Two national civil rights groups have joined a federal lawsuit accusing dozens of Oklahoma sheriffs, judges and court clerks of operating a debt-collection scheme that preys on poor people by sending them to jail if they…

    An Oklahoma assistant prosecutor has resigned after negotiating a plea deal that gave probation to a man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl.     Murray County Oklahoma assistant DA David Pyle said he didn’t insist on prison because the defendant was legally blind.       Instead, 36-year-old defendant Benjamin Lawrence Petty was sentenced to 15 years’ probation after pleading guilty to first-degree rape and other charges.  &n…

     Investigators say human remains discovered near an oil well site in south central Oklahoma appeared to have been there for a considerable period of time.     The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s office is working to identify the remains and determine how and when the individual died.     Authorities in McClain County Oklahoma are investigating the case as a possible homicide.       

     A new study finds that restricting the depth of injections wells could cut the number of Oklahoma’s man-made earthquakes by fifty percent.     Scientists analyzed more than 10,000 wastewater injection wells where 96 billion gallons of fluid – leftover from hydraulic fracturing – are pumped yearly.     The study determined a major trigger of man-made quakes in Oklahoma is how deep – not just how much – wastewater is injected. …

    A top official with the Oklahoma Department of Health says he can no longer perform his job because the agency’s leadership “is compromised.”     The department’s Chief Financial Officer, Michael Romero, announced his resignation Thursday .         Romero says the process for the agency’s financial recovery is “tainted with multiple conflicts of interest.”     Several agency officials have re…

The Carthage Public Library received three grants totaling more than $14,000 to support its summer reading program for young people combat the “summer slide,” the tendency for children to forget some of what they learned the previous school year during the three-month summer break.

A Joplin nonprofit that serves some of the area’s most vulnerable families is seeking to expand.

The Jasper County prosecutor’s office succeeded Thursday in getting James Henneha bound over for trial in the death of Tonya Crawford despite a public defender’s objections that the state failed to present any evidence that she was murdered.

    The crowded field of Republican candidates for Kansas governor has shrunken by one.     Former state Representative Ed O’Malley announced Thursday that he is reluctantly leaving the race because his campaign hasn’t been able to raise enough funds to remain competitive.     He is the first GOP candidate to end his campaign.     Republican candidates still in the race include Governor Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Kr…

No more than five area residents attended a public hearing conducted by Missouri American Water and the Missouri Public Service Commission as part of the company’s rate case.