Crawford County will start on span
FORT SMITH -- A long-term bridge project in Crawford County is scheduled to kick off in early January.
The Southwest Times Record reported that county road crews will begin work on the $1.05 million Pevehouse Bridge project Monday.
Emergency Management Director Dennis Gilstrap said construction of the bridge will cause road closures for some traffic in the area.
The county and the city of Van Buren will work together on the bridge. They received a disaster-relief grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the project.
Gilstrap said the federal share of the grant is $701,250, with the local share totaling more than $300,000. The city has pledged about $100,000, and the county will contribute about $200,000.
Gilstrap said the project is scheduled to be complete by early September.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Girl's father said to go at her killer
MENA -- The father of a 12-year-old girl who was killed in 1999 was arrested after reportedly trying to attack the girl's convicted killer during a court hearing.
The Times Record reported that Greg Brewer, 46, was charged with three misdemeanor counts after trying to attack Karl Douglas Roberts during a competency hearing Monday in Polk County Circuit Court.
Roberts was convicted of capital murder in 2000 and sentenced to death for the strangulation of Andria Nichole Brewer, 12. The girl's body was found in woods near Mena.
The hearing is to determine whether Roberts was competent to waive his right to appeal his conviction and continued Tuesday.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tulsa police look for killer gunman
TULSA -- Police in Tulsa are searching for a gunman who shot and killed a man in the parking lot of an east Tulsa apartment complex.
Police said Courtney Darnell Parks, 26, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest at Plaza Hills East Apartments just after 9 p.m. Monday.
Police said the gunman then left in Parks' car -- which was found later about 1 mile from the scene of the shooting.
Police said no suspect has been identified and the motive for the shooting is not yet known.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ex-Tulsa officer to do bribery time
TULSA -- A former Tulsa police officer has been sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $2,300 restitution after pleading guilty to bribery, computer crimes and drug charges.
The Tulsa World reported that Tyrone Jenkins was taken to the Tulsa jail on Monday pending his transfer to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Jenkins was arrested in March and charged in April after prosecutors alleged he took about $3,100 in bribes during undercover sting operations by Tulsa police. He resigned from the Tulsa Police Department in August and pleaded guilty in October to two counts of bribery, two counts of using confidential police databases and one count of attempting to distribute cocaine.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oklahoma files with high court
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma and five other states have filed legal papers with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of their challenge against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia are challenging billions of dollars in Internal Revenue Service subsidies being handed out as part of the implementation of the law. The case is scheduled for argument in March.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt alleges the IRS ignored the language of the act and essentially rewrote the law to hand out subsidies in all 50 states. He said that's not what the language of the health care law says and is not what Congress intended.
Oklahoma was the first to challenge the subsidies in 2012 and in September prevailed in federal district court in its lawsuit.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wind power on rise in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A federal agency said Oklahoma will likely see an increase in wind-generated electricity used to power homes.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said developers are planning to increase wind power capacity with projects primarily in Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas.
The state is expected to see an increase in total wind generating capacity by spring 2015, The Journal Record reported. Oklahoma has 3,100 megawatts of wind power capacity, and that number is expected to grow by 2,100 megawatts.
Michael Teague, the Oklahoma secretary of energy and environment, said the state has the fifth-lowest electricity cost in the United States, behind Kentucky and Wyoming, which rely on coal, and Washington and Idaho, which use hydropower.
Electricity from wind farms comprises 15 percent of all power in Oklahoma, and he said they help keep the state's energy portfolio balanced.
"For us, it is a business decision," Teague said. "We want wind because it is good for our utilities and electricity rates."
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oklahoma tally: 44,129 sign-ups
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A new government report said 44,129 Oklahomans have signed up for the first time or re-enrolled in health plans during the first month of the latest sign-up period under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The 50-state report released Tuesday is the first in the latest sign-up season under the federal health care law. It shows that more than 4 million people selected plans for the first time or re-enrolled.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services says more than 3.4 million people -- including those who signed up in Oklahoma -- enrolled using the government's HealthCare.gov website as of Dec. 15. More than 600,000 people selected plans in the state-run marketplaces.
Open enrollment runs through Feb. 15 for coverage starting March 1. Current customers can make plan changes through Feb. 15.
-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NW News on 12/31/2014