Oklahoma News Report

Engineers with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation now say another rail line will have to be moved for the most expensive highway project in state history to go forward.
In a briefing to the Oklahoma City, City Council, ODOT Project Engineer John Bowman explained that Pennsylvania Avenue, a major north south street, will remain closed until a re-alignment issue is resolved with the Union Pacific railroad.
ODOT Project Engineer John Bowman told members of the City Council that a timetable for opening Pennsylvania Avenue remains up in the air.
“That varies greatly depending upon a realignment of the Union Pacific. We’re currently working with them to reconfigure their line out in that vicinity”, said Bowman.
Bowman went on to explain that plans call for this Union Pacific rail line to be moved to the south of its current location.
What he did not make clear is that may mean another rail line will have to be added to those already being built by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad on the south side of the Oklahoma River.
If that happens it would add to the number of lines that motorists will have to cross at-grade, which is the most dangerous type of rail line crossing.
ODOT did not bring up to the City Council, the fact their plans to rip out the BNSF lines that run behind Union Station still remain stalled after three years, before the Federal Surface Transportation Board in Washington D.C.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The cost of jet fuel is being blamed for
several cuts in airline service at Will Rogers World Airport in
Oklahoma City.
Various airlines are eliminating direct flights from Will Rogers
to five cities and are reducing the number of flights to other
cities.
Among the cuts are American Airlines eliminating one daily
flight to Chicago and Continental Airlines eliminating all flights
to Cleveland.
ExpressJet Airlines is cutting all service to Albuquerque, and
the California cities of Ontario, Sacramento and San Diego.
United Airlines is eliminating one flight to Los Angeles and one
flight to Chicago and US Airways is cutting all service to Las
Vegas and Phoenix.
Airport director Mark Kranenburg says he hopes other carriers
will see the moves as a chance to move into Oklahoma City.
He says Delta Airlines is already planning to add flights to
Atlanta and Cincinnati.

Voting is underway in the 2008 Oklahoma Primary Election. Be sure to watch OETA this evening, beginning at 7:00 for continuous coverage, including results, field reports and expert analysis. Oklahoma Votes 2008 coverage will be available through live streaming on the OETA website and can be heard on KGOU-FM and KCCU-FM Radio. We have a continuous roll of results overnight, and will re-broadcast the Oklahoma Votes broadcast on OETA-OKLA, beginning at 12:00 midnight.

Be sure to vote and catch us tonight!

Until next time,
Dick Pryor

For the present, Oklahoma U.S. Senator Tom Coburn continues to hold 80 bills off the floor of the Senate.
An effort to push nearly 40 of them to the floor failed on Monday.
With the new knickname,"dr. no", coburn has effectively put Senate leadership between a rock and a hard place.
His use of Senate rules to hold bills off the floor threatened work on the new energy bill,.
That’s a proposal both republicans and democrats want finished before the november elections.
“I want to help people who are paralized. I’m a supporter of the Emmett Till bill. I just think we oughta pay for it", said the Senator.
The attempt by majority leader Harry Reid to force the bills to the floor fell 8 votes short of the necessary 60 votes to end debate.

I can only imagine what it’s like to be away from your family and friends toiling away on the opposite side of the globe. One of the privileges of being a journalist is being there for the reunion of military members returning home to their families.

About 40 Air Force Reservists returned to Oklahoma on Monday after serving six months in Kirkuk, Iraq. The 507th Air Refueling Wing’s security forces were defending the airbase there. No one from the group was killed or injured in combat.

I’ve seen many similar reunions in my role as a reporter. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, children and friends waiting for just a glimpse of their loved one, with flags, welcoming signs and flowers. They try to pass the time by talking about memories or about what they are going to do after their service member arrives home. But the anticipation, that’s the killer.

I know this first hand. My cousin, who is like a brother to me, is currently serving in Iraq. His wife, also a service member, gave birth to his first son while he was in theater. His son was more than a month old before my cousin got to hold him for the first time. His break from the war was short. He had to return after spending a little more than two weeks with his growing family.

I stood at the same gate at Will Rogers World Airport as those families of the 507th members. I felt the same emotions. I couldn’t help but be touched again.

I feel it was privilege to be there as a witness. Watching as a father comes back home to his son, as a mother is greeted by her husband and child, as a wife rushes to kiss her returning husband and whispers a welcome into his ear. All with smiles. All with tears welling up in their eyes.

This is the way I can thank them for their service to our country. If it wasn’t for our military doing the job they do, I couldn’t do the job that I do.

Thank you.

More to come…

Jason Doyle