Local & Regional

A huge explosion and fire rocked the Henryetta area last night. It was at the Anchor Glass plant.

Officials say all the workers have been accounted and no injuries reported.  In all about 75-workers are employed at the plant.

It appears the fire started with an overheated piece of equipment.

The blast took place around nine o'clock last night.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's director of child services says she's resigning because of the stress of her job and the pressure of implementing a 2012 legal agreement.

Jami Ledoux announced her resignation Tuesday as the director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services' child welfare division. Her resignation is effective May 31.

The Tulsa County Sheriff and more than 40 partners have had a successful three years under the Stepping Up Initiative.

Tulsa County signed on to the national effort to put fewer people with mental illness in jail in 2015. Mental Health Association Oklahoma CEO Mike Brose said they need treatment but are disproportionately represented behind bars.

"People with serious mental illness make up about 5 percent of the general population, but incarcerated settings, it comes up to about 18 percent," Brose said.

Due to an increased number of trauma patients in local hospitals, there is an immediate need for O-negative blood. Kenda Burnham, Donor Recruitment Director for the Oklahoma Blood Institute in Tulsa, says they’re down to less than a one day supply. There’s also a higher need this time of year because of travel, vacations, and storms. Burnham says O-negative is the universal blood type and can be given to anyone in need to help stabilize them.

A coalition that includes law enforcement, prosecutors and members of the business and medical community is opposing a medical marijuana question on Oklahoma's June 26 primary election ballot.

The group, known as SQ 788 is Not Medical, registered as an unlimited political action committee on Tuesday with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. It includes some politically powerful organizations, including the District Attorneys Council, Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association, Oklahoma State Medical Association and The State Chamber.

Investigators say a woman who allegedly bound and gagged her three daughters, stabbed the eldest repeatedly and set their house on fire told them she had become upset after observing two of her children reading a book.

Authorities say 39-year-old Taheerah Ahmad was arrested Tuesday in downtown Tulsa. Ahmad's 7-year-old daughter who had been reported missing was found safe.

Ahmad told investigators during interviews Tuesday afternoon that she became upset after observing her children reading a book, although it was not known what book they were reading.

Recovering addict Judith Anderson figures if she hadn't entered a program that caught and treated the hepatitis C she contracted after years of intravenous drug use, she wouldn't be alive to convince others to get checked out.

The 74-year-old resident of Sallisaw, Oklahoma — near the Arkansas border — said the potentially fatal liver disease sapped her of energy and "any desire to go anywhere or do anything."

With the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing sports betting, you can expect it in Oklahoma casinos — eventually.

"We look forward to being able to embrace that and bring it to the market. Obviously, our main focus is providing a steady revenue stream to our shareholders, and it’ll create some jobs," said Cherokee Nation Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Mark Fulton.

But, by some estimates, it may take up to five years for sports betting to get off the ground in Oklahoma.

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office faces a religious discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim woman.

When Suha Elqutt went to the courthouse last month to finalize a divorce from her abusive husband, she set off the metal detector. While she removed her earrings and the pin holding on her hijab, a different hairpin turned out to be the problem.

Tulsa police on Tuesday arrested a woman who they say bound and gagged her three daughters, stabbed the eldest repeatedly and set their house on fire.

Police said a patrol officer found 39-year-old Taheerah Ahmad around midday in a vehicle in downtown Tulsa. Ahmad was taken into custody and her 7-year-old daughter who had been reported missing was found safe, police said.

A former correctional officer who pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe and conspiring to commit wire fraud at a private prison for federal inmates in Oklahoma has been sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Federal prosecutors say 34-year-old Charles Daniel Lynn of El Reno was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge David L. Russell. Lynn must also serve two years of supervised release after he completes his sentence.

A group representing Oklahoma teachers is asking the state's highest court to stop an effort to overturn a tax-hike package to fund teacher pay raises the Legislature approved amid a national uprising of educators seeking more classroom money.

The Professional Oklahoma Educators filed a protest petition with the state Supreme Court last week against the anti-tax group's signature-gathering effort.

Investigators are sifting through debris days after Oklahoma troopers were hit by gunfire or shrapnel in a shootout with a man who died and whose home may have been booby-trapped to spark a massive fire.

The Poteau Daily News reports were reconstructing the scene Monday in Talihina.

Authorities say troopers were serving a drug-related felony warrant Friday when the man opened fire. He died at the scene and a fire caused by a possible explosive device ignited the residence and neighboring buildings. The suspect has not been identified.

 Police in Tulsa are searching for a woman who they say bound and gagged her three daughters, stabbed the eldest repeatedly, and set their house on fire.

A 7-year-old girl is missing along with the mother, identified by Tulsa police as 39-year-old Taheerah Ahmad.

Tulsa Police Officer Jeanne MacKenzie says the 7-year-old girl, Hafsa Hayle, helped her 9-year-old sister escape, and the 9-year-old ran to a nearby house for help. MacKenzie says when authorities arrived, they found an 11-year-old girl in critical condition with stab wounds and the house on fire.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court has dismissed most of the social workers in a lawsuit that alleges the Oklahoma Department of Human Services failed to protect children from decade-long abuse by a couple.

The Oklahoman reports that the appeals court ruled 14 of 17 agency workers should be dropped from the lawsuit filed by nine children who were under Jerry and Deidre Matthews' care.

With a rate of 6.1 violent crimes per 10,000 residents, Business Insider ranks Broken Arrow ninth on a list of cities with the lowest crime rates.

Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill thinks there are a couple factors at play.

"Crime prevention has a lot to do with hardening the target: locking your doors, keeping lights on at night in dark areas, watching out for your neighbors. The other part of that is as we train officers, we have to make sure we instill that mindset of customer service and citizen engagement," Berryhill said.

The Osage Nation hopes the final Bureau of Indian Affairs budget will help continue work to plug abandoned oil and gas wells on its land.

Osage Minerals Councilwoman Cynthia Boone said those projects can run from $10,000 to $100,000.

"After almost 130 years of continued development, there are about 2,000 unplugged, abandoned wells on our reservation. These wells are an environmental and health hazard. Some are near schools and playgrounds," Boone said.

Tribes are not happy with President Trump’s proposed 2019 budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"The 2019 president’s budget for Indian Affairs would be a 15.6 percent decrease from the FY2018 CR level. Nearly every line item in the BIA budget would see reductions," said National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel.

BIA's budget under the 2018 continuing resolution was $2.5 billion.

A series of earthquakes has been recorded near the central Oklahoma town of Crescent.

The U.S. Geological Survey says four earthquakes struck Sunday night through Monday morning, all near Crescent, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City. The quakes had magnitudes ranging from 2.5 to 4.1.

There are no reports of injuries or damage.

A new Oklahoma law will cut the cost of a basic speeding ticket by more than half.

Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill into law last week reducing the cost of such speeding tickets from nearly $225 to $100. The law applies to tickets for 1 to 10 mph over the speed limit, and goes into effect in August.

Where is Charles Worley?

The elderly Tulsa man has been missing for almost a week.  He was last seen on Wednesday morning, leaving his east Tulsa home for a walk.

His home is east of Memorial of 17th Street. Authorities say while Worley is considered elderly, he is also considered to be in good health.

If you see him or know of his whereabouts you are asked to call Tulsa Police.

Five horses are rescued in Wagoner County. The horses were found on abandon property near Haskell. A citizen, who had seen them in the pasture, tipped off the Sheriff’s office to the horses.

The animals were roaming a five-acre plot without food or water. Deputies tracked down the owner who had moved to Beggs.  The owner reportedly told deputies that he though someone else was caring for the animals. 

The animals were turned over to a horse rescue. The animals will be available for adoption in the future. 

Immigrants in Tulsa say they are fearful of being deported because of the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office relationship with federal immigration authorities.

Tulsa Sheriff Vic Regalado says immigrants have nothing to fear from his department. He says the confusion comes in because his jail is a holding facility for ICE. He says people are brought to Tulsa from all across the country and most are being held on serious charges like attempted murder or drug trafficking.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says about half of Oklahoma is experiencing drought conditions and that western Oklahoma is experiencing exceptional drought.

The report developed by climatologists, forecasters and others says almost all the western half of the state, including the Oklahoma Panhandle, is abnormally dry or worse. A

lmost 650,000 people live in areas of the state affected by drought conditions. More than 23 percent of the state is in exceptional drought, the driest category.

Average retail gasoline prices in Tulsa have risen 6.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.53/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 321 gas outlets in Tulsa. This compares with the national average that has increased 5.7 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.86/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com. 

It has been a shaky few hours in central Oklahoma. Two, strong for Oklahoma, earthquakes have hit near Cresent in Logan County.

The first last evening was a 4.0 quake. It was followed by a 4.1 about 2:30 this morning. Smaller quakes have also been felt in the area. One was a 3.0 quake.

No reports of damage or injury.

Fire crews from through northern Tulsa County battled a mobile home fire near Sperry on Saturday evening. The home was located near 86th Street North and Peoria.

There are no reports of injuries but the home will be a complete loss. The cause of the fire in under investigation.