Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 82
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma travelers with Pikepass stickers on their vehicles can now use the payment tags on more Texas tollways. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Monday announced an agreement with two agencies that operate several toll roads in the Houston and Austin areas. Oklahoma officials say a Pikepass can now be used to pay for travel on roads operated by the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. Oklahoma Turnpike Authority spokesman Jack Damrill (DAM'-ril) on Tuesday said the P...
URBANA, Ill. (AP) — Your poodle may have a French pedigree, but Siberia played a major role in introducing dogs to the Americas. That's part of the research conducted at the University of Illinois and the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, based on dog remains, including two dogs buried back to back in an Illinois site just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. That loving, ceremonial burial and about 50 fossilized dogs help tell the story, The News-Gazette reports . That genetic code tells us not only about dogs, but potentially a...
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The OU Tom Love Innovation Hub turned into a trade show floor recently, as the inaugural Entrepreneurship Expo brought out investors, onlookers and plenty of ideas. Some came with established ideas, such as Real Kitchen Salsa, the Loveworks, Inc. facilitated company run by middle schoolers. OU alumni living nearby brought their ideas and innovations to share. "The idea was truly to build and bring together the community to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship," Denise Parris, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at t...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — It has been 55 years since the trauma emergency room at Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital became the center of the known universe. "We heard people had been shot," said retired Tulsa surgeon Dr. Jerry Gustafson. "We heard the president had been shot. But it wasn't like today. It was chaotic. We didn't know. We just knew there were a lot of people coming into our emergency room." Gustafson was among the small staff of doctors and others on duty at Parkland on Nov. 22, 1963, the Tulsa World reported . President John F. Kenned...
HOUSTON (AP) — A menacing hand reaches from above, pushing the small girl further underwater as she struggles for air. The Houston Chronicle reports that's what 12-year-old Izzy Plunkett drew last October in a family friend's home, adopted as her own, as her family rebuilt their Hurricane Harvey-flooded home in Cypress. "The house was out on a ranch in the middle of nowhere," Izzy said. The homeschooled teenager was a long drive from the activities, such as theater rehearsal, that would have made life feel kind of normal. "But my art was a...
DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — The future of elk in Southwest Colorado is in jeopardy. Over the past few years, herds in the region have been slowly dying off, and wildlife officials are concerned about the iconic ungulate's ability to survive in healthy numbers in the long term. The issue involves a mystery: About half of the elk calves born in Southwest Colorado die within six months. Of the survivors, another 15 percent perish before they turn a year old. And researchers don't know why, The Durango Herald reports . The problem encompasses wildlife m...
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — District 6 State Representative Chuck Hoskins said he sees his uncle when he walks past the "Spirit of the American Doughboy" statue at Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center. "It not only stands for my uncles, but for all of your relatives who took part in that war," Hoskins said to a gathered crowd at the recent rededication ceremony for the statue. "We have to make sure our children and their children understand what this statue means." The ceremony comes on the heels of a $25,000 restoration project to clean and r...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Charlie stood in the pen with his nose up, raising his nostrils higher as people approached. Children and a red heeler cow dog named Mollie circled him, kids grabbed his fuzzy wool and touched his nose. He didn't move or twitch, just slowly swiveled his head on his long, protruding neck. From the ground to the tip of his hump, Charlie the camel, owned by Pat and Don Bodkin, is about 7 feet tall and about 1,500 lbs. He slowly turned his head to sniff a half of a watermelon. He declined to take a bite, but he did stare d...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Two bills filed this week look to end Oklahoma's automobile sales tax, which was enacted during that state's budget crisis last year. The Senate bills would halt the 1.25 percent sales tax on vehicles bought after July 1, 2019, The Oklahoman reported. The state's excise tax would remain. Republican Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Kim David, who authored one of the proposals, supported the tax when it first went into effect. She said it's time to revisit the issue because the state is in a different place f...
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma's offense is statistically one of the best in college football history. It still might not be good enough to get the Sooners a Big 12 title or a slot in the College Football Playoff. Coach Lincoln Riley's team leads the nation in total offense and scoring offense. The Sooners average 8.9 yards per play, ahead of the FBS record of 8.6 set by Hawaii in 2006, and they have scored at least 45 points in eight straight games. And yet, they continue to find themselves in close games. Oklahoma has allowed at least 40 point...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court grappled Tuesday with whether an Indian tribe retains control over a vast swath of eastern Oklahoma in a case involving a Native American who was sentenced to death for murder. Some justices said they fear a ruling for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation could have big consequences for criminal cases, but also tax and other regulatory issues on more than 3 million acres of Creek Nation territory, including most of Tulsa, Oklahoma's second largest city. The issue is before the high court in the case of Patrick M...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's newly elected governor has named a veteran U.S. Senate staffer and a former Republican state lawmaker, both from the Tulsa area, to key positions in his new administration. Gov. Elect Kevin Stitt announced Tuesday that Tulsa Deputy Mayor Michael Junk will serve as his chief of staff, while ex-GOP state Rep. Michael Rogers of Broken Arrow will be the next secretary of state. Junk was the campaign manager for Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and previously worked for U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn. Rogers served two t...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say U.S. District Court in Little Rock does not have jurisdiction to consider the request for a new trial by an Oklahoma man sentenced to death for killing an Arkansas family in a plot to set up a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Monday's filing in response to a motion by Danny Lee of Yukon, Oklahoma, says the federal court doesn't have jurisdiction because an appeals court has not certified it as either containing new evidence or based on new law. Lee's motion says prosecutors i...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County authorities say a deputy shot and wounded a man who was firing a handgun near the Wichita Department for Children and Families. Sheriff's spokesman Tim Myers said the man shot on Tuesday is hospitalized in serious condition. Myers said the man apparently was homeless and may have been intoxicated. He says the man refused to follow orders and was shot when he pointed the handgun in the direction of a Wichita police lieutenant and two sheriff's deputies. One of the deputies shot the man. Officers responded a...
CAWKER CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman who was missing since her car was found abandoned in a blizzard during the weekend has been found dead. The body of Tanya Eshbaugh, 37, of Cawker City, was found Tuesday in a field near Waconda Lake, about three miles from her car, Mitchell County authorities said. Eshbaugh called her work on Sunday to report that she couldn't make it because of the storm and she was turning around to go home. The search began when she didn't show up for work on Monday. Mitchell County Sheriff Tony Perez told KAKE-TV t...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police say a man who was shot by a state trooper while his vehicle was dragging two officers has died. Police Lt. Andrew Beightel says officers, one from Topeka and one from the Kansas Highway Patrol, were not seriously injured in the Tuesday incident. The driver of the car, 35-year-old Jarmane Dywane Logan, of Topeka, died Tuesday at an area hospital. Beightel said the officers were talking to occupants of a car that the trooper had tried to stop earlier after it stalled at a Topeka intersection. A second vehicle a...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is recalling hundreds of vehicle license plates on the streets containing the "JAP" lettering in the wake of complaints that it is an ethnic slur offensive to Japanese Americans. The Kansas Department of Revenue said there are 731 active registrations containing that random letter combination on standard license plates. Vehicle owners were sent a letter dated Tuesday asking them to return the plate to their county vehicle office within 30 days for replacement at no cost. Plates not replaced within that period will b...
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of an inmate at a privately-run federal prison in Leavenworth. The Kansas City Star reports 29-year-old Dillon Lane Reed died on Thanksgiving at the Leavenworth Detention Center. Reed's attorney said he was notified of his client's death but was not told the cause of death or any circumstances. Reed was being on federal drug charges. The prison is operated by CoreCivic, a Tennessee-based company formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America. The U.S. Marshals Service c...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita State University President John Bardo is hospitalized and is not expected to return to campus until next semester. University officials announced Tuesday that Bardo, who is 70, is being treated for a chronic lung condition. Bardo said in social media posts that his doctors say he will need several weeks of convalescence. He says he's in good spirits and is looking forward to being back on campus in the new year. University spokesman Lou Heldman said Bardo was admitted to the hospital just before Thanksgiving. He s...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A man is claiming self-defense after he was charged with wounding a 17-year-old whose friends were shooting fireworks at a Lawrence apartment building. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 20-year-old Rashan Gill is scheduled to be tried in January on one count of criminal discharge of a firearm. His attorney is citing the state's "stand your ground" law. An affidavit in the case says the girl waited in a car on July 5 while her friends shot Roman candles at the apartment. The friends said that at one point a man ran o...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say 65 faculty members at the University of Kansas are expected to take an early retirement incentive. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the school announced the program in August as a way to help deal with a mandated $20 million budget-cutting initiative for the Lawrence campus. Tenured and tenure-track faculty had until last week to decide whether to participate. By the time of retirement, participants had to be 62 years old. The provost office said in a news release that their median salary is $...
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a fatal shooting in a Kansas City, Kansas, home. KMBC-TV reports that police responded to a 911 call Monday morning. The victim had been shot multiple times and died of his injuries. Police say a woman who was inside the home at the time of the shooting is working with investigators to put together a description of the suspect. Police say he fled from the seen on foot. ___ Information from: KMBC-TV, http://www.kmbc.com...
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Faculty members at Oakland University in suburban Detroit have received hockey pucks and are being trained to use them to potentially thwart active shooters. WDIV-TV reports the American Association of University Professors distributed pucks to its 800 members. University Police Chief Mark Gordon says to fight effectively, faculty and students need to be prepared to throw heavy objects that will cause a distraction. Gordon says pucks fit the bill and can conveniently be carried in brief cases or backpacks. The f...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday that ballooning student debt has caused a "crisis in higher education," and that the traditional path to college might not be the best choice for all students. DeVos made the comments in Atlanta at a training conference for the Education Department's Federal Student Aid division, which oversees student loans awarded by the federal government. The department released a text of her remarks. "Our higher-ed system is the envy of the world, but if we as a country do not make important p...
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Police say multiple schools are on lockdown in an Atlanta suburb as police investigate a bomb threat at one school and threats of gun violence at two others. Decatur police said Tuesday that a system-wide lockdown was imposed "out of precaution" across the City Schools of Decatur, affecting about 5,600 students in nine schools. Private schools followed suit in the city just east of Atlanta. Some elementary students were moved from their classrooms to other buildings under police escort. Police said hours later that they f...
