Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 57
TULSA, Okla. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Investigators found the drug PCP in the vehicle of an unarmed black man fatally shot by a white officer, according to Oklahoma police, but attorneys for the slain man's family say discussion of drugs distracts from questions about the use of deadly force. Tulsa Sgt. Dave Walker told the Tulsa World on Tuesday that investigators recovered one vial of PCP in Terence Crutcher's SUV, but he declined to say where in the vehicle it was found or whether officers determined if Crutcher used it Friday night. Wa...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Oklahoma and Arkansas are getting a share of $28.4 million in U.S. Department of Education grants to help improve college- and career-readiness for historically underserved students. The Advanced Placement grants announced on Tuesday were issued to 41 states as well as Washington, D.C., and will help defray the cost of taking advanced placement tests for students from low-income families. The Oklahoma State Department of Education will receive $315,375 in grant money, and the ArkansasDepartment of E...
WAKITA, Okla. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck extreme northern Oklahoma late Monday and was widely felt throughout parts of Kansas. No injuries or damage were reported. The earthquake was centered near the town of Wakita, which is right on the state's border with Kansas and is about 100 miles north of Oklahoma City. The USGS says the quake was felt in Wichita and other parts of Kansas. Scientists have linked Oklahoma's sharp increase in earthquakes to the underground injection o...
LAS VEGAS (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Officials from 21 states sued the U.S. Department of Labor Tuesday over a new rule that would make about 4 million higher-earning workers eligible for overtime pay, slamming the measure as inappropriate federal overreach by the Obama Administration. Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a Republican, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Eastern Texas, urging it to block implementation before the regulation takes effect on Dec. 1. Laxalt, a frequent critic of President Barack Obama's policies, said t...
CHICAGO (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — A familiar question that arose after other police shootings now looms over Oklahoma: Will the white officer seen on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man be charged with a crime? Officer Betty Shelby shot Terence Crutcher on Friday just moments after the 40-year-old walked back to his SUV, holding his hands high over his head. Shelby's lawyer said Crutcher ignored officers' commands, kept touching his pocket and was reaching through one of the vehicle's windows when she fired. A fellow officer drew a...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — A new study says Oklahoma ranks fourth in the nation in the rate of women killed by men. The study released Tuesday by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Violence Policy Center says women were killed by men at a rate of 1.94 per 100,000 in 2014, the most recent year information is available. The study says 38 women were killed by men in Oklahoma in 2014. It was the fourth year in a row that Oklahoma was among the top 10 states for women killed by men. The group says that 1,613 women nationwide w...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — The U.S. Commerce Department is awarding $1.9 million in grants in Oklahoma to provide business and technical support to manufacturing and service companies. The grants announced on Tuesday will also purchase critical equipment to boost workforce training opportunities in the medical sector. The Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology will receive $1 million for business and technical support to manufacturing and service companies to help diversify their products and expand sales g...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has discarded as of August the registrations of about 6,570 prospective voters under a rule that allows him to purge them after 90 days primarily for lack of proof of citizenship, the League of Women Voters said Tuesday. Those prospective voters whose names are missing likely registered at some place other than a motor vehicle office and so their right to vote is not protected by recent court orders compelling Kobach to keep them on the rolls. They would need t...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Kansas agriculture groups have formed a group to push for the lifting of a trade embargo with Cuba. The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/2cZHapH) reports that Engage Cuba's Kansas State Council includes representatives of the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Soybean Association, Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association and the Kansas Corn Growers Association. The state council is part of Engage Cuba, a coalition of private U.S. companies and organizations working to build support for c...
ST. LOUIS (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Two people are facing child endangerment charges after a 5-year-old St. Louis boy shot himself in the abdomen. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2d5I3Me) reports that 24-year-old Brittany Ciara Harris and her 25-year-old boyfriend, Demetrius Terron Dennis, were charged Friday. Harris is jailed on $10,000 bond. Dennis is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and is jailed on $40,000 bond. Police say the boy found a loaded handgun owned by Dennis beneath a bed at the couple's home o...
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Authorities have arrested one of two south-central Missouri inmates who bolted last weekend. The Pulaski County Sheriff's office says 32-year-old James Sherrell was arrested Monday night in a rural house about 5 miles west of the town of Crocker. Sherell and 27-year-old Dustin Richardson escaped from the county jail early Sunday. Sherrell was being held on suspicion of drug possession and interfering with an arrest. Richardson had been jailed on a child-molestation charge. Sheriff Ron Long said i...
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Authorities in Pope County say at least two bodies have been found in a junkyard just outside Russellville. Drew Latch with Russellville Police Department says at least one of the victims was found Tuesday crushed in a pile of cars. Television station KTHV reports (http://bit.ly/2d0lNES) that there was no immediate information on the condition of the other victim. The names of the victims were not immediately released. Other details were not available, and Latch says Pope County deputies are i...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — State officials say unemployment in Arkansas remained unchanged in August at 3.9 percent. The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services said Tuesday that unemployment in the state is one full percentage point lower than the national rate of 4.9 percent. Arkansas' nonfarm payroll employment rose 5,000 in August to about 1.2 million. Jobs in four major industry sectors increased, more than offsetting minor declines in six sectors. Compared to August 2015, nonfarm payroll jobs in Arkansas are up 1...
SAN YGNACIO, Texas (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — About two centuries ago, a Mexican boy named Jose Villarreal and a companion were captured and taken by raiding Comanches north across the Rio Grande. After the two escaped, they found their way out of the hostile wilderness by following the North Star. The San Antonio Express-News (http://bit.ly/2cP9jzj) reports decades later, in 1851, Villarreal, a blacksmith, built a simple iron sundial that was placed over an arched stone doorway of "El Fuerte," the oldest structure in this colonial river t...
MADISONVILLE, Texas (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Authorities say a Texas rancher mowing his pasture discovered the decomposing remains of a young girl along with medical apparatus commonly used with a feeding tube. The Madison County Sheriff's Office says the rancher discovered the remains Saturday on his property near Madisonville, about 85 miles northwest of Houston. The child has not been identified. Preliminary autopsy results Monday indicate the victim was female, aged 2 to 5 years, with black hair more than a foot long. Deputies are s...
AUSTIN, Texas (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller won't face criminal charges for allegedly using taxpayer funds to obtain a "Jesus shot" in Oklahoma. The Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the Republican for possible abuse of power. In a memo released Tuesday, prosecutors said they had determined "criminal intent would be difficult to prove." The Houston Chronicle reported in March that Miller used taxpayer money to travel to Oklahoma last year to apparently receive a "Jesus shot," an a...
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — A federal judge says Texas must change its voter outreach efforts after the U.S. Justice Department accused the state of reneging on a deal to soften its tough voter ID law. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos on Tuesday also ordered Texas to begin letting federal officials review drafts of voter outreach and education materials before they are published. Texas was forced to relax voter ID requirements before Election Day after a federal appeals court found the state's 2011 law d...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — American Indian tribal leaders from northern New Mexico — an area of the country devastated by heroin and opioid addiction — met with the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday over ways to combat opioid abuse amid high overdose deaths among Native Americans. And both sides say much more needs to be done. Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohris spoke with representatives and police chiefs from the eight northern New Mexico Native American pueblos as part of a push to combat heroin-related death...
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez stepped up pressure on lawmakers Tuesday to consider reinstating the death penalty by promising to add the issue to a legislative agenda for a pending special session that was aimed solely at fixing the state's budget shortfall. The second-term Republican governor and former district attorney said that she wants the death penalty as an option for convicted killers of police, children and corrections officers. New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009 before M...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — New Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent in August, up from 6.4 percent in July. A year ago, the state's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent. The state Department of Workforce Solutions reports that the state's economy added 1,800 jobs from August 2015. Bernalillo County is New Mexico's most populous county. Its August unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, the same as the previous month. The two counties with the highest unemployment rates in August were Luna County at 1...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Federal officials are partnering with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center on a new project aimed at boosting access to a life-saving drug used to combat opioid overdoses. Officials announced the Naxolone Project during a news conference Monday in Albuquerque. The announcement comes as federal prosecutors across the country sponsor events to increase awareness and discuss possible solutions to the growing epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse. The goal of the latest project is to e...
DENVER (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Diminished revenues from Colorado's depressed energy sector and court-ordered tax rebates to oil companies mean lawmakers will tackle spending cuts to avert a general fund shortfall next fiscal year, according to revenue forecasts released Tuesday by legislative and administration analysts. The price-driven downturn in Colorado's energy sector has leveled off, meaning lost jobs and stalled investment won't be more of a drag on an economy whose growth is being led by consumer spending, analysts told the J...
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Garfield County commissioners have rejected a request by citizens groups to have a state hearing on the recent approval of an oil and gas project within the Battlement Mesa residential development. The Daily Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/2cNbZz0) that commissioners turned down the request by Battlement Concerned Citizens and the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance because Ursa Resource's application will already undergo the county's review process, which includes multiple public hearings. The c...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — A young black bear led police on a two-hour chase through the streets of downtown Anchorage, Alaska — scurrying down sidewalks and across lanes of traffic and even ducking behind a Pizza Hut along the way. The Anchorage Police Department said they first received a call about the four-legged suspect around 6 p.m. Thursday. Police followed the bear until after 8 p.m., when the state Department of Fish and Game ended the animal's city tour. Video of the bear's exploits posted on Facebook by Anc...
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP, posted Sept. 20, 2016) — Two veterinarians have started a fundraising drive to fit the damaged canines of a Ferguson police dog with titanium crowns. Dr. Dan Wentz and his wife Dr. Julie Wentz started an online donation drive to cover the cost of the crowns for Anak, a black German shepherd, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2cmxc3I). The online drive is also expected to raise money to pay for the veterinary needs of the Ferguson Police Department's three other dogs. Wentz noticed 6-year-old Anak's b...
