Marshall Stewart

A 10th Compressed Natural Gas fueling station opens in Tulsa. This latest station, located on West 23rd near the Arkansas River, can be used by the public. Tom Sewell, with Tulsa Gas Technologies, says CNG is cleaner, safer, and can save you a lot of money at the pump. While gasoline is selling for about 3-dollars-70-cents at most Tulsa stations, the comparable amount of natural gas is selling for a dollar-fifty.

Anybody with a CNG powered vehicle can use the new station. All it takes is a credit card.

Jazz Hall of Fame board members are given notice of default on their lease agreement. They have 30 days to pay overdue bills or make arrangements to pay them, or else. Members of the Tulsa County Industrial Authority, which oversees the Union Depot Station where the Hall’s located, vote today to send a notice of ‘failure to perform’ terms of the lease. Authority Chairman John Smaligo says trustees are frustrated by a lack of progress in paying what amounts to more than 70-thousand dollars in outstanding bills.

Seven new Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers in the Tulsa area mean more resources to arrest drunk drivers over the Labor Day holiday period. O-H-P  Lt. George Brown says they’ll be participating in a national crackdown dubbed ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’.

Brown says a ‘no tolerance’ policy will be followed for anyone pulled over suspected of driving under the influence on this last holiday of the summer season.

Planning a trip to one of the state’s lakes, rivers, or streams this weekend? The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality’s Skylar McElhaney says they want you to have fun, but be cautious when swimming or boating in untreated waters. There are certain bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that could be harmful and cause anything from ear and eye infections to some forms of meningitis.

Suggestions to be safe include hold your nose or wear noseplugs when jumping into water, avoid swallowing water when swimming, and stay away from debris and storm drains.

(Oklahoma City AP)-Oklahoma moves closer to the record number of West Nile virus cases in one year. Nine new cases are confirmed.

There have been 101 confirmed cases this year in 22 counties.

Five people have died, two each in Oklahoma and Carter counties and one in Seminole County.

The record of 107 West Nile cases was set in 2007. Eight people died then.

The Tulsa Red Cross has nine volunteers in the Gulf Coast area to help with Hurricane Isaac disaster relief. Donita Quesnel with the Tulsa Chapter says the teams will help deliver meals and supplies to storm victims.

She says the Chapter here is on standby in case more help is needed in storm ravaged areas. The teams already deployed are in Florida, Alabama, and Hattiesburg,Mississippi.

The opening prayer will be delivered by an atheist at Thursday night’s Tulsa City Council meeting. Dan Nerren, a founder of the Humanist Association of Tulsa, says it’s a ‘first’ as far as he knows. He says he will not be praying to a deity, but instead will address the invocation to the councilors themselves.

He says several groups for years have attempted to get the council to halt sectarian prayers. Failing that, Nerren says councilors have agreed to allow an invocation from his non-theist group.

The Board governing Tulsa’s ambulance service is considering increasing response times. If the recommendation is accepted, response times for life-threatening emergencies would increase two minutes. Non-threatening emergency times would also increase two minutes.

EMSA’s Kelli Bruer says the change would not impact patient care….it would not affect first responders who are required to be on scene within five minutes.

An abandoned Tulsa apartment complex that neighbors call a blight and a public safety nuisance is demolished.

The Oakwood Apartments on 62nd street just off South Peoria, abandoned since 2009, are coming down. Police have been called numerous times to the property since the abandonment. Tom Sanderson’s children attend school in the area…and he called city leaders to ask that it be torn down to rid the area of the problem structure.

The city and county worked together on the demolition. With the structure gone, officials say revitalization in the area can move forward.

A major step in upgrading Tulsa Courthouse security entrances gets underway this week as a couple of high profile trials begin inside.

The steel structure for the new entrance on the Denver Avenue side of the County Courthouse is going up this week. Kirby Crowe is with the company managing the project, and he says this is an important phase in the work, which is about a week behind schedule.