Representative Mike Reynolds called a press conference on Thursday accusing the State Auditor and Inspector of deliberately delaying a two year audit of the Broken Arrow School District.

The Oklahoma City Republican says he doesn’t believe the delay is legally or ethically motivated, but rather political.

“It’s taken over two years to release this type of audit, to release these types of serious allegations, and he couldn’t get the job done. And, yet he wants to remain as a State Auditor.”

Auditor Steve Burrage, a Democrat, wouldn’t go into detail, but says there are concerns the chief auditor’s independence was compromised.
But, he says his decision was not politically motivated.

“My foes are turning it into a political witch hunt. I don’t appreciate that. I think Representative Reynolds is extremely unprofessional.”

Burrage blames Reynolds for releasing an unauthorized draft of the audit to a conservative news agency which Reynolds denies.

The Auditor says he will release the audit as soon as possible.

Related posts:

1. Controversy over an Audit of Broken Arrow Schools
2. GOP Chairman Running for Auditor
3. Audit Finds Over Spending at Skiatook Schools

Gilliam is a member of the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Touring Artists Program.  He’s also set for induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in November.  KOSU’s Kelly Burley sat down recently with Gilliam for an entertaining morning of stories and music.

Related posts:

1. Charlie Christian International Music Festival celebrates 25 years

To that end, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce invited Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley to speak at its Breaking Through quarterly event on Wednesday at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is coming to the end of its first eight year program which began in 2002.

But, ODOT Director and Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley says the real boost came in 2005 when state leaders committed to the state’s highway system.

“Consequently starting in 2005, the legislature has added additional fund to our program to the point that by 2016 state funds will have tripled from what it was in 2005.”

Ridley says from 2005 to 2010 the biggest projects came from bridge work.

“530 bridges in a five year period that we have replaced or rehabilitated. I would venture to say that is more than maybe any other state, certainly more than this state has ever done in a five year period, maybe even more than we’ve done in a ten year period.”

For the next eight year plan running through 2018, ODOT plans to replace or rehabilitate 650 bridges across the state.

By 2018, nearly 1,300 bridges will have been built before World War Two, so Ridley admits there’s still a lot of work to be done.

He says there are still 345 narrow or low sufficiency bridges which are not on the eight year plan.

But, he told the members of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce luncheon it can be done because Oklahoma leaders have taken politics out of the decision on where construction projects are done and given it directly to the Department of Transportation.

He says this method of handling roads and bridges gets skeptical reactions from his counterparts in other states across the US.

“You can’t raise additional revenues for transportation without having politically motivated projects. You can’t do that. Well, Oklahoma has done that, and in my understanding will continue to do that.”

After analyzing the past eight-year plan, ODOT officials managed to complete 85% of the projects within the original time period scheduled.

Related posts:

1. Federal Money Gives Boost to ODOT
2. ODOT Pushes Work Zone Awareness

A Satanic organization known as the Church of the IV Masters is holding a satanic exorcism at the Civic Center in Oklahoma City on October 21st.

Lord High Master of the church James Hale says the reaction has been much more positive than originally expected when the story broke earlier this week.

“A few years back if you dared say you were a Satanist you might want to look for the closest cover, but the people have really come around and they’re understanding that freedom of religion goes for all religions.”

Hale says he has sent invitations to some religious leaders to attend the event which has already seen an increase in ticket sales.

He says the only similar event was one held on June 6th of 2006 by the Church of Satan, but there was no news until after the event took place.

Related posts:

1. New Group Against SQ 744
2. OKC Racing Could Still Come

Oklahoma City Grand Prix officials are working with lawyers to still bring a three day event over the Fourth of July weekend to the downtown area.

General Manager DeBray Ayala says the goal is to make this an annual event.

“We’ve done a lot of due diligence and talked to a lot of different races. Our goal is to pattern ours after the long beach race that’s been in existence, I believe, 30 some odd years.”

Ayala says the event which will feature not only the race but concerts, expo centers and theme areas for kids will bring $30 to $40 million to the city.

The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday voted down a proposal from the group to provide $7 million to get the event going.

Related posts:

1. No Grand Prix Racing for OKC
2. OKC Panhandling Ordinance Struck Down
3. OKC, ONG Franchise Agreement Goes Before Voters

The four to four tie in the City Council on Tuesday meant the ordinance to stop panhandlers asking for money in medians failed.

Councilwoman Meg Salyer pushed for the ordinance saying she believes it to be a serious safety issue.

“Both for the folks that are in the roadway and for our drivers who become distracted and take their eye off the ball. So, my issue here was one of public safety.”

Opponents had concerns that banning the practice of asking for money would impact legitimate groups like the firefighters’ Fill the Boot for Muscular Dystrophy campaign.

But, Salyer says if it’s dangerous for panhandlers to be on medians than the same rule should apply to everyone.

Related posts:

1. Restrictions on Panhandling in OKC
2. No Grand Prix Racing for OKC
3. OKC, ONG Franchise Agreement Goes Before Voters

On Tuesday, the city council voted down a proposal which would have had the city paying $7 million to bring an American Le Mans Series Race to Oklahoma City.

Mayor Mick Cornett voted for it along with Councilwoman Meg Salyer and says he received a lot of support from racing fans.

“We’ve done a lot and I think we’re wasting an opportunity here in not pursuing this, but hopefully there will be other opportunities down the line that we can see.”

Opponents argued against spending the $7 million when potholes needed repairs and city departments were facing 12% budget cuts.

The Oklahoma City Grand Prix was pushing for the race next July, and officials had promised to pay back the $7 million over ten years.

Related posts:

1. OKC Racing Could Still Come
2. OKC Panhandling Ordinance Struck Down

The State Department of Health shows 89 of Oklahoma’s 139 assisted living centers have back-up generators in case of a power outage.

Representative Joe Dorman says he wanted to have the interim study because many of the residents of these places are very frail.

“There is a danger in moving them especially during a disaster so we need to do everything we can to provide their setting as safe as possible and provide them with needs to stay in that facility.”

The Oklahoma Assisted Living Association raised concerns about the cost of the generators.

Executive Director Penny Ridenour says any purchases would not be bought by taxpayers.

“We’re 100% private paid. This would all be coming out of the centers pockets and obviously they would pass it on to the consumers who say that this is way too expensive to begin with.”

Representative Dorman says he is working with agencies to provide low-interest loans to the facilities.

He says Maryland has a similar law requiring generators at nursing homes.

Related posts:

1. Bill Requires Assisted Living Centers to Have Backup Power

The Lindsay Nicole Henry Scholarship law took effect Friday, so lawmakers on Tuesday held an interim study to check its progress.

Assistant State Superintendent Misty Kimbrough says over the past few months she has spoken to 96 parents whose children have a wide range of disabilities.

“Primarily those disabilities have been speech, language impairments, learning disabilities, developmental delays; those are our children ages three through nine, and other health impairments.”

Kimbrough says other problems include tourettes, diabetes, and ADHD, but very few children with autism spectrum disorder.

The bill’s author Representative Jason Nelson is calling for another meeting on September 14th to watch the progress of the program.

No related posts.

The decline in sales is significant, but realtors across the state say they’re not surprised. Jack Hodgson, president of the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors, said many people rushed to take advantage of the federal first-time homebuyers tax credit. To qualify, buyers had to be under contract in April and close by June 30.

“It really pulled them off the fence and got them into the market,” Hodgson said. “So we used up an awful lot of buyers at that time.”

When the tax credit ended, all housing markets – both on a local and national level – experienced a backlash of slow sales. July’s more than 30 percent drop is a reflection of low June closings, and now the state’s housing market sits in a summer slump. Dave Moeller is president of the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors.

“In a way, it was kind of like sugar,” he said. “Everyone did it and now we’re kind of getting off a sugar high.”

Even in a college town like Stillwater, Grace Provence of Fisher-Provence Realtors said inventory is growing as fewer people are now looking to buy.

“The number of parents who are buying homes for students certainly took a back seat this year,” she said. “Typically, we will have 10 to 15 sales in that category during the summer, and this year it was down maybe one or two.”

Also, most students have already settled in for the school year, but “For Rent” signs suggest there’s still an abundance of rental properties available. But there is some good news for current homeowners – Hodgson in Tulsa said home prices are strong and are even on the rise in certain areas.

“The area around Tulsa County and all of the abudding counties – our average price and our mean price haven’t moved so our value is holding,” Hodgson said.

In fact, he said the average price year-to-date of a home in Tulsa County is valued around $10,000 more than it was in July of 2009. That’s good news for realtors like Grace Provence in Stillwater who are hoping for a turnaround after the first of the year.

“Well in Stillwater, we have a cyclical market,” Provence said. “Typically, it’s a spring and summer market. It slows down particularly in August through October – it’s a slow market. But I would hope that by the beginning of next year, we would be on the increase.”

And the fact that the interest rates of fixed mortgages are so low may contribute to an increase in sales. Rates are currently right around 4 ½ percent, and realtor Dave Moeller in Oklahoma City, said there’s still a lot of benefits to purchasing a home rather than renting.

“Paying on a home is still kind of like savings,” Moeller said. “You’re still going to get some good positive equity if you’re going to be in the home for a year. You compare that to just CDs right now, your home is probably going to get you more money than a CD.”

All three realtors said a couple more months of slow sales are expected before more people feel confident enough to begin a home search. The number of people wanting to buy may be low right now, but Oklahoma realtors said when they do, they will have plenty of options.

Related posts:

1. Oklahoma’s housing market still holds steady