Oklahoma News Report

OETA’s Oklahoma News Report and KOSU Radio will begin week-long coverage of the Republican National Convention Tuesday night, September 2 with KOSU’s Michael Cross reporting from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Watch OETA each night, September 1-4, for prime-time coverage (7:00-10:00 p.m.) of the GOP convention from PBS’ NewsHour.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma Ethics Commission has issued a
public reprimand of former House Speaker Lance Cargill for
“multiple violations” of ethics rules.
The Republican’s State House Committee and Oklahoma County
Republican Committee also drew a reprimand.
The case revolves around rerouting campaign funds donated to the
state party to the county party.
Cargill resigned as speaker in January after revelations about
late property tax filings, not filing state income tax returns and
the ethics probe.
He did not immediately return calls to his office and his home
seeking comment.
The Ethics Commission issued a statement saying it found
“deliberate intent to circumvent the law” by rerouting the
donations.
It said Republican House members testified they were surprised
to learn that campaign checks they wrote to the state GOP wound up
with the county GOP.
A dozen House Republicans wrote $44,000 in checks from their
surplus campaign funds for use by the state GOP in 2004 but the
money was diverted to the county party.

Cargill issued the following statement: I certainly worked to promote the election of Republicans, but I never intended to violate any rules of the Ethics Commission, and I acted in good faith in regard to the events at issue.Although I disagree with the reprimand, I respect the role of the Commission. It is appropriate that they have investigated so that this matter can now be concluded.

Said Cargill’s attorney, Robert G. McCampbell: At the time of these events, Todd Hiett was the leader of the House Republicans, and everyone agrees that he was the one who solicited the funds. If he should have provided more information about the intended use of the funds, I am mystified why the Commission would reprimand Lance Cargill.I am also disappointed by the Commission’s procedure in issuing a public reprimand based upon testimony we have not even seen and without giving us any opportunity to respond. If we had had the opportunity, we would object based upon the facts and the law.Nevertheless, we recognize the Commission’s role as the body constitutionally vested with authority in this regard. As the Commission has now concluded the matter, we respect that determination.

DEVELOPING STORY:

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - State emergency management officials are
preparing just in case evacuations are ordered along the Gulf Coast
because of Tropical Storm Gustav.
Oklahoma Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood says
officials are part of twice daily conference calls with officials
in Texas.
He says any evacuations would likely go first to points in
northern Louisiana, then to San Antonio, Austin and Dallas-Fort
Worth areas before evacuees would be sent to Oklahoma.
Ashwood says it’ll be another 48 hours before officials have a
good idea where Gustav will even make landfall.
Gustav has winds approaching hurricane force and forecasters say
it could make landfall Tuesday anywhere from Texas to the Florida
Panhandle.

With 39 federally-recognized Indian tribes, this story is of particular interest in Oklahoma.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A new federal study has found nearly 12
percent of the deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives are
alcohol related.
The report was released today by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
It says 11.7 percent of the deaths of American Indians and
Alaska Natives between 2001 and 2005 were alcohol related compared
to 3.3 percent for the U.S. as a whole.
The two leading causes of alcohol-related deaths among Indians
were traffic accidents and alcoholic liver disease.
The study recommends “culturally appropriate clinical
interventions” to reducing excessive drinking. It also calls for
better integration between tribal health care centers and tribal
courts which often deal with alcohol-related crimes.
The researchers obtained their statistics by analyzing death
certificates over the four-year period.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Some members of Oklahoma’s delegation at the
Democratic national convention disagree with a portion of the party
platform regarding energy companies.
The platform calls for Democrats to fight against oil companies
and decries the large amounts of money they contribute to political
campaigns and spend on lobbying.
But the Tulsa World reports from the convention in Denver that
some in Oklahoma’s delegation say the energy industry has been good
to the state.
U.S. Rep. Dan Boren says it’s difficult to be opposed to an
industry that is Oklahoma’s largest employer. He says the energy
industry is bringing people out of poverty in his district.
Boren says he does not support that part of the platform.
Neither does Stuart Price of Tulsa, who works in the energy
business. Price says the wording in the platform is extreme.
State Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who served on the
convention’s platform committee, defended the language. He says all
special interests should be examined by the party.