Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Attorney General Scott Pruitt's office says a woman who allegedly coerced money from her developmentally disabled patients has been charged with three counts of financial exploitation.

The Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit says an arrest warrant has been issued for 49-year-old Barbara Mangum of Okmulgee. The charges were filed on Thursday in Okmulgee County District Court.

Court records do not list an attorney for Mangum.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. Department of Transportation says it is ordering an Oklahoma City-based charter bus company to shut down.

A news release said Friday the department is ordering Heartland Charters & Tours to immediately shut down because of what the department calls a "hazard to public safety."

The release said investigators with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that the company did not screen potential drivers for drugs and that it failed to use properly qualified drivers.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by an Oklahoma woman who claimed she contracted salmonella after eating at Taco Bell has been transferred to federal court.

A judge in Cleveland County approved the transfer last week. Leah Smith sued Taco Bell in February, claiming that she was sick for two weeks after eating at Taco Bell. She's seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

In a court filing, Taco Bell denied it was liable for Smith's illness. The company asked a federal judge to dismiss it from the lawsuit.

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Oklahoma says a Mexican national has pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the United States.

The office says 43-year-old Antonio Martinez-Angiano pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Muskogee. He faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. A formal sentencing date has not been set.

Martinez-Angiano was arrested in February in Tahlequah by the Tulsa Fugitive Operations Team.

The prosecutor's office says he had originally been deported from the U.S. in April 2000.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma National Guard says the final large group of soldiers with the 45th Infantry Brigade is set to return to the state.

The guard said Thursday that about 150 soldiers will arrive at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City about 10 a.m. Saturday. Their return comes after 208 soldiers arrived at the base Thursday morning.

The soldiers are among about 2,200 from the 45th that were deployed to Afghanistan and another 800 to Kuwait last June.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma State Department of Health is reporting an eighth death due to the flu during this year's flu season.

The department reported Thursday that the latest death was a Wagoner County resident in the 19- to 64-year-old age group. The department also reported 16 additional hospitalizations in the state due to the flu.

The department says about 280 people have been hospitalized because of the flu since Jan. 1. The number is down from about 840 hospitalizations and about two dozen deaths during the same time frame in 2011.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma prison warden's wife convicted of helping an inmate escape almost 18 years ago has been released from prison.

Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie says Bobbi Parker was released at 1 a.m. Thursday from the Hillside Community Correctional Center in Oklahoma City. She served a little more than half of her 1-year prison sentence.

Parker was convicted Sept. 21 for helping convicted killer Randolph Franklin Dial escape from the Oklahoma State Reformatory where her husband, Randy, was deputy warden.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma man is $250,000 richer, thanks to a Mega Millions lottery ticket.

Oklahoma Lottery officials say Arthur Wallace claimed his prize Monday after purchasing the winning ticket for the March 30 drawing at a QuikTrip store in Sand Springs. The record-setting Mega Millions jackpot that day was $656 million.

Officials say after taxes were applied, Wallace pocketed $177,500.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The chairman of Oklahoma's powerful House Appropriations Committee says a deal may be at hand with the Senate on a $200 million state bond issue that would fund repairs to the state's crumbling Capitol and other nearby buildings.

Representative Earl Sears told The Associated Press on Wednesday that a bill containing the proposal will be unveiled soon. His Senate counterpart wouldn't confirm the price tag.

Yellow barricades currently block the Capitol's south steps to prevent pedestrians from being hit by feared falling chunks of limestone and mortar.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Google says it will double its server capacity in Oklahoma and create 50 new jobs when it creates a new facility in Mayes County.  

Mike Wooten, the operations manager of Google's data center near Pryor, says Google is looking primarily for local residents to fill the new jobs. He says Google needs employees to work on deployment of servers and equipment maintenance.