QuikTrip: New pact on tobacco needed
OKLAHOMA CITY - A Tulsa-based convenience store chain is welcoming negotiations on tobacco compacts between the state and Oklahoma tribes.
Gov. Mary Fallin earlier this year rejected a request that the current compacts be extended and instead opened negotiations. Fallin’s office said agreements have been reached with seven tribes and negotiations are continuing with 20 others.
QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh calls the previous compact a “debacle” that drove customers away from nontribal retailers.
The new compacts call for the tribes to pay the full $1.03 per pack tax on cigarettes with the state reimbursing the tribes up to 50 percent. The previous compact provided for taxes ranging from 6 cents per pack to the full $1.03.
The lower taxes were for tribes near the state’s border with states that have lower tobacco taxes.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSCopter deaths spur medevac concerns
OKLAHOMA CITY - A state senator has called for a study over the safety of medical helicopters after several fatal crashes involving the aircraft in Oklahoma.
Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre, said medical helicopters are crucial in rural areas far from large medical centers, but that safety issues must be studied by the state.
“It saves lives,” Ivester said. “There is no doubt about it. The question would be is it overused and is it as safe as it should be. It’s definitely something I am going to look into.”
Ivester told The Oklahoman that he’s considering a recommendation from the University of Oklahoma’s emergency medicine department, which said accreditation should be mandatory for medical helicopter companies. Now,accreditation is voluntary.
The issue comes up after a series of fatal crashes involved Kansas-based Eagle Med. The company had just received its threeyear accreditation shortly before a Feb. 22 helicopter crash outside an Oklahoma City nursing home. The crash killed pilot Mark Montgomery and flight nurse Chris Denning.
Paramedic Billy Wynne was critically injured.
The newspaper reported that Eagle Med’s accreditation is currently on hold after another fatal crash in June killed a patient and injured three others in Talihina. Another Eagle Med helicopter crashed into a field near Kingfisher in July2010, killing three people.
The company said in June that it was “devastated” by the Talihina crash and that it’s participating in a voluntary safety program with the Federal Aviation Administration.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSRenaming on table for Klan-tied street
TULSA - The City Council’s public hearing on whether to rename a popular downtown Tulsa street because of its ties to the Ku Klux Klan is scheduled for Thursday evening at City Hall.
Some groups have beenlobbying the city to rename Brady Street - which is named after prominent city father and businessman Wyatt Tate Brady - because of his membership in the Klan.
Some also say Brady played a role in the notorious 1921 race riot in Tulsa, in which 300 blacks were killed. Others, including many business owners in the glitzy Brady Arts District, oppose any change. They say it’s better to be reminded of Tulsa’s questionable past in order to create a better world.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
3rd angler’s body
pulled from river
TULSA - Authorities said the body of a third fisherman has been recovered after they all accidentally fell into the Arkansas River early Thursday.
Tulsa Fire Department Capt. Stan May said the third man was pulled out of the river late Thursday afternoon after an all-day recovery effort in and along the river.
Authorities said one of the men went into rushing water near a low-water dam in midtown to go “noodling” - or attempt to catch a fish with his hands.
May said the first man started to struggle in the water, so two others went in to help him.
Tulsa authorities said all three fishermen eventually went underwater.
Crews had dispatched several rescue boats in search of the missing men and temporarily shut down the dam to aid their search.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
University leader has salary bumped
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The governing board at Missouri State University is pleased with the performance of the school’s new president and has boosted his salary.
The Springfield-based school said Friday that President Clif Smart had exceeded expectations.
The governing board has approved increasing his salary by $25,000 to $300,000.
Smart donated the entire amount to the Missouri State Foundation, designated to the Dr. Alice Fleetwood Bartee Endowed Scholarship.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 08/03/2013