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Posted: 4:06 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4, 2011

KRMG Morning News "Stack of Stuff" and Notes 2/04/11 

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By Joe Kelley, Host of the KRMG Morning News

  1. TULSAWORLD - Tulsa's City Council grilled public works officials Thursday about how long the city's dwindling salt supply will hold out and why more wasn't bought when the funding was made available. The city started the winter with 9,600 tons of salt and will likely have about 5,000 left when the cleanup from the current record storm is done, Public Works Deputy Director of Public Facilities Dan Crossland said during a special council meeting. Still unspent is $300,000 that the council allocated in December to boost the salt supply, despite the mayor's objections. "A lot of people out there think that you have been directed by the administration to go easy on the salt because we don't have enough," Councilor Jack Henderson said. "What do you say to that?" Crossland said that's not the case. Crews put an initial layer of salt down and are using a lot more now that the streets have been plowed. Mayor Dewey Bartlett said at a late-afternoon press conference that he's never instructed crews to not use the salt. "All I've said is let us use it wisely," he said. The extra money allocated by the council for salt is now being used to buy another 3,000 tons that will be brought in by rail from New Mexico - a process expected to take three weeks. With the possibility of more snow next week, Councilor Bill Christiansen said, the city shouldn't be in the position of running its supply down so far. Several councilors asked why the order wasn't placed earlier since the money was available. "(The mayor) was waiting to see what happened, and what happened happened, so now we're ordering," Crossland said. Bartlett pledged to the media at a pre-storm briefing earlier this week, and in his objections to the council allocating the money in the first place, that salt could be brought in overnight, if needed. Crossland told councilors that overnight delivery is not possible and that he has informed the mayor of that. Bartlett said he misspoke about the issue of overnight delivery but made assurances that the city has enough salt to last until the next shipment arrives. "If (councilors) have any advice for me, my number is 596-2100 (Mayor's Action Center), and they can be more than happy to give me whatever advice I sorely need," he said.
  2. If it makes you feel any better, "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," has never been the official motto of the U.S. Postal Service. Any doubt about that has been eliminated this week as many Tulsa-area residents have gone without mail service since before Tuesday's record-setting blizzard. Spokeswoman Dionne Montague said carriers from every station in Tulsa were making deliveries Thursday and were "doing everything they can to attempt all deliveries." Tulsans from all areas of town and as far away as Muskogee and Miami, Okla., reported they had not received mail since the storm hit. Many people are awaiting monthly disability checks and other critical deliveries. Montague said, "Our goal is to deliver everywhere roadways are accessible." Some carriers are "so dedicated some are voluntarily using their own personal vehicles to deliver mail in areas where it would be easier than using a postal vehicle," she said.
  3. MEDIA ADVISORY: Tulsa County to Hold News Conference at Expo Square - Updates to Include Roads, Public Safety and Fairgrounds Activity (10:00 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4) You will hear this news conference LIVE on KRMG.
  4. Tulsa County Commissioners will gather at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning to update the media and public about road conditions, ongoing operations and public safety at Expo Square inside the QuikTrip Center. The news conference will be held inside the main entrance of the QuikTrip Center, which serves as host of the Boat, Sport & Travel Show this week.  Elected officials will be on hand to give updates on road conditions throughout the county as well as a public safety briefing from the Sheriff's Office. In addition, Expo Square officials will be on hand to discuss planned activities and operations at the fairgrounds over the weekend and into next week.
    WHAT:  News conference and media briefing on road conditions, clearing activities, public safety, and fairgrounds operations.
    WHEN:  Friday, February 4, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.
    WHERE:  Main entrance (south door) of QuikTrip Center at Expo Square 4145 E. 21st Street Tulsa, OK 74114
    WHO:  Commissioners John Smaligo, Karen Keith and Fred Perry with Undersheriff Brian Edwards and Expo Square CEO Mark Andrus
  5. Due to inclement weather and road conditions the Tulsa County Courthouse and other Tulsa County facilities will remain closed Friday, Feburary 4.  Essential services such as law enforcement, jail operations, snow removal and road clearing activities will operate as normal.  The Tulsa County Fairgrounds at Expo Square remain open as well including the normal scheduled activities. As with Sheriff's Department policy, the jail will remain open, but visitation will be closed. Plans are to have the courthouse and all county offices open on Monday, February 7.
  6. KOTV - Three people died after an SUV plunged into the Spring River from Interstate 44 early Thursday.  Five other victims survived and were flown by helicopter to Joplin hospitals. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the Chevy Avalanche was going west on I-44 when the driver lost control on the ice.  Troopers said the SUV hit a concrete wall, slid, struck the bridge wall, and fell 61 feet into the water. Six people inside the SUV were able to climb out of the sun roof. Troopers said the driver, 31-year-old Leonor Alcano, was unable to make it out of the vehicle.  He died at the scene from hypothermia. Troopers said Alcano was pinned for two hours and twenty minutes. Troopers said 37-year-old Irma Garcia was also unable to make it out of the vehicle. She died at the scene from hypothermia after being pinned for two hours and twenty minutes. Another passenger, 22-year-old Douglas Monzon, died on the way to the hospital. OHP said Monzon fell into the river while reaching for a blanket rescue crews had thrown him, and that crews reached Monzon about an hour later in the river. Four men and one woman survived the crash and are being treated at Joplin area hospitals. The eight worked at Engelbrecht Farms. Scott Engelbrecht, who runs the mushroom farm, said the operation was shut down Wednesday because of the weather and reopened Thursday. The 45 or so workers heard the news about their colleagues shortly after 9 a.m., he said.
  7. KOTV - The City Manager in Jenks said a waterline break is to blame for a partial ceiling collapse at the Oklahoma Aquarium Thursday afternoon. The city manager said the break happened at the Sting Ray exhibit.  The status of the animals is unknown. A witness told News On 6 he saw water leaking from the roof and was told to leave moments before the partial collapse occurred. Jenks Police told News On 6 no one was injured.  The extent of the damage is unknown at this time. The Oklahoma Aquarium said it does not expect to be open on Friday.
  8. KJRH - If you left a vehicle alongside a roadway because of the blizzard, it may or may not be there when you go back to retrieve it. Here's what to do and who to call if that happens. The Tulsa Police Department says owners should first call Storey Wrecker Service at 918-585-5571 to see if they towed the vehicle. That's the wrecker service utilized by the police department. If Storey doesn't have the vehicle, and it was left along a highway, owners can call the Oklahoma Highway Patrol at 918-627-0440 to see if that agency had it towed. In surrounding cities, owners should contact their local police or sheriff's office to determine if their vehicle was towed, and to where. In most cases, towing fees will be charged to the owner of the vehicle.
  9. KTUL - Back in December the council approved $300,000 to buy more salt, but the mayor chose not to. The day before the storm he said if we need it we could get it in a jiffy. "We have an arrangement with a salt supplier in New Mexico that can provide us as much salt as we want by train, so if we call them today, it'll be here tomorrow," said Mayor Dewey Bartlett. The real time line? 2 to 3 weeks. "I don't understand on such a significant issue like that how he could miss that," asked Tulsa city councilor Bill Christiansen.  "It is a significant issue and I can't really tell you how that happened, I can tell you that I did not tell him that.," said Public Works director Dan Crossland. At Thursday's press conference, an admission of error. "I did misspeak when I said a day, that was wrong on my part. I misunderstood, I probably had some bad chili and the word one came to my mouth," said Bartlett. With 7,000 tons available, public works estimates they could use up to 2,000 tons by Sunday. "And now we're gonna have 5,000 tons left and we get two more small waves coming in depending on how they precipitate will be dependent on how much we use," said Christiansen. "If they have any advice for me my number is 596-2100, and they can be more than happy to give me whatever advice I sorely need," said Bartlett.
  10. KTUL - There will be no trash collection in the City of Tulsa on Friday, Feb.4. City crews and Tulsa Refuse Inc. (TRI) have assessed the conditions, and still feel the risk to people and personal property is too great to perform residential collection.  Road conditions will be evaluated again Friday to determine if residential collection will be performed on Saturday.
  11. FOX23 - Tulsa Police have a warning tonight: If you don't move your stranded car it will be towed or it could be targeted by thieves. FOX23's Abbie Alford shows us thieves are not taking snow days. Inside a stranded and unlocked Jeep Grand Cherokee are jackets, a hot commodity right now in these bone chilling temperatures and something a thief would want. "I'm surprised they are out late at night in the cold," says a Tulsa driver. Blizzard or not thieves are finding a way to make their move. Tulsa Police report several car break-ins and vandals targeting stranded cars. "I have seen several of them with their windows knocked out sitting on the side of the road," says a Tulsa driver. As if it's not tough enough to have a car stuck on the road, once you finally get back to your car you may find your stuff is gone.
  12. TULSA WORLD - If you haven't shoveled the 14 inches that fell Tuesday on Tulsa, you might have a little bit more to handle after Friday. Tulsa National Weather Service meteorologist David Jankowski said Tulsa has a 50 percent chance of snow Friday. "It looks to be less than half of an inch," Jankowski said. "Quite a bit less than Tuesday." Following Friday, chances of snow continue with 30 percent Saturday night, 50 percent Sunday, 30 percent Tuesday night and 40 percent Wednesday, Jankowski said. Tulsa set a new low temperature for the year Thursday, with 6 degrees below zero. The coldest weather in the state Thursday was Nowata, at minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit, Jankowski said. This was the first time in almost 15 years that Tulsa experienced below-zero weather, Jankowski said. Tulsa had minus 11 degree temperatures on Feb. 4, 1996. Temperatures are expected to rise out of the below-zero range into the teens Friday, with above-freezing highs in the upper 30s and lower 40s this weekend, the weather service forecasts.
  13. FROM ODOT - This morning Oklahoma Department of Transportation crews report a new round of light snow falling in south-central and southeastern Oklahoma. Black ice is also reported in many areas of the state, as frigid temperatures overnight caused a refreeze of any melted snow. Highways continue to remain slick and snow-packed in northeastern Oklahoma; roadways are snow-packed but passable from central Oklahoma east to the Arkansas state line. Many drivers have moved abandoned vehicles, which has helped crews in snow removal operations. With the aid of law enforcement, some vehicles have been moved in order to facilitate snow removal. Owners should contact law enforcement with any questions about vehicle recovery.
 
 
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Attend a special taping of KRMG’s food and wine show “OKfoodie presented by the Culinary Institute of Platt College” featuring the top candidates for Tulsa mayor: Dewey Bartlett, Kathy Taylor and Bill Christiansen.

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