New $7.5M jail opening in Caddo County
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 09:51
Associated Press
ANADARKO, Okla. — Officials say a new $7.5 million jail in Caddo County will soon begin accepting inmates.
Sheriff Gene Cain says the 172-bed facility is expected to open within the new few weeks, starting with about 80 or 90 inmates.
The Lawton Constitution reports that county voters twice rejected tax increases to replace the aging jail, which was frequently above capacity. The state in 2009 fined the county almost $400,000 for consistently housing more prisoners than the 75 allowed.
After that, voters approved a sales tax to pay for a new jail, courthouse remodeling and jail operations.
The sheriff says the fine has been suspended since the new jail was approved and that it will be cleared from the books once the facility opens.
210-mile oil pipeline planned in Oklahoma
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 09:48
Associated Press
CUSHING, Okla. — Three energy companies have announced plans to build a 210-mile pipeline to carry crude oil from western and north-central Oklahoma to the storage facility in Cushing.
SemGroup Corp.; Gavilon Midstream Energy LLC; and an affiliate of Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced Tuesday that construction will begin in July and is expected to be finished by the third quarter of 2013.
Financial details about the project were not revealed.
The pipeline is to initially have capacity to transport 140,000 barrels a day and could be expanded to 180,000 barrels.
Fallin asks tribes to drop water rights suit
- Details
- Published on Friday, 03 February 2012 11:41
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Mary Fallin wants two tribal leaders to dismiss their lawsuit against the state over tribal water rights in southeastern Oklahoma.
Fallin sent a letter Thursday to Chief Greg Pyle of the Choctaw Nation and Gov. Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation. Fallin asks them to dismiss their federal lawsuit and allow an ongoing mediation process to resolve disputes between the state and the tribes.
In exchange, Fallin says the state will not file a separate state court action to determine the extent of tribal water rights in their historic territories.
The tribes said in statement they hope a resolution can be reached at the table.
Union Pacific train derails in Rogers County
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 10:28
Associated Press
INOLA, Okla. — Union Pacific says 12 cars of a freight train have derailed near Inola in Rogers County.
The derailment happened late Monday along Oklahoma Highway 88 near U.S. Highway 412.
Union Pacific tells Tulsa television station KOTV that one car contained coal, two contained scrap metal, five contained flour and four were empty. Union Pacific says it's investigating what caused the derailment, which also caused two small grass fires that were quickly extinguished.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says about a quarter-mile of Highway 88 is closed because of the derailment.
Chesapeake to cut natural gas production
- Details
- Published on Monday, 23 January 2012 09:56
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Faced with decade-low natural gas prices that have made some drilling operations unprofitable, Chesapeake Energy Corp. says it will drastically cut drilling and production of the fuel in the U.S.
Chesapeake, the nation's second largest natural gas producer, said Monday that it plans to cut production 8 percent. That means the company would produce the same or slightly less natural gas in 2012 than it did in 2011. Chesapeake produces about 9 percent of the nation's natural gas.
That's a change from the dramatic increase in domestic output seen in recent years. Chesapeake and other drillers have learned to tap enormous reserves of natural gas trapped in shale formations under several states using a controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling. The drillers force millions of gallons of water and sand, laced with chemicals, into compact rock to create cracks that serve as escape routes for the gas.
Extreme weather for two winters and two summers kept natural gas prices high by boosting demand for home heating and power generation. But this season's mild winter weather especially in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, has crimped demand and led to a glut.
Mike Stoops returning to Sooners
- Details
- Published on Friday, 13 January 2012 10:31
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma is bringing brothers Bob and Mike Stoops back together, hoping to rekindle the program's defensive dominance of a decade ago.
Mike Stoops was the co-defensive coordinator for Oklahoma from 1999 to 2004 and helped the Sooners win the 2000 national championship before spending the past seven-plus seasons at Arizona. He was fired at Arizona, and his return to the Sooners throws into question the future of defensive backs coach Willie Martinez and possibly current defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
Mike Stoops confirmed in a telephone interview Thursday that he plans to rejoin the Sooners in a to-be-determined role. Before he left Oklahoma, he had been in charge of calling the defensive plays — a role Venables has handled in recent years.
"We haven't talked about that. Me and Brent have always worked well together, and that's the reason I'm going back, to work with him and Bob," he said. "So, that's the least of our concerns at this point."
Oklahoma man will be first US execution for 2012
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 09:54
Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma death row inmate accused in the 1994 stabbing death of a man in Miami, Okla., is scheduled to die Thursday night at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Gary Roland Welch's execution will be the first for the U.S. in 2012 and comes nearly three weeks after he tried to kill himself with a shaving razor.
Welch was treated at a McAlester hospital and deemed sane enough by prison staff to be executed.
The attempted suicide marked the second time in about 17 years that an Oklahoma death-row inmate tried to kill himself before being executed.
In 1995, Robert Brecheen overdosed on sedatives hours before his scheduled execution. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors pumped his stomach. He was then returned to prison and executed.
Police think accused child-killer stopped in Elk City
- Details
- Published on Friday, 02 December 2011 13:29
N.J. father Arthur Morgan did not reboard bus after arriving
A New Jersey man accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter by leaving her in a creek still strapped into her car seat is believed to have stopped in Elk City, police say.
Capt. Kennie Shirey said Elk City police were aware Arthur Morgan could be traveling through the area.
According to the Asbury Park Press, Morgan rode a train and buses from New Jersey to Memphis and then continued west. When his bus arrived in Elk City, he did not re-board. Bus schedules suggest he likely arrived in Elk City at about 2:25 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, one day after his daughter was found dead.
"He was on a Greyhound bus and someone picked him up here," said Shirey. "Someone thought they saw him leave in a vehicle."
News reports state Morgan believed investigators were closing in. He was caught six days later in San Diego.
He is charged with murder, interstate flight to avoid prosecution and child custody offenses. He is expected back in New Jersey by the end of the month.
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