Local & Regional

Completed 'Shoppes On Peoria' Provide Expanded Shopping, Food Options to Neighborhood

Catherine Roberts — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:31:53 +0000

A project long in the making comes into being. The Shoppes on Peoria, north of the Gateway Market at Pine and North Peoria, will have a grand opening Saturday.

Six businesses have opened there this year with more to come. One of them is the Tropical Smoothie Café.

Tim Smallwood is the owner of the café, his second in Tulsa. The first location is in South Tulsa, at the Tulsa Hills shopping center.

The North Tulsa store is only about two months old. He says part of the motivation for selecting the new location was his memory of growing up in the area.

Board Denies Clemency for Condemned Inmate

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:08:56 +0000

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has denied clemency for a death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month.

The five-member board voted 3-2 Friday against commuting the death sentence of James Lewis DeRosa. He faces a June 18 execution for the stabbing deaths of 73-year-old Curtis Plummer and 70-year-old Gloria Plummer in 2000.

Okla. Lawmakers Near Passage of DNA Testing Bill

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:05:11 +0000

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Convicted criminals who maintain their innocence would have a way to seek DNA testing in their cases under a bill that is nearing final passage in the Legislature. The bill's passage would eliminate Oklahoma's dubious distinction as the only state in the nation without such a program.

Man Bound Over for Trial on Murder Charge

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:02:50 +0000

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) — An eastern Oklahoma man has been bound over for trial in connection with a 1997 killing.

Sequoyah County Special Judge Larry Langley ruled Friday that Rex Robbins III should be bound over for trial in the beating death of 28-year-old Mitchell Nixon. The Southwest Times Record reports that Robbins was bound over on a first-degree murder charge and an alternate charge of first-degree felony murder.

Plans to Fund Pop Culture Museum Still Alive

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:59:45 +0000

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Backers of a museum devoted to Oklahoma popular culture say they're still hopeful state lawmakers will approve $40 million to help build it.

A proposal to divert the money over four years for the so-called OKPOP Museum in Tulsa narrowly passed a Senate budget committee by a 13-12 vote on Thursday.

The measure now heads to a similar committee in the House, where plans for the museum fell apart last year.

Oklahoma Unemployment Rate Dips to 4.9 Percent

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:58:19 +0000

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — State officials say Oklahoma's unemployment rate dipped below 5 percent in April.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says the state's unemployment decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.9 percent last month. That remains well below the national unemployment rate of 7.5 percent.

Tulsa Man Says Machete Attack Was Self-defense

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:55:32 +0000

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A police report says a Tulsa man arrested in the death of a 20-year-old woman told authorities he was acting in self-defense when he struck her with a machete.

Joshua Andrew Reynolds was arrested on a first-degree murder complaint in Thursday's death of Melissa Lemery. Police found Lemery's body in the backyard of a Tulsa home.

Tulsa Merchants are Following Tobacco Laws

KWGS News — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:45:45 +0000

The Tulsa Health Department’s Regional Prevention Coordinator staff with the assistance of trained student volunteers recently conducted Tobacco Reward Reminder Visits throughout Tulsa County in March.

61 tobacco retailer establishments were visited during recent RRVs. Of those retail establishments visited only one sold tobacco to a minor, resulting in a compliance rate of 99.9%.

Governor Schedules 2013 Energy Conference in Tulsa

AP — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:01:42 +0000

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has announced the third-annual Governor's Energy Conference will be held in Tulsa.

The event is presented by the governor's office and the University of Tulsa Collins College of Business. It will be Oct. 9 at the Tulsa Convention Center downtown.

The conference traditionally brings together top energy policy makers, executives and other people involved with the energy industry.

Gov. Fallin says this year's conference will focus on workforce development and research in the energy industry.

Group Seeks Name Change for Brady Arts District

AP — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:58:45 +0000

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A group of Tulsa residents wants to change the name of the Brady Arts District after its namesake was linked with the Ku Klux Klan.

Several people went before the Tulsa City Council on Thursday and said the city shouldn't be honoring Tate Brady.

Brady was a Tulsa businessman who died in 1925 and many say he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The city says it only has the authority to change the name of Brady Street because all other references didn't come from the city government.