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Tag: tulsa

  • Married Police Officers Murder Daughter’s Boyfriend

    Two Tulsa, Oklahoma police officers who are married to one another have been charged in the shooting death of the 19-year-old boyfriend of their daughter.

    Jeremy Lake was found shot to death in the street near downtown Tulsa Tuesday evening, according to Tulsa Police Department spokeswoman Jillian Roberson. Lake had been walking with the officers’ daughter Lisa, 18, when Shannon Kepler confronted him. After an argument, Kepler shot Lake, and began shooting at his daughter as she fled.

    Lisa Kepler said at a news conference Wednesday that she had been living with Lake, after her parents kicked her out of their house a week before. “I don’t know what could have led them to do this,” she said, adding, “They didn’t even know Jeremy.”

    Officer Shannon Kepler, 54, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge, and Gina Kepler, 48, was arrested on a complaint of accessory to murder after the fact. Both are presently in the Tulsa County jail, and there is no word if they secured attorneys. Both are on paid administrative leave.

    Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said in a statement that “the circumstances around this incident drives home the fact that domestic violence is a societal problem and transcends all economic groups.”

    “I as well as the whole department am saddened for both families involved in this tragic event,” Jordan added.

    Lisa Kepler said during an interview after the shooting, “I turned my dad in. I’m not going to deny it. … I don’t care. He’s going to rot, and I hope it happens.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Dolly Parton Speaks Out About Goddaughter Miley Cyrus

    Country music legend Dolly Parton recently answered questions about her 21-year-old goddaughter Miley Cyrus.

    In an interview with US promoting her album Blue Smoke, which releases today, Parton addressed her goddaughter’s headline-grabbing, often controversial behavior. She admitted that Cyrus’ transformation from clean-scrubbed Hannah Montana star to the twerking sexpot she is today was shocking, but in a good way.

    “I had to laugh, I thought ‘Wow,’ but I realized she had to do it, she had to go to that extreme, so bless her heart. I just hope that she has a long career and I hope that she gets a chance to do everything she wants to do,” Parton said.

    Parton, who made several guest appearances on the Disney Channel hit series Hannah Montana, said Cyrus was “spectacular” on the show.

    ” … but she just needed and wanted so bad to break out of that and wanted to become Miley Cyrus and she tried every way in the world to do it and nobody would let her go. So, she just had to resort to extreme measures but she pulled it off.”

    Parton made it clear that she thinks Cyrus is a talented musician:

    “She’s a very smart and talented girl and I really hope she does as great as I think she can and will because she’s a lot more gifted than a lot of people realize right now. So I hope her choices are good, I hope she takes what she’s done now and really turns it into everything that she wants it to be.”

    Those are high words of praise coming from a lifelong performer whose career is still going strong at age 68.

    Parton kicks off the US leg of her worldwide Blue Smoke Tour on May 22 in Tulsa, OK. After several stops in the US she heads across the ocean to perform the European portion of the tour, starting June 8 in Liverpool, England.

    Parton’s Dollywood Company owns and operates a highly successful theme park in Pigeon Forge, TN. Her Dixie Stampede, a unique twist on the dinner theatre concept, has locations in Pigeon Forge, Branson, MO, and Myrtle Beach, SC.

    “I’ve just been dragged screaming and kicking into the 21st century,” Parton said during her May 13 Today Show appearance.

    Indeed she shares her goddaughter’s love of Twitter: “It’s just a wonderful way to get stuff out to people. They feel like they’re connected right to you and they have a chance to kind of say whatever they want to say.”

    “It’s wonderful that I’m still here. I say I’m as old as yesterday but hopefully as new as tomorrow.”

    Image via Dolly Parton, Twitter

  • Danny Manning And Tulsa Heading To NCAA Tourney

    Danny Manning is heading back to the NCAA Tournament, this time as head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, who hired Manning as a head coach in March 2012. After a first year riddled by injuries to key players, the Golden Hurricane has bounced back in the 2013-2014 season, winning 21 games and maintaining a 13-3 win-loss record in Conference USA.

    The Tulsa Golden Hurricane capped off a fine regular season by defeating the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 69-60 in the title game of the Conference USA tournament, propelling the Golden Hurricane into the NCAA tournament with plenty of momentum. All the more impressive for a team that had its best two players from last year transfer and that relies heavily on the play of five sophomores to keep itself running.

    One of the key Tulsa players is James Woodard, who scored 27 points in the final game of the Conference USA tournament to help the Golden Hurricane reach the NCAA tournament.

    “It’s an indescribable feeling,” Woodard said to the Associated Press. “Growing up as a kid, you can’t wait for March Madness. To be a part of that, this time around, and for us being so young as a team, it’s definitely a dream come true.”

    A young team maybe, but with Danny Manning at the helm they have a wealth of NCAA tournament experience, at least on the coaching staff. It was 1988 when Manning lead Kansas University to the National Title, establishing himself as a household name in NCAA hoops and becoming the “Most Outstanding Player” in the 1988 tournament. He’d leave KU as its all-time leading rebounder and scorer.

    Later, he’d also gain experience recruiting and developing players as well as being an assistant coach under the Bill Self coaching staff, where he recruited two McDonald’s High School All-Americans. He’d spend a total of nine years at KU under Bill Self before Tulsa hired him in March 2012 to coach the Golden Hurricane.

    For stats and box score, go to Tulsa at Louisiana Tech
    Image via Tulsa Official Athletic Site

  • Colcord Red Worms: Town Residents Waiting for Larvae to Get Flushed Out of Their Drinking Water

    A small town near Tulsa, Oklahoma has been brought to its knees by tiny red worms. Colcord residents can’t drink their tap water and the public school system cancelled classes for at least two days.

    The origin of these worms is a mystery to city officials and tests are being made by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to hopefully determine an origin and put a prevention plan in place.

    These inch long worms are a sub-species of earthworm and can’t be killed by bleach. The town will need to just wait until the worms are flushed out of the water towers and water lines.

    The water will be turned back on after the water tower is scrubbed and the red worms are completely gone.

    In the meantime, Colcord residents have been advised to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and showering.

    According to Cody Gibby, the Water Commissioner, the DEQ determined that these worms are blood worms, the larval stage of the non-biting midge fly also known as a chironomid.

    Colcord Red Worms

    [Image: Magnified Chironomidae larva – Image Source: Wikimedia]

    The adult fly form of these red larvae is very common during the summer months, especially near aquatic environments. Typically though, these flies have not been common in Oklahoma.

    Although the thought of larvae in the drinking water may make some residents’ skin crawl, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assured the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality that these red worms do not cause any known health effects.

    For now, Colcord residents need to remain calm, grab some bottled water and wait until the water supply is worm free.

    [Main Image Source: KOCOTV]

    [Video Source: KOCO TV]

     

  • EagleMed Crash Kills 1, Prompts Questions

    EagleMed Crash Kills 1, Prompts Questions

    A medical helicopter crash killed a patient and injured a medical worker on Tuesday near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    According to Choctaw Nation Health Services, an investigation into the crash and the safety record of EagleMed, the company that owned the helicopter, is now underway. EagleMed is a medical transport company that operates around 20 different locations throughout the midwestern U.S.

    The helicopter crashed on Tuesday night, less than 100 feet away from Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center (CNHCC) near Talihina, Oklahoma, where it had taken off from on the way to Tulsa. Though hospital emergency workers were nearby to treat the passengers, 49-year-old Michael Wilson, the patient on the flight, died. One member of the flight crew was critically injured, and was taken to a trauma center in Tulsa. The two other members of the crew were not seriously injured.

    “Our staff responded extremely well to this unfortunate tragedy”, said Teresa Jackson, CNHCC CEO. “We engaged our disaster plan within moments of the accident, and the response from our staff as well as the local and state emergency personnel in the area was outstanding.”

    The cause of the crash has yet to be determined, though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Choctaw Nation law enforcement officials, and an Eagle Med safety team are all currently investigating the incident.

    EagleMed has expressed its thanks to well-wishers during what it calls a “difficult time.”

    (image)

    EagleMed LLC1 day ago

    Thank you for the thoughts, prayers and concern for our crew at EagleMed.McAlester. Your support and love brings us comfort in this difficult time. Those planning to attend the 10th Anniversary event scheduled at EagleMed6.Tahlequah today, the event has been post-poned until further notice. Powered by socialditto(image)  90 likes ·  9 comments

    According to Tulsa’s KXII news station, this is the third EagleMed helicopter to have crashed in just the state of Oklahoma since 2010.

  • Tulsa’s Football Field Turf Cool Play Installation In Timelapse

    There are two college football stadiums so far taking advantage of FieldTurf Cool Play, “the world’s first high performance field cooling solution”. Tulsa is one of them (the other one is Maryland).

    Check out this timelapse video of the installation:

    Cool Play is supposed to be 35 degrees cooler than most turf. The technology behind Cool Play explained:

    According to the Tulsa Hurricane, Tulsa is also getting an 80-foot LED electronic sign on the south end zone field level wall.

    [via reddit]

  • Ken Trickey Dies: ORU Coach Was 79

    Ken Trickey, who coached for Oral Roberts University in two stints during the ’70s and ’80s, has died. He was 79 years old.

    Trickey, who also coached at Oklahoma City University and Iowa State during his career, led ORU’s basketball team to round eight in the 1974 NCAA tournament just ten years after the school was founded and became a living legend while placing the team squarely in the spotlight.

    “It’s amazing what he accomplished in such a short time to go from … 10 years from the time the university was founded (in 1963) to playing for the Final Four and playing at your home arena,” current coach Scott Sutton said. “Without him, there wouldn’t be a Mabee Center probably. I always tell people – and people have said this – that (All-American player) Richard Fuqua built the arena. But Ken Trickey recruited Richard. Without Ken, ORU athletics certainly would have taken a lot longer to get on the map.”

    Trickey held an impressive 214-116 record over the span of his career at ORU, and some say he revolutionized the game.

    “I’m not sure Ken Trickey was ever given the credit for the impact he had on basketball in the state of Oklahoma,” former ORU and Tulsa coach Ken Hayes said. “Mr. (Henry) Iba was, is and always will be the godfather of basketball in the state of Oklahoma. He put together two national championships back-to-back and, besides being a great coach, he was a great human being and everybody that ever met him will always hold him in awe. But when Ken Trickey came in… and said we’ve got to put up 100 shots a game, he introduced an exciting brand of basketball.”

    As a man who wasn’t afraid to be himself–despite the wishes of others–and gave the media full access to the team, he was described as a “breath of fresh air”.