From The Tulsa World:

Insure Oklahoma has grown at such a significant rate it is expected to reach funding capacity before year’s end, potentially leading to a freeze in enrollment and a loss of momentum in providing health insurance coverage for all Oklahomans.

“We are trying to convert as many no-pay patients to pay,” said Mike Fogarty, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. “But we will very shortly reach our capacity.”

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From NewsOK:

Nearly 500 people attended a town hall meeting Tuesday afternoon with U.S. Rep. Tom Cole. The discussion ranged from the power of the federal government to debate on national health care reform.

The crowd cheered, booed and at times even shouted over each other, but for the most part remained civil as Cole explained for more than two hours the issues before Congress.

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From The Associated Press:

An Oklahoma County judge has listened to oral arguments in a lawsuit over an Oklahoma law that requires women to have an ultrasound examination before getting an abortion.

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From NewsOK:

At Cole’s first town hall meeting in Duncan last week, an estimated 150 people showed up, a far larger crowd than normal.”People are very intense and interested,” Cole said. “I expect all of our town hall meetings to be very full.”

But the people, at least in Duncan, weren’t belligerent or shouting at him, a contrast from the scenes in other parts of the country where congressional town hall meetings have resembled protests and have actually posed security concerns for lawmakers.

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From The Associated Press:

A new report shows polluted stormwater, sewer overflows and a manure composting operation likely contributed to bacteria in the Oklahoma River blamed for sickening dozens of triathletes.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality released a draft report released Wednesday that studied 12 bodies of water in the North Canadian River watershed [...] The study shows 11 of the 12 water bodies are in violation of state water standards, including the portion of the river where triathletes swam in the event May 16-17.

The Environmental Protection Agency is holding hearings next week over whether to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste. To see why this is so important, check out this Voices of Oklahoma article from April 2009 about how coal ash is affecting the small Oklahoma town of Bokoshe. The hearing will be on Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 10:00am-9:30pm at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. Voices of Oklahoma will be there to report what happens.