http://swoknews.com en-us Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:16:02 GMT Daily feed of articles http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40814 Prosecutors and defense attorneys were nearly all ready Friday to begin the upcoming trial for double murder defendant Mica Martinez, until the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System threw the court a curveball. One final pre-trial hearing was scheduled for Friday morning during which the court was going to make one final revision to a planned victim-impact statement to be read at trial. However, the two OIDS capital defense attorneys that Martinez had been working with for nearly two years, G. Lynn Burch and Matthew Haire, didn't show up. Instead, three new attorneys who were recently assigned to the Norman Capital Trial Division, Gary L. Henry, Mary S. Bruehl, and Bobby Lewis, appeared and asked the court to continue the trial. According to their motion, Burch, the lead counsel in Martinez's case, was terminated due to force reduction efforts and budget cuts Feb. 1, and Haire was "transferred to another division." The new attorneys argued they simply don't have enough time before Feb. 13 to prepare to provide a "Constitutionally adequate defense" for Martinez, accused of bludgeoning Carl and Martha Miller to death Oct. 12, 2009. News Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:53:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40815 WASHINGTON (AP)  The Air Force detailed plans on Friday to cut the service by nearly 10,000 active, National Guard and Reserve airmen next year as part of a broad move to downsize and shift capabilities around the United States to prepare better for wars of the future. More than half the personnel cuts, and much of the aircraft and other equipment moves, will be borne by the Air National Guard, which triggered criticism from the National Guard Association. The Air Force said the service cannot absorb any further cuts in active duty forces because that would limit its ability to respond to multiple crises. Overall, about 3,900 active duty, 5,100 Air Guard and 900 Air Force reserves would be cut in the next year. News Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:53:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40812 Just like one of its school mottoes says, "Hard work pays off" for MacArthur Middle School, which celebrated its fourth year as a Great Expectations model school Friday morning. Great Expectations is an educational movement designed to improve schools through a focus on good character and professional development for teachers. Model school status is awarded to schools that score at least 90 percent when they are evaluated by mentors from the program, based on 17 practices characterizing the Great Expectations philosophy. Model school is the highest rank awarded by the program. Schools in Great Expectations must reapply every year to maintain their status. The celebration was done in the style of a Hollywood awards show during Friday's morning assembly, hosted by students Mariah Vinson and Casey Reed. Music was provided by the MMS Orchestra and an informational video about Great Expectations created by Jimmy Harris and featuring MMS students and faculty was shown. News Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:52:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40813 A huge amount of cash disappeared from at least one Lawton ATM, prompting a Lawton police investigation like none they've seen before. Lawton Police Capt. Craig Akard said, as of Friday, no arrests had been made in the case, and detectives are collecting and reviewing surveillance footage and bank and security logs. They are trying to determine who may have had access to the machine, because, unlike other ATM crimes, this one had been accessed from the inside. The investigation began Thursday evening when the Fort Sill Federal Credit Union machine at Northwest Sheridan Road and Ferris Avenue signaled an alarm indicating it was low on cash. Bank personnel and a representative from A&H Security Company opened the machine together and noticed about half the money supposed to be inside the machine was not there. Akard has been reluctant to release the amount of money that's gone missing, fearing it may prompt criminals to target these highly protected machines in future crimes. The intense amount of security required to access the ATM is what makes the case so puzzling. News Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:52:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40791 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Gov. Mary Fallin said Thursday that her plan to reduce Oklahoma's income tax will shrink the number of tax brackets from seven to three and will include revenue growth criteria to trigger future tax cuts. Fallin touched on some highlights of her tax plan Thursday during a speech at The Associated Press' annual legislative forum. "Our goal is to create a tax structure that is fairer, that is flatter, that is simpler to use, one that will help Oklahoma be more competitive as a state," Fallin said. "This tax plan will also be immediate and significant. It will start on Jan. 1, 2013, with immediate tax relief for ... a majority of Oklahoma citizens." Fallin said she would release more details of her plan during her State of the State address Monday, but promised the tax plan would not be balanced on the "backs of the poor." She indicated that she would offset some of the lost revenue by removing what she described as tax loopholes, including some of the dozens of tax breaks and incentives that are included in the state's tax code. News Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:27:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40792 Lawton- Fort Sill began its official celebration of Black History Month Thursday with a tribute to the contributions of black women in American history and culture. That's the theme of this year's celebration, which began with the annual community proclamation-signing ceremony at Carnegie Library Town Hall. Sylvia Williams, a retired educator with Lawton Public Schools , was featured speaker and talked of black women "from the shotgun house to the White House" who were blessed with personal and cultural capital to help their people overcome barriers and hardships. "Black women have showed up, stood up and spoken up throughout American history," she said. More many years, she said, American culture assumed that women lacked executive ability, orderly minds, stability and leadership skills and "were too emotional." News Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:27:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40789 A Lawton man accused of severely beating his girlfriend earlier this week is facing felony charges. Comanche County Sheriff's Department deputies arrested 29-year-old Clinten Cardenaz on Monday at a local hospital where he dropped his girlfriend off claiming she'd been injured in an ATV accident. He was charged Thursday with one count of aggravated assault and battery and ordered to be held in lieu of a $50,000 bond. If convicted, he could face up to five years behind bars. The victim is still recovering slowly, but she was able to speak with deputies and tell them Cardenaz was, in fact, the person who allegedly injured her. She has been at the hospital since Monday afternoon after undergoing emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen. She also suffered a broken nose and ribs and multiple bruises and contusions. News Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:26:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40790 MEDICINE PARK  City officials are looking for a solution to major water leaks along a granite-buried line that feeds Big Rock Mountain and surrounding areas. Mayor Dwight Cope said the city is losing $1-2,000 a month due to leaks that cannot be accurately located or patched, and that replacement of the line could cost as much as a million dollars. He said the city is initiating the process of conducting an engineer's report, and, once that is finalized, Medicine Park will begin scouting grant funding to repair the line. "That is really our No. 1 problem right now," Cope said. "We lose so much money per month due to water loss, and we can't locate them (the leaks) because they're in that rock and they just disappear." News Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:26:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40788 Can I get a witness? Students in Mary Styron's pre-advanced placement English I class at Eisenhower High School got a first-hand introduction to the standard procedures for criminal trials from two local lawyers Thursday. Comanche County assistant district attorney John Fleur and local criminal defense attorney Emmit Tayloe spoke about trials, the criminal justice system and their thoughts on the infamous "Scottsboro Boys" trials in 1930s Alabama, which led to African-Americans being allowed to serve on juries in the segregated South. The students have been studying the Scottsboro trials  in which nine teenage African-American boys were charged with raping two white women on a train. History has generally judged that the young men, who mostly met tragic ends, did not receive fair trials. One of the alleged victims later recanted her story. News Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:25:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40787 A call about shots being fired had Lawton police scrambling Monday night and resulted in the arrest of the man who said he'd been threatened. Norman Crye, 41, called police shortly after 8:40 p.m. to report the incident at 2504 SW Jefferson. However, when police arrived, they found Crye acting erratically and saying, "Police, come here, I need to talk to you," according to a report filed by Sgt. Jeff Pollard. Crye clenched his fists and didn't comply with police orders, Pollard said, and kept talking about two men he didn't know who'd come by, threatened him and dropped a plastic bag containing 0.04 gram of methamphetamine. News Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:24:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40769 Soldiers of the 168th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) joined with their Air Force and Oklahoma National Guard brethren in a one-of-a-kind training event for Fort Sill on Wednesday. Army National Guard pilots flew a small, rectangular C-23 Sherpa from Will Rogers World Airport to Henry Post Army Airfield to participate, according to Lt. Col. David Waddell, commander of the 168th BSB. This training continues the relationship that his battalion and the Guard pilots established in Operation Sooner Response in September, Waddell said. "One of my mission-essential tasks is air delivery," he explained. It might be a humanitarian mission to get food and supplies to refugees after a major disaster, such as the Haiti earthquake. Or it might be a remote region in Afghanistan. If a bridge is out, or road conditions are bad, or there's a threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along the route, it's quicker and safer to deliver the goods by air. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:08:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40770 Questions about the hiring of an employee led to a heated discussion between Comanche County Excise Board member J.P. Richard and Central District County Commissioner Ron Kirby Wednesday. Richard asked the three Comanche County commissioners  Gail Turner, Kirby and Don Hawthorne  to attend Wednesday morning's regular Excise Board meeting and answer questions about Kirby's hiring of a second deputy not included in the fiscal year 2012 budget after the Central District first deputy was hired as administrator to the Comanche County commissioners in October 2011. Richard originally raised the issue of the new second deputy at a Jan. 18 meeting of the Excise Board. Carrie Tubbs, who previously served as Kirby's first deputy  but did work for all three commissioners, especially paperwork for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement and state bridge programs  was officially hired for the newly created position of administrator to the commissioners, a position that is paid for by all three commissioners. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:08:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40768 If Elmo had gloves, they'd be coming off right now. Elmo, dean of the prairie dog weather prognosticators in Elmer Thomas Park, used his annual Prairie Dog Day news conference not to bring Southwest Oklahomans up to date on weather but to attempt to boost his flagging candidacy for president. Elmo was basking in the February sunshine Wednesday as he greeted reporters in the park  his annual pre-emptive strike against Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day festivities  but he's apparently not basking in public adulation. In four primaries and caucuses, Elmo has received only one vote, and it's under investigation. (The lone ballot, cast in Florida, is reported to be from his cousin Chad, who's often seen hanging around the park.) It hasn't helped that Elmo hasn't actually been on the ballot in any of those states. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:07:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40766 Soldiers and noncommissioned officers were in the spotlight Wednesday at Fort Sill . The post named its Soldier of the Year, Soldier of the Quarter and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and applauded induction of three new members of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club. Staff Sgt. Robert Brower was NCO of the year and of the quarter. Cpl. Jonathon Woodfield was named Soldier of the Year, and Spec. Eavian Allen was honored as Soldier of the Quarter. Brower and Woodfield, both Patriot air defense artillerymen, will head on to III Corps competition at Fort Hood, Texas. It will be the second time for Woodfield, who was Soldier of the Year at that level last year. He said having gone through the competition before should help him prepare, and he and Brower plan to work closely together to get ready for the next step. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:06:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40767 Members of the Redistricting Commission have settled on new boundaries for Lawton's City Council wards and will let the public have a look at the new map later this month. The commission has been meeting since Jan. 11 to draft new ward boundaries, based on the populations of city precincts that were derived from the 2010 census. While commission members don't have any control over precinct boundaries  that's controlled by state election boards, based on Senate and House boundary lines  they do control the populations of each of Lawton's eight wards and that's how each ward's boundary is drawn. By law, ward populations should be within 10 percent of each other; that is, the difference between the smallest and largest wards should be 10 percent or less. The commission's chosen ward map misses that by 1 percent: The difference between the largest ward (2, with 11,068 residents) and smallest ward (5, with 9,905 residents) is 11 percent. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:06:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40764 The Holy City's annual Easter Pageant returns this year and is in need of approximately 500 volunteers to assist with its production. Vince Cambron, president of the Holy City's board of directors, said a variety of volunteer positions are available, including acting, set design and costumes. Sign-up will be on Sunday at the Holy City. Rehearsals will be from 2-4 p.m. every Sunday beginning Feb. 12 until the performances on March 31 and April 7. Cambron said that anyone who wants to participate but is unable to make sign-up Sunday may sign up at rehearsals Feb. 12 and 19. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:05:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40765 The young woman injured in a possible domestic incident is recovering in the hospital, and allegedly has provided investigators with evidence to support the abuse claim against her boyfriend. A Comanche County Sheriff's Department Investigator said he was able to speak briefly with the 29-year-old woman, who was hospitalized Monday with a ruptured spleen, broken nose and ribs, and multiple bruises and contusions. However, she allegedly told the detective she had not been in an ATV accident, as her boyfriend reported, and said her 29-year-old boyfriend was responsible for the injuries. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:05:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40762 It may not have been a misunderstanding that led a domestic brawl to escalate last week since court records show the defendant's wife was allegedly with her boyfriend at a hotel before the incident. Records show Allen D. Chestnut, 26, made an initial appearance in court Tuesday and was charged with one count of aggravated assault and battery for allegedly stabbing a 30-year-old man in the back at the Hampton Inn, 2610 Cache Road. He is being held at the Comanche County Detention Center in lieu of a $40,000 bond and faces up to five years in prison if convicted. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:04:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40763 It's not quite clear what exactly happened to 27-year-old Brian Barios, who was found bleeding in the street Tuesday afternoon, but at least one arrest resulted from Lawton Police's investigation into the matter. Barios, according to a report, was found around 1 p.m. lying in the 1400 block of Northwest 23rd Street bleeding from his left eye. At first, passersby thought Barios may have been struck by a car. He appeared to have been extremely intoxicated, and police allegedly found few items of furniture but lots of beer bottles at his nearby home. It also appeared as though a struggle had happened at the house, and Barios said he had been assaulted by someone. News Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:04:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40732 No quarter was given in the war of words at the 2012 Scripp's National Spelling Bee regional competition, held at Central Middle School Tuesday afternoon. Eisenhower Middle School seventh-grader Blaise Manuel clinched first place by correctly spelling "Luminaria" in the seventh round of the contest. Second place went to Isaiah Roberson, a fifth-grader from Pat Henry Elementary School. Both boys will represent Region 14  Lawton Public Schools   at the state spelling bee March 10 at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. News Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:14:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40730 The Stephens County Sheriff's Department is investigating a Tuesday afternoon stabbing near Velma that left one man dead and another person injured, according to the sheriff. Sheriff Wayne McKinney said that his department responded after a call around 4:30 p.m. at a home near Midway Truck Stop, between Duncan and Velma. A 47-year-old man was stabbed to death and another person suffered minor injuries and was stopped by deputies as he was driving down the driveway, he said. News Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:13:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40731 Fort Sill soldiers now have their own MRAPs so they can train the way they'll fight. MRAPs are the "up-armored" version of humvees, the workhorse of the Army. The acronym stands for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected military vehicle. Some 65 soldiers from Alpha Battery, 3rd Battalion, 13th Field Artillery got a chance to practice driving the behemoths in convoys on the West Range Tuesday, according to Capt. Anthony Fatula, battery commander. "It's definitely the first time our unit has trained on them," he noted. "These are the vehicles we're going to have if and when we deploy, so it's pretty good experience for my guys." "You don't want a soldier to deploy and the first time he's seen these vehicles is when it's for real," Fatula said. Staff Sgt. Matthew Lyons said soldiers learned about key components of the vehicles, preventive maintenance and how to actually operate the systems such as the cameras and the doors. News Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:13:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40728 A Lawton woman was lucky to be alive Tuesday after suffering critical injuries from an unknown episode being investigated by the Comanche County Sheriff's Department. Her boyfriend is saying she was hurt in an ATV accident, but he is sitting in the Comanche County Detention Center on suspicion he abused the 29-year-old woman. The investigation began around 2:30 p.m. when the victim's boyfriend took the unconscious victim to Southwestern Medical Center. Her boyfriend said she had gone to the Fletcher area to ride four-wheelers with a friend named "Ashley," according to a Sheriff's Department report. He said his girlfriend was dropped off at his house and that she had been in an accident. The woman was at their house for several hours without treatment, but when his girlfriend's condition "deteriorated quickly," he took her to the hospital. News Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:12:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40729 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  A new ranking of the 50 states shows Oklahoma comes in 33rd in the ability of residents to save and build wealth and avoid poverty. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development released its rankings. The group is focused on expanding economic opportunities for low-income families and communities. It ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia on five areas: financial assets, jobs, housing, health care, and education. News Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:12:00 GMT http://swoknews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=40726 The trial for a Lawton man accused of shooting his neighbor during a racially charged incident over a year ago has been postponed, but neither the defense nor the State asked for a continuance. Larry Parkinson, 59, who faces life in prison for aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, was scheduled to begin his trial Tuesday in connection with the shooting of Victor McClester three times in October 2010, but defense attorney Kenneth Rhoads filed multiple motions asking for certain testimony and evidence to be suppressed because it had not been provided to him by the district attorney's office in a timely fashion. Eventually Comanche County District Court Judge Keith Aycock decided sua sponte, or without prior motion from any other parties, to postpone the trial until the May docket to allow both the State and defense time to fully prepare for trial. Rhoads said Tuesday, however, he was ready for trial. He simply wanted some of the evidence, namely a large collection of crime scene photographs, suppressed at trial. In the motion Rhoads filed Tuesday morning, he also objected to not being provided addresses for witnesses the state expected to call at trial and suggested those witnesses not be permitted to testify due to his lack of opportunity to prepare to cross-examine them. News Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:11:00 GMT