Ziva Branstetter: Tall Blog

Sheriff’s office travel includes posh resort, paid trips for reserves

Ziva Branstetter July 1, 2015

While jail operations ran deficits, Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz and his employees spent more than $500,000 the past three years on travel and training — much of it from jail funds — ordering cheesecake and ice cream delivered via room service, paying $36 daily valet parking fees and billing taxpayers $500 per night to stay in a resort with free golf and afternoon tea, an investigation by The Frontier shows.

The Frontier reviewed travel claims by Glanz’s office since 2009 and found numerous questionable expenses and a few potential violations of the county’s travel policy, including Glanz’s trip to a lavish resort with his former undersheriff, Tim Albin.

Supreme Court rules state can use execution drug

Ziva Branstetter June 29, 2015

By a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Oklahoma’s use of a controversial new drug in lethal injections, clearing the way for the state and others to resume executions.

The decision in Glossip v. Gross means Oklahoma can use the sedative to carry out three pending executions and others in the future. Executions have been on hold in Oklahoma and most other states since the inmates challenged use of the drug midazolam following a botched execution.

Supreme Court Obamacare ruling: Reactions from Oklahoma

Ziva Branstetter June 25, 2015

Julie Alexander was among the parties eagerly watching the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday. Had it gone the other way, the Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell could have added as many as 150,000 people to the already high number of uninsured Oklahomans.
Alexander would have been one of them

Sand Springs may sue Tulsa County officials in dispute over jail tax

Ziva Branstetter June 24, 2015

Sand Springs city councilors unanimously approved a resolution this week authorizing the city’s attorney to file suit against “all necessary parties including the TCCJA, Tulsa County, the Tulsa County Sheriff and all beneficiary cities and towns to determine the rights and responsibilities of the city concerning operations of the jail.”

Mayors want budget scrapped due to “improper” jail spending

Ziva Branstetter June 17, 2015

Citing what they claim to be improper funding practices at the Tulsa Jail, three area mayors – including Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett – want the proposed 2016 jail budget discarded in favor of a temporary funding resolution that would remain in effect until the budgeting process can be overhauled.

A special meeting of the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority will be held at 10 a.m. today in the Tulsa County administration building to discuss the mayors’ requests. The authority — which oversees jail funding — had been scheduled to vote on the jail budget Wednesday afternoon.

New earthquake report puts state’s risk in plain language

Ziva Branstetter June 17, 2015

A new report from the United States Geological Survey spells out in the clearest way yet what Oklahoma officials have denied and danced around for so long: A huge increase in wastewater injection from oil and gas exploration is triggering a sharp rise in earthquakes in the state.

And while the increase hasn’t included a catastrophic earthquake and fatalities, the risk in areas such as Oklahoma with induced quakes is now comparable to the risk of such events in California. Avoiding this risk requires “a detailed understanding of the physical processes involved in inducing large magnitude events,” the report concludes.

Tall blog: Court refuses to grant stay in execution records suit

Ziva Branstetter June 9, 2015

The state Supreme Court unanimously rejected Gov. Mary Fallin’s argument Monday that discovery and depositions in our lawsuit over execution records must be stayed, a victory for advocates of openness across the state.

Now the lawsuit can move forward, allowing us to find out more about how Fallin’s administration responds to open records requests. The process could produce some interesting results, as this administration has received state and national recognition for its lack of transparency.

Court refuses to grant stay in execution records suit