Free Republic

Residents of Tulsa's predominantly black north side said Saturday they are afraid a shooter is still roaming their neighborhoods looking for victims after five people were shot -- and three killed -- a day earlier. "We're all nervous," said Renaldo Works, 52, who was getting his hair cut at the crowded Charlie's Angels Forever Hair Style Shop on Saturday morning. "I've got a 15-year-old, and I'm not going to let him out late. People are scared. We need facts. "You don't want to be a prisoner in your own home," he said. Police are still waiting for the results of...

(CBS/AP) TULSA, Okla. - A spree of early-morning shootings within a one-mile span of north Tulsa in which three people were killed and two critically wounded has lead police to suspect the same attacker or attackers are behind them. All five of the victims were shot within an hour, and within a 1-mile radius of each other, police sources tell CBS News, and all five victims were out walking when they were shot. Police are speculating that the shootings were racially motivated because all of the victims are black; it is not believed the victims knew one another. Police won't...

TULSA — Several members of the Tulsa chapter of the NAACP gathered at a north Tulsa church Friday evening for an emergency meeting to discuss what police have characterized as a possible "shooting spree" that targeted five people early Friday morning. As news spread that the police are looking for a white man in connection with the shootings of five black people, people began saying they believe the shootings were racially motivated. KRMG spoke with Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson as the meeting continued in the 2200 block of N. Peoria Avenue. When asked if people in the community felt...

SHAWNEE, Okla. — Members of a state House committee have voted to increase the legal protection of citizens’ constitutional rights. Senate Bill 1760, by state Sen. Anthony Sykes and state Rep. T.W. Shannon, would specify that Oklahomans’ Second Amendment rights cannot be taken away during a declared state of emergency. “While government may assume greater police powers to preserve public safety during times of emergency, the government should never be allowed to strip citizens of their most basic constitutional rights,” said Shannon, R-Lawton. “This legislation simply makes clear that Oklahomans will continue to have the right to self-defense during emergency...

A week ago, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a black kid named Tyrone Woodfork severely beat an elderly couple, a Mr. & Mrs. Strait, who had been married for 65 years. Tyrone RAPED Mrs. Strait, and she died of injuries received at his hands. Mr. Strait served in the 101st Airborne during WWII. NO national media carried the story. Tyrone was arrested yesterday. I supposed that if Mr. Strait had shot Tyrone, the whole country would know about the story. As it is, only Mrs. Strait died, so it's not of interest to Brian Williams and the rest of the main stream...

Two women were arrested Monday in connection with the homicide of a toddler who was found unresponsive in a car during a traffic stop Sunday. An autopsy ruled Zamontay's cause of death a homicide resulting from blunt force trauma to the head, Tulsa Police Cpl. Greg Smith said Monday afternoon.

Students who support carrying concealed weapons on campus are going to show it in a nationwide protest. This week, members of Students for Concealed Carry will wear empty holsters to symbolize how defenseless students are against an attack on Oklahoma State University campus. The protest was organized by the national organization of Students for Concealed Carry, a group advocating concealed weapons on college campuses with slogans like “Disarming good guys won’t stop bad guys” and “Self-defense is a human right.” Joren Whitley, president of the OSU chapter of Students for Concealed Carry, said that the holster also signifies that the...

A married history teacher has been arrested after he prompted girls to perform sex acts and send him lewd images in exchange for higher grades. Casey Hauff, 32, of Atoka, Oklahoma, faces 11 sexual abuse charges. Five alleged victims have come forward and authorities fear that there could be more. Hauff taught at Atoka High School until he resigned when the sexual abuse allegations were made. Police said the victims only came forward once a classmate told school authorities.

A little more than nine years ago, the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a two-year-long campaign by labor union lawyers to get the state's right-to-work law invalidated. Chief Justice Joseph Watt rebuffed union lawyers: “[T]o hold the right to work amendment unconstitutional under the circumstances presented here would be to thwart the clearly expressed will of the people.” Oklahomans' primary aim in putting a right-to-work law on the books was to end a gross imbalance in public policy. Prior to passage of right to work, the law protected each Oklahoma employee's right to support a union, but at the same time...

OKLAHOMA CITY - A proposed Open Carry gun law making its way through the state legislature has sparked debate among supporters of the idea. Gun rights advocates agree there should be open carry, but they disagree over measures in the current bill. Oklahoma lawmakers are currently debating the law and legal experts are watching the developments closely. Professor Mike O'Shea says the main issue now is whether or not the law will require an open carry permit. "A permit-based bill, House Bill 2522 sponsored by Representative Martin had cleared the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin," said O'Shea. But...

As a New Orleans police officer in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Kevin Diel learned how quickly a disastrous event can bring a city to its knees and bring out the worst part of human nature. “Within about a week of it hitting, it completely changed my mind. This was a whole new world, and there was nobody to help,” Diel said. He used his wits, the few supplies he had on hand and what he could scavenge to survive the ordeal until order was restored. Diel, now a private corporate security officer, considers himself a member of a community...

The former director of the CIA was in Oklahoma City Friday, talking terrorism, and the group he singled out has a chapter right here in OKC. The group former CIA Director James Woolsey was talking about is CAIR- the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Woolsey says the group is an extremist Muslim group with ties to terrorists.

LANGSTON, Okla. -- The death of a Florida teenager has some Oklahomans demanding justice and clarification of our own gun laws. The shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month finds some questioning the state's own personal protection measures, both the ones already on the books and ones still being considered. A rally held Thursday on the Langston University campus centered on the death of Martin who was shot by neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claimed self-defense. Thursday's rally at Langston held two messages. One was a call for a review of Oklahoma's own "Stand Your Ground" law. The other...

Amid political turmoil surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline, two companies announced plans to create a rival system to bring crude oil from Canada and the northern United States to the Gulf Coast. The move is a response to mounting supply pressure in the north, where advances in drilling technology have heralded an oil boom that has created a glut of landlocked crude with limited transportation options. Enbridge, Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, and Enterprise Products Partners L.P., of Houston, will collaborate on a $2 billion pipeline from Cushing, Okla., to the Houston area, according to an announcement late Monday. Enbridge will...

An 85-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and battered to death by a home invader who also shot her 90-year-old husband in the face with a BB gun. Nancy and Bob Strait, who had celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in December, were discovered by their daughter at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both the pensioners were rushed to hospital where Mrs Strait, who was nearly blind, died from her injuries. Mr Strait, who served in the 101st Airborne Division in World War II, suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs and severe bleeding. He is in a serious condition in hospital.

TULSA, Oklahoma - The teen accused of beating to death 85-year-old Nancy Strait and injuring her 90-year-old husband, Bob Strait, during a home invasion robbery was charged with 1st degree murder Monday. In addition to felony murder, Tyrone Woodfork, 19, was also charged with 1st degree burglary and two counts of robbery with a firearm. Woodfork remains in the Tulsa County Jail. 03/14/2012 Related Story: Elderly Couple Found Badly Beaten In North Tulsa Home Woodfork is accused of breaking into the couple's north Tulsa home March 14, 2012, and badly beating the Straits before making off with the couple's car....

According to the federal government, food prices rose 4.4 percent in 2011. That’s hogwash. I do a lot of the grocery shopping for my family (my wife cooks wonderful meals and cleans up the kitchen – it’s only right that I help in some fashion). And I can tell you, from direct experience, that food prices are skyrocketing. We buy most of our groceries from Sam’s Club, Reasor’s, Food Pyramid, Wal-Mart and Braums. You tend to buy groceries close to your home (you don’t want the ice cream to melt on the way home). We are charter members of the...

Authorities in Oklahoma City are investigating a Feb. 20 incident in which a handcuffed man, accused of trying to sneak past a security checkpoint at Will Rogers World Airport, was reportedly dragged, face-down, by his feet after being tased several times by Oklahoma City Police officers, according to News9.com in Oklahoma.The incident was captured by surveillance cameras. (Video at link)

An 85-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and battered to death by a home invader who also shot her 90-year-old husband in the face with a BB gun.

Politics: The president stages a photo-op in Oklahoma to take credit for the portion of the Keystone XL pipeline that doesn't need his approval and for oil production on private and state lands beyond his jurisdiction. If one of his aides some morning remarked on a particularly lovely sunrise, it wouldn't surprise us if President Obama responded with a "thank you," so gifted is he in taking credit for successes that he has nothing to do with and that occur despite, not because, of his policies. So it will be Thursday, when Obama is scheduled to appear in Cushing, Okla.,...