Yesterday, March 10
Oklahoma House tells feds hands off state guns
Posted at 2:51am
BY MICHAEL MCNUTT
A measure that states firearms made and kept in Oklahoma are not subject to federal law won easy approval Tuesday in the House of Representatives.
House Bill 2994 makes firearms, accessories and ammunition made and sold in Oklahoma exempt from federal regulation.
Rep. Ryan Kiesel, D-Seminole, questioned whether a state could assert authority over interstate commerce, one of the powers listed in the U.S. Constitution as a function of the federal government.
Kiesel said the measure could result in the state’s having to develop a registry of guns made in Oklahoma to keep track of the weapons, a proposal that most Oklahoma gun owners would find troubling.
Rep. John Enns, R-Enid, author of HB 2994, said his measure would apply only to guns made in Oklahoma. Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
Good revenue report stirs hope
Posted at 2:49am
By MICHAEL MCNUTT
Oklahoma appears to be prying loose from the grip the recession has had on its economy, state Treasurer Scott Meacham said Tuesday.
State revenue collections in February exceeded the estimate for the first time since December 2008, Meacham said.
“What we’re seeing now appears to be signs that we’ve hit the bottom, and now we’re starting to climb back up a little bit,” he said. “We’re starting to see the very first signs of what has been the longest, deepest downturn in state revenue history may be finally starting to bottom out and end.”
Collections still fell short of previous-year collections for February but not as drastic as in recent months. Tax collections for a few months in 2009 were more than 20 percent below Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
Tomato shortage seen in Oklahoma
Posted at 2:46am
BY JENNIFER PALMER
Tomatoes are at a premium right now due to a shortage in Florida, but many say the higher prices are temporary.
Typically, Oklahoma’s tomato planting season begins in mid-April and the crops begin to ripen in June.
And some local restaurants aren’t skimping because of the shortage or price increase.
Nationwide, some restaurants are only providing tomatoes if customers request them. But two locally based chains — Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores and Sonic drive-in — continue to provide tomatoes as usual.
“We’re paying a little more for them,” said Braum’s spokesman Terry Holden. “But we’re still putting tomatoes on hamburgers.”
He said serving a burger with lettuce and tomato is “part of what we do” and tomatoes would have to become unavailable for that Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
‘Baby Einstein’ failing to make grade
Posted at 2:42am
By Karen Kaplan
LOS ANGELES — For parents who were holding out hope that scientists would someday vindicate “Baby Einstein” DVDs and other so-called educational videos aimed at the age 2 and younger set, a leading pediatric journal has bad news: The DVDs do not help 1-year-olds learn words emphasized during the programs.
Researchers at the University of California at Riverside tested the vocabularies of 88 children ages 12 months to 24 months. Half of them were asked to watch “Baby Wordsmith” — part of Disney’s “Baby Einstein” series — at home for six weeks. The 35-minute video highlights 30 common words for household objects.
When the researchers compared the two groups, they found no difference in their general language knowledge as measured by words spoken, words understood, Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
Woodward teenager killed in collision
Posted at 2:18am
FROM STAFF REPORTS
LAVERNE — A Woodward teenager died Monday after a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer rig in Harper County, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
Jose Medrano, 17, died at the scene of the accident about 11:15 p.m. on U.S. Highway 270, about five miles west of Laverne.
Investigators said Medrano was driving west when his pickup moved into the eastbound lane and crashed head-on into a rig driven by Christopher Morrell-Cookson, 36, of Hooker.
Morrell-Cookson was not injured, but the impact caused the rig to catch fire and burn, the OHP reported.
Merano was not wearing a seat belt.
Continue reading…by Sheila Stogsdill
Been there, lost that
Posted at 2:13am
By Berry Tramel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeff Capel’s Sooners strolled onto the Sprint Center floor late for their allotted 40-minute practice time Wednesday.
“Bus driver got lost,” Capel said. “That’s the kind of year we’ve had.”
No holes in that theory. Late and lost. The 13-17 Sooners either started slow or faded fast. They’ve lost eight straight games; lose Bedlam today in the Big 12 Tournament and OU has its longest hoops losing streak in 45 years.
And Capel never saw it coming. Never saw this team and these high hopes collapsing into a morass of injury and apathy, ineptness and anarchy. Never imagined he couldn’t turn this ballteam into something he could stand to live with.
“You Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
Livestock Summary
Posted at 1:49am
AMARILLO, Texas — Here is the daily livestock summary for Tuesday, March 9, 2010, as reported by the USDA.
Slaughter cattle trade in the Five Major Marketing Areas, Texas/Oklahoma;
Kansas; Nebraska; Colorado; Iowa/Minnesota: Thus far for Tuesday, trading of
negotiated cash, beef type, steers and heifers has been at a standstill in all
major feeding regions. Not enough sales to establish an adequate market test.
Steers: Live basis; (all Grades: 0 head). Dressed Basis; (all Grades: 40 head)
143.00. Heifers: Live Basis; (all Grades: 0 head). Dressed Basis; (all Grades:
0 head).
Auction markets:
Dunlap, IA Slaughter Cattle Auction 03/09/2010
Receipts: 550 Last Week: 560
Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
Wednesday’s forecast
Posted at 1:47am
Today’s forecast calls for a few light rain showers through the early morning. Boise City is just one of the communities that may see some rain. Rain and snow showers will tend to increase across the western Oklahoma and Texas panhandles through the morning hours as an upper level storm system approaches.
Highs in the lower 40s with lows in the upper 20s.
Continue reading…by Sheila Stogsdill
Tuesday, March 9
State retirement system hole isn’t going to go away
Posted at 10:54am
The Oklahoman Editorial
This fiscal year has been a bear for Oklahoma, with the governor and legislative leaders having to figure out a way to patch a deficit exceeding half a billion dollars. Next fiscal year will be bruising, too — estimates are for a budget deficit in the $1 billion range. The year after that?
I’s a safe guess fiscal year 2012 will require more patches and stop-gaps to make ends meet and allow the government to meet its obligations. Full economic recovery may be several years away.
Meantime, lurking for Oklahoma (and most other states) is a state retirement system that recently was recognized as being one of the most underfunded in the country. The Pew Center on the States gave Oklahoma a score of zero Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
IRS warns Oklahoma residents of tax refund scam
Posted at 10:47am
BY SONYA COLBERG
Nothing is certain but death, taxes and, now, fake IRS refund notices.
An e-mail scam going around shows a copy of the real Internal Revenue Service logo and contains official-sounding language. But odd wording and misspellings suggest something’s awry.
The subject line says: “Notificantion to you about tax refund 2010.”
E-mail scams often contain clues, Oklahoma-based IRS spokesman David Stell said.
“Always a tip-off to those fake e-mails: the perfect spelling and grammar,” Stell said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.
One version of the e-mail continues: “Please note now you can get your tax refund, after the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $314.79. Please take few minutes to fill your Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
Multiple factors caused widespread Guymon outage
Posted at 10:27am
By Staff Reports
HOOKER– Many Tri-County Electric Cooperative members in the city of Guymon experienced a lengthy power outage on Monday.
The three-and-half hour outage affected 1,077 residences and businesses located from Hurliman Road west to Buffalo Drive and from 12th Street north to an area outside the city limits.
Power was restored at 12:23 p.m.
The outage was caused by a downed three-phase distribution conductor power line on the west edge of Guymon combined with equipment failure at Majestic Substation on 24th Street.
“We understand the disruption this outage caused for many of our members in Guymon,” said Jack L. Perkins, Tri-County Electric Chief Executive Officer. “Our goal is to restore power within the shortest time possible. We didn’t do that today and I apologize.”
Anytime members experience an outage, they Continue reading…
by Sheila Stogsdill
