Catherine Roberts

The congregation on Sunday at the Lakeview Heights Baptist Church in North Tulsa is only about a dozen or so adults and children. But this week there’s something new for them to celebrate.

Darold Burton has been pastor here for more than seven years. He says the church has been plagued by theft for nearly that long.

“From November to January we got (broken) into seven times,” he said. “And then it went from seven to 11, to 15, to 17, to 19, to 21, to 25, and then (year before last) it peaked at 29.”

The City of Tulsa and Osage County celebrate the latest addition to the Gilcrease Expressway. State Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley was there to mark the occasion.

“In order to have good business development in Northeast Oklahoma, you must have the transportation corridors that will allow that to happen,” Ridley said. “And certainly this is not an end, but the beginning of the end, to be able to tie this area of the state together.”

The new section of the expressway runs between the L.L. Tisdale Parkway and North 41st West Avenue.

Dallas has the Spur, and San Antonio’s Primo just started service last month.

In Tulsa, a plan to bring Bus Rapid Transit service to Peoria Avenue takes shape.

Transportation Projects Coordinator with INCOG. At the final public meeting to seek input about INCOG’s current preferred plan, INCOG Transportation Projects Coordinator James Wagner explains, “Basically what we’re looking at is a Bus Rapid Transit system that would increase the frequency from 30 minutes to every 15 minutes.”

Police have notified the relatives of the four women killed in a shooting yesterday in an apartment near 61st and Peoria.

Their names are Julie Jackson, 55, Misty Nunley, 33, and Rebecca Powel and Kayetie Melchor, both 23, who are believed to be twins.

The name of a four-year-old boy, who was also found, without injury, inside the apartment, has not been released, nor has his relationship to the women.

Police received a tip around midday yesterday from someone who had entered the apartment to check on the women and found them shot inside.

If they’re proven guilty of last year’s Good Friday shooting spree, Jake England and Alvin Watts could face the death penalty.

The Tulsa County District Attorney’s office today announced it will seek the death penalty in their case.

“It’ll be a two-stage proceeding,” Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond said, “so you’ll have a trial as to the guilt on the counts that we’ve filed.”

“If the jury finds them guilty of first degree murder,” he said, “we’ll go to a second stage where we’ll present evidence as to the aggravating circumstances.”

Programs of Tulsa’s Domestic Violence Intervention Services won’t immediately be affected by the House’s failure to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

DVIS Associate Director Donna Mathews is optimistic about the new Congress taking up the reauthorization.

“It would be a bad political move,” she said, “for somebody in any party to oppose reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in some form.”

The Union High School ROTC will march in the inaugural parade. It’s been asked to return for President Obama’s second inauguration.

Senior Master Sergeant Dan Snow says right now they need fundraising to be able to send the students.

“We’re sending out letters and notifications to all local businesses to try to get as much help as we can,” he said, “to try to get these kids down there and back.”

“It’s a once in a life time thing for them,” he added.

Lawmakers in Washington narrowly avoid a tumble over the fiscal cliff. That means income taxes won’t go up for many Americans.

Part of the deal, however, means that a Social Security payroll tax holiday was allowed to expire. Tulsa financial adviser Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management, says that means your January 15th paycheck will look a little different.

The holiday season: you might say it’s a place like Tulsa’s time to shine. That’s because Tulsa is a famously giving city.

A report from the Chronicle of Philanthropy earlier this year ranked Tulsa 18th in total contributions, out of more than 11,000 towns and cities.

With names like Kaiser, Schusterman, Helmerich, Warren and dozens of others widely recognized by Tulsans, that ranking comes as no surprise.

Local leaders are following Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker’s lead and taking the challenge to live on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program.

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Keith Ballard and research specialist with OU-Tulsa’s Center of Applied Research for Nonprofit Organizations Randy Macon will live on just $4.23 per day today and tomorrow.

That’s the equivalent of what someone on SNAP receives for groceries each day.