Oklahoma News Report

Monday morning, I toured the brand new OU Children’s Physician Building on the campus of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. This new facility was designed with the needs of Oklahoma’s most seriously ill children in mind. More than 100 pediatric specialists spent the weekend moving out of their old, cramped offices that were scattered all across the campus into this new state-of-the-art facility.

Pediatric oncologist William Meyer, M.D. walked me through the chemotherapy center. Kids facing cancer experience a range of emotions as they battle a life threatening illness. Often they want to be near their families and others, sometimes they just need a little privacy. These movable screens offer them the choice.

The 14-story tower was constructed at a cost of $24,580,000. It is the tallest building constructed in Oklahoma City in 25 years. The view from the rooftop heliport is breathtaking.

Doctors will begin seeing patients in the new facilty Tuesday, Sept. 1. The medical office building is part of a $120 million dollar project that will include a conference/education center set to open next year. A $25 million dollar atrium will connect the physicians building with OU Childrens Hospital.

The full story airs on the ONR Monday, Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m.

We hear lots about how schools end up on the needs improvement list. This story is about how one school got off the list.

More of our neighbors are having a tough time putting food on the table. The food bank of Eastern Oklahoma tells us the number of people needing help from the emergency food pantries it helps stock is up 40% in the just the last year.

Tomorrow, the Governor and other state, federal and local leaders will declare September, “Hunger Action Month.” What does that mean? It’s an attempt to mobilize all sorts of different groups to take action against hunger. It means food drives, cooking up creative fundraisers, and thinking outside the traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday canned food collections.

Tonight, I’ll take you to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma to find out how many agencies depend on it to help keep their emergency food pantries stocked. And, I’ll take you to a pantry that hands out food every day to those in need.

Join us for the story tonight at 6:30.

Oklahoma U.S. Representative Frank Lucas took a tour of the Koch Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant in Enid, Oklahoma. He also held a press conference to explain his stance against the American Clean Energy and Security Act’s Cap and Trade provision.

He says that program would hurt Oklahoma’s agriculture industry and cause energy bills to skyrocket out of control.

The video below is his statement before taking questions from the media.

You can see the story tonight(08/28/2009) on the Oklahoma News Report at 6:30.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department’s Disaster Search Dog Team has passed its basic certification test and is now ready to go to work. This is the first team of its kind in the state, their firefighter handlers have been training with them since December 2008.

The dogs’ skills will be called into duty in cases of building collapse in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City Fire Department has been asking for these dogs for some time; during the 1995 Murrah Building Bombing, search and rescue dogs had to be brought in from out of state.

I had the chance to observe the dogs during a training session Friday morning.

This is Jagger, working on a ladder exercise:

These search and rescue dogs were all rescued themselves. Some of them were taken from shelters within hours of scheduled euthanasia. The high energy it takes to do this kind of work can also make these dogs difficult to keep as pets, and these sweet, beautiful dogs were all once considered “unadoptable.”

Their high energy, however, makes them perfectly suited to save lives. Here, Taz barks to let his handler know he has discovered a “victim” who was hiding in this barrel.

The dogs live with the OKC firefighters who serve as their handlers, and they become members of their families. The dogs have been working with their handlers five days a week for the last eight months to get ready to pass the basic certification test.

Here’s Huck:

The full story about the Canine Disaster Search Dog Team airs Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.