Marshall Stewart

For the first time, you’ll be able to go on-line and bid in the city of Tulsa surplus property auction. Purchasing Services Coordinator Patricia Cummings says it’s an attempt to see if going on-line will lower costs and hike revenue.                              

The website is www.purplewave.com. Bidding starts this week and runs to July 12th. You can view items on-line or at the city’s surplus property warehouse at 108 North Trenton.

Firefighters in haz-mat suits surround a smoking rail car at the Port of Catoosa. Nearby, people are being hosed down in a decontamination area. It looks like a real chemical spill, but it’s actually a training simulation. Lead exercise controller Sean Hagerty says it’s designed to promote cooperation between emergency responders.                                  

The Oklahoma National Guard, Tulsa police and fire, Verdigris and Claremore fire, and Port personnel all took part in the exercise.        

Mayor Bartlett makes a plea for support of his plan to extend a tax and dedicate it for public safety. The proposal, in the mayor’s words, would re-purpose the former .167 percent ‘4 to fix’ county tax and extend it beyond its’ current expiration date next year. Mayor Bartlett says it would provide a sustainable source of revenue for police, fire, and street maintenance needs. The mayor says it’s not a new tax, only an extension of a current tax.                              

Testing of former patients of Tulsa Dentist W. Scott Harrington will end two weeks from today. Kaitlin Snider with the Health Department says the number coming in for testing has dwindled the past couple of weeks, so it was decided to set an end date of June 28th.

To date around four thousand patients have been tested for blood borne diseases. No new positive results are reported in the past week of testing.

The first ozone alert of the year in Tulsa brings reminders how you can help keep down pollution. Nancy Graham, Air Quality Program Manager for INCOG, says try and keep car trips to a minimum, don’t fill your tank on Alert Days, put off lawn mowing or other chores using gas powered tools.                              

She says dirty air hurts those with asthma and other health problems, and could mean forcing costly steps like mandated inspections and more expensive gasoline.

Hundreds of properties with delinquent taxes are being auctioned off by the Tulsa County Treasurer’s Office. The properties being auctioned owe back taxes from 2009 and will be sold to the highest bidder. Treasurer Dennis Semler expects to get more than 400 properties, ranging from vacant lots to businesses off the delinquent list.

The sale is underway at the downtown Convention Center, and will continue until the entire list of delinquent properties have been offered.

In-person absentee voting is underway for the Tulsa Mayor, Auditor, and County Commission District 3 races. Election Board Secretary Patty Bryant says you may vote today and Monday in advance of Tuesday’s election. She says there were 20 people lined up outside Election headquarters when doors opened this morning, and there’s been a steady stream of voters coming in to vote.

It’s been 15 years since teenager Dena Dean was murdered after disappearing from a West Tulsa shopping center. Every year, on the anniversary of her disappearance, her family and the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office set up a mobile Cold Case Command Post at the shopping center. Dean’s father, Larry, hasn’t given up hope someone will come forward with information that will solve the case.

Anyone with information on the Dean case or any cold case is urged to call the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office at 918-596-8681.

A downtown Tulsa Credit Union is robbed at gunpoint. Police Officer Leland Ashley says a man with a handgun entered Tinker Federal Credit Union near 7th and Main about 10am this morning. Ashley says he pointed the gun at tellers, and demanded money, took an undisclosed amount and fled.  

The suspect is described as a black male, about 6 feet tall between 160 and 180 pounds.  He was wearing a fedora style hat, glasses, a black shirt and black short pants. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers.