<p>In this Friday, July 20, 2012 photo, a drilling rig is pictured near Calumet, Okla. Oklahoma is one of several states, including North and South Dakota, that has enjoyed a boom in the energy sector driven in large part by new and improved drilling techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which cracks open fissures in rock formations to retrieve oil and gas. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)</p>
August 14, 2012
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August 14, 2012 9:15 p.m.
Oil boom brings scarcity of workers in small towns
WOODWARD, Okla. - The local prison is so short on guards that inmates can sometimes just walk away. A gas station barely has enough cashiers to keep up with the trucks filling the parking lot. And "help wanted" signs seem to hang from every restaurant and shop.