Marshall Stewart

The Tulsa Port of Catoosa gets a federal grant to help upgrade the main dock. Port Director Bob Portiss says the 6.4 million dollar grant will cover about half the cost of the improvements. The project will increase capacity and provide a more modern cargo handling facility.

The rehab of the main dock will allow more than one million tons of iron and steel cargo a year to be handled at the Port.

It’s another sign of economic resurgence in Oklahoma as hundreds of hopefuls go for interviews at a job fair in East Tulsa. Fair organizers say companies, especially those in the manufacturing industry, are hiring. More than 30 firms participate in the fair, looking to fill positions from entry level to upper management. One of those hoping for a job is John Hogshooter, who isn’t having much luck in the construction business back home. He says he drove hundreds of miles to attend the event here in Tulsa.

Work on improving Tulsa Courthouse entrances hits a snag. While digging in front of the County Courthouse on Denver Avenue, construction crews discovered an old diesel fuel tank that everyone had forgotten was there. County Commission Chief Deputy Mark Liotta says the Department of Environmental Quality will have to inspect the tank and determine any issues that need to be fixed before it can be removed.

Thunder Basketball souvenirs are selling like hotcakes. Temporary stands in Tulsa selling items with the Thunder logo can’t keep the most popular in stock.

The big seller….Fear the Beard…shirts, pennants, and posters featuring sixth man James Harden’s fuzzy facial hair.

Steven, who has a stand at 36th and South Harvard in Tulsa, sells sports souvenirs all over the country. He calls the Thunder mania in Oklahoma among the most passionate he’s ever seen.

A former city councilor will challenge Tulsa’s incumbent mayor in the Republican primary.

Bill Christiansen announces his bid for mayor at a south Tulsa park. He points to a police station across the street as one reason he’s seeking the city’s top executive post. He says it’s only open Monday through Friday 8-4. He wants it open 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and says it’s an example of his priorities if elected mayor.

The Tulsa Jewish Federation is partnering with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma to provide fresh fruit and vegetables for the hungry. The project to provide the food is a community garden. Jewish Federation Director Drew Diamond says the produce will be donated to the food bank.

Ground was broken on the project today. The garden is on a plot of land owned by the Jewish Federation just north of 71st street. The first plantings in the garden will be in the fall.

It’s an overflow crowd at a delinquent property tax sale conducted by Tulsa County Treasurer Dennis Semler. Some 500 pieces of land on which owed property taxes from 2008 haven’t been paid go up for auction. Potential bidders are looking for bargains. Landlords are looking for rental properties or fixer-uppers to sell.

The auction will continue every day this week at the Convention Center downtown until all properties are sold.

One person is assaulted with a baseball bat, another shot at a Quik Trip parking lot in South Tulsa. Police Officer Leland Ashley says some sort of confrontation between two groups took place at a store at 51st and Yale, then moved to a second Quik Trip near 71st and Mingo…

Several shots were fired. The person hit was taken to a hospital and at last report was in critical condition. Ashley says it’s lucky no innocent bystander was hit by gunfire with the shooting occurring in such a public place.

Deputies who helped bring down a courthouse plaza shooter are honored for their ‘heroic’ actions. At a ceremony at the courthouse, Undersheriff Tim Albin read a description of the events outside the Tulsa County courthouse on March 7th. In responding to reports of a shooter on the plaza, Deputy David Fortenberry was wounded in both hands. He received a purple heart and medal of valor at the ceremony.

Teenager Dena Dean disappeared from Town West Shopping Center 14 years ago. The murder case is unsolved to this day. On the anniversary of her death, the Tulsa Sheriff’s Cold Case Command Post is set-up in the shopping center parking lot. It’s an annual event seeking tips on Dean’s murder or any other crimes still under investigation. Dean’s father Larry hasn’t given up hope the case will be resolved. He says while he believes there will be justice for his daughter some day, there will never be ‘closure’ for him since he will never have his daughter back.