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October 29, 2011
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Cherokee funds released • The more than $37 million had been frozen due to legal issues involving freedmen citizenship. BY JIM MYERS
World Capital Bureau
WASHINGTON — A federal agency is releasing more than $37 million in Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma housing funding that was frozen recently during the longrunning legal drama over freedmen citizenship, U.S. Rep. Dan Boren
‘GREAT NEWS’ Rep. Dan Boren: “The announcement that this funding will continue is the culmination of several months of collaboration.”
said Friday. “This is great news,” said the Oklahoma Democrat, who earlier had stated the federal government had overstepped its bounds by freezing the funds. Boren said the funding will allow the tribe to continue provid- Oklahoma jobs and materials. ing quality, affordable housing for “The announcement that this its members as well as reinvest in funding will continue is the culmi-
nation of several months of collaboration between my office and the Cherokee Nation,” he said. Newly elected Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker also welcomed the decision by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to release the funding and noted in his statement the funds had been withheld from the tribe under its previous administration. SEE FUNDS A4
TULSA POLICE: REMAINS FOUND NEAR FOOT SITE
Hello, W. Virginia, Mizzou all but gone The Big 12 welcomed West Virginia from the Big East and bade goodbye to Missouri before the Tigers even had a chance to finalize their move to the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 completed its work Friday by adding West Virginia to become its easternmost member. The Big 12 said it expects to have 10 schools for the 2012-13 season, listing West Virginia but not Missouri.
See story on B3
RELATIONS Bill Anoatubby: The Chickasaw governor said installing a liaison would resume the productive relationship between the tribe and the state.
Tribes see an urgency in naming a liaison BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
A Ford Expedition sits in an east Tulsa retention pond near Fifth Street and Mingo Road, where the SUV, a Honda Civic and more human remains were found. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World
Pond holds car, remains A missing woman’s SUV was in the water
MISSING Sheila Sharp: The SUV found submerged in the Tulsa pond was registered to Sharp, who disappeared on Valentine’s Day in 2006 at the age of 46.
Police discovered human skeletal remains in one of two vehicles pulled Friday from an east Tulsa pond where a human foot was found three days earlier. The remains were scattered inside a 1997 Ford Expedition registered to Sheila Sharp, also known as Sheila Scott, who has been missing since February 2006, Tulsa police said. It could take months for DNA tests to determine if they are Sharp’s remains, police said.
SEE POND A4
‘There’s nothing that leads us to believe that this was a homicide. There’s a number of situations that could have occurred.’ OFFICER JASON WILLINGHAM
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Admiral Pl. Pond where human remains and two vehicles were found 5th St. 169
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World Staff Writer
It also could take some time to determine if the remains are missing a foot, which could link them to the remains found Tuesday inside a female shoe at the pond, police said. The remains in the Expedition were widely scattered and damaged by years of lying under mud and water. Some were concentrated in the back seat, police said. “For us as the investigators, this is probably all we’ll have for weeks, months even,” Officer Jason Willingham
Mingo Rd.
BY ZACK STOYCOFF
11th St. DAVID HOUSH/Tulsa World
DAVID HOUSH/Tulsa World
OKLAHOMA CITY — Some American Indian leaders are uneasy because the state’s Indian Affairs Commission has been abolished and a planned liaison to replace the group hasn’t been appointed. The Legislature eliminated the 44-year-old commission last year and transferred its duties — and added several duties, including monitoring state compacts with tribes — to a liaison, who will work out of the governor’s office. The commission is gone, but the law gives the governor’s office until Dec. 1 to appoint someone to the liaison’s position — leaving a void, some tribal leaders say. Jefferson Keel, lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation, raised the issue at Wednesday’s meeting of the legislative committee looking at how the new federal health care law will affect the state. “That needs to take place,” Keel said. “We need that position filled. I know there are some Indians out there who could do an excellent job.” Making sure the state’s response to the federal health care law works well with tribal health policies is one of the jobs the liaison could be doing for the state, Keel said. In a subsequent prepared statement, Chickasaw Gov. Bill Anoatubby said it is important for the tribes to have someone to turn to in state government. “Historically, effective communiSEE LIAISON A4
2 councilors met with trash firm ••Their•contact•with•TRI• is•criticized•by•the•trash• board,•which•vows•to•move• forward•with•the•bids.
BY BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
Trash•board•Chairwoman•Cheryl•Cohenour•said•Friday•that•city•councilors• have• been• “compromised”• by• meeting• with• Tulsa• Refuse• Inc.• representatives• after• bids• were• submitted• for• the• next• hauling•contract.
Read more coverage of the planned trash service changes. tulsaworld.com/trashchanges
TRI•is•the•consortium•of•haulers•that• has• conducted• most• of• the• city’s• trash• service•for•the•last•32•years•and•appears• to•have•submitted•the•highest•bid•out•of• six• companies• competing• for• the• new• contract•set•to•take•effect•July•1. The• City• Council• on• Thursday• night• revealed•plans•to•amend•the•city’s•regulations• for• trash• service• in• an• effort• to•
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try•to•shape•how•the•service•will•be•conducted. Councilor•Rick•Westcott,•who•is•proposing•a•vote•on•the•action•at•a•Tuesday• special• meeting,• said• he• hopes• it• will• trigger•a•new•bid•process. But• Cohenour• told• the• Tulsa• World• that• the• board• —• formally• called• the• Tulsa• Authority• for• the• Recovery• of• Energy• —• is• moving• ahead• with• its• bid• evaluation• and• the• contract• award,• regardless•of•what•the•council•does. “We•think•that•the•council•is•exceeding• their• authority• by• trying• to• impose• SEE TRASH A10
Abraham Montoya hauls a garbage sack to a trash truck during his route near 15th Street and Harvard Avenue in Tulsa recently. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
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