisis becomes increasingly more imminent, researchers hope they can craft policy that will incentivize communities to volunteer themselves as interim storage sites. 

Three Oklahoma students are suing the state over its law that bars transgender students from using the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity.

Andy Bridge is the lead plaintiff. The suit argues Senate Bill 615 is unconstitutional and should be overturned.

Bridge and his parents, Aysha Prather and Eli Bridge, sat down with StateImpact Oklahoma reporter Robby Korth to share why they think it was an important step to take.

StateImpact has gotten many questions about House Bill 1775, Oklahoma’s so-called critical race theory ban. So education reporter Robby Korth tried to address the most common ones. Here he is talking with Logan Layden about answering those frequently asked questions.

Stateimpact is on a tour around Oklahoma to gather voices, stories and more from youth. Education reporter Robby Korth and KOSU engagement reporter Kateleigh Mills talked with two Stilwell High School students about their art and how they fit in as Cherokee in Oklahoma.

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma started developing a monitoring program in 2020. Now, they're working with state health officials to scan for about a dozen pathogens — including COVID, monkeypox and West Nile Virus.

The ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike project from the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is a 15-year, $5 billion project to build several turnpike routes in central, southern and northeastern Oklahoma. Residents in the paths of these turnpike extensions who regularly see deer grazing in their yards and eagles soaring overhead are wondering, what’s going to happen to all the wildlife and the facility that takes care of them? And how far does the law go to protect them?

As Oklahoma colleges struggle to maintain enrollment, they’re increasingly turning to other places to recruit new students. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports the top target is the Sooner state’s neighbors to the south.

StateImpact is on a listening tour with Oklahoma’s youth. And we’ve brought along our microphones. StateImpact’s Robby Korth and KOSU’s Kateleigh Mills talked to a couple of Tulsa high school students about race, gender and how they interact with their peers at school.

Several states that banned abortion created exceptions for medical emergencies, but the laws fail to make clear which conditions qualify for the exception. That leaves room for interpretation, which has already caused delays in life-saving care.