Oklahoma News Report - Archives

Archive for the Week of 6/22/08-6/28/08

 

News Archives (Week of June 22, 2008)

Governor requests public assistance

6/27/08, 3:46 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY(AP) - Gov. Brad Henry is seeking federal disaster aid for 24 Oklahoma counties affected by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding this month. Henry asked President Bush for public assistance on Friday. If approved, the designation would deliver federal funding to cities, towns and counties with infrastructure repairs and costs incurred while responding to the storms. The events occurred between June 3 and June 20.

The counties involved are Alfalfa, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Cotton, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Grant, Harmon, Harper, Jackson, Kay, Kiowa, Major, Okfuskee, Osage, Ottawa, Roger Mills, Rogers, Tillman, Washita and Woods.

The storms caused more than $9.6 million in infrastructure damage and response costs. Henry says damage was mostly to roads, bridges and rural electric cooperatives in the counties.

American expects to cut management jobs 8 percent

6/27/08, 2:45 p.m.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - American Airlines expects to cut about eight percent of its management and support jobs as it deals with record high jet fuel prices. Texas-based American has about 82,000 employees including about 7,000 at its maintenance base in Tulsa.

Details are in an e-mail to American employees obtained by The Associated Press. The e-mail from flight services managing director Faye Wright says the cuts will apply to "all levels of management." It says the cuts will probably be based on how critical the person's job is.

American human resources vice president Jeffrey Brundage said in a letter to employees this week that reductions would vary by department. He said the job cuts would be completed in September.

Cleanup under way of oil spill in Osage County

6/27/08, 2:40 p.m.

SKIATOOK, Okla. (AP) - Environmental officials are working to clean up an oil spill in a tributary of Lake Skiatook. The lake is used to provide some of Tulsa's drinking water and the Environmental Protection Agency says the water has not been affected. An EPA report also says there doesn't appear to be any damage to fish and birds in the area. EPA documents say the oil leaked out of storage tanks at Tall Grass Petroleum in Skiatook and was washed by heavy rains into a tributary of Eagle Creek.

Garrett: Rising costs may lead to consolidations

6/27/08, 2:15 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State Schools Superintendent Sandy Garrett says as many as 50 districts may have to consolidate because of rising gasoline, energy and food costs. Garrett says those financial pressures combined with declining enrollments and teacher and administrative turnover likely will result in districts merging or being warned that they need to consider doing so soon.

About 40 of the state's school districts have fewer than 100 students. Garrett also was concerned that without a change in law, a 5 million dollar consolidation fund may sit dormant. Districts can only use money from the fund for voluntary annexations. The concern arose during a report to the State Board of Education about the consolidation of Lost City School. Because voters there rejected voluntary annexation, neighboring Hulbert cant receive any help from that fund as it absorbs Lost City students and assets.

Prisoners earn degrees behind bars

6/27/08, 11:15 a.m.

MCLOUD, Okla. - Jerrye Broomhall is an inmate at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud. Her story is not uncommon; she started college 20 years ago, but dropped out and fell in with the wrong crowd. She ended up in prison after committing two armed robberies to support a drug habit.

After seven years in prison, Broomhall recently earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio University. She has 11years left to serve. Next she'll be working toward a master's Degree. She says her two sons, ages eight and 11, keep her on-track. “I know I can't be there during their early formative years, I can be there to get them through college and be a role model for them so they can see that no matter how many mistakes they make, there's always tomorrow. And I just want them to be able to be proud of me," Broomhall says.

She's one of several inmates earning diplomas at the women's prison this year. Another inmate earned an associate’s degree and more than 60 earned high school diplomas.

(Lori Rasussen provided this story. For more go to the ONR Hot Potatoes blog.)

 

Sonics target Gorton

6/26/08, 5:48 p.m.

SEATTLE (AP) - The SuperSonics are targeting the actions of U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton as the primary reason they should be allowed to move to Oklahoma City. In his closing argument today, Sonics lawyer Brad Keller wondered how Gorton, whom Seattle officials hired to lead the effort to keep the team in town, could have been separately involved in a plan to inflict financial suffering on Sonics owner Clay Bennett without telling Seattle's top leaders. The Sonics contend because the city was part of the plan, it should not be entitled to have the team play in KeyArena into 2010.

Gun store owners, lawmakers agree with decision

6/26/08, 5:05 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Members of Oklahoma's congressional delegation are praising the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today on gun rights. The high court ruled Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense. Senator Tom Coburn says the nation's founders intended for people to be allowed to defend themselves with guns. Senator Jim Inhofe says the founders believed a well-armed populace was the ultimate check on the power of the federal government.

State's early childhood education praised

6/26/08, 4:43 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A study led by a Georgetown University professor says 4-year-olds in Oklahoma's pre-kindergarten program are outperforming 4-year-olds in a similar federal program. Professor William Gormley and his colleagues tested about 3,500 incoming kindergartners in Tulsa Public Schools and children entering Tulsa's pre-K program.

They also tested those entering the federal Head Start program. Gormley says Tulsa's pre-K program increases pre-reading skills by 9 months, pre-writing skills by 7 months and pre-math skills by 5 months. He says the study found Head Start improves pre-reading skills by 6 months, pre-writing skills by 3 months and pre-math skills by the same 5 months as the state program. Oklahoma's pre-K program was established statewide in 1998 and Gormley calls it a "beacon" for those who support early childhood education programs.

State regents approve tuition hikes

6/26/08, 11:35 a.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have approved tuition and mandatory fee increases for universities and colleges across the state. The increases approved Thursday include 9.9 percent hikes at both the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. Students at Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell will see the largest increase of 11.3 percent. The average percentage increase in tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate, resident students is 9.1 percent. State regents say OU has the highest cost per credit hour among state schools at $216.43, while Carl Albert State College in Poteau has the lowest cost at $75 per credit hour.

Coalition urges smokefree laws

6/26/08, 10:48 a.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A coalition of health care agencies wants the Legislature to pass smokefree laws to protect Oklahomans from second-hand smoke. Officials from the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society said Thursday that second-hand smoke from cigarettes and other tobacco products causes heart disease and cancer. Lawmakers placed restrictions on smoking in public places in 2003. But the state's law exempts barrooms and allows smoking in ventilated areas. Legislation that would have banned smoking in bars and other public places died on the Senate floor earlier this year. Cynthia Hallett, executive director of the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, says big tobacco companies oppose smokefree laws. Hallett says some lounge operators claim smokefree laws could have negative economic consequences.

OU regents extend Boren's contract through 2013

6/26/08, 9:14 a.m.

ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) - University of Oklahoma President David Boren received a contract extension today that will keep him in that post through November 2013. The 67-year-old Boren says he has no intentions of exiting his current job and hopes to spend the rest of his working and productive years at OU.

Boren's annual salary of $361,553 was not altered by the regents. A clause in his contract ties his salary to that of the university's faculty and staff. That means he'll receive the same 2 percent raise approved by regents for other employees on OU's main campus in Norman. He did get a so-called "stay bonus" of $450,000, provided he doesn't become the president at another university before June 30th, 2013.

The stay bonus will be paid for with private funds. Boren's overall compensation package includes a car from private sources, a house provided by the state and $50,464 in retirement pay.

CDC say health insurance lags most in Oklahoma and the Southwest

6/25/08, 5:35 p.m.

ATLANTA (AP) - A study of health insurance coverage in 41 states says Oklahoma has the highest percentage of people without health coverage. The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 33 percent of the people in Oklahoma are uninsured. It also found the Southwest region that includes Oklahoma has the lowest rate of health insurance coverage. Hawaii and Massachusetts were tied with the lowest percentage of uninsured residents at 9.5 percent. For the nation as a whole nearly 17 percent of people under 65 were uninsured at the time they were interviewed.

OU regents approve tuition increase

6/25/08, 5:06 p.m.

ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) - University of Oklahoma Regents have approved a 9.9 percent increase in tuition and fees for the coming school year. The OU regents meeting in Ardmore approved the increase Wednesday. It now goes to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education who meet Thursday. The increase means in-state, undergraduate OU students will pay an average of $6,493 for 30 credit hours. Out-of-state students will pay an average of $16,474 per academic year.

The vote comes a week after Oklahoma State University's regents also approved a 9.9 percent increase in tuition and fees. OU President David Boren says he hopes next year the state Legislature will make a major commitment to funding higher education. He says if that happens students could enjoy what Boren calls a"tuition holiday" with minimal or no increase next year.

Court rejects death penalty for raping children

6/25/08, 4:19 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court today outlawed executions of people convicted of raping a child. The court voted 5-4 that a Louisiana law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in such cases violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Oklahoma has a similar law in which a person with a prior conviction of raping a child can be sentenced to death. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.

There has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim in 44 years. The case before the court involves 43-year-old Patrick Kennedy who was sentenced to death for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana.

Commission pushing funding bid

6/25/08, 2:39 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A spokesman for Governor Brad Henry doubts whether a three-member board comprised of Henry and legislative leaders can help the Oklahoma Ethics Commission's funding dilemma.
Commission chairman Don Bingham will ask the Contingency Review Board for a $238,000 supplemental appropriation at its meeting on July 11th.

The agency has threatened to sue the Legislature over a lack of state money to operate. Commissioners contend the state Constitution mandates that it be adequately funded, but lawmakers won't provide sufficient funds to permit the agency to do its job.

Henry spokesman Paul Sund says he's not aware of any relief the Contingency Review Board could provide in this situation. Sund says the board can only change an expenditure if an emergency develops that was unforeseen at the time of the legislative session.

Tickborne illnesses increase and occur earlier

6/25/08, 1:56 p.m.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The number of Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases in Oklahoma is increasing and the disease is showing up earlier than usual. State health officials say there have already been 28 cases of the disease that's carried by ticks and one person in Tulsa County has died. There were 186 cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Oklahoma in all of 2007 and no deaths.

Cases began showing up in January this year while the typical period for the disease is the spring and summer months. Tulsa City-County Health Department epidemiologist Chanteau Orr says it's believed ticks were brought into homes during the ice storms in wood that was used for heating. Symptoms of the disease include high fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue or a rash within 14 days of a tick bite.

Guthrie man killed in Iraq bombing

6/25/08, 9:12 a.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The son of a Guthrie resident who died when a bomb destroyed a district council building in Sadr City, Iraq, says his father felt he could make a difference over there. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed the death of 57-year-old Steven Farley today during an international conference
in Berlin.

Rice called Farley a citizen-patriot who joined the State Department last year and was part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team that helped rebuild and revitalize the war-torn nation. Brett Farley says his father was an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, and joined the Navy after receiving his master's degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1976.

Farley was mobilized shortly after the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, and served on the staff of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific before joining the State Department. Brett Farley says his father told him his life was in danger after a member of the city council loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was forced off the council.

Performance audit to kick off at DHS

6/24/08, 4:54 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A state agency that is being sued in federal court over the way it cares for Oklahoma's 10,000 foster children is about to come under new scrutiny. State lawmakers plan to kick off a private performance audit of the Department of Human Services next month to pinpoint problems and find solutions.

Rep. Ron Peters of Tulsa says the audit will be a"broad-ranging look" at how the Department of Human Services provides services to the state's most vulnerable citizens. A spokesman for the agency, George Johnson, says officials welcome the performance audit. DHS has almost 8,000 employees and operates on a $1.7 billion budget, including $557 million in state money. But DHS workers say low funding and staffing levels prevent them from doing their jobs. A lawsuit filed in February accused the state of victimizing its foster children.

States turn down US abstinence education grants

6/24/08, 3:36 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Oklahoma will receive more than $517,000 for abstinence education this year even as other states decline the federal money and some plan to leave the program. Some 50 million dollars is budgeted for the program this year but only 28 states remain in and Arizona and Iowa say they'll pull out next year. The program teaches that sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects. The program was created by Congress in 1996 as part of welfare reform. Oklahoma is to get $517,756 dollars this fiscal year.

Wife of late reporter touts DVT awareness in Oklahoma

6/24/08, 1:15 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The wife of an NBC reporter who died five years ago from a blood clot says it's easier to tell his story now.

Melanie Bloom visited the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health today to speak about the importance of educating the public about deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT.

DVT is the abnormal clotting of the blood in one or more veins. Its complication - pulmonary embolism - occurs when a blood clot breaks free from its original site and travels through the heart into the lungs.

Bloom's husband, NBC correspondent David Bloom, died from a PE while covering the Iraq war in April 2003. Melanie Bloom has since become a spokeswoman for the Coalition to Prevent DVT.

(This story provided by Lori Rasmussen. For more go to the ONR Hot Potatoes blog.)

DNA testing in Girl Scout killings inconclusive

6/24/08, 10:40 a.m.

PRYOR, Okla. (AP) - Investigators looking into the killings of three Girl Scouts in Mayes County more than 30 years ago have hit another dead end. Mayes County District Attorney Gene Haynes announced Tuesday
that recent DNA test results showed physical evidence in the case likely came from the victims. Haynes says investigators had hoped DNA tests on stains found on a pillowcase might have confirmed a suspect in the case. The bodies of 8-year-old Lori Farmer, of Tulsa; 9-year-old Michelle Guse, of Broken Arrow; and 10-year-old Doris Milner, of Tulsa, were discovered on June 13, 1977, at Camp Scott near Locust Grove in a crime that shocked Oklahoma. Escaped convict Gene Leroy Hart was the prime suspect in the murders but he was acquitted in 1979. He died in prison a short time later while serving time on unrelated charges.

OC, Tulsa could be billed for Superfund site cleanup

6/24/08, 9:27 a.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The cities of Oklahoma city and Tulsa are among 44 entities that could be forced to pay the more than $30 million dollar cost of cleaning up a hazardous waste site. A lawsuit by the state and federal governments says the 44 parties all arranged to dispose of contaminated oil at the Double Eagle Superfund site near downtown Oklahoma City. The lawsuit says the site was cleared in 1998 and 1999 at a cost of $31.7 million and the companies and cities are liable for the bill. Among the companies named in the lawsuit are American Airlines, Bell Helicopter, ConocoPhillips, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Bridgestone-Firestone, Halliburton, UPS and Wal-Mart.

Fort Sill soldiers ship out for Iraq

6/24/08, 8:29 a.m.

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) - About 90 soldiers shipped out from Fort Sill for a tour of duty in Iraq. Members of Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery will link up with four previously deployed radar sections from Bravo Battery and support the 1st Armored Division. Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel John Watson said yesterday the unit received a radar mission from U.S. Forces Command and reorganized from cannon battalion operations to radar operations.

OU regents increase tuition for Cameron, RSU students

6/23/08, 8:16 p.m.

ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) - It's going to cost more for students to attend Cameron University in Lawton and Rogers State University in Claremore. University of Oklahoma regents, which govern both schools, voted
today to increase tuition and fees by 9.4 percent for Cameron students and 9.9 percent for Rogers State students. The regents will consider increasing OU students' costs by 9.9 percent on Wednesday.

At Cameron, in-state undergraduates will pay $137 per credit hour for tuition and fees. For a student taking 30 credit hours, the annual cost would be $4,110, or an increase of $354. About 6,000 students attend Cameron.

Oklahoma residents taking courses at Rogers State will pay $141.55 per credit hour, or about $4,246 for 30 credit hours, an increase of $384. More than 4,000 students attend Rogers State. Rogers State and Cameron presidents said they will use tuition increases for faculty and staff pay and would like to offer more student scholarships.

Airline industry shakeup seen

6/23/08, 5:35 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Officials say airline companies in the United States must find efficiencies to survive in an era of surging fuel costs. Hundreds of aerospace industry officials gathered Monday at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City to discuss aviation trends. The Oklahoma Aerospace Summit is focusing on how military and civil aviation enterprises can learn from each other to make their
operations more efficient.

Tulsa-based American Airlines maintenance director Paul Creider says airline companies must work with employees to cut costs. American Airlines is bucking the trend toward outsourcing maintenance and repair work. It is working with the Transport Workers Union to find efficiencies in Tulsa, where 7,000 people are
employed.

OU instructor to teach class from war zone

6/23/08, 4:49 p.m.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - A University of Oklahoma graduate is embedded with U.S. soldiers in Iraq and will teach a fall class for OU students from a war zone.

Mike Boettcher will co-teach journalism and international studies with OU associate professor Zach Messitte. He plans to teach live via teleconferencing using mobile satellite systems. He'll feature guests like soldiers, Iraqis and other journalists.

Boettcher has covered wars for 28 years as a broadcast journalist for CNN and NBC and will be embedded with the U.S. troops for 15 months - the same amount of time as a soldier's deployment. Boettcher says he approached OU President David Boren with the idea and Boren connected him with Messitte and Joe Foote who is dean of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications. The class called "War and the Media" will be made up of half international studies students and half journalism students.

Boettcher's reports will be available on-line at www.noignoring.net

Investigation reveals improper sales

6/23/08, 12:15 p.m.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - An investigation has found some tribal smoke shops in the Tulsa area still selling cigarettes with tax stamps reserved for border areas of the state. The Tulsa World reports buying cigarettes during the past two weeks at six Cherokee Nation smoke shops and five Muscogee (Creek) Nation smokeshops. The purchases revealed that almost all the Cherokee stores sold cigarettes with the correct tax stamps. But most of the Creek Nation stores sold cigarettes with improper tax stamps. Under compacts with the state most tribes sell cigarettes with an 86-cent tax stamp but stores in certain border areas can sell cigarettes bearing a 6-cent stamp because of lower taxes in the border state. Nontribal retailers must sell cigarettes bearing a $1.03 stamp. The Creek Nation does not have a compact with the state and continues to sell cigarettes with 6-cent stamps in the Tulsa area.

Investigators still tracking leads in girls' killing

6/23/08, 11:58 a.m.

WELEETKA, Okla. (AP) - Authorities say they have plenty of leads but no new developments in the slayings two weeks ago of two young girls on along a back country road near Weleetka. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said Sunday investigators are still working leads in the killings
of 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker.

Brown said OSBI agents spent the weekend re-canvassing the area where the girls bodies were found. The girls were shot in the head and chest with weapons of two different calibers, leading investigators to think two gunmen may have been involved. Brown says a sketch produced of a possible witness has led to dozens of leads, but they still haven't identified the man. She says the case is far from going cold since investigators have plenty of leads to chase down.

OU regents set to raise tuition, approve budget

6/23/08, 11:29 a.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Tuition hikes of nearly 10 percent will be considered this week for students at the University of Oklahoma, Rogers State University in Claremore and Cameron University in Lawton. OU regents govern all three schools and will begin their annual retreat in Ardmore tomorrow. They will consider business items from Rogers State and Cameron tomorrow, with OU business set for Wednesday. Regents will consider raising rates for OU's tuition and mandatory fees by 9.9 percent. Rogers State students also could face a 9.9 percent hike, while Cameron officials have requested a 9.4 percent tuition and fee increase. Other items on the agenda include potential raises for OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, football coach Bob Stoops, men's basketball coach Jeff Capel, women's basketball coach Sherri Coale, baseball coach Sunny Golloway and softball coach Patty Gasso. OU President David Boren also is set to receive his annual performance review, during which he could be offered a raise.

State Supreme Court awaits move to new home

6/23/08, 11:22 a.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Efforts are progressing on renovations to what will become the new home of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals. The courts hope to move by December 2009 into the Wiley Post Historical Building, which had been occupied since 1930 by the state Historical Society. When that agency moved into the new Oklahoma History Center, work began on renovating the old building so that it could become the home of the two state courts.

The state Legislature appropriated $11 million during its most recent session for the project, after authorizing $23 million at the onset of the renovation project. Paul Haley, that agency's architect, says the items being
preserved during the building's renovation include murals of American Indians painted on the walls in 1934, a marble staircase and a theater-style auditorium with wooden seats.ma T

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Going Green

Windpower is looking up in Oklahoma (6/23/08)

NORMAN - Big wind farms are expanding across the Oklahoma prairie, and so is interest in smaller wind generators to power just one home.  Business is booming for an Oklahoma company that is shipping systems around the world, but Oklahoma sales are flat since there is little incentive to make that investment here. Bergey Windpower in Norman makes small wind turbines to help power homes and businesses.   According to the company's president...orders for those turbines are up.

“Demand has been strong.  This is the best business environment in our 30 year history, and we're seeing strong growth, particularly on the east coast and west coast,” says Bergey Windpower President Michael Bergey. Because the initial investment for a small wind system is expensive, right now, it only makes sense if your electric bill hits a certain average each month.

(Jason Doyle provided this story. For more go to the ONR Hot Potatoes blog.)

 

maps will include detailed ologic, scientific and resource information. Pickens has donated huds of millio

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Stretching Your $$$

Tulsa police to stop use of patrol cars for off-duty jobs (6/25/08)

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Tulsa police will no longer be allowed to drive their patrol cars to off-duty jobs beginning July 15th. Police Chief Ron Palmer says the decision was made to save money on gasoline. Since 2004 officers have been allowed to fill their patrol cars at the city's in-house pumps and use them for off-duty jobs such as security work at banks and businesses. But city officials say the police department is already about $300,000 over its fuel budget for the fiscal year that ends at the end of this month. Palmer says city officials may consider a plan to allow patrol cars to be used for off-duty jobs if there is some type of reimbursement.

Rising fuel costs leads to increasing electric bills (6/23/08)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers should expect to see an average increase of about $15 per month beginning on their July bills to pay for higher fuel prices. The state's largest utility announced Monday the increase will begin on July 1. The utility said it needs an additional $30 per month from customers to keep pace with rising costs, but has opted to defer half of this increase until fall when most people use less electricity and overall power bills are lower. Utility spokesman Gil Broyles says the increase is the result of rising costs of natural gas and other fuels used to generate electricity. By law, the utility recovers only the actual costs of the fuels it uses, and the increase does not require approval by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Public Service Company of Oklahoma, a Tulsa-based utility, already has implemented its fuel-cost adjustment.

Gasoline price spike causes road revenue dip (6/23/08)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma motorists, like those in other states, are cutting back on travel to deal with high gasoline prices, while looking for other ways to reduce fuel costs. Officials say that while the drive to be green may be good public policy, it is hurting highway funding at both the state and federal level. Mike Patterson, the director of finance at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, says his agency estimated a 4.5 percent decline in gasoline and diesel consumption this year by Oklahoma motorists. That equates to a loss in revenue from the 17-cent-per-mile state fuel tax of about $20 million. About $10 million of that is allocated to ODOT for the state highway system. Much of the expected revenue loss is because of Oklahomans choosing to travel less due to high fuel prices at the pump. Travel was down about 1 percent during the Memorial Day weekend, and some residents also are curtailing their summer vacations.

Gas prices rise 10 cents a gallon over 2 weeks (6/23/08)

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - A national survey shows consumers across the nation are paying an average of 10 cents a gallon more for gasoline than they were two weeks ago. The average price of regular gasoline at self-serve stations was $4.10 a gallon on Friday. Mid-grade was $4.22 a gallon and premium went for $4.33. That's according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations nationwide, released Sunday. The survey showed the average U.S. price for gas is $1.10 higher than it was a year ago. The cheapest gas was in Tulsa, Okla., where the price for regular was $3.76 a gallon. The California cities of Los Angeles and Fresno tied for the nation's highest gas: $4.59 a gallon for regular.

Lawton sees increase in free lunch program (6/23/08)

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) - Officials with the Lawton Public Schools' Summer Nutrition program say participation is rising dramatically because of rising food and fuel prices. Program monitor Patsy Sampley says an average of 1,000 lunches a day are being served at elementary schools, the Lawton Boys and Girls Club and other locations in the city. She says an average of 800 meals were served each day last year. Children eat free while adults can buy the meal for $3 and adults say it saves them both time and money and is healthier than fast foods. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and also receives food from the Department of Defense's fresh fruit and vegetable program.

More Oklahoma News:

Fourth of July travel expected to be down (6/26/08)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The number of people traveling for next week's Fourth of July holiday is expected to be down slightly from last year. AAA spokesman Chuck Mai says gas prices are cutting into travel with a nationwide average of $4.07 per gallon as of Thursday. The average price in Oklahoma is the lowest in the nation at just more than $3.84 per gallon. AAA predicts a one percent decline in Oklahoma with an estimated 493,500 people expected to travel 50 or more miles from home for the holiday weekend. Nationwide AAA estimates a 1.3 percent decline to 40.45 million Americans traveling either by car, plane, bus or train. AAA's projections are derived from the Travel Industry Association's Holiday Travel Forecast Model. The model is based on data collected through online surveys of 2,000 adults nationwide.

 

Millions of dollars to be used for state park improvements (6/23/08)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State tourism officials are hoping millions of dollars in improvements to state parks will bring more visitors to the parks. The Tourism and Recreation Department has nearly 9.5 million dollars in improvement projects currently under way. Another 10 million

Edmondson supports shield law (6/24/08)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has joined 40 other attorneys general nationwide in supporting a federal reporter shield law. Shield laws protect journalists from being forced by a court or administrative proceeding to disclose information received from, or the identity of, confidential sources. Edmondson said Tuesday that every state but Wyoming has a shield law. But federal courts are divided on the scope of a reporter's privilege. Edmondson says state shield laws advance a public policy that favors the free flow of information. Edmondson and the other attorneys general have sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It expresses support for the Free Flow of Information Act currently pending before Congress. The legislation would recognize a qualified reporter's privilege.

s of dollars directly to OklahoState in recent years including 100 million dollars in May to endow professors' positions. He also ted 165 milli to build several new sports e the university's football stadium that bears his name. Before that he gave0 million dollars to split between atics and academics and the school of geology has o en renamed in his hoor.