Marshall Stewart

A Tulsa group that helps victims of domestic violence gets a new home.

Old walls in the basement of Tulsa Police Headquarters are smashed down so the area can become the new Family Safety Center. The Center is moving into space that once housed the police property room and forensic lab. Center Director Suzann Stewart says the move will almost double current space, and allow the organization to provide services to almost twice as many people.

The projected date for completion of the renovation and move is September.

The new Tulsa Courthouse Plaza security entrance is finally scheduled to open Wednesday. After a few delays, the enhanced security entrance on the northside of the Court building is set to re-open to the public. At the same time, the southside or sixth street entrance will close permanently. County Commission Chief Deputy Mark Liotta says a new Denver Avenue entrance recently opened that will take the place of the sixth street doors, which will become an emergency exit only.

An initiative takes off to try and attract new non-stop airline routes to and from Tulsa. Business and aerospace leaders say more direct routes serving Tulsa could boost the area economy. The program is dubbed the Tulsa Regional Air Service Initiative or TRASI. Mary Smith is Director of the Oklahoma Aerospace Alliance. She says the idea is to bring more direct routes from areas like Midland, Texas where there is an oil and gas connection between the area and Tulsa.

Tulsa City-County libraries are being added as ‘Safe Places’ for young people in trouble. The program is operated by Youth Services. Jim Walker is Executive Director. He says libraries are a good ‘fit’ for the program which is designed to give at-risk youngsters a place to go to stay off the streets and out of trouble when a crisis hits.

Quik Trips, fire stations, EMSA ambulances, and Tulsa Transit buses are already recognized Safe Place sites. The addition of libraries comes during National Safe Place week.

An important South Tulsa road project nears an end. Final asphalt topping is underway and striping should begin next week on South Yale between 61st and 71st. It’s a joint project between the city and county. Chief County Engineer Tom Rains says when completed, it should greatly improve traffic flow in the hospital area there.

The project has taken months more than anticipated, but Rains says crews were able to keep two lanes open each direction during most of the work to help keep traffic moving.

The doors at the Tulsa jail where prisoners are delivered are being replaced. They were damaged in a police chase a decade ago. Sheriff Stanley Glanz says the so-called Sally Port doors where prisoners are loaded and unloaded need to be replaced. He says the repair done after the damage ten years ago has outlived its’ usefulness, and new doors with a better design are being installed.

The work could cost about 100-thousand dollars. Traffic into the prisoner area of the Moss Center will be re-routed while the doors are replaced to minimize safety concerns.

There is  a high fire danger in many parts of the state today, including here in Northeast Oklahoma. State Forestry Director George Geissler says even with recent rains, it’s still dry enough to provide plenty of fuel for wildfires.

He says there are no burn bans currently in effect, but cautions people to be careful to try and avoid any spark that could ignite a wildfire.

There have been several brush and grass fires in and around the Tulsa area the past couple of days.

Most Tulsa City Councilors now favor two separate ballot initiatives going to voters…one for streets, one for other capital needs. Councilor G.T. Bynum proposed the idea after hearing from citizens who prefer a stand-alone  street question. He says voters are suspicious the package would be loaded up with fluff by elected leaders in the hope the popularity of streets would help with passage of other capital projects.

Supporters haven’t given up, but it appears the effort to pass a law banning texting while driving is dead, at least for this session. The failure to advance the measure by lawmakers disappoints AAA Oklahoma Spokesman Chuck Mai. He says it’s an important safety measure that the vast majority of people support. Mai says much of the blame for the failure can be laid at the feet of House Speaker T.W. Shannon. Mai says Shannon apparently doesn’t consider it a safety issue, and won’t let it advance to the floor for a vote.

There’s a growing need for affordable housing in Tulsa County, but federal dollars for such programs have been greatly reduced over the last three years. This year, federal funds for HOME Consortium and Community Block Development needs will be cut between five and seven percent. It follows more drastic cuts the two previous years. The reduction is despite a continuing need for affordable housing for the poor, elderly, and young couples just starting out.