Local & Regional

By Associated Press

Tulsa, OK – Man pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charge

TULSA, Okla. (AP) A Michigan man has pleaded not guilty to a charge that he operated a major marijuana trafficking operation from Arizona to Michigan.

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Tulsa charges 20-year-old Kelly Maurice Hill, also known as Shannon Dorr, of Detroit. The charges include conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of over 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Hill is free on bond.

By Associated Press

Oklahoma City, OK – Okla. coalition opposes pension changes

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A coalition of educators, firefighters and other public employees say they're worried about proposed changes to the state's public pension systems.

Members of the Public Pension Coalition on Tuesday discussed the plan to alter the state's defined benefit system to a defined contribution system for new state workers.

By Associated Press

Tulsa, OK – Henry renews opposition to ballot question

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Outgoing Gov. Brad Henry is renewing his opposition to a state ballot measure to boost funding for common education, saying its approval would devastate the rest of state government.

A longtime supporter of public education, the term-limited Democrat told about 200 business leaders at a chamber luncheon Wednesday that it was a difficult personal choice to publicly oppose State Question 744.

By Associated Press

Tulsa, OK – Muskogee police say dead infant likely born dead

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) Police in Muskogee say a baby found dead in a Wal-Mart bathroom was probably dead when it was born.

Investigator Lynn Hamlin told the Muskogee Phoenix that preliminary information from the medical examiner is that the baby was not full term. He said it appears to have been 20 to 24 weeks gestation.

A store employee found the infant's body in a toilet in the back of the store Tuesday.

By Denise Brewer

Tulsa, Oklahoma – Your Local News This Thursday Morning

By KWGS News

Claremore, OK – The Claremore City Manager and one city council have resigned. The news follows an ethics complaint filed by one group of city councilors against another. City spokeswoman Cassie Woods says neither Manager Tim Rundel or Councilman Tony Mullenger were named in the complaint.

The allegation accuses the councilors of interference with the administration. Rundel became the Claremore City Manager on September 7th.

By Marshall Stewart

Tulsa, OK – After a decade of work, a park memorializing survivors of the 1921 race riot and the rebuilding of Greenwood after is dedicated. The John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park is named after the renowned historian and Tulsa Washington high-school graduate. John W. Franklin is his son. He was in Tulsa for the dedication and will be Rich Fisher's guest tomorrow on Studio Tulsa.

Phase two of the project will include a reconciliation center on the land near Detroit Avenue and Greenwood where the riot took place.

By Associated Press

Tulsa, OK – Okla. voters to consider several ballot questions

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Oklahoma voters will decide several ballot issues next week that critics say panders to extreme conservatives and would move the state farther to the right.

Of 11 state questions on the Nov. 2 ballot, one would make English the state's official language, and another prohibits Oklahoma courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases. And a third allows residents to "opt-out" of the new federal health care reform law.

By Associated Press

Sapulpa, OK – OHP trooper dies from injuries sustained in wreck

TULSA, Okla. (AP) A 56-year-old Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper has died from injuries he sustained in a traffic accident.

OHP Lt. George Brown says Capt. George Green of Sand Springs died Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at a Tulsa hospital.

Green suffered massive internal injuries and several broken bones on Monday when his patrol vehicle collided with a dump truck on State Highway 97 at the Turner Turnpike off-ramp in Sapulpa.

By Associated Press

Oklahoma City, OK – Askins, Fallin don't talk motherhood at forum

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The two women running to be Oklahoma's first female governor stayed away from the issue of whether motherhood makes one candidate better than the other.