Archive for the Week of August 10, 2008 - August 16, 2008
News Archives (Week of 8/10/08)
Museum commissioner says lawsuit 'without merit'
8/15/08, 4:12 p.m.
CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) - An official with the J.M. Davis gun museum says a lawsuit over conditions at the museum is "without merit." Museum Commissioner William Higgins says the museum in Claremore is in fine condition. His comments are in response to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the J.M. Davis Foundation which wants the firearms and collection returned to the foundation. Officials with the foundation say if they win the lawsuit they'll likely sell the guns to benefit the city of Claremore. A state audit of the museum found 125 firearms missing from the museum and other problems. Higgins says officials have made several upgrades since the audit including adding a full-time curator and security improvements.
Severe storms hit Oklahoma
8/15/08, 8:59 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Power is back for most customers who suffered outages when severe thunderstorms hit parts of Oklahoma overnight. The storms knocked down power poles and dropped so much hail it looked like winter in part of the Panhandle. There were no reports of structural damage or injuries with the storms, which pounded northern, western and central Oklahoma tonight.
Nearly 8,900 customers were without electricity in central sections of the state at one time but the outages were down to 70 this morning. The National Weather Service says winds gusted to between 60 an 70 miles per hour mainly west of Interstate 35. Power poles were blown down along Oklahoma Highway 23 south of Elmwood in Beaver County. In the same area pea- to quarter-size hail piled 5 to 6 inches deep and looked like snow on the roadway.
HUD grant to Tulsa scrutinized
8/15/08, 8:44 a.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The city of Tulsa is being told to justify how it spent a 1.5 million dollar federal grant or repay the money. An audit by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says the Tulsa Development Authority couldn't produce documents to support how the money was spent. The grant from the Community Development Block Grant program was intended to buy and clear land and for relocation activities. City officials disagree with most of the assertions in the audit and say they hope any money that must be repaid could be negotiated. HUD will assess the inspector general's audit and have the final say on any action against the city.
Farewell ceremony for Guard unit set for Saturday
8/15/08, 8:39 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A farewell ceremony is set for Saturday for about 800 Oklahoma National Guard soldiers who are headed to Iraq for a year. Soldiers from the 45th Fires Brigade will be honored at the 2
p.m. event at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. The unit is set to leave later this month for Fort Hood, Texas, where they will receive 60 to 90 days of training for a convoy security mission in Iraq. The group is scheduled to arrive there just as about 2,600 members of the Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade are set to return in October.
Long-time AG 'leaning' toward governor's race
8/14/08, 12:30 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Attorney General Drew Edmondson says he's"leaning" toward running for governor in 2010. Edmondson told the Tulsa World he's "leaning more and more in that direction." He's already has raised nearly $300,000 for a 2010 re-election bid and that money could be transferred to a governor's race.
Governor Brad Henry cannot run again because of term limits. Other potential Democratic candidates include Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins and Treasurer Scott Meacham. Congresswoman Mary Fallin has been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate.
Edmondson was elected attorney general in 1994 and won re-election in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
Picher school opens Thursday
8/14/08, 8:52 a.m.
PICHER, Okla. (AP) - School opens today in the pollution filled and tornado ravaged town of Picher but classes may end in the district before the school year is over. Just 47 students are expected and there are no students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Fourth and 5th-grades will be combined and the 12 middle school students will be in the same classes.
Residents of the town were taking part in a federal buyout when a tornado hit on May 10th and destroyed much of what was left of the town. State Superintendent Sandy Garrett is encouraging the district to consider annexing itself into another district.
State officials will tour the school and decide whether accreditation should be granted. If accreditation is withdrawn the school would no longer receive state funding and Garrett says that could happen midyear.
Updated: Pickens brings energy plan to McAlester
8/13/08, 5:50 p.m.
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) - Billionaire Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens takes his strategy for easing the U.S. dependence on foreign oil to an overflow crowd McAlester today. More than 1,000 people packed into the Southeastern Expo Center to hear the Holdenville native outline his "Pickens Plan."
Gov. Brad Henry introduced Pickens, who discussed his plan for using a series of wind turbines along a wind-swept corridor stretching from Texas to North Dakota. Under Pickens' plan, power generated by the turbines would free up 22 percent of the natural gas now used to generate electric power. The natural gas, in turn, could be used as an alternative fuel source for gasoline and diesel engines.
Pickens says the country has had no leadership in Washington willing to tackle the energy issue. Pickens also stressed that his plan would revitalize parts of rural America, like Oklahoma, where wind and natural gas are abundant.
Richard Roberts offered severance package
8/13/08, 12:10 p.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The former president of Oral Roberts University, who stepped down last fall amid allegations he misspent school funds to live in luxury, is getting a severance package from the university, but officials there refuse to divulge its terms.
Televangelist Richard Roberts, the son of school founder Oral
Roberts, resigned in November. Billionaire Oklahoma City businessman Mart Green took the reins of the school in January, donating $70 million and pledging to restore the public's trust in the small evangelical school.
Wednesday, Green called the proposed severance agreement "fair, reasonable, and in the best interest of ORU." The package has yet to be finalized, and Green refused to comment further on the
details.
Pact may help settle tobacco dispute
8/13/08, 9:35 p.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A new tobacco compact between Oklahoma and the Lawton-based Comanche Nation may affect many tribal tobacco agreements and settle a long-running fight between the state and many tribes. The compact requires tribal smoke shops and retailers to sell cigarettes bearing a 51.5-cent tax stamp which is half of the state's tobacco tax rate. The tribe is also required to charge a 15-cent tribal tax per-pack.
The Comanche compact went into effect July 1st and gives many tribes an opportunity to get out of their current tobacco compacts. The agreement also gives the tribes back their tax advantage over nontribal retailers and has upset some such as convenience store operator QuikTrip. QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh says the governor's office is going back on its word to level the playing field by reducing the tax advantage tribal stores have had.
Oklahoma National Guard general promoted
8/13/08, 9:20 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The commander of Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Brigade is being promoted to a top spot at the National Guard Bureau in Washington. Brig. Gen. Myles Deering is being promoted to major general and will become director of manpower and personnel at the National Guard Bureau.
Deering currently is in Iraq as commander of 2,600 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops and will take his new post on Dec. 12, about two months after the soldiers return home. Deering is a graduate of Ada High School.
He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Science degree from Oklahoma State University. He also has a masters degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Oklahoma ACT scores for 2007 hold steady
8/13/08, 9:13 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The average ACT scores of Oklahoma students mostly held steady this year while the national average fell slightly. Oklahoma's average score of 20.7 is the same as last year and remains below the national average which fell by one-tenth of a point to 21.1 this year.
The highest average subject score for Oklahoma students is a 21.4 in reading. State students averaged a 20.5 score in English, a 20.4 score in science and a 19.8 in math. The reading score improved by one-tenth of a point and the science score fell by one-tenth while the English and math scores are unchanged from last year. A total of 27,131 - or 70 percent - of Oklahoma students took the ACT. Seven state students scored a perfect 36 on the test.
Congressman wants probe of company
8/13/08, 8:59 a.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - An Oklahoma congressman wants an investigation into how a Texas company has been handling ambulance service claims for Oklahoma and other states.
U.S. Representative Dan Boren says the ambulance services' claims were denied or delayed by Dallas-based TrailBlazer Health Enterprises, a subsidiary of BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements can provide 50 to 70 percent of a local ambulance service's income.
The Oklahoma Democrat says it would be a disaster if TrailBlazer Health's alleged inefficiencies are responsible for emergency service companies closing their doors. TrailBlazer spokesman Billy Quarles says officials want to gather additional information about the complaints so they can review and discuss them. He says they will work with Boren's office to ensure any problems are addressed.
Navy relieves commander of air recon squadron
8/13/08, 8:46 a.m.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The commander of a Navy air reconnaissance squadron that provides the president and the defense secretary the airborne ability to command and control the nation's nuclear arsenal has been relieved of duty.
The Navy said today that Commander Shawn Bentley, who is based at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, was relieved of duty yesterday by the Navy because it had lost confidence in his ability to command. Lieutenant Commander Charlie Brown of the Naval Air Forces says Bentley was removed after an investigation by the Navy's Inspector General was completed.
The Navy didn't release any details about the investigation or about any possible allegations against Bentley. But a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press that Bentley was removed for an undisclosed personal matter and not for anything related to the squadron's missions or duties. Bentley couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Brown says the primary duty of the VQ-3 squadron is to provide communication with ballistic missile submarines.
Pickens to tout energy plan in McAlester
8/13/08, 8:20 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Billionaire Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is returning to his native Oklahoma to tout his new plan for weaning the U.S. off its dependence on foreign oil. The Holdenville native will visit McAlester Wednesday for the third in a series of town-hall meetings to generate grass roots support for his "Pickens Plan."
The plan calls for erecting wind turbines across the Midwest to generate electricity, replacing the 22 percent of U.S. power produced from natural gas. The freed-up natural gas then could be used to fuel cars and trucks now reliant on gasoline and diesel.
Pickens says he's had positive feedback from those who attended similar meetings in Kansas and Colorado. A research director for the vehicles program at the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists -- David Friedman -- says he believes Pickens is on the right track with his wind proposal. But Friedman questions how effective natural gas will be as a long-term fuel source for the country's vehicles. Friedman also says natural gas-fired electricity plans are crucial to helping meet the nation's peak demand for power.
Revenue up to start fiscal year
8/13/08, 8:15 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State government has received good news to start the fiscal year. State officials reported Tuesday that tax collections were up in July, fueled by record strength in the energy industry.
Overall, state revenue increased about 11 percent above the same month the prior year and about 7 percent over the estimate upon which the current state budget was built. Sales taxes and income taxes were up slightly over the same month a year ago, while the gross production tax increased by over 59 percent.
July is the first month of the fiscal year.
Statistics show barriers save lives
8/12/08, 3:30 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Statistics show a significant drop in deaths from crossover accidents since cable barriers were installed in strategic locations in Oklahoma. So far this year there have been six fatal crashes from cars crossing medians but none in areas where cable barriers were constructed.
Crossover accidents have claimed more than 30 lives in some years in Oklahoma. The figures were discussed at a meeting Tuesday of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission. Oklahoma in 2001 became the first state to put up cable barriers instead of traditional concrete structures on divided highways. Cable barriers have been widely used in Europe for years and now are being used in several states.
State's environmental secretary to step down
8/12/08, 3:15 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment Miles Tolbert is leaving his post in the governor's cabinet to take a position in the private sector. Gov. Brad Henry announced the move Tuesday.
Tolbert is an attorney and plans to take over as head of the Crowe and Dunlevy law firm's environmental practice group in September. Henry praised Tolbert for fighting to protect the environment and the interests of Oklahomans, including the role he played in developing a relocation plan for families in the Tar Creek
Superfund site.
Henry named Tolbert to the top environmental post in December 2002. Henry says he expects to name a successor in the weeks to come.
Foundation seeks improved care at gun museum
8/12/08, 9:15 a.m.
CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) - Officials with the J.M. Davis Foundation say they're planning legal action over the future of the more than 20,000 guns at the J.M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum in Claremore. The museum is managed by the state and the foundation is unhappy with the state's efforts.
Foundation attorney Steve Peters says valuable and historic weapons are being allowed to sit around and gather dust and rust. A state audit of the museum released in June 2006 found about 125 firearms were missing. It also says the museum failed to follow policies and procedures for receiving donated firearms and to ensure that all donations were recorded and accounted for.
The collection is one of the largest privately owned firearms collections in the United States. It was given to the foundation in 1967 by J.M. Davis and the foundation agreed to allow the state to preserve the collection.
DOC adopts new security plans, transfers inmates
8/12/08, 9:03 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State prison officials say they've adopted new security measures and have transferred 16 inmates suspected of starting several fights to out-of-state prisons. Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones says the moves virtually end lockdowns at seven state and private prisons.
Fights at four prisons since May have killed two inmates and left more than a dozen others hospitalized. Jones says in addition to the inmates sent out of state, others involved in the fights were sent to a maximum security unit in Holdenville. The new security measures include 97 wands to scan inmates for weapons, feeding inmates in smaller groups and changes in visitation procedures to stop visitors from smuggling in cell phones and drugs.
Woman's body found at I-44 rest area
8/12/08, 8:54 a.m.
CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) - The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has found the body of a woman at a rest area along Interstate 44 near Chandler. Troopers declined to release the name of the woman, who was discovered about 11 a.m. today, but they say she is not a Paden woman who was reported missing several days ago.
Patrol Captain Chris West says the search for the woman began over the weekend after a vehicle was found at the rest stop about noon on Saturday. The medical examiner's office is expected to release the identity of the woman tomorrow.
West says the body was not 31-year-old Michelle Lea Davis, who has been missing since Thursday. Okfuskee County authorities found her vehicle and some belongings Thursday night on U.S. Highway 62.
Inspectors want crowding issue resolved
8/12/08, 8:32 a.m.
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) - Washington County officials have about two weeks before state health inspectors begin fining them over jail crowding issues. Inspectors last week found problems identified in previous inspections that hadn't been fixed at the aging jail, which is located in the basement of the Washington County Courthouse.
An administrative compliance order was filed directing the county to properly classify and separate inmates and reduce the jail's population. The facility is set up to house 79 inmates, but 84 were behind bars on Monday. That doesn't include the 42 prisoners officials are paying jails in Craig and Osage counties to house. Jail Administrator Gordon Brown has been working for more than three years on new county jail proposals.
County leaders plan to bring a jail construction proposal to voters in November, but the state wants capacity issues addressed now. The county could be fined $500 per violation, up to $10,000 a day, within 15 days if the issues aren't resolved.
Conference showcases state casino business
8/12/08, 8:26 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma's tribal casinos are abandoning their traditional bingo parlor atmosphere.
Tribal officials and gaming executives in Oklahoma City for a trade show say the casinos instead are developing into resort destinations where the emphasis is on entertainment.
About 3,000 tribal officials and gaming executives attended the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Commission's 14th annual conference. There they visited displays and kiosks featuring the latest in gaming machines, casino management systems and food and furniture vendors.
Oklahoma is home to 91 gaming centers that have formal compacts with the state. Indian gaming in Oklahoma began in the early 1980s with high-stakes bingo games. But casino construction and expansion accelerated after voters in 2004 passed State Question 712, which allowed for gambling agreements between the state and Indian tribes.
Board certifies $6.7 million in EDGE funds
8/12/08, 8:15 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State Treasurer Scott Meacham has announced the certification of $6.7 million in earnings from the EDGE endowment fund to pay for economic development projects.
EDGE stands for Economic Development Generating Excellence. It was created with a legislative appropriation of $150 million in 2006. Coupled with last year's unspent earnings, the total available to be awarded for economic development projects is now $13.5 million.
Meacham is chairman of the EDGE Fund Board of Investors, which certified the $6.7 million at a meeting on Monday.
House Speaker wants to pursue energy legislation
8/11/08, 3:06 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - House Speaker Chris Benge wants to pursue energy legislation next year. The Tulsa Republican says that would include incentives for the use of compressed natural gas cars and tax credits to help filling stations sell natural gas.
Benge says he and state Secretary of Energy David Fleischaker have been alarmed for years by the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Benge says he's also interested in encouraging more company fleets to convert to compressed natural gas. And he wants to develop a program in the CareerTech system to train technicians to work on these cars.
SemGroup lays off 100 in Tulsa
8/11/08, 2:49 p.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Bankrupt Tulsa-based SemGroup has started laying off employees - including more than 100 in Tulsa. A SemGroup spokeswoman said Monday that 110 employees in Tulsa are among 250 being laid off nationwide. The company had about 2,000 employees with about 400 in Tulsa. SemGroup is an oil and asphalt transportation and storage provider. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 22 after
apparently losing a reported $2.4 billion on the oil futures markets. The spokeswoman says all of the laid off employees worked full-time and none will know about a severance package until a court approves SemGroup's bankruptcy. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for Aug. 18.
OU president announces hiring freeze
8/11/08, 2:17 p.m.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - University of Oklahoma President David Boren has announced a hiring freeze on all OU campuses because of an expected shortage of state funding next year, Boren announced the freeze Monday. He cited national economic uncertainty and a likely shortage of available funds for the next state Legislature to appropriate as reasons for the freeze. He says he's hopeful the hiring freeze will hold down increases in student tuition and fees next year. Boren says some special exemptions could be made but he plans to minimize those exemptions to jobs that affect university safety or are essential for student education.
Courts keeping cases secret
8/11/08, 1:00 p.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A published report indicates that thousands of Oklahoma court cases and documents are being sealed by district court judges and are not available to the public.
An analysis by the Tulsa World found that more than 2,300 cases statewide have received a judge's order to seal at least one record in the file since 2003. The sealed records include financial records of companies and hospitals, settlements in wrongful-death lawsuits, divorce proceedings, protective orders and name changes.
These records are added to a growing list of nonpublic court information, including that generated in drug courts, mental health courts and juvenile proceedings. Between 2003 and 2007, Tulsa County had 204 cases with orders to seal at least one record in them. Oklahoma County had 292 such cases.
Storms cause scattered flooding
8/11/08, 12:39 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Heavy rain and thunderstorms across Oklahoma has resulted in flooding of some roads and power outages. Most of the rainfall early Monday is south of Interstate 40 and east of I-35 with nearly 5½ inches of rain reported at Shawnee and nearly 5 inches at Bowlegs in Seminole County.
Interstate 35 in Norman and city streets in southeast Oklahoma City were flooded during the rain and about 4,500 Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers were without power for a time. The number of power outages was down to about 750 by mid morning with the outages in Wewoka, Norman, north Oklahoma City and Agra.
Poll: State economic optimism down
8/11/08, 11:12 a.m.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A new poll indicates that a majority of Oklahomans believe the nation's economy is getting worse. Only 4 percent of the 750 likely voters surveyed July 19-23 for the Oklahoma Poll said the national economy was improving, while more than 80 percent said it is getting worse.
The poll's findings indicate that optimism about the economy is declining in the state. In January, 11 percent said the national economy was improving, and 73 percent said it was declining. Only 13 percent thought Oklahoma's economy was continuing to grow in the July survey, compared to 24 percent in January. The poll was conducted by SoonerPoll-dot-com for the Tulsa World and television station KOTV. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.58 percentage points.
Speaker denies requests for prison studies
8/11/08, 9:26 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Some state lawmakers are calling for a closer look at the state's prison system. But state House Speaker Chris Benge has denied all six requests to examine prisons. Benge says an audit last year on the prison system gave lawmakers plenty of ideas for dealing with the growing number of inmates and the aging facilities.
The audit indicates state prisons are antiquated and underfunded. Among its 141 recommendations are that the population growth could be slowed by removing the governor from the parole process and revising the guidelines for drug courts. The prison system is at 98.3 percent capacity with 25,275 inmates and not included in that count are another 1,200 inmates in county jails waiting to be transported to state facilities.
Istook aide to cooperate in federal probe
8/11/08, 8:45 a.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A longtime top aide to former Rep. Ernest Istook will cooperate in ongoing federal probe, prompting a delay in his sentencing. Oklahoma native John Albaugh pleaded guilty to a conspiracy
charge in federal court in Washington, D.C., in June and was scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 17. But the U.S. Justice Department and Albaugh's attorney filed a motion in court last month seeking to delayAlbaugh's sentencing until at least April 17, when a conference with the judge in the case is scheduled.
The motion says that as part of his plea agreement, Albaugh has agreed to cooperate with government agents and prosecutors. He pleaded guilty June 2 to conspiring with a lobbyist to secure road projects for the lobbyist's clients in exchange for meals and tickets to concerts and sporting events. Istook has said he has talked to the FBI but was told he was not a target in the case.
