Pictures of the Year 2025

Worshippers surround an actor portraying Jesus as he falls with his cross on 1st Street and Birmingham Ave. during St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church’s Stations of the Cross procession Friday, April 18, 2025 in Tulsa, Ok.

Wildfires Sweep Through the State

In March, high winds and dry conditions led to wildfires throughout the state. 170,000 acres burned, 290 structures were destroyed. My coverage focused on Mannford and Stillwater.

Ryland Mosley,18, was on the 2nd story of his home when a tornado hit near 96th Street North between Garnett Rd. and Mingo Rd.

Quaay Favors is helped out of an encampment after being resuced from her tent by Tulsa firefighters Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025 in Tulsa, Ok. On a visit to the encampment Tulsa World journalists heard 2 women in a collapsed tent yelling for help. The women asked the journalists to call 911, and they did. The encampment is along the Arkansas River west of downtown.

A bicyclist passes a mural that says, “Welcome to Tulsa,” on N. Trenton Ave. north of East Admiral Pl. Friday, June 13, 2025 in Tulsa, Okla.

A man named Savage works to salvage items from a friend’s camp as state troopers with Oklahoma Highway Patrol oversee the clearing of an encampment Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Tulsa, Okla.

**After 105 years, First Christian Church gets one last baptism in before being deconsecrated-** Samantha Cox prays with her daughter Aryn,11, after her baptism at First Christian Church Sunday, June 8, 2025 in Tulsa, Okla. Aryn has been attending the church since she was 8 days old. It was the final worship service for the congreation in their downtown building. Their building was purchased by a local developer. They will hold services at Circle Cinema before moving to a new location.

The 100% Avoidable Story of Car Wash

I first met Car Wash back in 2019. He was washing windows near 21st Street and Garnett. That’s how he made money. I tell the joke that when I first met him, he was like Edward Scissorhands, but instead of scissors, he had squeegees. He likes that joke.
In December, he took shelter at the Rose Bowl temporary warming center during the extreme cold. When the shelter closed down because the temperatures had gotten above freezing during the day, he left, but the city had dismantled his camp. He had nowhere to go. All the downtown shelters were full. He spent the night on the ground. He developed frostbite on his feet, and half his left foot and three toes on his right foot were amputated. He can barely walk now and is mostly confined to a wheelchair. “It was 100% avoidable, and I feel guilty for not pushing harder,” Josh Sanders said. Sanders is the Tulsa Day Center Director of Outreach and Engagement.

Owasso’s Ben Duggins and Elien Reagan react in the closing minutes of their football game against Union Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 in Owasso, Okla.

Shirtless Oklahoma State fans sing “Friends in Low Places” as Oklahoma State plays Houston in their football game Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025 in Stillwater, Okla. The movement started with one shirtless fan in the section after his sister bet him he wouldn’t. By the end of the game the section was filled with shirtless men.

Researchers and Community Members Search for Victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre

In October and November the 5th and largest excavation of Oaklawn Cemetery took place in the search for victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In the latest work, 83 unmarked graves were documented. Nine bodies were exhumed for further analysis. I have been covering the search in Oaklawn Cemetery since the 1990s, and the current search since 2019. My goal is to be at the cemetery every day that they search.

It seems incomprehensible that it has been 30 years since I was just a young intern at The Oklahoman and someone blew up the Murrah Building in downtown Oklahoma City. I was struggling with how to put into words what I was feeling and during a meeting, Berry Tramel was able to say what I was feeling, as usual. So I let him say it and I filmed it.