Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 84, No. 197, Ed. 1 Saturday, May 1, 1999 Page: 3 of 36
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Sapulpa (Old*.) Herald, Satarday/Suaday, May 1/2, I999-TAGE THKEK-A
Judge: Tobacco
suit frivolous
TULSA (AP) — A lawsuit alleging
that the rights of tobacco users were
violated by a $206 billion tobacco set-
tlement is frivolous, a federal judge
says.
U.S. Senior District Judge H. Dale
Cook tossed the civil case out Thurs-
day, saying he saw no reason to bur-
den tobacco firms with any more time
or expense in the case. Cook said if
the plaintiffs were to succeed, all con-
sumers could bring lawsuits every
time a manufacturer increased the
price of a product after losing a case.
“The absurdity of such a result is
plain,” the judge wrote.
Leo Hise and Jack Isch of Okla-
homa City had sought to represent a
class of an estimated 40 million U.S.
tobacco users. They alleged the agree-
ment between major tobacco compa-
nies and 46 states, including Okla-
homa, was costing tobacco users $60
million a day in higher prices.
Bill Sellers, who represented the
plaintiffs, said he was not surprised
by the decision.
"There was too much money and
politics involved," he said.
■ TEENS
Continued from Page 1A
ople in Littleton and talking about the
situation," said Heather Scherer, yo-
uth minister at Sapulpa's First United
Methodist Church.
Similarly, Jeff Cranton, youth min-
ister at First Presbyterian Church,
said he’s had conversations with yo-
ung people at the church and antici-
pates more talks as time reveals more
about the Littleton incident.
McClure said a few of the teens in
his group expressed some fear over
the shootings and the potential danger
for every student.
“I had a few who were scared,” he
said. “I don’t think they were thinking
it would happen to them. I think the
fact that it's happened has scared
them, that it happened to kids just like
them — a suburban, middle-class
type school like what we have here —
that it was so close, not something
that happened abroad, it happened
here in the United States.
“What happens overseas ... some-
times you just don’t think about it.
But when it happens here, it hits close
td home,” he said.
; Scherer said some of the students
ii) her group were frightened about
approaching other kids who might be
considered as outsiders.
“When we talked about kids left
op the outside, we talked about loving
those people, caring for them and in-
cluding them set diey're not being left
ofi£” she said.
i “I did have -some kids who said
tljey were afraid of some of those
people they considered on the outside,
and they did not knowing how to
reach out to those people. We talked
about safety measures, you know,
staying in groups of three or so, and
treating people with respect, even
when they are different from us.”
“Our kids are concerned; I don’t
think they’re afraid it might happen
here, but they’re as move as anybody
by what’s going on," Cranton said.
Despite any fear. McClure said
students at First Baptist were com-
pelled to reach out, not just to fellow
Baptists, but to anyone who needed
help in Littleton.
Scroggs said that’s what young
people are seeking in the first place,
someone who cares.
"Kids are crying out for love and
attention,” he said. “They’re wanting
someone to come and watch their
ballgames and listen to their band con-
certs and pay attention to what they're
<k)ing. That’s what was happening
with the two kids in Littleton.
“Kids are crying out for someone
to pay attention to them. If they don’t
get it from their parents and adults in
their lives, they’ll do what they have
to to get it."
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the press and out of the public’s view
... without taking any chances.
Rumors of a hit list naming students
marked to be shot Friday at noon at
the school complex met with much
mixed feelings, the very air on cam-
pus seemed charged with a brisk but
wiry heaviness. The fact is, students,
teachers and school administrators
were all in a state of “heightened
alert.”
“I don’t know if it’s true or not,"
said one 10th grade boy in a T-shirt
and jeans, as he walked from the
school at lunch time. “I know there’s a
list, and none of the kids on it came to
school today.”
“We notified the parents of the stu-
dents on the list to keep them home
today,” said superintendent Charles
Dodson, who admitted his office
believed the “hit list" was a hoax.
“There were 33 names on the list,”
he said.
The list found in the pockets of a
14-year-old student made references
to the shootings at Littleton, Colo., the
Sapulpa High School dining facilities,
and it stated that Sapulpa was next.
Police are investigating the incident.
“We've done everything in our
power to investigate the rumor, and
Continued from Page 1A
we've taken exact precautions to
secure the safety of all our students.
But I want to make it clear, we do not
believe this to be a legitimate threat,”
Dodson said.
Quoting from memory what the
note said, Dodson dismissed the
notion of a bomb threat.
"There’s no bomb threat here,” he
said. “I've never heard anything about
a bomb threat. All we have is a hoax
about a hit list, but nothing more.”
“The problem is too often times the
public gets misled by false messages
and the entire situation gets blown out
of hand,” said assistant superintendent
Curtis Pitts. “We have the situation
fully under control, and our schools
are the safest place for our children.”
With news of the rumor, security
was doubled on the school grounds
Friday. Patrol cars panned the parking
lots. Two new security officers
patrolled the halls of the junior anfl
senior high schools.
Still, 17 percent of students stayed
home from school Friday. School offi-
cials blamed most of it on Senior Skip
Day, a day seniors traditionally use to
take care of upcoming graduation
details and college preparations. But
some said it was partly due to the
rumor.
Assistant superintendent Doug
Jones said the phone lines were tied
up with concerned parents wanting to
know the truth about the rumor and if
it was safe to send their children to
school. Some parents arrived shortly
before noon to take their children
home before the rumored noon hour
incident was to occur.
The morning passed and went. The
afternoon wore on to early evening,
both without incidents of any kind.
A local radio personality, Ken
Weaver of KVOO, gave coverage of
the day’s events during his news seg-
ment, and TV stations were in town to
cover explosive experts’ recovery of a
napalm-like mixture in a Sapulpa
home.
A talent show scheduled by the
middle school to be held in the junior
high gymnasium was canceled. Activ-
ity in and around the schools seemed
close to business as usual.
“Don’t let anyone tell you our
schools aren’t safe,” Dodson said,
echoing Pitts, with a touch of anger in
his voice.
“Rumors come and go. But our
schools are still the safest place in
Sapulpa.”
■ COLUMBINE_
Continued from Page 1A
was planned for Sunday.
On the hill overlooking the school, where mourners
erected one cross for each of the 13 victims and the two
gunmen, people pulled down the two crosses for Eric Har-
ris and Dylan Klebold. Some were troubled by the inclu-
sion of the gunmen in the memorial; the two crosses had
been defaced.
Protests were planned today at the annual meeting of die
National Rifle Association in nearby Denver. Gun control
advocates, joined by Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, had
urged the NRA to cancel the meeting in response to the
shootings. NRA officials scaled back the gathering from
three days to one, but refused to scrap the meeting.
Meanwhile, Jefferson County authorities responded to
criticism that they ignored a complaint that Harris, 18,
threatened to kill a classmate and had often talked about
making and detonating pipe bombs.
A sheriff’s deputy assigned to Columbine had been
keeping an eye on Harris and Klebold, 17, after the report-
ed threat, but officials said there was little they could do
because the parents who reported the threats wanted to
remain anonymous. And investigators found no evidence
of lawbreaking.
“Without the ability to speak to a victim or positively
identify a suspect, elements of a crime could not be estab-
lished," said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Davis.
About a year before the April 20 assault, Neil Gardner,
the sheriff’s deputy stationed at Columbine, received a
“suspicious incident" report that Harris’ Web site discussed
detonating pipe bombs and committing mass murder.
Gardner was at Columbine when Harris and Klebold
attacked the school with bombs and assault weapons. He
exchanged fire with one of the gunmen.
The March 1998 incident report came from Randy
Brown, who claimed his 18-year-old son Brooks had been
repeatedly threatened by Harris, a schoolmate. Brown gave
the sheriff’s office printouts of Harris’ Web site warnings,
which included threats to kill.
“God, I can't wait until I can kill you people” read one
of the postings. “I’ll just go to some downtown area in
some big (expletive) city and blow up and shoot everything
I can.”
Police said the Browns refused to let their son’s name be
used in the investigation, and they also declined to file a
formal complaint that would have allowed investigators to
directly question Harris.
Weekend
News Wrap
Four believed dead at Lake Eufaula
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Four people, including two children, are
believed to have drowned after their fishing boat sank Friday night in Eufmila
Lake.
The Oklahoma Lake Patrol said the bodies have not been recovered of Toby
Isom, 23, of Kiowa, Kristina Rice, 30, of Ashland and
£ L « ht'r 11-year-old daughter, Casey Brandon. The body of
^ Rice’s 3-year-old son. Seven Rice, has been found.
■ The patrol said the only survivor in the boat was Ms.
Rice’s 12-year-old daughter, Kristen Brandon. She was
treated and released with minor injuries from a McAlester hospital.
The patrol said the five passengers were trout fishing when the boat began
to sink about 9:15 p.m. Friday at the Cardinal Point Recreation Area, just north
of McAlester. Passengers swam toward the bank. Seven was the only one
wearing a personal flotation device. The patrol continued the search Saturday.
More Oklahomans head to Kosovo
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — More members of die 552nd Air Control
Wing at Tinker Air Force Base have been deployed to Europe as NATO con-
tinues its air assault on targets in Yugoslavia.
About 125 members of the wing and two AWACS planes were deployed
Thursday. The E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, commonly
called AWACS, provides airborne radar to identify friendly aircraft in its range
and identifies any potential airborne threats.
Also Thursday, a U.S. House panel voted down an emergency amendment
by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., to block immediately the use of ground troops
in Kosovo without congressional approval.
The action by the House Appropriations Committee was in contrast to a
House vote Wednesday in which a clear majority said President Clinton must
seek such authorization before introducing ground troops into the area.
EPA tightens up on light trucks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is about to
propose tough new pollution condo’s on motor vehicles that for the first time
would require popular sport-utility vehicles to be as clean-running as automo-
biles.
Oil companies also would have to produce much cleaner gasoline under
the proposal.
The stringent new requirements, some of which would be phased in over
the next decade, were given the nod this week by the
as ■ . a White House and could be announced any day,
|U A f I rt administration officials said. The officials spoke
* ^ I on|y on condition they not be named.
The EPA has told auto and oil industry representa-
tives that dramatic, although technologically feasible, reductions in tailpipe
emissions and cleaner gasoline are needed if state and local officials are to cut
smog and soot to meet federal air quality requirements as well as reduce dan-
gerous toxic chemicals and soot.
The so-called Tier O auto emission controls would require automakers on
a fleet average to cut smog-causing chemical emissions and other pollution by
up to 80 percent and take into account SUVs, light trucks and minivans that
comprise half of all vehicles sold.
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Horn, Richard A. Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 84, No. 197, Ed. 1 Saturday, May 1, 1999, newspaper, May 1, 1999; Sapulpa, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1497129/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.