As Larry Brake watched television reports of a tornado that struck Shawnee on Sunday, he turned to his wife and said, "We ought to look into getting a safe room."

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Tickets for Shelton tornado relief concert sold out

By RITA SHERROW World Scene Writer

Tickets for Blake Shelton’s “Healing in the Heartland: Relief Benefit Concert” Wednesday in Oklahoma City are set to go on sale at 10 a.m. today, Saturday. The tickets are $25 each with a limit of eight per person.

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Co-workers taking care of tornado victims

By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer

When the worst happens, examples of the best in people are visible at every turn here.

Michael Overall: People coming together is heart of our home
Aftermath Notebook: B'nai Emunah preschool raises money for victims

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Briarwood elementary principal recounts tornado moments

By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer

The principal of a tornado-demolished elementary school where everyone made it out alive gave her first public account of her entire experience during a Friday afternoon press conference.

Massive job: Hauling away tornado debris soon to begin
'Healing the Heartland' concert tickets on sale

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Legislature adjourns, touts tax cuts, workers comp reform

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau

Lawmakers left the Capitol a week before their deadline Friday, claiming victories in areas ranging from a tax cut to a plan to fix the crumbling state Capitol.

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Officials urge caution, care on lakes as boating season opens

By CASEY SMITH & SHEILA STOGSDILL World Correspondent

Bodies of water in Oklahoma were the site of 1,368 recreational boating accidents from 1995 and 2011, according to Coast Guard data. The accidents, which occurred primarily from May through September, injured 1,031 people and killed 206 others.

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Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz to ask judge to order DOC to get state inmates out of crowded jail

By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer

Sheriff Stanley Glanz said Friday that he plans to ask a judge to order the Department of Corrections to pick up the 260 DOC-ready inmates who are at the Tulsa Jail.

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Owasso city manager placed on leave

By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer

The City Council voted unanimously Friday to place veteran City Manager Rodney Ray on paid administrative leave and start an independent probe into his office's internal affairs.

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TPS superintendent recommends creating academy for McLain 7th-graders

By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard has recommended that McLain seventh-graders be moved to the old Alcott Elementary School building next year to free up space at McLain Junior High and High School.

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Hall, Oates to donate guitar for tornado relief effort

By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer

Daryl Hall and John Oates proved they are far from being "Out of Touch" with the people of Oklahoma.

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Michael Overall
Staff Writer

People coming together is heart of our home

With a stormy forecast, Sarah Patteson kept the TV on and saw the first report of a "monster tornado" in Newcastle, 20 minutes southwest of Plaza Towers Elementary.

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Massive job: Hauling away tornado debris soon to begin

By WILLIAM CRUM NewsOK.com

Cities pummeled by this week's tornado are expected to have cleanup plans set by the end of the holiday weekend, a federal emergency response official said Friday.

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Survivors' stories

By Staff Reports

Karen Hollingsworth and her husband moved 30 years ago into the show home of their Moore neighborhood, which has been reduced to splinters and trash. On Friday, the family worked through the day for the last time to gather what they can.

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Fallin signs bill to aid tornado recovery

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau

Senate Bill 249 transfers money from the state's "rainy day" fund to its emergency fund. The funds will assist communities paying for disaster recovery and relief efforts and pay to repair infrastructure, such as damaged roads and bridges. It will also be used to match federal disaster dollars.

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House votes to freeze Insure Oklahoma funds but acts too late

By WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer

The state House of Representatives passed a final-day concurrent resolution to "quarantine" the funding for the endangered Insure Oklahoma program, but it did so after the state Senate had adjourned for the year, making the action essentially meaningless.

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Aftermath Notebook: B'nai Emunah preschool raises money for victims

By STAFF REPORTS AND Associated Press

When the EF5 tornado struck Moore, students at B'Nai Emunah Preschool had plenty of questions. They wanted to understand what had happened and how they could help.

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How to help those affected by the Moore tornado

By Staff Reports

Gov. Mary Fallin and the United Way of Central Oklahoma have established the OK Strong Disaster Relief Fund to assist with the long-term medical, emotional and education needs of victims of the tornadoes in Moore and Shawnee.

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House ends legislative session with a whisper, not a roar

By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer

The state House of Representatives wound down the 2013 legislative session Friday night, not so much adjourning as wandering away.

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Oklahoma Senate passes tax-relief bills for tornado victims before adjourning a week early

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau

The state Senate adjourned Friday afternoon, about a week earlier than the mandatory deadline of 5 p.m. May 31 and well before the House stopped considering bills.

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Filmmakers interview Tulsans for Global People Project

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

Two London documentary filmmakers were in Tulsa this week interviewing people for the Global People Project.

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Campus minister 'an institution' at TU after nearly 40 years there

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

Charlie Spears was in his 20s when he became the director of the Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist campus ministry at the University of Tulsa.

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Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett sends out absentee-ballot applications

By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer

Mayor Dewey Bartlett and former Mayor Kathy Taylor may not agree on much, but they do both value the absentee voter.

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Preliminary hearing postponed for brothers charged with killing four women in Tulsa

By BILL BRAUN & JARREL WADE World Staff Writer

A preliminary hearing for two brothers who are charged with murdering four women was postponed Friday until mid-July, with uncertainty regarding what judge will hear the case.

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Local, State briefs

By Staff Reports and The Oklahoman

A couple who are accused of neglecting a 4-year-old boy who has experienced several traumatic injuries since his birth were arrested on child-neglect charges Friday.

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Tulsa man charged with murder in machete attack on woman

By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer

A Tulsa man who is accused of stabbing a woman with a machete and then striking her repeatedly on the head with a cinderblock was charged Friday with first-degree murder.

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BA woman charged with obtaining unneeded medical care for daughter

By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer

A Broken Arrow woman is accused of maliciously reporting false symptoms and information about her daughter to doctors and other medical providers for more than six years.

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Tulsa dental-patient testing finds no new cases of hepatitis, HIV

By Associated Press

Additional test results this week revealed no new cases of hepatitis or the virus that causes AIDS among patients of a Tulsa oral surgeon accused of running dirty clinics.

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Fair board to decide on Expo Center naming-rights agreement with River Spirit Casino

By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer

The fair board on Tuesday will consider a branding agreement with River Spirit Casino that would change the name of the Expo Center to River Spirit Expo.

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Tulsa mayor says ethics complaint filer downplayed support for rival Bill Christiansen

By ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer

Mayor Dewey Bartlett's campaign is challenging the neutrality of a Tulsan who accused the mayor this week of an ethics code violation.

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'Furlough Friday' means unpaid day off for many government workers

By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press

No one answered the tax-help hotline at the IRS on Friday. And you could forget about getting advice on avoiding foreclosures at the 80 Housing and Urban Development field offices nationwide.

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WWII Medal of Honor recipient dies

By Wire Reports

Vernon McGarity, a former World War II Army squad leader and Medal of Honor recipient, died of cancer Tuesday in Memphis. He was 91.

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Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees collapse behind him

By Associated Press

The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him.

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Nation Briefs

By Wire Reports

With a growing sexual assault epidemic staining the military, President Barack Obama urged U.S. Naval Academy graduates Friday to remember that their honor depends on what they do when nobody is looking and said the crime has "no place in the greatest military on earth."

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Religion Briefs

By Staff Reports

Oklahoma United Methodists will hold their annual conference Monday through Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

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Religion Calendar

By Staff Reports

Dangerfield Family Day, with guest speaker the Rev. Carlos Jones II of The Way Interdenominational Church in Houston. 11 a.m. Sunday, Greater St. John AME Church, 1845 N. Peoria Ave.

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Syrian regime OKs peace talks amid skepticism

By ZEINA KARAM Associated Press

Syria's government has agreed to attend a U.S.-Russian-brokered peace conference, according to Moscow. While this development might seem at first glance to be a step toward ending the civil war, strong skepticism persists on both sides.

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Daily U.S. casualties

By Associated Press

Afghanistan: As of Friday, at least 2,091 members of the U.S. military had died as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

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News Briefs

By Wire Reports

Mexico's top security official said Friday that far fewer people disappeared during Mexico's drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases.

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Way back when: Today in history

By GENE CURTIS

Jared Lee Loughner, who wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., killed six people and shot 12 others in a shooting spree Jan. 8 in Tucson, Ariz., was found mentally incompetent to stand trial by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns.

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Will Rogers Says

By Staff Reports

I suggested a plan one time to shorten the Senate debate. Every time a Senator tells all he knows, make him sit down. That will shorten it. Some of them wouldn't be able to answer roll call." - April 27, 1930

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