Oklahoma News Report

A group of railroad enthusiasts is spending their retirement days reliving their childhood but on a much larger scale.
They’re working on restoring a string of vintage railroad cars that will eventually be on display at Heritage Park- Route 66 Station in Tulsa. In addition to the caboose they’re working on right now they already have a 1942 Frisco 4500 steam engine and a 1929 Murray Hill Business Lounge passenger car. The group is also trying to get a vintage oil tanker car to join the display.
As you’ll see in this story, these guys are truly passionate about the railroad.

A national environmental watchdog group accuses a Tulsa based e-recycler of pulling a switch on a fundraising group in the Pittspurgh area.
Basel Action Network, or BAN claims electronics to be recycled for fundraising were instead loaded onto ships bound for South Africa and Hong.
BAN released a report revealing several problems they found with EarthECycle.
A copy of the report can be found at this link: http://www.ban.org/Library/PittsburghScam.pdf

OETA’s Angela Rosecrans had the opportunity to interview EarthECycle’s owner, Jeff Nixon about the alledged actions. The picture you see below is the M.e.t’s Michael Patton, NOT Jeff Nixon.

Young firefighters from across Oklahoma and beyond will be paying $50 a head to gain priceless experience fighting house fires this weekend. The training is being hosted by the Collinsville Fire Department and is being done by veteran fire fighters. They believe its their duty to pass their skills on to the next generation of firefighters.

Over and over again, fire fighting instructors will set this eyesore of a house ablaze to teach the best ways to attack different typs of fires.

Tony Piontek came all the way from Wisconsin to be the lead instructor for the training. He heads up a live fire training school at the fire department in Green Bay. The Collinsville Fire Department will use money raised from this weekend’s exercise to send some of its members to WI to get more advanced training with Piontek.
Get more on this story tonight at 6:30 on The Oklahoma News Report.

A federal Judge in Muskogee this morning sentenced Steve Phipps and former State Representative Mike Mass on one count each of conspiracy.

Phipps was ordered to serve a year and a day in prison followed by two years probation. He was also fined $50,000. His attorney Dan Webber says Phipps should have gotten probation because his client has cooperated with federal prosecutors in several public corruption cases.

Mass was sentenced to two years in prison and two years probation. He and Phipps were also ordered to jointly pay $279,258 in restitution to the State. Get more details tonight on The Oklahoma News Report.

Eastern Red Cedar Trees are taking over the Oklahoma landscape.

Jay Pruett with Oklahoma’s Nature Conservancy says in the next few years if something is not done to control the spread of these trees.. more than a third of Oklahoma’s landscape will be covered by the Red Cedar.