Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
, , p
museums, historic sites www.okhistory.org.
ry
Aug
00
a-
al
5-
.D\&RXQW\*23
21
2019
s-
ry
e
PHHWLQJ7KXUVGD\
i- The Kay County Republi-
Page cans will begin their month-
A003 of
n, ly meetings once again with
Clip n their first meeting since May
resized scheduled for Thursday,
73% e
e- Aug. 22 at Pioneer Technol-
e ogy Center 2101 N. Ash in
Ponca City at 7 p.m.
The keynote speaker for
the meeting will be Todd
Thomsen who beginning
December 2018 became the
Managing Director of Com-
munity Relations for Epic
Charter Schools. Prior to
this Thompson served in the
Oklahoma House of Repre-
sentatives for 12 years for
District 25. As a Legislator,
Thomsen was Vice Chairman
Of Education, Chairman of
Higher Education, Majority
Whip and completed his time
as the Utilities Chairman. Todd Thomsen
As Utilities Chairman Thom- tant. He is a 1985 graduate
sen helped carry important from Sapulpa High School
legislation to overhaul and where he was an undefeated
reform the Oklahoma Uni- State Champion wrestler his
versal Service Fund which senior year and Quarterback
helps provide broadband and Kicker for the Chieftain
access to Schools, Hospitals football team.
and Libraries along with Upon graduation from High
Legislation to set the frame- School Thomsen attended
work for 5G implementation OU where he was the kick-
across the state. off specialist, punter and
In addition to being a State holder for the Sooners from
Rep, Thomsen was the East ‘85-‘88. As the Sooners punt-
Central Oklahoma Fellow- er he held the Orange Bowl
ship Of Christian Athletes punting record for 14 years
Representative for 29 years. and was a 1987 Academic
He organized and direct- All American. Todd gradu-
ed camps, rallies and con- ated from OU with a degree
certs with the likes of Lau- in Management Information
ren Daigle, Casting Crowns, Systems.
Lecrae, Kristene DiMarco Above all of the career
of Bethel Music, Shane & and athletic achievements,
Shane, Barlow Girl, Nicole C Todd is first and foremost
Mullen and many more. husband and father. He and
Todd grew up in Sapul- his wife Melanie are in their
pa where his dad was an 30th year of marriage and
OHP trooper and his mom live in Ada along with their
an Hospital Executive Assis- five children.
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Clip
Aug 2019 Page resized
22 A001 63%
The Ardmoreite
OKLAHOMA WATCH
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Clip
Aug 2019 Page resized From
22 A003 48% A001
The Ardmoreite
, p , y y
then pays the vendors di- Statewide Virtual Char- This search warrant is 2018, that affidavit states. The school is also fac-
WATCH rectly. The school now has ter School Board, told the the second in as many The OSBI’s investiga- ing a potential lawsuit by
Continued from Page 1 more than 1,200 vendors. OSBI agent instructional months filed by the OSBI. tion into Epic has been several former teachers,
The learning fund is a expenditures “must be In July, the agents seized ongoing since 2013. who say they were pres-
big recruitment tool to a course supported by a an Epic teacher’s com- When it’s complete, the sured into withdrawing
pays vendors for student attract families, and fam- teacher of record, a re- puter and cell phone in agency is expected to and re-enrolling students
activities through what ilies who refer new stu- corded grade and includ- search of evidence relat- present its findings to the to manipulate enrollment
Epic calls its “Learning dents are rewarded with ed on the transcript,” the ed to alleged embezzle- Oklahoma County district to improve the school’s
Fund.” an additional deposit into affidavit states. In many ment of state funds and attorney for possible filing report card grade.
The affidavit is the their student’s fund. cases, these weren’t. The obtaining money under of criminal charges. Oklahoma Watch is a
latest in an ongoing in- According to the affi- agent cites a statute he false pretenses, including In addition, the school nonprofit, tax-exempt,
vestigation into financial davit, Epic in 2012 was says is evidence the school through the use of “ghost is undergoing an investi- 501(c)(3) corporation
wrongdoing at the state’s advised by an attorney committed fraud. students” who didn’t ac- gative audit by the State whose mission is to pro-
largest virtual charter for its sponsoring school The agent in the affi- tually receive instruction Auditor & Inspector, and duce in-depth and inves-
school. district at the time, davit accuses Chaney through the school. at least two federal probes tigative journalism on
Epic has denied any Graham-Dustin Public and Brock of concealing The school’s co-found- – by the Federal Bureau public-policy and quali-
wrongdoing, and on Schools, that using the fraudulent expenditures ers, Chaney and Ben Har- of Investigation and the ty-of-life issues facing the
Wednesday afternoon is- learning fund for extra- “by disguising the pay- ris, split profits of $10 U.S. Department of Ed- state.
sued a statement saying, curricular activities when ments as instructional million between 2013 and ucation.
“Epic and its founders the students received no services” and falsifying
will continue to cooperate elective credit would vio- corporate records.
with investigators, who late state law. The OSBI agent report-
have now been probing
the school for more than
David Chaney, a busi- ed at least two instances WE’RE
nessman who co-founded when Epic used vendors
six years. It is important HERE TO
to note that no charges
have ever been filed. We
the school, then opened a
checking account for the
who were convicted fel-
ons. Have HELP
learning fund and trans- The OSBI is also inves-
are confident that the
end result of this inves-
ferred state funds to it,
which Brock used to pay
tigating whether Burkett,
Cantrell, Regan and Scott
years Express Hearing
tigation will be as it has
always been – no finding
of wrongdoing.”
for students’ extracurricu-
lar activities, the affidavit
neglected their duties as
board members in viola- of noise - Competitive
states. Those purchases tion of the law. Cantrell, Pricing
Epic is the only virtual
school in Oklahoma that
did not appear on Epic’s
general fund payment
head of an oil and gas
company in Ada, is a cur-
from the - Free Hearing
uses a “learning fund’ – Evaluation
essentially a portion of
each student’s state fund-
register and were report-
ed to the state as “instruc-
rent board member and
Scott, a Tulsa attorney, job left - Premium
tional services.” is chairman. Burkett and Technology
ing ($800 to $1,000) that
is set aside to be used
Rebecca Wilkinson,
executive director of the
Regan are no longer on
the board.
you at - Friendly Service
on curriculum, a laptop
rental, art supplies, work- a loss? Kellie Morse
books, and other items
of the family’s choosing.
Families also use the
We know the Drill In-House Licensed Hearing
Instrument Specialist
funds on a variety of ex- ...and everything else about Home Improvement! Financing Available
tracurricular activities,
like club sports, martial )RXQGDWLRQ5RRÀQJ5HPRGHOLQJ Call for an appointment today!
arts, dancing or summer
camps. 1316
13 12th Ave. NW • Ardmore
Parents don’t actually
receive the money directly
but instead request a pur- 580-223-5828
chase from Epic, which *Insured Expresspharmacy.com
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
o S o c i al
wrongdoing throughout ments without exercising instruction, and none of
the investigation. proper oversight, the the staff were state cer-
nt
“Epic and its founders OSBI alleged. Only Scott tified teachers.
will continue to cooperate and Cantrell still remain Johnson also found Epic
with investigators, who on Epic’s board. accepted a vendor who
M
I
have now been probing the The OSBI also alleged was convicted of felony
Dive
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
The Lawton Constitution
BRIEFS
Man at center of ‘Innocent Man’
documentary may soon be free
MUSKOGEE — A federal judge has placed the man
Aug at the center of a documentary series “The Innocent
Man” on the path to potential freedom.
22 U.S. District Judge James Payne of Muskogee, Okla-
homa, has ruled there was reasonable doubt that Karl
P Fontenot (FAHN’-teh-noh) should have been con-
2019 victed in 1988 in the kidnapping and killing of Ada
convenience store clerk Denice Haraway in 1984.
Payne gave the state 120 days to grant Fontenot a
Page new trial or release him permanently.
A003 Fontenot’s case was the focus of the John Grisham
book “The Innocent Man” and a later Netflix docu-
Clip mentary series by the same name.
resized In Payne’s opinion filed Wednesday, he found that
41% Fontenot’s mental illnesses raised serious questions
about the validity of his uncorroborated confession.
Fontenot’s account of what happened came from a
dream he says he had about the killing.
-
.
- Investigators raid online
charter school’s vendor
d
OKLAHOMA CITY — State investigators have
s
raided a vendor for an online Oklahoma charter school
s
whose enrollment, funding and some of its leaders are
e
at the center of an investigation.
s
- Agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Inves-
tigation searched the home of a man who runs a non-
p profit that works with Epic Charter Schools to provide
- coaching services for sports. The search warrant affi-
e davit filed Wednesday raises new allegations of em-
- bezzlement, forgery and other violations against Epic
co-founder and former superintendent David Chaney,
r chief financial officer Josh Brock, and two present and
- two former board members.
s
d Prosecutors seek death sentence
in deputy’s death
OKLAHOMA CITY — Prosecutors are asking ju-
rors to return a death sentence for a man convicted of
shooting an Oklahoma sheriff ’s deputy to death.
The sentencing phase of the trial of 47-year-old Na-
than LeForce began Wednesday, a day after jurors con-
victed him of first-degree murder in the April 18, 2017,
shooting death of 40-year-old Logan County Deputy
David Wade. Wade was fatally wounded while serving
an eviction notice at a home near Mulhall, 50 miles (80
n kilometers) north of Oklahoma City.
d LeForce was also convicted on charges of larceny of
a vehicle and armed robbery. Jurors recommended sen-
e tences of 30 years and 37 years respectively.
e LeForce faces sentences of death or life in prison on
d the murder charge. Defense attorneys plan to call more
w than 25 witnesses during the sentencing phase of Le-
Force’s trial.
t
,
r Woman charged with racist
k vandalism hospitalized
e
t NORMAN — A woman charged with spray-paint-
a ing racist, anti-gay and anti-Semitic graffiti on the
t county Democratic Party’s offices, an art center and an
e elementary school in Norman, Oklahoma, was hospi-
l talized for medical and mental health treatment.
Court documents show that on Aug. 1, 45-year-old
- Allison Johnson was ordered to be taken to a hospital
e because “of a possible danger to (her) health.” The or-
- der, which was first reported on by The Oklahoman,
- says Johnson will be returned to the Cleveland County
l jail in Norman when she’s released.
e Sheriff ’s spokeswoman Joy Hampton said Wednes-
- day that federal privacy laws prevented her from saying
- whether Johnson had been returned to jail.
- —The Associated Press
n
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
Clip
Aug 2019 Page resized
22 A007 60%
KVUH[PVUZVMSH\UKY`KL[LYNLU[HUK[V^LSZ[VNL[HÄYZ[NSPTWZLVM[OL 4HYSV^/PNO:JOVVS[LHT
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
The Norman Transcript
Aug
22
2019
Page
A006
Clip
resized
68%
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.