Marshall Stewart

Corndogs, funnel cakes, turkey legs, and cricket pizza…all Tulsa State Fair food booths must pass sanitation standards. Tulsa Health Department Inspectors will check all the individual food booths. The Department’s Ashley Davis says while people are talking exotic fair cuisine and taste, her people will be having a different conversation about the sanitation, safety, and sources of the food.

Inspectors will check about 240 individual food booths before the Fair opens and conduct more food inspections throughout the duration of the Fair.

A study of all 50 states and Washington D.C. shows Oklahoma has a long way to go to reach the top ten in education. A new WalletHub report ranks the Sooner State as the 7th worst for teachers. In nearly all categories, Oklahoma ranks below average, and is 48th in spending on students. Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association President Patti Ferguson-Palmer says while educator salary hikes have helped some, spending on students is well below what is needed, and it must be a focus in the next legislature.

Grand juries and DNA technology are two tools being used increasingly to solve decades old cold cases. Two suspects in a 1983 Tulsa County murder case were recently identified through DNA and arrested, Joy Thorp is a Senior Deputy Attorney General who handled the case before the grand jury. She says the combination of advanced DNA technology and the power of a grand jury power have been used to develop suspects in a handful of other Oklahoma cold cases recently.

On Friday people are planning to walk out of class, offices, and homes to draw attention to the ‘climate crisis.’ Oklahomans and Tulsans will participate in what is being called a global climate strike. Michael Koster with ‘Tulsa Talks Climate’ says young people are the driving force. The strike is related to the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement, started by a Swedish teenager.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Tulsa-West Tulsa Levees Integrated Feasibly Study Report and Environmental Assessment was released on September 16, 2019, for a 33-day comment period. It evaluated various alternatives to upgrade and modernize the "very high risk" Tulsa-West Tulsa levees, which are at risk of failure due to overtopping and inadequately controlled under-seepage and through seepage, the effects of which were evident during the 2019 flooding.

Already some cases of flu are being reported, and the Tulsa area is moving into the annual influenza season. It’s a guessing game as to what types will be prevalent each year, but Tulsa Health Department Manager of Clinic Services, Ellen Niemitalo, says the experts are preparing for more than one. The vaccines have been updated to prevent two strands of Type A virus and two strands of Type B. She says hopefully the quadrivalent vaccine will work for all types that make the rounds this year.

A half-dozen students are arrested for making social media threats against Central High School. Tulsa Police Sargent Shane Tuel says officers got a tip this morning from a parent. Campus police worked with TPD and the students involved were identified and arrested. He says credible or not, these threats must be taken seriously and acted upon to avert any potential violence.

The six students, four males and two females between the ages of 15 and 17, were all students at Central.

Turley residents say they feel safer after a crackdown on crime by Tulsa County deputies. The move came after complaints from citizens about areas where they suspected criminal activity.

Casey Roebuck with the Sheriff’s Office says dozens of felony arrests were made, and there will be a closer relationship with residents as a result.

Deputies used increased patrols and drone surveillance in the crackdown.

Most would say incarceration is no place to live, but for one four-legged dog, incarceration is becoming his permanent way of life. After 10 weeks of intense training and living 24/7 with two inmates at the Dick Conner Correctional Center, Casper left prison for none other than Tulsa’s County Jail.

The Tulsa County Election Board needs between four and five hundred people to sign on and be trained as precinct officials. Election Board Secretary, Gwen Freeman, says that many are needed to fill anticipated vacancies leading up to the 2020 federal votes. You do get paid for training and then for working the precincts during elections.

Training starts next week. Anyone interested should contact the Tulsa Election Board.

As Tulsa gets ready to mark the 100th anniversary of the terrible 1921 Race Massacre, the nation this week is celebrating an event of a much different kind. It’s the 56th anniversary of the civil rights March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Hundreds of thousands from across the country attended the March and less than one year later the 1964 Civil Rights Act was signed into law by then President Lyndon Johnson. It opened the door for much of the progress that’s been made since.

Several recent earthquakes show Oklahoma must still deal with manmade seismic activity. Matt Skinner with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission says recent quakes don’t necessarily equate to an upward trend. He says policies and actions have led to an overall downward trend since protocols were put in place in 2015. Skinner says much seismicity now appears to be more related to completion well activity than to disposal well actions, which tend to be stronger.

Next week, the Tulsa County jail embarks on a new program designed to keep inmates off opioids. Sheriff Vic Regalado says the jail will be the first in the state to allow inmates who have completed detox to get injections of the prescription med Vivitrol. The drug has proven to curb the craving for opioids. The drug’s effects only last a month and will be given shortly before a detoxed and eligible inmate is scheduled to get out of jail.

A suspect is arrested for spray painting the sidewalk in front of a Tulsa book store. The man as been placed in a mental health facility for an evaluation.  

It’s definitely the ‘dog days’ of summer in Oklahoma, and Tulsa County has activated the ‘extreme heat plan.’ Among other things it means opening cooling stations for those who can’t get out of the heat. Those are Tulsa County Social Services, the Salvation Army, John 3:16, and the Equality Center. Joe Kralichek, Area Emergency Manager, says you can do your part to stay cool but staying inside if possible, keeping hydrated, and taking frequent breaks if you do have to be outside.  

Heat indexes well into triple digits are expected through Wednesday.

With Patrick Henry Elementary as a backdrop, Tulsa area safety officials warn people school zones are re-opening and caution drivers to slow down and pay attention. Mark Madeja is with Triple-A in Tulsa. He says school zones will be active and buses with students will be on the roads. Madeja says collisions involving pedestrians occur too often across the U-S, and prevention is key to reducing the numbers. He was joined at a School Zone Safety news conference by the Tulsa Police, Highway Patrol, and Tulsa Sheriff’s Office.

Two Northside schools are combined into one and named for Tulsa author, historian, and activist John Hope Franklin. At the official ribbon cutting, his son, John Whittington Franklin, spoke about the legacy of his famous father and donated books about him and his writings to the school.

The community was involved in choosing the new name for the pre-K through 5th grade elementary, which is a combination of the former Gilcrease and Bunche Early Childhood Development Center.

Oklahoma Child Advocacy CEO Joe Dorman says lots of low-income students in high need areas are missing out on free, nutritious meals. He says many districts in the state are eligible for the federal program, which would feed all the students in the school, but aren’t participating. Dorman says Department of Education figures show only 44 of 153 eligible districts in the state are enrolled. Most of those participating are in urban areas, not the rural areas, despite being eligible.

It’s not illegal, but it is a ripoff. Tulsa County Clerk Michael Willis says someone is sending out letters telling people they need a certified copy of the deed to their home, and offering one for somewhere around $100. Willis says the problem is you can get one from his office for two-dollars. He says most people already have a certified deed from when they purchased the property, but even if you need one you shouldn’t pay anywhere near what the letter writers are asking. If you need an un-certified copy of a deed, the Clerk’s Office will email you one free of charge.

Some call recent mass shootings a symptom of a ‘rising tide of hate in America’. In response to recent killings in El Paso and Dayton, Tulsa civic, religious, and educational leaders gather for a discussion on hate and what can be done about it. Keynote Speaker Clifton Taulbert, a Tulsa author, says it starts with each of us…we can do something if we treat those different with respect and understanding.

As members of Moms Demand Action were holding a national conference this past weekend, word came of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. Oklahoma Chapter Leader Christine Jackson was one of the two-thousand in attendance at the gun control advocacy group’s conference. She says people are fed up with gun violence and it’s past time for change. Jackson says the ranks of those demanding ‘sensible gun control’ are growing. There are now more than five-thousand supporters in Oklahoma and she says the upward trend is the norm across the nation.

While the deadline for flood victims in Oklahoma to apply for federal assistance is now August 14th, it won’t be extended beyond that day. FEMA Spokesman Carl Henderson says there may still be those who are eligible who haven’t yet applied. You may apply for financial help by calling 1-800-621-3362 or going online to disasterassistance.gov.

With more than 40 homicides in Tulsa so far this year, the city could reach 80 or more if the trend continues. Police Sargent Shane Tuel says you can’t really point to one reason for the rise in murders recently, but the positive is nearly all are solved or solvable. He says there are few ‘Who dun it’ type homicides in Tulsa. Most victims and suspects have some sort of relationship and know each other.

Thieves in a stolen car smash through the wall of a Tulsa marijuana dispensary and steal some product and five dollars from a tip jar. The Manager of Lovelight Cannabis, Jeff Carnahan, says the culprits didn’t really get away with much…there’s more damage than theft. He says the smash and grab wasn’t well planned, no ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ type deal is how he puts it.

He says there is good security video of the dispensary thieves, which has been turned over to police.

The deadline for Tulsa County storm and flood victims to apply for federal assistance has been extended until August 14th. The original deadline was the 31st of this month. Area Emergency Manager Joe Kralichek says nearly 12-hundred individuals have already applied, but more time may be needed for some. The best way to apply is online at disasterassistance.gov. Some applications for FEMA assistance have been denied, but you have 60 days to appeal

FEMA field offices have closed, but the Small Business Administration emergency loan center in Sand Springs is still open.

The ‘dog days’ of summer are here. Highs near 100 and heat indexes well into the triple digits are predicted the next several days. Tony Sellars with the Oklahoma Health Department says the heat can be deadly. He says anything from heat rash to heat stroke is possible. Heat stroke is the most dangerous. In the U-S more than 600 people die each year from heat related illness. In Oklahoma, in this decade, about 20 people a year die from the heat.

He says about 70% of those deaths are in males who tend to be outside in the heat more than females. You are urged to take precautions.

Tulsa County would like to have a say in an interim study of the response to the historic Arkansas River flooding in May and June. County Governmental Affairs Director Terry Simonson says they should look at legislative action that would be helpful in a future event.

Saying every community along the river was impacted to some extent by the floods, Jenks Representative Lonnie Sims has requested an interim flood study. He wants federal, state, local governments, private entities, and all stakeholders involved. The House Speaker must okay such a study.

TULSA, Okla.

The Tulsa Sheriff will seek a grant to help find out quickly if suspects in custody here are wanted elsewhere. The legislature has approved the use of Rapid DNA technology and now Sheriff’s Governmental Affairs Director Terry Simonson says it’s on to the next step…asking the A.G. for funding. If the Attorney General agrees to start-up funding, equipment and training should be ready by the time the new law becomes effective. The technology should allow positive identification within two hours using the FBI database.

The Rapid DNA Law takes effect in Oklahoma November 1st.

A common phone scam is once again making the rounds, targeting potential victims across Tulsa County, by claiming to be a Deputy or Supervisor from TCSO.

Today TCSO investigators have been contacted by multiple people who have received calls from scammers that identified themselves using the names of actual TCSO staff members. This time the scammer is claiming to be Sergeant Mike Moore. The caller ID displays the phone number of 918-238-2719, but the name and number being used by the scammer can change without notice.