We aim to inform our readers about issues that are sometimes critical and other times inspirational. Through in-depth and investigative journalism, we will hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on things kept in the dark while also highlighting the best of Tulsa and the state.
OKLAHOMA CITY — In the face of volumes of contrary evidence, billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens said Friday that Oklahoma’s increase in earthquakes isn’t due to the energy industry, just to better monitoring.
“Wastewater wells and fracking have nothing to do with — they’re not even earthquakes,” he told KFOR news anchor Kevin Ogle, who interviewed the oilman from Holdenville before a crowd of 300 guests at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City.
Pickens’ statements came during a special limited seating luncheon, billed as the “T. Boone Pickens Birthday Bash” to celebrate Pickens’ 87th birthday.
The group has about 30 days remaining to collect at least 5,000 signatures of registered voters to impanel the grand jury. All signatures on the petition must be verified before being counted as official.
Meet our publisher, Bobby Lorton, and learn more about our mission at The Frontier.
Contributor Joshua Kline brings us dispatches from Oklahoma City at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, a conservative pep rally that could forecast frontrunners for the 2016 presidential election.
For the past five years, state and federal auditors have repeatedly criticized the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office for lax oversight of inmate trust accounts – but those warnings prompted little change and some of the funds went missing, an investigation by The Frontier found.
State auditors also questioned the sheriff’s office for lack of oversight over federal grant funds used to finance a multi-agency drug task force, records show. Questions remain regarding a lack of documentation for nearly $200,000 in federal grant funds.
Sources say up to $25,000 was discovered missing from the inmate trust funds – money held on behalf of inmates in the jail – in 2012. It is unclear how the Sheriff’s Office made up the shortfall or whether some inmates simply didn’t receive their money after release.
Sheriff’s Office, tornadoes and hipster Tulsans, oh my.
The OSBI has not yet opened an investigation, but noted Thursday morning that they had received Kunzweiler’s request. The OSBI can only be requested by a law enforcement or investigatory agency.
