Ochelata man to face trial after deadly collision
By LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent on Sep 10, 2013, at 5:44 AM
Bartlesville
A $36.7 million school bond proposal received overwhelming support Tuesday from Bartlesville voters, who approved the district's plan to construct a new ninth-grade center, upgrade middle schools and improve security in all buildings.
The school board on Thursday named an interim superintendent for Bartlesville Public Schools while the superintendent is away on medical leave.
BARTLESVILLE - An Ochelata man will face trial on a first-degree manslaughter charge involving a September 2012 traffic fatality.
Special Judge John Gerkin set a Sept. 18 formal arraignment date for Toby Joshua Farris, 23, who was bound over for trial at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing detailing evidence in the Sept. 9 death of Robert Keith Bade, 68, who died as a result of a collision in Bartlesville.
Farris, who remains free on $75,000 bond, was charged April 24 with felony manslaughter involving the collision in which the utility truck driven by him hit a minivan driven by Bade head-on.
Farris had looked away from the roadway when he received a cellphone call, according to a witness who was a passenger in the truck, a police affidavit states.
Farris drove left of center and overcorrected the truck back to the right. The truck struck a guardrail near a bridge, which caused the truck to go left of center again and strike the minivan, the affidavit states. Bade was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bartlesville
A $36.7 million school bond proposal received overwhelming support Tuesday from Bartlesville voters, who approved the district's plan to construct a new ninth-grade center, upgrade middle schools and improve security in all buildings.
The school board on Thursday named an interim superintendent for Bartlesville Public Schools while the superintendent is away on medical leave.