Wewoka Got Its Violence Under Control. Then the State Cut the Programs That Did It.
In the fall of 2023, Bob Holbrook looked out his window on 10th Street in Wewoka and watched four police cars surround a neighboring house, doors open like shields, officers with guns drawn. He thought that kind of thing only happened in movies.
It wasn’t the only time that fall. A string of shootings, arsons and gang activity drew statewide media coverage and sent Seminole County District Attorney Erik Johnson into overdrive — law enforcement sweeps, warrant services, drug stops, and new after-school programs to give kids somewhere to go. It worked. The violence calmed.
Three years later, Brenna Witchey and Jake Ramsey report that the programs are gone and the money is frozen, and Johnson is sounding the alarm again.
The most direct loss is a juvenile diversion program run for five years by District Judge Brett Butner. Every Wednesday evening, at-risk kids did yoga, attended study hall and ended the night with trivia and dinner. Once a year, Butner took them to buy shoes. On Sept. 18 he got an email saying the contract was ending Sept. 30. The state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services cut similar programs in 12 counties, redistributing the $15,000 contracts to what it defined as critical needs.
Butner is barred by the judicial code of conduct from raising replacement funds himself. And the 781 funds he was pointed toward as an alternative are frozen in Seminole County, tied up in an ethics inquiry into Rep. Danny Williams, who chairs a nonprofit called House of Hope that received those funds and who must respond to allegations by Oct. 28.
“We’re in a war for these kids,” Johnson said.
Wewoka has about 3,000 residents, nearly 30% living below the poverty line — almost double the state rate. Officers work in a high-volume, high-danger environment for below-average pay. The department has discussed voluntarily cutting salaries just to attract more officers. None of it is sustainable without the state showing up.
More worth knowing:
Citation Gets a Pass
Staff at an Oklahoma regulatory agency spent over a year building a case against Citation Oil & Gas, a company notorious for oil field pollution. Instead of disciplining the company, agency leaders chose to let it resume operations. [The Frontier]
10 Tribes Negotiating Federal Energy Grants
The U.S. Department of Energy is negotiating more than $22 million in grants with tribal nations headquartered in Oklahoma. The money will fund planning and execution of energy projects. [KOSU]
It’s All Oklahoma on Great Performances
“Jimmy Webb: American Songwriter” airs tonight at 9 p.m. on OETA, part of PBS” Great Performances series. Shot last year at the McKnight Center on the OSU campus, Webb, an Elk City native, talks about his career and personal life between some of the hits he wrote, suchas as “Galveston,” “Wichita Lineman,” and “MacArthur Park.” Of the latter, Wall Street Journal music critic John Anderson wrote: “Musically, it was orchestral pop with multiple movements; chord changes that might have impressed both Paul McCartney and Claude Debussy.” Here’s Anderson’s review. [WSJ]
▲=Possible paywall
Black Tuesday’s stock market crash on October 29, 1929, set in motion Oklahoma’s farm failures and Dust Bowl exodus.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
Help Us Make a Difference
Oklahoma needs high-quality investigative journalism. That is our mission at Oklahoma Watch. We produce stories that hold government and public officials accountable and make transparent what some prefer to keep secret. We depend on financial support from readers like you to sustain our coverage. Will you help us make a difference?