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January 13, 2013
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State health plan in the works
6 1 ST & P E O R I A
E XC L U S I V E I N V E S T I G AT I V E R E P O R T
••The•“Oklahoma• Plan”•would•be• used•instead•of• Obamacare.
The slaying of four women at Fairmont Terrace apartments has cast a shadow over a neighborhood stricken with poverty and violent crime. After more than a dozen homicides in two years, residents struggle to understand ...
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
The• Fallin• administration• is• working• on• a• broad• new• a p p r o a c h• to• public• health• care• —• the• “Oklahoma• Plan”•—•designed• to• use• federal• and• state• funding• to• make• Oklah o m a n s• NEW PLAN healthier. Terry Cline: The• plan,• “What the gover- c u r r e n t l y• nor is advocating being• defor ... is to have v e l o p e d• the flexibility to by• state• make informed H e a l t h• decisions for our S e c r e t a r y• own population.” Terry• Cline• with• no• For more s p e c i f i c• r o l l - o u t• Parents fall into health-care “cra- date,•would• be,• in• part,• ter.” A20 the• state’s• response•to• “Obamacare” would help many the• Obama• adminisveterans, famit r a t i o n ’ s• lies. G1 Affordable• Care• Act• and•would•rely•on•permission• from• the• U.S.• Department• of• Health• and• Human• Services• to• use• federal• health-care• funding•in•new•ways. Unlike• the• Affordable• SEE PLAN A3
OSU panel didn’t expel sex violators BY SAMANTHA VICENT World Correspondent
STILLWATER•—•The•OSU• Student• Conduct• Office• has• found•seven•students•responsible• for• sexual• misconduct• since•2010,•but•none•has•been• expelled•from•the•university,• according• to• an• OSU• disciplinary•outcome•document. Sexual• misconduct• is• defined• as• “unwanted• sexual• touching•or•exposure,”•“nonconsensual• sexual• assault”• and• “forced• sexual• assault,”• according• to• the• OSU• Student•Code•of•Conduct. Student• Conduct• officials• have• investigated• at• least• 10•
Lanny Endicott, a social worker and longtime neighborhood resident, talks about Fairmont Terrace (background) and his work in the community around 61st Street and Peoria Avenue. Photos by JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Area’s problems stem from various circumstances Rep. Jeannie McDaniel recalls asking the manager of St. Thomas Square how she came up with a new name for the apartment complex. Police and others had taken to calling the complex at 61st and Peoria “Gun Gardens,” a twist on its former name of Sun Gardens, due to the shootings there. The name changed in 1996; the problems remained. The manager told her she’d always wanted to visit St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. McDaniel — who headed the mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods at the time — still cringes at the irony. “The sad thing is where you have that density of people who don’t have much hope, you have some people making bad choices,” said McDaniel, D-Tulsa. In addition, out-of-state property owners “don’t have to see what is happening. … They just want the money coming in,” she said. Four women were shot to death Monday at the Fairmont Terrace apartments, among four “projectbased” complexes that receive Section 8 federal housing subsidies. The slayings shocked a community some say has grown accustomed to a certain level of violence there. The Tulsa World polled community leaders, policy makers and others for their thoughts on what led to the crime and social ills in the area and how to ensure residents’ safety. > Read what they had to say, A9. — ZIVA BRANSTETTER, World Enterprise Editor
?
WHAT WENT
WRONG
BY CARY ASPINWALL AND CURTIS KILLMAN ₪ WORLD STAFF WRITERS AND ZIVA BRANSTETTER ₪ WORLD ENTERPRISE EDITOR
T
he neighborhood encompassing 61st Street and Peoria Avenue needed a name, an identity — something other than the “south Tulsa ghetto” or the “South Peoria pocket slum.” After all, there are nice homes here, too, and hard-working people who wait in the rain for bus rides to work, walk their kids to school and go to church on Sundays to ask the Lord for a little help. A Riverwood neighborhood sign lies on a section of 61st Street More than a decade ago, they under construction at Madison Avenue near Fairmont Terrace apartments in Tulsa. renamed it Riverwood. They designed new signs, defined the boundaries, had neighborhood meetings, made plans for a community center, fought for progress, improvements and carried a sense of pride. But crime and a downward economic spiral fought back against their hard-won progress. The new name never really stuck. In the wake of a brutal quadruple homicide that took the lives of four women in publicly financed apartments, locals are wondering: What happened to Riverwood, and how can we get it back? SEE CRIME A8
For more
Coming Monday
Read an explanation of how Section 8 housing programs work. Also, a map shows where homicides and assaults with firearms occurred near 61st and Peoria. A9
Tulsa police say they are taking a focused approach to keep up with crime in the 61st Street and Peoria Avenue area.
TULSAWORLD.COM Read stories about the long-term issues at 61st and Peoria, find resources and more.
tulsaworld.com/Riverwood
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