TLO’s Top 26 Stories of 2026… so far! [Part I]

8:16 AM EDT on July 1, 2026

We began the workweek in earnest but then thought better of it. Before we officially lay it all down and go offline for a summer break, I'm releasing a free countdown of TLO’s Top 26 Stories of 2026… so far.

Highlighted chronologically and broken into two parts, we're revisiting the top scoops, rants, viral hits and insider exclusives from the first half of 2026. Here’s Part I. Stay tuned tomorrow when we drop Part II.

P.S. If you're not yet a subscriber, the TLO Freedom Sale runs through July 4th. Get 50% off an ad-free annual subscription – now just $49.99 – and enjoy a full year of freedom from capitalistic pressure to buy stuff immediately after buying this.

1. Shelby Love parts ways with Fox 25… | Jan. 5, 2026

What We Wrote:

I guess we should get the new year started on a pageview-generating note!
Shelby Love – the beauty pageant winner turned traffic reporter / anchor – announced on New Year's Eve she is no longer with KOKH Fox 25 and its morning show, Good Day Oklahoma.
Here’s her very brief and very direct news report about the decision…

2. RIP: The Flaming Lips (As We Knew Them) | Jan. 5, 2026

What We Wrote:

The Flaming Lips – at least how we all knew them – are officially dead.
In case you missed it over the holidays, Steven Drozd – the instrumentalist, musician and vocalist who has been the better half of The Flaming Lips since the 1990s – accidentally leaked on social media that he’s no longer with the band.
Although the news had been floating around the OKC creative class for a while, it was quickly picked up by the national online music press, sparking mass hysteria in pink robot quarters…

3. Joleen Chaney already out at Oklahoma Department of Education! | Jan. 21, 2026

What We Wrote:

Yep. That’s right. Pour a little watermelon moonshine out for a homie!
Just two months after she left the TV news biz for health reasons, only to suddenly accept a high-profile, high-stress, $150K-a-year state agency gig a few days later, Joleen Chaney is vaguely "no longer with" the Oklahoma Department of Education.
Obviously, the main question here is what exactly happened…

Related:

4. Devon Energy Kicks OKC in the Balls… | Feb. 3, 2026

What We Wrote:

…Oklahoma City took a kick to the balls yesterday when Devon Energy and their asshole CEO, Clay Gaspar, did what many other greedy oil companies have done before them and announced they will be relocating their offices to Houston following a merger...

5. Wealthy Norman Woman To Serve Only 70 Days for Causing Near-Fatal DUI Crash… | Feb. 16, 2026

What We Wrote:

Well, I have some sad, extra-infuriating news to report – I called it.
Thanks to the absurd clown car that is the Oklahoma criminal justice system, Sara Polston is apparently being sent home on GPS release this week after serving just 70 days in prison.
Yep, that’s right. 70 days…

Related:

6. Markturd Mullin Won’t Be Our Senator Anymore! Awesome! Yay! | Mar. 5, 2026

What We Wrote:

That’s amazing on a couple of levels.
First of all, it means Marcuswayne – one of the dumbest humans to ever become a senator, much less a Cabinet Secretary – will no longer represent Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate. Incredible, right? Sure, he’ll probably be replaced by someone nearly as right-wing, but at least there’s a chance we’ll get a senator who can pronounce basic words and doesn’t challenge people to fistfights during committee hearings.
The other great part about this is we’ll get to watch Marcuswayne flounder in the depths of the national MAGA swamp…

Related:

Marcuswayne Mullin: A TLO Retrospective

7. Al Eschbach suffers heart attack during Thai vacation… | Mar. 16, 2026

What We Wrote:

The legendary Sports Animal host revealed last week that he recently survived a heart attack, hospital stay and leg gash during a trip to Thailand. Fortunately, he’s apparently doing better and back on the air, which is good news for sports radio listeners and travel agents alike.
The details are not nearly as fun and exciting as Al’s Colombian adventure – you know, the one that ended with him being stabbed outside a brothel – but if you’ve ever listened to Al once in the last 40 years, it’s probably worth a listen…

8. Podcast Pals Get Into Physical Altercation at Oklahoma Capitol… | Mar. 24, 2026

What We Wrote:

There are lots of ways a podcast can fall apart.
Creative differences, time and scheduling conflicts, or – in rare, special occasions – your hosts allegedly get into a fistfight!
Thanks to The Ogle Mole Network, we’ve learned that may be what happened to the “Inside the Capitol” podcast hosted by State Reps. Josh West and Trey Caldwell…

9. Pauls Valley Principal is an Oklahoma Badass… | Apr. 9, 2026

What We Wrote:

Chuck Norris may have died, but his spirit apparently lives on in the form of a rural high school principal from Oklahoma!
In the name of feel-good clickbait, I thought it would be nice to give a well-deserved standing ovation to Pauls Valley principal Kirk Moore.
In case you haven’t heard, he conjured his inner Walker, Texas Ranger and, while taking a shot to the leg, heroically thwarted some psycho school shooter’s attempt to turn Pauls Valley High School into yet another American tragedy…

10. Creepy John Waldron AI Kissing Scandal Finally Comes To Light… | Apr. 13, 2026

What We Wrote:

Back in January, I received multiple tips via The Ogle Mole Network letting me know that NonDoc – or as we affectionately call it, Yawn Doc – was about to drop a big exposé on State Representative and former OK Democratic Chair John Waldron.
According to my Moles, the non-profit was preparing to report that the real reason behind Waldron’s sudden resignation from his party post wasn’t due to “time and family reasons”... but because he allegedly sent an aspiring candidate a totally out-of-the-blue, creepy, and wildly inappropriate AI-generated photo of the two of them kissing…

11. Stitt Mad at Media for Exposing His Billion-Dollar Grift… | Apr. 14, 2026

What We Wrote:

The gist is that Stitt basically steered a lucrative billion-dollar investment management agreement to his Young Presidents’ buddy, business partner, and political ally Bond “Pork Chop” Payne – the trust fund baby turned trust fund manager who served as Ol’ Stitter’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2022 – without ever formally disclosing their cozy relationship…

Related:

12. A Post-Apocalyptic Trip to Mary’s Swap Meet… | Apr. 14, 2026

What We Wrote:

As a beefy woman blew cheap cigarette smoke on me—I guessed as a sly come-on—I got out of my car and stepped onto the very muddy parking lot.
An ever-slight, near muggy mist enveloped me as I walked through the lot of Mary’s Swap Meet, 7905 NE 23rd. It was at the non-existent gates that I fully realized this trip was going to be empirically… different…

13. News 9’s “Sassy Mama” Drops Behind-The-Scenes F-Bomb… | Apr. 21, 2026

What We Wrote:

Yikes! I guess they call her Sassy Mama for a reason!
I wonder what caused her to drop the F-bomb? Did someone forget to dice the parsley? Was her favorite knife not where it’s supposed to be? Did she just discover a hidden camera in the oven? We need answers…

Stay tuned tomorrow, when we reveal TLO’s Top 26 Stories of 2026… so far! [Part II]