the
rain for days when we could see a break in the weather
stealing Xanax in ambient why police say the thief in this case was so unusual
covering news that matters Fox twenty three news at five starts right now
and we begin at five with a break before another round of rain I'm clay Loney and I'm
Ozzy we start in the Fox twenty three severe weather center where certified meteorologist John
Boyer is tracking who is seeing some showers right now tracking a few very light showers east of the metro
none showing up right now over our Tulsa neighborhoods on Fox twenty three Doppler radar it looks like
it wants to rain and later on this evening we may see a spotty shower or two but most
very quiet over the next hour or two we do have some sprinkles here in southern Delaware County northern Cherokee County
very stationary if not tracking slightly to the northwest and not moving very fast either outlook
for this evening some occasional light showers kind of on the order of what we just saw there anywhere along
east of highway sixty nine including southeast Oklahoma metro Tulsa and points west could rule out an isolated shower
maybe a little bit of drizzle but the good news is the northeast breeze will develop tonight will probably keep any
fog from developing the way we had it last night we're not done with rain chances in fact we've got several days in
the five day forecast that could bring some more rain to the area on the way in the five day forecast
I'll sort out which days have the best likelihood of rain in your neighborhood and the best times for enjoying weekend plans
outside and new at five Xanax and ambient stolen from a Walmart pharmacy broken arrow police arrested
Benjamin Parsons accused of embezzlement Fox twenty three's broken arrow reporter Brittany Jeffers is reporting live
with the accusations against one of the people who worked behind the counter Brittany.
Police tell me that the man that was arrested in this case was a technician at the store police also tell me that there were
surveillance cameras as well as coworkers that reported that they saw him stealing those prescription drugs and then putting them
in his pockets a packed lot it's always pretty busy several people I spoke with were headed to this pharmacy on Kenosha
it's a common stop frequent that store actually and yeah I never would have expected anything like that out of their broken arrow police
say the accused crime happened behind the counter a pharmacy technician Brandon Parsons is accused of stashing ambient
and Xanax pills in his pocket while he was filling prescriptions how many pills are we talking about substantial nephra actually
start showing as a problem on the inventory I dug through the arrest report which shows quote medication audits in the pharmacy
reported that the inventory of the Alprows the lamb and Zulpa them to be short police tell me that video surveillance shows that this
happened on at least three separate occasions once in March and then twice in February and it coincided with their inventory control
measures that they had that that appeared to be the time that they were missing the appeals corporal Leon Calhoun tells me that's when
store personnel contacted police Calhoun says crimes like this have peaked this year it's a big problem I've reported on several arrests
at local pharmacies and while he doesn't know the motivation in this case he says many times the crime can fuel addictions or
stolen to generate a profit I asked just how much they see Xanax sold for on the street easily ten dollars apiece for these pills
and Parsons was booked on an embezzlement charge and then transported to the Tulsa County Jail reporting live in broken arrow
covering news that matters I'm Brittany Jeffers Fox twenty three news new drama today in the case of a local man on trial in a
quadruple murder case in South Tulsa James poor made a special and unusual request today Fox twenty three's Ashley Lincoln has the
developing story she's live outside the Tulsa County courthouse or inside rather her poor and his attorney are not seeing eye to eye
today during testimony you could see the frustration and tension between poor and his attorney poor told the judge he feels like he's
getting an unfair trial and that's why he says he doesn't want to be here in a courtroom with no jury present James poor addressed
the court for a second time Wednesday morning poor took the stand and told Judge Kurt Glasgow he'd rather not be present for the
trial it was a statement that shocked the judge and poor's attorney Wesley Johnson leading up to his announcement poor's ex
girlfriend had just finished testifying during the testimony the defense argued about inconsistent statement she made regarding poor
actually said he wanted to rob Rebecca Powell the day of the murders in her grand jury testimony she said she could hear James say he
wanted to rob Powell but the defense said in her preliminary hearings she stated she couldn't hear it for me that statement poor told
Glasgow during cross examinations he feels his attorney isn't fighting hard enough he says he believes his attorney's intentions are to
help the prosecution convict him despite that poor's attorney spoke and argued against James request for not being present during the
trial saying he needed him and Judge Glasgow gave poor time to think about that decision he told him in court that he thought it was a
bad idea and poor changed his mind he's been in court all day today they are still having court proceedings right now and also today we
heard from a victim who told the jury that she was actually robbed by poor just two days before those killings I'll have that story to you
tonight on Fox twenty three news at six reporting live from the Tulsa County courthouse covering news that matters I'm Ashley Lincoln
Fox twenty three news within the last hour Governor Mary Fallon announced the state will tap into the rainy day fund to help pay for
Oklahoma schools and prisons Fox twenty three sent out a push alert during our news conference when she announced fifty one million
dollars will go toward the Department of Education and twenty seven million toward the Department of Corrections this all comes as the
state tries to close a one point three billion dollar deficit who details on a bad crash over the weekend Tulsa police confirm a
third person has died they brought you breaking news coverage Sunday morning from the scene near twenty first and I forty four
officers say there were four people in a speeding Mustang that ran a red light and slammed into a semi police say one of the passengers
is expected to survive people in Claremore won't get a refund any longer if you use less than the standard amount of power the City
Council passed an ordinance that lets the city keep what's called negative power cost adjustments money that used to be refunded
to the customer but if you use more power and have a positive PCA the city will still charge you for that difference the City
Council says their costs went up four percent and this is a way to raise some of that money.
New at five a Muskogee man is headed to prison for more than three years after pleading guilty to defrauding a children's charity and the IRS investigators say seventy year old David Allen Edward
devised a scheme to defraud the children's clinic a pediatric clinic in Muskogee out of more than four hundred thousand dollars and the IRS of more than five hundred thousand
judge also ordered Edwards to pay nearly seven hundred thousand dollars in restitution.
New at five the Rogers County Sheriff's Office says two known burglars are off the streets after leading deputies and Chelsea police on a high speed chase through the county.
Fox twenty three's J.J. Burton is joining us live with what deputies say started this chase.
Deputies say that the Chelsea police officer tried to pull the two suspects over because they blew through a stop sign but those two guys just kept going.
These are the two suspects here. The names Joshua McBride and Sheldon Cohen.
Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton says the speed during this chase got up to one hundred and twenty three miles per hour and this was a residential area.
The sheriff says the two were throwing stuff out of the window during the chase that you hit a tow truck and a few minutes later they got out of the car and ran.
But deputies and Chelsea police were able to finally arrest the two. They found a crowbar a window punch hammer a black jackets ski masks and gloves in the car.
It again exemplifies the backgrounds of people that you know don't work in this deal.
It's we're thankful to have good neighbors and Chelsea that are watching out for the same people we are. It was a good deal. We could work together.
Cohen and McBride are still here in the Rogers County jail. They're going to be here for quite some time.
Reporting live in Rogers County covering news that matters. J.J. Burton Fox twenty three news.
The Oklahoma House today joined the Senate in calling for the voters to decide if the Ten Commandments monument should be allowed back on Capitol grounds.
Specifically voters could be asked to repeal a section of the state constitution that prohibits state money or property from being used to support religion.
The American Civil Liberties Union though says the legislature is setting the state up for a costly legal challenge.
People in Grady County plan on using water bottled water rather after a nearly seven hundred fifty thousand gallon wastewater spill.
Officials have no idea when the leak began but say multiple wells use this one line for wastewater which is why the spill was so big.
The next move is clean up making sure crops and wildlife are protected.
This water is thousands of times saltier than the ocean. It will kill and if it's spilled in enough concentrated form it will kill vegetation.
Both the Department of Environmental Quality and the Wildlife Department are monitoring the spill right now it hasn't affected drinking water or wildlife.
Now to a developing story and the arrest of a man accused of gunning down a pastor he believed was a Martian.
This is a case that starts in Idaho and ends just outside the White House.
The videotape of his actions causes quite a bit of concern and so we took this very seriously.
A pastor was shot several times after Sunday service in Coeur d'Alene Idaho that led to a multi-state manhunt that came to an end across the country.
Kyle Odom was apprehended safely and without incident in Washington D.C.
Police say the suspect a marine with a history of mental illness was arrested after he threw some things onto the south lawn of the White House.
The initial information I'm receiving is that those included some flash drives along with some other unknown items.
It's my understanding that the hazmat and bomb teams are working to identify those items.
We since learned those items included the suspect's 21 page manifesto claiming the pastor he's accused of shooting was an amphibian humanoid from Mars.
In the manifesto Odom says he's certain President Obama knows about Martian humanoids among us.
As for the search authorities tracked Odom from Idaho into Washington State lost him and then found his car at the airport in Boise
where they say he boarded a flight to D.C.
Things kind of happened simultaneously with us trying to be a federal Bureau of Investigation trying to locate him there in D.C.
and then his incident at the White House were just about simultaneous.
And the pastor who was shot, the Reverend Tim Remington remains in the hospital but is stable.
In Udyssey 2016 the battle to get more votes continues.
Despite a key victory in Michigan yesterday Bernie Sanders continues to lose ground in his Democratic duel with Hillary Clinton.
And in the Republican race Donald Trump won three of four states and now a new poll by CNN shows he's on track to win in Marco Rubio's backyard and John Kasich's as well.
They want they can take a bottle of wine home. Anybody want to run here take one.
The only guy who can beat Donald Trump is Ted Cruz.
Trump is leading in both of his contenders home states. Well a couple of their home states.
Sorry 41 to 35 percent in Ohio and by a wider margin 41 to 24 percent in Florida.
On the Democratic side that same CNN poll shows Clinton winning in a landslide in the next two big contests Florida and Ohio.
The body of former First Lady Nancy Reagan has been moved for public viewing to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
She will lie in repose today and tomorrow with a private funeral on Friday.
She will be buried next to her husband on the grounds of the library. Nancy Reagan was 94.
Rain chances continue fortunately not as heavy as what we had yesterday.
Just ahead I'll update you on when some more showers could affect your weekend plans.
Millions of federal dollars to fix Oklahoma's roads. The new rule change that's freeing up all that money.
The surprising way investigators say a Tulsa bank robber used the Bible.
Our whole house is destroyed.
Three tornadoes and flooding evacuations the state of emergency right now along the Gulf Coast.
At Fox 23 covering news that matters never stop.
That's why Fox 23 is the only local station there for you at 5 5 30 and 6 p.m.
We're going to stay out here we'll be bringing you the latest update.
Which means we bring you more in-depth coverage of the major local stories impacting your family.
Right on the other side of this window a 12 inch line broke.
And you get immediate updates on breaking stories.
Watch Fox 23 news every weeknight at 5 5 30 and 6 p.m.
And see how we're covering news that matters.
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When you can upgrade to a new energy efficient natural gas range you'll see long term energy savings that help lower your utility bills and get up to two hundred dollars in rebates from Oklahoma natural gas.
That is good news.
I want you to place this award on the podium next to the vehicle that you think was ranked highest in initial quality by J.D. Power.
This is it.
You are wrong.
Actually it's all three.
You tricked me.
J.D. Power ranked the Malibu Silverado half ton and Equinox highest in initial quality in their segments.
That's impressive.
Chevy hit three home runs.
Qualified lessees can get this Chevy Equinox for around one hundred and ninety nine dollars a month.
Chevy drives Oklahoma.
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Rain that drenched green country made its way east and tonight the governor of Louisiana has declared a state of emergency after days of rain and flooding forced evacuations.
Law enforcement in Shreveport went door to door to evacuate about a dozen homes in the community because of high water.
They had to use boats and high water vehicles to help people.
A temporary shelter has been set up and the Red Cross is helping families as well.
When I got off work I got a call from her told her come over told me to come over and help her get her house was flooded.
So when I came over I walked in there was a good three or four feet in her house.
By the time I got here it was completely like it was it was pointless to try to put sandbags on there was it was completely gone.
We had to take all of her wedding stuff and put it on top of the fridgerators and all up high.
I mean it's her whole house is destroyed.
Floodwaters made roads look like rivers in West Monroe.
Rising water inundated roads covered cars and came close to seeping into homes.
Louisiana Tech and Grambling State both closed because of the severe weather.
Schools were also closed in several parishes.
Southwest of Fort Worth in Texas people spent the day cleaning up after several EF1 tornadoes touched down Tuesday.
This trailer park was hit especially hard.
While surveying the damage a Hood County commissioner said it looked like a bomb went off.
It's horrible. It's sad to walk outside to all of this was very emotional.
The National Weather Service said tornadoes hit the towns of Stephenville and Tolar.
The service also confirmed an EF1 hit the community of Kool on Monday evening for a total of three tornadoes in 24 hours.
Forecasters say the heavy rain will continue for the coasts of Louisiana and Texas.
But thankfully the severe weather threat is much smaller for tomorrow.
Oklahoma authorities have now identified a man who died after driving into floodwaters.
This happened near Broken Bow yesterday.
Water from a creek swept the car away.
The driver and his passenger did get out.
Now the passenger made it to shore.
But authorities say the driver, Michael Lyles, did not.
Well starting next school year students in Wagner will have a four-day school week.
School board members voted unanimously at a regular meeting Tuesday.
Wagner superintendent Randy Harris says the decision could save between 150 to 200 thousand dollars.
Harris says he plans to ask parents of elementary age students if there's a need for child care.
A local gymnastics center destroyed by powerful winds nearly a year ago got a one million dollar donation today to help rebuild.
Fox 23's severe weather team brought you extensive coverage last March of the storm that swept through west Tulsa County causing a major collapse at the AIM High Academy.
At this program today held by the Academy a local couple said they gave the organization all that money to help provide kids a brighter future.
It was wonderful to see all these children. You could see them yourself there.
They're going to have a life that they might not have had otherwise without the training that they're getting here.
So generous. AIM High plans to use the donation to buy land for the center.
Well the Illinois River will stay below flood stage near Tahlequah tonight and tomorrow. Thank goodness.
The National Weather Service says the river will crest at a level near eight feet tomorrow.
The flash flood watch in southeast Oklahoma is no longer in effect.
So we're getting a little bit of a break but it looks like the rain really won't clear out of our area anytime soon.
No it's kind of just gloomy all week certified meteorologist John Boyers and the Fox 23 Severe Weather Center for James Adela tonight.
And he's tracking just how long you'll still need to keep the umbrella around.
Those chances get a little lower and then a little higher again towards the end of the week.
Also a lot of clouds too so if you're really feeling it today missing that sunshine.
I think it's just going to get a little worse in the days ahead as we keep the cloudy and unsettled pattern around.
But at least we've already got through the heaviest rain of the week.
That was Monday night and that was yesterday afternoon.
Everything we have going forward looks a little bit lighter so we're not so much worried about flooding at this point.
In fact Thursday should be the driest day for Tulsa over the next four days because it looks very unlikely that we have really any significant rain.
Maybe a brief sprinkle or two but most of the showers Thursday will stay southeast to the metro.
Southeast Oklahoma areas near the Arkansas border.
But that will lift back north and include most of Green Country on Friday especially in the PM hours.
Scattered showers could get in the way if you're heading out to dinner on Friday evening.
Maybe a rumble of thunder too.
Saturday also looks like we're in line for a chance for a thundershower or two.
Not an all day washout.
So the whole day might not be ruined but we're still talking about more rain around.
So anything outside you know the ground is still going to be really really wet this weekend.
One last chance for a thundershower even on Sunday.
I've looked at the new information and it looks like we'll prolong that rain chance one more day but eventually the pattern will change.
Box 23 Doppler radar right now.
Nothing going on over Tulsa neighborhoods.
Just a cloudy night for us.
A few very small very brief sprinkles.
Southern Delaware County, Northern Adair County and Northern Cherokee County.
And we could see more like this every now and then through the evening and even into the night especially east of I-44.
But notice we don't have any widespread rain coming our way.
All that widespread rain staying off to our south near the Arcletex into the Ozarks.
The temperatures will fall fairly slowly with the mostly cloudy skies tonight.
Sixty at seven o'clock.
Jacket weather this evening.
Fifty six at nine p.m.
Midnight fifty four.
We probably won't have the big fog issue like we had last night because the northeast breeze will keep moving about ten miles an hour.
Fifty two out the door on Thursday morning.
So this computer model I think exaggerates the amount of rain that we're going to have tonight.
But it does get the placement right.
I think mostly east of I-44 is where we'll stand the chance for an occasional sprinkle tonight or tomorrow morning.
And a lot of clouds.
Now interesting the break in the clouds.
The edge of the cloud deck could get down as far south as the north side of the metro tomorrow afternoon.
So Sedan, Pawuska, Pawnee might actually enjoy a pretty nice day with some sunshine.
That is not going to be the case south of I-44 where the clouds will stay locked in.
But sixty two our lunchtime temperature tomorrow.
And maybe a brief sprinkle working through from time to time, but most of that rain staying southeast Oklahoma sixty six at four o'clock for our high.
So a little warmer than today and tomorrow evening fifty four by ten o'clock.
And despite all the clouds and rain chances in the forecast, our temperatures won't take a big hit.
Low sixties today, mid sixties tomorrow, Friday likely to be an overcast day and only about 60.
But that's close to average at sixty one.
And this weekend we climb back to sixty eight Saturday, seventy on Sunday.
You can track the showers with the Free Fox Twenty Three weather app.
Five day forecast your weekend always in view every day at least stands a chance for a shower.
But the greatest chance in the greatest coverage of rain should be Friday with a cooler high of sixty Saturday.
Mostly cloudy and occasional thundershower sixty eight Sunday back up to seventy again.
I think the whole day is not going to be a washout on Sunday, but at least that threat will still be there briefly.
But by Monday warming back up to seventy six with sunshine flipping the weather pattern around early next week.
Between now and the weekend, those rain chances continue.
And in our next half hour, take a closer look at who's seen the heaviest rain so far and how much more will fall in your town before we dry out again.
Turning wastewater into drinking water, the long term plan for Tulsa's tap water.
Call it tipsy juice. Yeah, the juice bar police say was selling more than advertised.
The smell was probation all to the alley.
And then it just went up.
What investigators think caused this explosion that injured nine firefighters and an early spring break thanks to a gas leak.
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Some students in Sand Springs will be starting spring break early due to a gas leak.
Anderson Public School announced classes are canceled tomorrow and school is out on Friday as well.
Fox 23's Preston Jones found out how this likely will not be a quick fix.
He has the new details. Parked buses, empty swing sets and a quiet school.
Everybody was leaving about eight o'clock last night going home and we smelled a pretty strong odor of natural gas.
Superintendent Brett Banker says he first found out about the gas leak after a basketball fundraiser Tuesday night.
It's the main line that feeds into the cafeteria.
Banker says O&G turned off the gas around midnight and he was forced to close the Anderson Public School.
But fixing that line could come at the cost of this playground, at least temporarily, because the gas line runs right underneath.
It's probably not going to be a quick fix, so it may take some time.
The school has about 285 students from pre-K through sixth grade and it's just one of several schools dealing with the gas leak this year.
We also couldn't cook this morning. We couldn't provide breakfast. We couldn't provide lunch for our kids.
Fox 23 reported when both Ulaga and Glenpool had to close.
I reached out to O&G and the gas company says all of the leaks have been on school property.
The issue isn't on O&G's end. Plumbers will have to fix the gas line.
Then O&G will inspect it before turning the gas back on.
As the plumbers get to work, Banker says he's just grateful we've had a warm winter.
We haven't used any snow days yet, so luckily we have those built in.
So, yeah, worst case scenario, we'll just start spring break early.
In San Springs, covering News That Matters, I'm Preston Jones, Fox 23 News.
After two waves of soaking rain, we're in kind of a lull this evening.
On the way in just a few minutes, I'll show you just how much more rain we're going to add to those totals tonight.
Help for our highways, the changes that will send money to Oklahoma to help you have a smoother, safer drive.
Thou shalt not steal. It is in the Bible.
How a bank robber used the good book in downtown Tulsa.
On the next Modern Family, it's an emergency for Phil.
Sorry to alarm everyone. I think I was probably just overreacting because there's an alien inside of me.
And it's bedtime for the baby.
It's just hard if you happen to be a person who hates to hear another person suffer.
Or two people suffer.
Next, Modern Family, tonight at 630 on Fox 23.
I just had such a great experience that before I knew it, I had moved my checking over.
When it came time for me to get a car, I didn't want to work with anyone else.
I found a car that I really liked and I said, I'm going to get a loan, but it has to be through Tulsa Federal.
I know that I'm working with the same company and with the same level of support
and the experience that I've come to expect Tulsa Federal exceeds my expectations every time
and I have very high expectations.
A representative came to my school talking about the different programs and information security was one.
Family, friends. But the best part about graduation day was when I got to announce to my family that I had gotten the job.
For some, school is a backup plan, but for me, it was the only plan.
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FOX 23 is keeping an eye on the chance for more rain in the coming hours and days.
It's certified meteorologist John Boyer has been tracking this rain for the last several days.
He joins us now with a look at what we can expect tonight, John.
Very, very light in comparison to yesterday and the day before.
So still kind of damp, still kind of gloomy, but not really soaking the ground too much.
So we're not really worried about any flooding threat tonight.
In fact, FOX 23 Doppler radar over our Tulsa neighborhoods is dry.
There are a few sprinkles we can find in far eastern Oklahoma.
Over the past hour, parts of Delaware, Cherokee, Adair County, seeing a sprinkle or two.
Looks like maybe new ones popped up. Northern Rogers County.
Not very big. And we're going to keep it way low in comparison to the rain totals we've had so far this week.
Heaviest I can find so far this week, Holdenville, a little over 3.2 inches.
Just about three inches there around Talimena.
For the metro area, heaviest on the south side so far this week around two inches in Bixby, an inch and a half for Tulsa International.
And the lowest amount in Green Country, still pretty significant.
Nearly a quarter, three quarters of an inch of rain so far in Veneta.
Rain chances for tonight, a trace to nothing.
Metro, Tulsa and west and even the areas that do see a sprinkler to tenth of an inch or less east of Highway 69.
Later this half hour, a look ahead to how much more rain totals we're going to add between now and the weekend.
A federal grand jury has indicted a man for robbing a downtown Tulsa bank.
We told you in January when Jeffrey Scott Bruce was charged.
Fox 23's Lynn Casey is reporting live with what the Bible has to do with all of this, Lynn.
The note he told police that he passed to the teller was written on a page torn out of a Bible.
Jeffrey Scott Bruce told detectives he's the man in this photo, robbing the Arvis Bank in downtown Tulsa.
Tellers told police a man walked in while they were handling a large amount of cash and demanded that they hand it over.
They say he passed them a note indicating he had a gun.
According to charging documents, Bruce told police he tore a page out of a Bible at the Salvation Army and wrote the note that he passed to the tellers.
Police say it reads, this is a robbery. I have a gun and will use it. Fill it up. Do it now. Thank you.
The tellers say he even gestured toward his hip to indicate that gun, took the nearly $4,000 from their hands and left.
A few days later, he showed up at a Tucson police department and turned himself in.
He told detectives after the robbery, he went to a nearby deli to eat a sandwich, called himself a cab and took a Greyhound bus to Tucson.
The U.S. Attorney's Office charged Bruce with bank robbery.
Just this week, a federal grand jury indicted him on the charges so the case can move forward.
We found out Bruce had been out of prison for just about one month when he says he committed this robbery.
He'd had a seven-year prison sentence for second-degree burglary out of Rogers County.
Reporting live in downtown Tulsa, covering news that matters, I'm Lynn Casey, Fox 23 News.
New at 5, a local elementary school teacher is behind bars on charges of embezzling from the school.
According to court documents, Jordan Green is accused of taking $2,400 from the Copan Elementary PTO but never gave it to teachers.
Prosecutors also say he used $1,200 to pay his personal bills.
Washington County deputies say Green paid back the money after he learned he was being investigated.
State legislature wants you, the voter, to help close the billion-dollar budget gap.
A proposed change to the state constitution would allow the state to use interest earnings from the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund to shore up the Medicaid system.
The Senate passed that measure today.
In a developing story, nine Seattle firefighters were injured after an explosion leveled three businesses early this morning.
Check out this incredible video.
Reporter Bob Munoz with our sister station in Seattle talked with people who live nearby about the scary wake-up call.
For a lot of people here, this site has been absolutely heartbreaking.
At the same time his investigation is beginning, the cleanup also starts.
Only Chopper 7 can show you the devastation left behind after a gasoline explosion leveled three businesses and damaged many more in Greenwood this morning.
Bill told us he was sleeping behind the Mr. Euro's restaurant when he called 911 over a loud hissing noise.
The smell was pervasive all through the alley and then it just went up.
It was 1 o' 4 a.m. when eight Seattle firefighters and their battalion chief responded.
39 minutes later, an explosion heard miles away rock the area.
Me in a deep sleep and then hearing some shattering noise and then just the end of it, the boom at the very end, was what I came to.
What you're looking at is all that's left of a significant chunk of a city block.
A Euro's restaurant, a coffee shop and grocery store all flattened in the rubble.
Nearby shops were significantly damaged and the pressure wave of the explosion blew out windows hundreds of feet away.
This here is about a football field and a half away from my business and the explosion was that powerful.
The blast also caught the nine firefighters responding to the gas leak.
Miraculously, they escaped with only cuts and bruises and no one else was injured.
But the street, considered the heart of the Greenwood neighborhood, is now digging itself out after this morning's disaster.
It's really sad to see businesses like that succumb to a disaster like this, honestly.
All nine of those Seattle firefighters have since been released from the hospital.
Investigators still sifting through this rubble to find out how a gas leak could have caused this much damage.
In Seattle, covering News That Matters, I'm Rob Munoz, Fox 23 News.
A third suspect accused of starting a local wildfire turned himself in just hours ago.
They told you there was a warrant out for the arrest of Levi Ferris.
Now police believe Ferris and three others started a fire in Osage County last month that burned thousands of acres.
Suspects Stephen and Heather Land went before a judge yesterday.
Again, police are still looking for a fourth suspect.
Police are looking for a person who they say is pretending to be a nurse in order to get prescription medicine.
Shawnee police say the suspect found out crucial information about a local doctor,
then called in prescriptions under the guise of being her nurse.
So far, police say she's trying to hit three different pharmacies.
Some of them have been checked by the pharmacies and have called and they've been declined, but some actually have been filled.
Well, police say one clue that tipped them off,
prescriptions were always called in for juvenile patients.
Our coverage of news at Matters County.
By county begins in Cherokee County.
Taliqua City leaders are calling for a safety study at a couple of busy intersections.
They say the study should consider changing the traffic rules there along the Bertha Parker bypass because there have been so many accidents.
And in LaFleur County, a boil order is in effect tonight for at least 150 people in the town of Panama.
According to police, there are sewer line broke, forcing the bull order for people who live on the east side of the US 59 in Panama.
Officials currently running tests of the water, the long term plan for Tulsa's water and why you may eventually be drinking recycled wastewater.
Not so healthy.
What police say they got an Oklahoma juice bar selling and who they arrested.
Another spike.
We're tracking gas prices across the Tulsa region and why they keep rising.
Saturday and Saturday only 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
A butcher shop with supermarket prices.
Country Mart and Apple Market.
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Gas prices jumped again overnight, but they're staying under $2 a gallon.
We found many stations around the Tulsa Metro selling regular unleaded for $1.79.
Including this Broken Arrow Come and Go at 81st and Garnet.
The jump comes even after U.S. crude oil saw a drop of 4% yesterday.
The price of crude oil is bouncing back up from 13-year lows we hit several weeks ago.
New at 5, the Tulsa Farmers Market will stay on Cherry Street.
There's some video from last year near 15th and Peoria.
Market organizers say they're still looking for long-term indoor space.
The first farmers market of the season, this new season, is this Saturday from 830 to 11.
This is the 18th season for the Cherry Street farmers market.
The U.S. Attorney General cast new doubt on the president's ability to close a controversial detention camp.
Loretta Lynch answered questions about Gitmo at a hearing in the U.S. Senate today.
She says the president needs congressional approval to close the camp.
The president's policy indicates a desire to work with Congress to implement any necessary changes.
Lynch also says the law prohibits moving prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to U.S. soil.
President Obama says the camp's existence is a recruitment tool for foreign terrorists.
Republicans say moving terror suspects out of Cuba would jeopardize U.S. national security.
Famed Beatles producer Sir George Martin died yesterday at the age of 90.
According to his management company, Martin partnered with the Beatles for seven years.
Ringo Starr posted on his Twitter page, God bless George Martin.
Martin worked with various other artists during his long career, including cheap trick Jeff Beck and Celine Dion.
Just ahead, I'm mapping out which towns will get the heaviest rain amounts between now and the weekend
and the effect that's had on our pollen count.
A rural Oklahoma town hit with a massive water plant repair bill.
What steps they're taking to make sure people have drinkable water.
What's that in your drink?
All right, well, police say one Oklahoma juice bar was adding to their drinks.
They got two people arrested.
Safer roads, how millions of dollars will now be heading to our state.
I'm done.
All new tonight at nine eight central on Fox.
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And a developing story.
Millions of federal dollars budgeted to build and repair Oklahoma roads but never spent.
Turns out the state can't spend it, not legally.
Fox twenty three's Justin Gray explains.
Nearly two billion of your tax dollars that were supposed to go to build and repair bridges and roads.
But the problem is a decade later, the money never got spent.
The roads were never built.
And all this money is sitting there unspent for more than 10 years.
The money was earmarked by lawmakers for specific projects and couldn't be spent in any other way.
But they were road projects states either didn't want or couldn't afford.
The money unable to be used on other more needed road projects.
Critics call them orphan earmarks.
The vast majority of projects are zero percent spent.
Now with the change in the law by Congress and new rulemaking this week from the Department of Transportation,
states can apply to use the money for other road projects.
We dug through the numbers to find the amount of money that's potentially available for the state of Oklahoma.
It adds up to about four million dollars that's never been spent.
They could now go to new road projects.
So Congress has finally said, let's take this money, spend it somewhere else on a project that the state deems necessary and essential.
All new construction would have to be within 50 miles of the original never built project.
So local communities could finally get the road money.
Congress promised them a decade ago.
Reporting in Washington covering news that matters, Justin Gray, Fox 23 News.
More than 12,000 Walmart employees in the Tulsa area are getting a raise this week.
Starting March 10th, all Walmart employees will be getting a raise.
For most employees, it's a dollar more an hour.
Walmart's chief financial officer says it will cost the company 1.5 billion dollars.
This comes on the heels of Fox 23 telling you that six Oklahoma Walmart express stores closed their doors in January.
Court records show two school officers charged in an attack on a student have been accused of violent behavior before.
Records show Anthony Spence and Severna Bias were involved in violent incidents.
The officers in Maryland faced charges after cell phone video went viral of one slapping a student.
An officer filed a protective order against Spence in 2011.
That same year, a case against Bias was shelved.
Officials say she threw a bottle of alcohol at a man.
It's a strange story. New at five, an Oklahoma juice bar that also features totally nude dancers is accused of sneaking liquor into some of its drinks.
Valley Brook Police began investigating lanudes after receiving tips.
The club was infusing fruit drinks with alcohol. It's against the law for that type of establishment.
Undercover officers looked into this for two months.
We were able to obtain some drinks that we believe contained alcohol.
So we did have them samples submitted to the OSBI and they did return with some alcohol.
Two months. All right. Police arrested several employees and the club's owner.
Well, we're working on several stories for you for Fox 23 News at six, including a young child found alone in the rain and broken arrow.
This is a live look at the police department where we're learning more about the child's mother from officers who say she's been in trouble before.
And we're also looking into what the city's done since our Fox 23 investigation about a South Tulsa flooding problem and the new problem.
Neighbors say the change may have caused. So it looks like we're in for several more days of rain.
It's kind of depressing weather this week. Certified meteorologist John Boyers in the Fox 23 Severe Weather Center tracking how much rain we could still see.
Yeah, not a continuous rain, especially the next 36 hours. Pretty spotty here and there.
But at least we're not talking about grass fires anymore. Yeah, true.
And we've already got a soaking twice this week. We've got another good soaking on the way, I think, once we get into Friday.
But for tonight, just isolated light showers and nothing really too impactful on Thursday.
Also pretty isolated and pretty light. I think we're actually going to dry out for a little while Thursday night, Friday, especially towards the afternoon and evening.
A little more widespread activity. We'll call it scattered, but it is not going to be quite as heavy as what we went through the past two rounds.
But what this will add up to now through Saturday rain amounts again, we're not going to get this spread out evenly.
Most of this is going to come, I think, on Friday. But a quarter inch to three quarter inch for Metro Tulsa and most of northeast Oklahoma.
Another good soaking. But for southeast Oklahoma, a little heavier where that rain is going to be a little more persistent.
Three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half in particular, places like Wilberton, Stigler, Salisaw could get amounts up to an inch by Saturday.
But that still wouldn't be heavy enough to create flash flooding issues because, again, it won't come all in the course of a few hours.
It'll be a little more spread out on Friday.
Mike's 23 Doppler radar quiet this evening over our Tulsa neighborhoods.
Couldn't rule out a brief sprinkle or a little bit of drizzle later on this evening.
But definitely nothing too widespread that will keep you inside for long.
We do have some spotty showers. I've been monitoring over the past hour in Delaware County.
Those mostly falling apart. Some new showers that have popped up right on the eastern bank of Lake Oulaga moving to the northwest.
They do keep holding northwest, wouldn't move towards Washington County.
But the tendency with these other showers north of Highway 412 has been to fall apart pretty quickly.
So that's kind of the rain chance on the order of what we're talking about tonight.
Pretty light, pretty spotty, mostly east of I-44. Seven o'clock temperature tomorrow morning, 52.
Just about as cool as it was this morning.
We'll enjoy clouds for much of the day, but I think there will be maybe a few more glimpses of sun, especially north of the metro.
So we'll end up just a little bit warmer, 62 at noon and a high temperature of 66.
Despite the gloominess, still a little warmer than average for this time of year.
62 heading out at seven o'clock tomorrow evening.
Now, high temperatures will have a little bit of a range tomorrow, depending on how thick the cloud cover is.
66 here in Tulsa, but south of the metro, the clouds will be a little thicker.
A few sprinkles there in the mix, mid to maybe even lower 60s between Ufala and Tahlequah.
Farther north from the metro, we might get close to 70.
Southeast Kansas, northern Osage County, where we have a better chance of the sun breaking back out.
Seen some changes in our pollen numbers since last week.
Disregard that date, these are actually today's numbers.
We have pine, oak and elm as our tree pollen.
It looks a little more spring-like. We don't have cedar in the mix, but at moderate levels.
And a high count for mold spores today, as you'd expect after heavy rainfall.
We do have more damp weather in the five-day forecast that could aggravate your pollen issues.
Tomorrow's rain, mostly southeast of the metro, 66. Friday, cloudy, better chance of scattered showers in 60.
Saturday, Sunday, one or two thundershowers still moving through, but at least we warm up a bit.
68 Saturday, 70 Sunday. By Monday, trending towards 76.
So, chances of thundershowers in the days ahead all outline which days have the best chance for hearing thunder
in the severe weather outlook on FOX 23 News at 6.
A chase in Rogers County ends with two men behind bars, where deputies finally caught the suspects.
New details in Tulsa's quad murder trial, while robbery days before the murders came up in court.
The future of Tulsa's water when reused wastewater might hit your taps.
This vision is a balanced plan, and public safety is a key part of the puzzle.
To fight crime in Tulsa, we need more police officers on the streets,
because nothing is more important than keeping our neighbors, friends, and loved ones safe.
Confronting violent crime requires more manpower and more patrols.
That's why I'm asking you to approve the Vision Tulsa Plan, so we can hire 160 new police officers without raising taxes.
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We are on breaking news right now.
Police confirming a deadly accident in East Tulsa near 48th and Garnet.
This involves a car and a motorcycle.
Emergency crews are on the scene now.
Fox 23 has a reporter that's just arrived.
An update from the scene for you just ahead.
Well, the city of Tulsa is exploring new ways to reuse your wastewater.
Fox 23's Farran Salih discovered what options are available and how soon we could see them in action.
One of the important things in...
One by one...
That will identify costs...
Four different engineering companies pitch their plans for the future of water in Tulsa.
The three things that we're considering are cost, environmental issues, and the supply.
The chairman of the selection committee says their goal is to find the most efficient way to reuse sewer water.
The city says it's not a matter of if, but when they'll need more water reuse options.
And they say they want to make sure they already have the technology in place to handle it.
The committee asked questions about if we faced another drought.
Or how the new system could handle competing water supplies.
The Western farmers are now discussing taking the water from Eastern Oklahoma and pumping it out to Western Oklahoma for farming use.
And with so many pressing issues in the Sooner State, I asked what they're doing to protect us from becoming like a city in Michigan, Flint.
Fox 23 told you about the water crisis there and how thousands of people still can't drink from the water out of their taps.
The problem in Flint is different than what we have.
They didn't treat their water properly.
We treat our water so that our entire system is coated with calcium carbonate.
He says we won't have to worry about lead because reusing potable water is a different technique altogether.
As for the thought of this coming from your faucet, we're still at least 20 years away.
But we'll let you know when the city starts putting those systems in place.
Covering News That Matters, I'm Farron Sillie, Fox 23 News.
Well, the committee also approved spending around $200,000 to improve the odor near Mooser Creek.
A toddler found wandering in the rain knew at six where the boy ended up and what neighbors say about the discovery.
Spending your tax dollars to keep the water safe also knew at six why a water plant says it's being forced to apply for even more grant money.
The road definitely works that part.
The new problem, some South Tulsa neighbors say may be the result of fixing a flooding problem.