• State Auditor and Inspector Steve Burrage says he is delaying the release of a special audit of Broken Arrow Public Schools. Burrage had planned to publicly release the audit on Thursday, but said Wednesday he has ``serious concerns regarding the independence of the special auditor assigned to the audit.'' Burrage says he was particularly concerned that a draft version of the audit was inappropriately released last week. He says he plans to assign two different special auditors to conduct the audit, which will include compliance with the state's competitive bidding act.
• NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation's top automakers reported disappointing sales Wednesday, resulting in the worst August for industrywide auto sales in 27 years. According to sales tracker Autodata, U.S. new vehicle sales fell just short of 1 million vehicles, a drop of 21% from a year ago, which included Cash for Clunkers. That federal program created a sugar rush of sales by dangling an incentive of up to $4,500 in cash for buyers who traded in older gas guzzlers for more efficient models.
• NAGS HEAD, N.C. (Sept. 1) -- Hurricane Earl steamed toward the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday as communities from North Carolina to New England kept a close eye on the forecast, worried that even a slight shift in the storm's predicted offshore track could put millions of people in the most densely populated part of the country in harm's way.
• MTV and foursquare are teaming up to urge young people to check in at medical facilities and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases as part of the GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign, a joint initiative between the cable network, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Centers for Disease Control. Young people who get tested, check in at the facility, and include "GYT" as part of their check-in will receive the MTV GYT badge on the location-based mobile service, which will make them eligible to win a trip for two to New York and backstage passes to MTV's 10 on Top.
• David Limbaugh has a massive new bestseller. Limbaugh's just-released book, Crimes Against Liberty: An Indictment of President Barack Obama, will debut at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. According to the nation-wide reporting service BookScan, which tracks retail sales at a majority of the country's retail outlets, Limbaugh sold more than 28,000 copies in the week that ended August 29 - more than any other non-fiction book in the country.
• SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Police shot to death a man armed with several bombs who held three hostages Wednesday at the Discovery Communications building. Authorities said the hostages were safe. At least one device on the man's body went off when he was shot inside the building in suburban Washington, D.C., Montgomery County police Chief Thomas Manger said. Police were trying to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks the gunman had also contained explosives. Manger said SWAT officers shot the gunman about 4:50 p.m. ET because officials "believed the hostages were in danger." The hostages -- two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard -- were unhurt after the four-hour standoff. Lee appears to have posted environmental and population-control demands online, saying humans are ruining the planet and that Discovery should develop programs to sound the alarm. "I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it," the alleged manifesto reads, adding: "Nothing is more important than saving ... the Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels. The humans? The planet does not need humans." Lee said at the time that he experienced an ''awakening" when he watched former Vice President Al Gore's environmental documentary ''An Inconvenient Truth."
• NEW YORK (AP) - A New York City man who plunged 40 stories from the rooftop of an apartment building has survived after crashing onto a parked car. Witnesses and police say 22-year-old Thomas Magill jumped from the high-rise at West 63rd Street on Tuesday. He landed in the backseat area of a Dodge Charger after crashing through the windshield. He suffered broken legs. Police say he's in critical condition. The car's owner, Guy McCormack, of Old Bridge, N.J., told the Daily News he's convinced that rosary beads he kept inside the Dodge saved Magill's life. Police are investigating why Magill jumped from the building.
• CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Elementary school playgrounds in one West Virginia county are losing their swing sets. Swings are being removed from Cabell County schools in southern West Virginia in part because of lawsuits over injuries. Cabell County schools safety manager Tim Stewart said Wednesday that a lot of parents are accusing him of being un-American, but he says the cost of maintaining a safe surface is too expensive. Stewart says a lawsuit in the past year involved a youngster who broke his arm jumping off a swing like Superman. It was settled for $20,000. Other equipment such as monkey bars will remain. Stewart says the schools are able to maintain the proper protection underneath them.
• Two Dallas City Council members have proposed charging a $25 fee next year to anyone who wants to have a garage sale in city limits. City managers have floated the idea of charging $5, as a way to help balance next year's tough budget.
• Shannon Muchmore - Tulsa World - Tulsa has the most speed traps in the state, according to a national group that gathers driver-reported data. The National Motorists Association released a list of what it calls the "worst North American speed trap cities." Tulsa topped the list for Oklahoma at 71 speed traps. Oklahoma City was second with 62, and Moore was third with 30. Drivers provide the speed trap information by posting it online, where others can comment on whether they agree that the description is accurate.
• In an effort to push back against negative views of Islam and Muslims, grassroots Muslim groups are launching a series of initiatives to convey to non-Muslim-Americans that they are also Americans. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a series of advertisements today that will run on national television, clearly intended to counter some of the furor over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. In one spot, a New York firefighter who was a first responder after the Sept. 11 attacks talks about losing a loved one before announcing that he is a Muslim. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the point of the ad is to "challenge the notion that Muslims were not also targeted on 9/11."
• TUlsaBusinessJournal.com: SeekingSitters Franchise Systems Inc., a national babysitting referral service, has been named to the 2010 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. At No. 473 on the Inc. 500 list, SeekingSitters saw its revenue grow from $381,399 in 2006 to $2.8 million in 2009.
• How many books are there in the world? Because it wants to catalog each one in Google Books, the search engine giant used a series of complex algorithms to determine that 129,864,880 books have been published in all of modern history. The techie website Mashable.com explains how complex counting books actually can become. "The first step is defining exactly what a book is. The company decided to discount anything that wasn't an idealized bound volume." While the definition isn't perfect, it's a starting point. Google gathered one billion records from WorldCat, the Library of Congress, and other sources and then used its complex algorithms to remove duplicates, microforms, maps, audio recordings, videos, and government document volumes. Only drawback: Their estimate is already outdated as new books continue to enter the market.
• Another study says the recession is taking an emotional toll on the office. A new Fairleigh Dickinson University study found that people still on the job are working so much harder, three out of four are on the brink of going ballistic. Researchers say high workloads and fear of job loss are leading many workers to the brink. And the study says those businesses that won't hire more people could pay a high price in sick calls, workplace errors and employee meltdowns.
• That big announcement from CONAN O'BRIEN? His new TBS show's gonna be called "Conan." Turns out all that speculation about not being able to use the name because of a rights question with the owners of "Conan the Barbarian" were settled by the TBS legal department. That is all.
• PISTOL PACKING GRANDMA SHOOTS INTRUDER: 69-year-old Ethel Jones from Decatur, Alabama shot an 18-year-old stranger in the stomach when she found him inside her bedroom. It is believed that the intruder removed a window air conditioner to get inside the home. Jones sleeps with her gun under her pillow and grabbed it when she heard her door rattle. The man is in the hospital and faces a charge of second-degree burglary.
• The South Korean government, in an effort to raise money for its military, wants to sell nearly a million antique M1 rifles that were used by U.S. soldiers in the Korean War to gun collectors in America. The Obama administration approved the sale of the American-made rifles last year. But it reversed course and banned the sale in March a decision that went largely unnoticed at the time but that is now sparking opposition from gun rights advocates. A State Department spokesman said the administration's decision was based on concerns that the guns could fall into the wrong hands.
• The 33 trapped Chilean miners may not receive any wages while they are trapped underground, a union official has claimed. Evelyn Olmos says that San Esteban, the company that operates the mine, has said it has no money to pay their wages and absorb lawsuits, and is not even participating in the rescue. Mr Olmos has called on the government to pay the workers' wages.
• DOVER, N.H. (AP) - A New Hampshire high school student shocked so severely in shop class that his heart stopped beating is suing his teacher, the school district and the city of Dover. Kyle Dubois and his parents claim teacher Thomas Kelley did not warn Dubois and other students of the dangers of the electrical demonstration cords in their electrical trades class. On March 11, Dubois attached an electrical clamp to one nipple while another student attached another clamp to the other. A third student plugged in the cord. Dubois was critically injured. The New Hampshire Union Leader says Dubois' suit contends he suffered permanent brain damage. Kelley resigned from his teaching position about a month after the incident. He declined to comment on the lawsuit.
• The guys from War claim Pepsi stole their "signature song" for a national ad campaign ... and now the band is opening a $10 million can of whoop ass to make things right. Ironically, it's all over the song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" -- which, according to a lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court, is currently being used in an ad campaign for Pepsi Max. According to War, the band "did not consent to the use of their performance" in the spot -- and claim the commercial is a "deliberate violation" of their licensing arrangements. War ain't cheap -- the band wants more than $10 million in damages. Calls to Pepsi have not been returned.

• KJRH: Budget cuts last year forced the city to turn off some expressway lighting to save money. Now, the lights will be turned back on. Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett will join personnel from the City of Tulsa Public Works Department's Traffic Engineering section Sept. 1st as employees re-energize expressway lighting circuits. Budget shortages and higher energy costs, compared to last year, mean there is only funding to pay for 10 months of expressway lighting. When the lights get turned back on, they should remain lit for the remainder of the fiscal year which ends June 30, 2011.
• KTUL: Schools Urge Parents To Apply For Free Lunch -- Schools don't want your students missing meals. The more children receiving free or reduced lunches, the more federal money schools receive. So you can understand why schools are sending free lunch applications home to you. At Jones Elementary, 99-percent of the students have qualified for free and reduced meals. But all students have been recipients--as part of the universal meal plan.
• KOTV: The City of Tulsa has agreed to a $35,000 settlement of an excessive force case against a Tulsa Police Officer. Edward Bennett sued TPD Officer Dan Fuller over the incident. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court. The money for the settlement will come from the sinking fund, which is a property tax collected by the City.
• A state lawmaker whose district lost electric power during a winter storm said he wants backup generators and an approved emergency plan in all assisted living centers. State Rep. Joe Dorman held an interim study on the issue Tuesday before the House Human Services Committee. A Health Department official testified that of the 139 continuum of care and assisted living centers in the state, nearly 70 percent reported having a generator. Penny Ridenour is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Assisted Living Association. "Back up power in assisted living is a great idea but the question is should we be able to tell private business what to do with private money?" Ridenour said. She also has concerns that many business owners would not be able to afford the mandate.
• KRMG.COM: Citing a wide variety of reasons for their respective decisions, City Councilors have effectively abandoned the idea of creating an ordinance that would allow the spouse of the Mayor to have business cards with the city seal. A citizen filed an anonymous complaint saying the cards represent a violation of the city's ethics code. Councilor Maria Barnes deemed the matter trivial and irrelevant.
• KTUL: Longtime radio play-by-play announcer Bob Barry says this will be his last year as the voice of Oklahoma Sooners football and men's basketball teams. In a statement on OU's athletic website Tuesday, Barry said he had targeted 2010 as the year he would wrap up his announcing duties. School president David Boren said he looks forward to Barry's continuing involvement in Oklahoma's athletic programs and sports broadcasts.
• NEWS9OKC: One person was killed and another person was injured after an object fell off a crane on the Chesapeake campus Tuesday night near 63rd Street and Western Avenue, according to Oklahoma City police. Oklahoma City Police Lt. Daniel Stewart said the workers were attempting to dismantle a crane around 8:30 Tuesday evening when something fell from the crane onto the workers. The employee who was taken to the hospital has non-life threatening injuries, according to Lt. Stewart. OSHA will be handling the investigation, although they're not expected to arrive there until Wednesday morning.
• The wealthiest members of Congress grew richer in 2009 even as the economy struggled to recover from a deep recession. The 50 wealthiest lawmakers were worth almost $1.4 billion in 2009, about $85.1 million more than 12 months earlier, according to The Hill's annual review of lawmakers' financial disclosure forms. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) tops the list for the second year in a row. His minimum net worth was $188.6 million at the end of 2009, up by more than $20 million from 2008, according to his financial disclosure form. Total assets for the 50 wealthiest lawmakers in 2009 was $1.5 billion -- that's actually a nearly $36 million drop from a year ago. But lawmakers reduced their liabilities by even more, cutting debts by $120 million last year. There were a few other new faces in the Top 50, including Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who received an inheritance after his late father, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), died in 2009.
• Actor John Cusack went on a caustic Twitter rampage Sunday evening, attacking former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Fox News. "I AM FOR A SATANIC DEATH CULT CENTER AT FOX NEWS HQ AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICES ORDICK ARMEYAND NEWT GINGRICH-and all the GOP WELFARE FREAKS," Cusack tweeted. Cusack has long been outspoken about politics. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election and has contributed to The Huffington Post, but this is the first known time he has stooped to the level of making threats. And while the U.S. Constitution protects Cusack's right to speak his mind, some critics say he should be more careful about what he says, since he has more than 200,000 Twitter followers.
• Cold and flu sufferers looking for relief may soon find that cough medicine has been put behind the counter along with Sudafed, as federal health regulators consider restrictions on cough suppressants like Robitussin and NyQuil because of concerns over their abuse. The ingredient dextromethorphan, which is in more than 100 over-the-counter medications, can be abused for its euphoric effect in what's called "robotripping." It's mostly teenagers who abuse cough medicines this way, taking more than 25 times the recommended dose. At high doses, dextromethorphan can cause elevated blood pressure, heart rate and fever, and its abuse was linked to nearly 8,000 emergency room visits in 2008, up more than 70 percent from 2004. One option for the FDA is to make dextromethorphan available only by prescription. That would be a huge blow to the cough suppressant makers, and industry observers believe it won't happen because it would also create a big workload for doctors and pharmacists. Other options include putting them behind the counter, as was done with Sudafed because its active ingredient pseudoephedrine could be processed into methamphetamine, and banning sales to those under 18.
• 1 IN FOUR LAP DANCERS HAVE A DEGREE: A study of the stripper industry in Britain showed that one in four lap dancers has a degree. Most dancers worked two to four shifts a week -- giving them annual incomes of between $30,000 and $55,000 a year. Many were aspiring actresses, models and artists who hoped to use lap dancing as a lucrative platform for breaking into their desired industry. Almost 90 percent had at least completed a further education course, while one in four had undergraduate degrees.
• You can use a golf club for all kinds of non-golfy purposes -- walking stick, fishing rod, club, to name three. And now we can add to that list -- firestarter. Over the weekend, a golfer's routine swing in the rough at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, Calif., struck a rock. Not so different from the way you play, right? Only this time, the impact caused a spark, and the spark set off a blaze that eventually covered 25 acres, according to the Steven Buck, General Manager of Shady Canyon Golf Course, and required the efforts of 150 Orange County firefighters, writes the Associated Press.
• ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Aug. 31) -- U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has conceded her Senate primary race to Joe Miller. The Republican made the concession speech Tuesday night, a full week after the primary. Murkowski trailed Miller, a Fairbanks attorney, by 1,668 votes after last week's primary. Election officials began counting absentee and outstanding ballots Tuesday. Murkowski made slight gains, but was never able to get Miller's lead below 1,100 votes.
• BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Aug. 31) -- A doctor involved in an "on-again, off-again" relationship apparently tried to force her way into her boyfriend's home by sliding down the chimney, police said Tuesday. Her decomposing body was found there three days later. Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, first tried to get into the house with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof last Wednesday night, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the flue, Bakersfield police Sgt. Mary DeGeare said. While she was trying to break in, the man she was pursuing escaped unnoticed from another exit "to avoid a confrontation," authorities said. DeGeare said the two were in an "on-again, off-again" relationship.
• FLORIDA-- A 3 year old boy was accidentally shocked Monday after a deputy tried using his taser on a wanted man who was in the vehicle with the boy. It all happened in the middle of the day with lots of shoppers looking on in downtown Deland. A Volusia County deputy pulled over a vehicle because the window tint looked too dark. In the car he found Sylvester Hill, a wanted man. When the deputy realized Hill was wanted on an outstanding warrant for allegedly beating up a pregnant woman, the deputy tried to arrest Hill. The deputy says Hill got out of the vehicle halfway through the window and had the deputy pinned against the car through the window in a head lock. The deputy got out his taser and tried to shock Hill. That's when the deputy says Hill grabbed the taser and, as they fought with it, it went off. Hill fell to the ground, then took off running. The incident caused most of downtown Deland, including some schools, to be put on lockdown for several hours. Deputies and Deland police caught up with Hill a few hours later hiding in a home nearby. The boy was checked out at the scene, and was sent home with his mom, who was driving the vehicle.
• A Florida man faces multiple counts of aggravated assaultfor going into a violent rage after losing an arm-wrestling match. Fort Pierce police say Erick Lee Blanton drove his pickup truck across a lawn, over a mailbox and at several people after losing the match yesterday, the Associated Press reports. The 25-year-old man also drew a rifle and pressed the barrel against the forehead of the man who beat him.
• TMZ.com: Ian Benardo -- the former "American Idol" contestant who sued the show for $300 million -- has withdrawn that lawsuit ... only to refile a new one for $100 million. Benardo refiled his lawsuit for workplace discrimination and sexual harassment today in federal court. The original suit was filed with the NY State Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A rep for Benardo says he was advised that the case was not under the jurisdiction of NY's EEOC -- and instead he had to take the matter to federal court. Benardo is suing because he claims "Idol" producers exploited his sexual orientation and told him to "gay it up." As for why he dropped his astronomical demand from $300 mil to $100 mil -- Benardo's rep inexplicably says it was a "cleaner amount." Then again, $100 gazillion is also pretty clean.
• Gay couples legally married in other states cannot get a divorce in Texas, where same-sex marriage is banned, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 5th Texas Court of Appeals ruled that a Dallas district court judge didn't have the authority to hear a divorce case involving two Dallas men who married in Massachusetts in 2006. Republican state Attorney General Greg Abbott's office had appealed after Judge Tena Callahan, a Democrat, said she did have jurisdiction and dismissed the state's attempt to intervene.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas set to participate in bilateral meetings at the White House on Wednesday. In advance of those talks, Obama has taken on a posture that experts say could result in anything from (not wholly unexpected) failure to the most fruitful set of such discussions to date. The administration has insisted that getting the two parties to attend the first direct talks in more than 18 months is a major victory in its own right.

• TULSA WORLD: BROKEN ARROW - Broken Arrow Public Schools is gearing up for Thursday's release of the final version of an audit by the state Auditor and Inspector's Office, which reportedly found competitive-bidding violations and possible cover-ups. School district officials announced Monday that the audit will be made public at a special board meeting set for 5 p.m. Thursday and that their "corrective plan of action" will be revealed at community forums in the coming weeks.
• KOTV: TULSA, OK -- It's lights on for the City of Tulsa. The city plans to reactivate hundreds of highway lights on Wednesday. Last November, the city decided to turn off most highway lights to save money. Since then, there was at least one fatal accident where police officers thought lighting would have helped. It was a man pushing his car on Highway 75. Despite the darkness, there was not a sudden increase in traffic accidents, in part because the city only turned off lights on straight highways where research shows that lights make the least difference on driver safety.
• NEWSOK.COM: Oklahoma City Zoo chimpanzee spends two hours in dry moat -- A chimpanzee slipped past an electric fence and into an empty cement moat around his enclosure at the Oklahoma City Zoo on Monday afternoon. The chimp was never a threat to the public, but zoo officials called a precautionary emergency alert.
• TULSA WORLD: The fires at two day-care centers connected to the same director were intentionally set early Sunday, investigators said Monday. Firefighters have determined that the fires are directly related but have not identified any suspects, Fire Department spokesman Bill French said. The Fire Department would not release any further information because of the ongoing investigation, he said.
• GOP Takes Unprecedented 10-Point Lead on Generic Ballot -- PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans lead by 51% to 41% among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences. The 10-percentage-point lead is the GOP's largest so far this year and is its largest in Gallup's history of tracking the midterm generic ballot for Congress.
• President Obama's top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall. "ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the 'Reclaim the Dream' rally and march," began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday. Sharpton created the event after Glenn Beck announced a massive Tea Party "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial, where King spoke in 1963.
• Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack," U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News. U.S. officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage. "This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," said one senior law enforcement official. The two were allowed to board the flight at O'Hare airport last night despite security concerns surrounding one of them, the officials said. The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi, the officials said. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen. Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing." In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare. Once in Chicago, officials say they learned al Soofi checked his luggage on a flight to Washington's Dulles airport for connections on flights to Dubai and then Yemen, even though he did not board the flight himself. Instead, officials say, al Soofi was joined by the second man, Al Murisi, and boarded the United flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. When Customs and Border officials learned al Soofi was not on the flight from Dulles to Dubai, the plane was ordered to return to the gate so his luggage could be removed. Officials said additional screening found no evidence of explosives.
• RICHMOND, Calif.--California officials are outfitting preschoolers in Contra Costa County with tracking devices they say will save staff time and money. The system was introduced last week. When at the school, students will wear a jersey that has a small radio frequency tag. The tag will send signals to sensors that help track children's whereabouts, attendance and even whether they've eaten or not. School officials say it will free up teachers and administrators who previously had to note on paper files when a child was absent or had eaten. Sung Kim of the county's employment and human services department said the system could save thousands of hours of staff time and pay for itself within a year. It cost $50,000 and was paid by a federal grant.
• NEWSOK.COM: An organization claiming to be "the only legal satanic church in Oklahoma" is hosting an event at the Civic Center Music Hall in October that will include a "public satanic exorcism." The group, called the Church of the IV Majesties, has booked the Civic Center. The group posted its event on Meetup.com, stating that it is a "church for any Satanist (modern or traditional) or anyone who is interested in Satanism." James Hale, 37, of Oklahoma City, said he is the Church of the IV Majesties' lord high master of the Infernal Council. He said his group is hosting the October event to educate the public about what they do. "We've been a group for a while, and we've just legally formed a church," Hale said during a telephone interview Monday. "When the boogeyman comes out of the basement, it's not so bad." The group's website states that members believe that "man created god and that man can destroy god. Thus man is god."
• WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson awarded eight scholarships last year to her grandsons and a top aide's children - bringing to 23 the number of awards she handed out since 2005 in violation of Congressional Black Caucus Foundation eligibility rules. The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday that over the last five years, the Dallas Democrat has awarded up to $20,000 in 15 scholarships to two grandsons, two great-nephews, and aide Rod Givens' children between 2005 and 2008. The 2009 awards - reflected in a previously undisclosed list provided Monday by the foundation - push that above $25,000. "While I am not ashamed of helping, I did not intentionally mean to violate any rules in the process," Johnson said in a written statement issued Monday night, after two days of national scrutiny and sniping from critics, including her campaign opponent. "To rectify this matter immediately, I will reimburse the funds by the end of this week." She also pledged to change how she selects recipients for the scholarships.
• ABC News' Ann Compton reports: On the President's first day back in the office from vacation, facing a deteriorating economic horizon, one Internet site is claiming he has returned to a newly redecorated Oval Office, complete with new carpets and drapes. A White House spokesman tells ABC News the administration will have no immediate comment on the Drudge Report that "workers have been busy installing new carpets, drapes, painting, etc. in Oval Office." But mediamatters.org, a progressive media watchdog site, has pounced, defending the Obama administration. Under the headline "BREAKING: President Bush redecorated the White House," mediamatters.org pre-buts any suggestion that a cosmetic face-lift would be what it calls "some sort of shocking waste of tax dollars." It recalls the Bush administration upgrades including an expensive sunburst carpet designed by then-First Lady Laura Bush. When the Obamas first arrived last year, the President declared he liked the carpet and saw no need for immediate redecorating.
• Food and Drug Administration investigators have found rodents, seeping manure and even maggots at the Iowa egg farms believed to be responsible for as many as 1,500 cases of salmonella poisoning. FDA officials released their initial observations of the investigations at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms on Monday. The two farms recalled more than half a billion eggs after salmonella illnesses were linked to their products earlier this month. Among the observations of the investigators:
• - Live rodents and mice at both farms;
• - Structural damage and holes in many locations at both farms, allowing wildlife access;
• - Escaped chickens tracking manure through the houses;
• - Employees not changing clothing properly when moving from one location to another and not sanitizing equipment properly;
• - "Live flies too numerous to count" on egg belts, in the feed, on the eggs themselves at Wright County Egg;
• - Dead and live maggots "too numerous to count" on the manure pit floor in one location at Wright County Egg;
• - Manure piled four to eight feet high in five locations at Wright County Egg, leaning against and pushing open doors that allowed wildlife to enter the laying houses;
• - Nonchicken feathers in a laying house and wild birds flying in and out of two facilities at Wright County Egg;
• - Manure seeping through the foundation to the outside of laying houses in 13 locations at Wright County Egg;
• - Rusted holes in feed bins and birds flying over the feed bins at Wright County Egg;
• Rick Sanchez referred to Barack Obama as the "cotton picking president" on CNN Monday. Sanchez made the comment in a discussion with CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin on "Rick's List" about the many falsehoods that have been spread about Obama, such as the claim that he is a Muslim or that he is not a citizen of the United States. His voice rising in frustration, Sanchez asked Yellin why people continued to believe the false rumors: "He is the cotton picking president of the United States! If the president of the United States doesn't have enough of a bully pulpit to convince people that...a lie is a lie...what the hell is going on here?" After a commercial break, Sanchez immediately apologized. He said that soon after he had used the phrase, people had started contacting him on Twitter, pointing out that he had just used it when referring to a black man -- an insensitive reference, they thought, given the phrase's connections to slavery.
• Are you frustrated by the fact that song samples on iTunes are only 30 seconds in length, which is often hardly enough time to get a true taste of the song? If so, you're in luck: according to CNET, which cites multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, Apple plans to extend the length of song samples to a far more enjoyable one minute. Apple declined to comment, but it's quite possible that it will announce the change at a music-related event tomorrow. Apple is also rumored to unveil a new iPod touch at the event, while a launch of a 99-cent TV show rental program, as well as a relaunch of Apple TV under the new iTV name, are also a possibility.

It's the weekeknd!!!! Now that we've endured another five days at the office, how about getting out and doing something fun! Tasha Ball of TashaDoesTulsa.com always provides us with the best list of things to do around Tulsa Just check below for some of your best options.

Oklahoma Championship Steak Cookoff. Saying that beef is what's for dinner this weekend would be the understatement of the century when more than 2,000 people will gather and enjoy 16-ounce Certified Angus steaks, all cooked by the 50 competitive cooking teams vying for the $5,000 in prize money at stake at this cookoff. Look also for live music and a vintage car show. Saturday, starting at 11am.

Green Country RV Show. The weather is perfect for hitting the road this weekend, but be sure to hit the Green Country RV Show at Expo Square before you go road trippin'. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Oklahoma Custom Knife Show. Think you can handle 20,000 square feet of tables full of custom knives? Then this exhibition at Tulsa Convention Center is just for you. Saturday, 10-7.

Rumble on the River. You know you've wondered about how many friends you could stuff into a cardboard boat without sinking it, but this weekend you can actually do it at Rumble on the River at Three Forks Harbor in Muskogee. Get there at 9am if you want to compete in the 10am races, and don't miss out on the boat building clinics and free cardboard.

For the Fam

Tulsa Shakespeare Festival. If you're looking for a chance to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather with the family this weekend, head to Chapman Green in downtown Tulsa for this festival, complete with shopping, food, games and a production of Romeo and Juliet, free and open to the public. Saturday starting at 4pm.

Back to Cool Prices at Tulsa Zoo. Don't forget that everyone gets into the Zoo this weekend for $4, or half the price of regular adult admission.

Dog Expo 2010. Get everything from ugliest dog competition and best dog trick to speed retrieving trials at this Dog Expo. Sign up for the event or simply show up to catch a good show. Friday and Saturday, Claremore Expo Center.

Just Between Friends Sale. The mecca for frugal mommies has been in town since last weekend, and it wraps up Saturday with a 50-percent off day. Friday and Saturday, Expo Square.

Drillers Last Homestand. Don't miss the first game of the last homestand of the inaugural season of Tulsa Drillers baseball at ONEOK Field Saturday night, or Family Funday Sunday.

Music and Movies

Brad Paisley Tickets on Sale. Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and Justin Moore will be at the BOK Center Nov. 20, and you can get your tickets to see them Saturday morning at 10am.

The Last Exorcism. A fraudulent exorcist finds his faith truly tested when an encounter with a possessed teenager brings him face to face with the devil.

Takers. A notorious group of bank robbers find their plans for one last score thwarted by a hardened detective hell-bent on solving the case.

• American Airlines will fight the hefty penalty slapped on the airline by the Federal Aviation Administration. It is a record penalty of $24.2 million dollars. The FAA says there were maintenance lapses in 2008 that led to thousands of canceled flights. The airline calls the penalty unwarranted and plans to appeal. At issue is work on electrical wiring in wheel wells of the company's McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets. The FAA says chafed wiring could have developed into fuel explosions and fires. The airline counters safety was never threatened and the dispute is a minor matter about the amount of space between clips used on wire bundles.
• News9.com: OKLAHOMA CITY - A doctor from Edmond has undergone a successful double hand transplant in Louisville, Kentucky. Surgeons operated on Dr. Rich Edwards for more than 17 hours beginning Aug. 24 and ending the next day. Dr. Edwards was a chiropractor who'd practiced for 24 years. He sustained second and third degree burns on his body after he was trapped in his vehicle during a wild grass fire. Dr. Edwards spent several months in a burn center. The fire disfigured his hands and surgeons were forced to remove a major portion of seven fingers. Dr. Edwards agreed to have both his hands amputated in order to undergo the transplant.
• KJRH: Janice Sheehan, communicable disease manager with the Tulsa Health Department says this year, the H1N1 vaccine has been added to the seasonal flu vaccine, which means patients will only need one shot. Also different this year, the Health Department will be charging $25 per shot because of state budget cuts. Sheehan hopes it doesn't discourage people from getting vaccinated. "We will just say there is a $25 charge," Sheehan said. "But if they say they can't pay, we hope to be able to give the vaccine to them and not turn anyone away."
• The Tulsa City Council votes not to conduct mediation with the mayor, but to use public meetings to talk things over with him. The council last night rejected all but one item from the mayor's list of topics for mediation and Mayor Bartlett was disappointed. "Nothing much gets accomplished. I think mediation is a proven, reliable method of solving all problems, not just one or two," Bartlett said. The only thing the council agreed to that the mayor wanted was working on their relationship. No time was set for a proposed policy forum, but it might come toward the end of next month.
• Brad Paisley And Carrie Underwood To Co-Host CMA Awards -- The CMA (COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION) has announced the hosts for this year's CMA AWARDS, which take place on NOVEMBER 10th at BRIDGESTONE ARENA in downtown NASHVILLE. The awards will air live on ABC-TV beginning at 8p.
• Food and Drug Administration officials said Thursday their investigators had homed in on chicken feed as a likely major contributor to the salmonella contamination that triggered a nationwide egg recall and potentially caused nearly 1,500 cases of illness. Feed found at Wright County Egg in Iowa tested positive for salmonella, FDA officials said at a joint news conference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salmonella also was found in walkways and manure at Wright County Egg, as well as in ingredients used in the feed. The samples of the salmonella were a genetic match to the salmonella that has made many people sick, officials said.
• If you're perpetually late and you can't afford a personal assistant because that aforementioned lateness causes you to miss out on fancy, lucrative business deals with marginally trustworthy individuals, maybe you'd benefit from something like OnMyWay. It won't help you get places on time, per se, but it'll e-mail whomever you're meeting with a custom message saying something like "Totes sorry, stuck in traffic. Miz." You enter your destination and the e-mail addresses of those you're meeting before you leave the house. The app uses your phone's GPS chip to sense whether or not you're going to make it on time and shoots out an e-mail at a specified time if you're not where you should be. OnMyWay has been available for BlackBerry phones since March but it's now available for free from the iPhone App Store and the Android Market.
• (Reuters) - A Saudi couple tortured their Sri Lankan maid after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday. Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly maids, were employed in the Middle East. Many have complained of physical abuse or harassment. L.T. Ariyawathi, a 49-year old mother of three, returned on Friday after five months in Saudi Arabia. Her family only realized what had happened to her when she complained of pain and they took her to see the doctor, Foreign Employment Bureau officials said. Ariyawathi has been taken to hospital for surgery to remove the nails, which according to the maid were hammered in when they were hot. X-rays showed one- to two-inch nails in her hands and legs, with one over her eyes, officials said.
• In his first tournament since his divorce, Tiger Woods finally looked like the No. 1 player in the world Thursday at the Barclays when he opened with a 6-under 65, his lowest score of the year, to share the lead with Vaughn Taylor. It was his first time leading after any round on the PGA Tour since the Tour Championship last September.
• NORFOLK (VA) - A Community Services Board employee collected a salary with benefits for 12 years and never showed up for work, several City Council members said Wednesday. The head of the agency refused to identify the employee but acknowledged in response to inquiries from The Virginian-Pilot that an employee was "on the board's payroll who had not reported to work in years." Maureen Womack, the agency's executive director, said she fired the employee, informed the board that governs her agency and asked City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko to investigate the matter earlier this summer. Pishko's investigation is nearly complete and will soon be turned over to the Norfolk police, she said. Womack also refused to divulge the employee's salary.
• KTUL: State Farm Insurance has created a widget for Android smartphones that allows users to make customized messages that are automatically sent while the user is driving. The "On the Move" widget was released on Monday. Android users create their own responses and save them to a library. The service works with all incoming text messages. The widget doesn't stop messages from coming in to the phone. It simply sends an automatic reply to the sender. The service is free to anyone with an Android smartphone. At this time it is not available on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile phone or iPhones but the State Farm development team is currently evaluating options beyond the Android offering.
• Netflix execs have been teasing us for months about an instant streaming app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Indeed, they've been promising it for so long that I'd pretty much forgotten about it. Until now. Netflix took the wraps off its new app -- or, to be more precise, its newly updated iPad app, which is now "universal" for use with the iPhone and iPod Touch -- early Thursday, a couple of months after officially announcing the app and just a week before the expected arrival of a spiffy new iPod Touch. Free for use if you're a Netflix subscriber (memberships start at $8.99 a month), the app lets you stream more than 20,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix's "Watch Instantly" library. As with other versions of the Netflix app (available on all three of the big gaming consoles, several HDTVs and Blu-ray players, various set-top boxes, and -- of course -- the iPad), you can pick up a video from where you left off on another device; browse various movie genres and customized categories; or search for a specific title.
• Put on a show. Play cards. Sing. Get exercise. And whatever you do, don't get too fat to squeeze through the escape tunnel. Chilean officials are offering lots of advice to help 33 miners trapped underground keep their health and sanity as they wait to be rescued. One thing they're not sharing with the men is their estimate that it could take four months to drill them out of an emergency shelter nearly half a mile below the surface. The miners have a general idea that their rescue will take time but haven't been given the details.
• It looks like Sarah Palin will be heading to the set of "Dancing with the Stars" this season - to watch her daughter, Bristol, hit the ballroom. The 19-year-old mom and daughter of the former Vice Presidential hopeful has joined the cast of the upcoming season of ABC's reality dance competition. Other new names reported to be joining the cast of "DWTS" for Season 11, which premieres on September 20, are former "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson, "Dirty Dancing" alum Jennifer Grey, ex-NBA star Rick Fox and comedienne Margaret Cho.
• (AP) TORONTO - A man who appeared on Canada's version of "American Idol" was the third person arrested as part of an alleged plot against targets in Canada and abroad, police said Thursday. The two other suspects made a brief appearance in court on Thursday on charges they had plans to make bombs and had plans to use them. Police arrested Hiva Alizadeh and Misbahuddin Ahmed in Ottawa on Wednesday and Khurram Syed Sher in London, Ontario on Thursday. Alizadeh, 30, and Ahmed, 26, appeared in court Thursday. All three are Canadian. Sher, 28, appeared on the reality show "Canadian Idol" in 2008 in which he sings a comical version of Avril Lavigne's "Complicated," complete with dance moves that include a moonwalk. He told the judges he's from Pakistan and likes hockey, music and acting.
• LOS ANGELES -- A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is "tantamount to torture." The mechanism, known as an "Assault Intervention Device," is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.

• TULSA WORLD: Mayor Dewey Bartlett is asking for the dismissal of an anonymous ethics complaint against him involving city business cards that were provided to his wife, Victoria Bartlett. The dismissal request to Chairman Michael Slankard of the Ethics Advisory Committee was filed Wednesday with the City Clerk's Office, along with a $16 personal payment for the box of business cards. Bartlett and his wife both said he knew nothing about the business cards and that Communications Director Kim MacLeod had authorized them.
• TULSA WORLD: The Tulsa Stadium Trust might end up considering an estimated $265,000 fix to keep foul balls from flying out of ONEOK Field onto Interstate 244. The trust also would need approval from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation because the structure would be on state property. Three types of netting structures were available: the cheapest at $30,000, an intermediate fix at $80,000, and the most expensive option, at $265,000.
• TULSA WORLD: A public forum with the City Council and Mayor Dewey Bartlett would help refocus the city government on what needs to be accomplished rather than the constant bickering, Councilor G.T. Bynum said Wednesday. Bynum will ask at the council's 4 p.m. Thursday special meeting that councilors vote to have such a forum Sept. 28. During the same meeting, the council will decide whether to go into mediation with the mayor.
• FOX23: The city's water supply goes through treatment plants to kill bacteria and make the water safe to drink. And one of the ways it gets disinfected is with chlorine. But now officials want to use another ingredient to meet stricter EPA regulations. In the future, city officials will continue to use chlorine as the primary water disinfectant. But in order to meet new, stricter EPA standards that require the water be free from a specific carcinogen, Tulsa will soon begin using chloramine as a secondary water disinfectant. It's essentially a mixture of chlorine and ammonia. Chloramine is already being used in other cities, like San Francisco. Concerned citizens created the website www.chloramine.org to spot-light the possible risks associated with the chemical. Pictures show allergic reactions people experienced with chloramine. The EPA and city officials insist chloramine is safe for drinking, cooking, and bathing. But Tulsa City Councilor Jim Mautino worries that standard water filters won't get rid of the chemical.
• KOTV: In April of 2008, a jury recommended Vicki Chiles receive life without parole in the suffocation death of 2-year-old Joshua Minton. On Wednesday, the appellate court ordered her sentence be changed to life with parole, with all but 30 years suspended.
• KOTV: A joint law enforcement effort to target gangs, guns and drugs in Tulsa wrapped up Wednesday. Operation Triple Beam netted 163 arrests of suspected gang members and 46 firearms. More than 40 law enforcement officers took part in Operation Triple Beam. The goal is to slow down the gang violence by putting the worst offenders behind bars and confiscating illegal guns. There are basically four gangs causing trouble right now in Tulsa. There's a long running feud between the Green Team and the Hoover Crips that started because one gang member looked at a rival member the wrong way. That feud has led to most of the shooting and killings we've seen in the past few months. There is also a feud among a couple of the Hispanic gangs, the Surenos and the Juaritos.
• KOTV: The U.S. Olympic Committee has decided not to submit a bid to bring the 2020 Summer Games to the United States. According to Gamesbids.com, the Tulsa 2020 organizing committee will now focus on putting together a pitch for the 2024 Games instead. Each country can only submit one bid for each Olympics, so Tulsa would have to beat out Philadelphia, which has also expressed interest in bidding for the 2024 Summer Games.
• SYDNEY (Reuters) - Actor Paul Hogan, best known for playing an outback hunter in the "Crocodile Dundee" movies, has been stopped from leaving Australia until he pays a multi-million dollar tax bill, according to his lawyer. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) served U.S.-based Hogan with a departure prohibition order when he returned to Sydney last Friday for the funeral of his 101-year-old mother Florence, his lawyer Andrew Robinson said in a statement. This prevents the 70-year-old actor from leaving Australia until any alleged tax debts are paid or arrangements made for the tax liability to be discharged.
• A foreign intelligence agency breached the U.S. military's classified computer network using a virus spread by an infected thumb drive, a top Pentagon official has revealed. "It began when an infected flash drive was inserted into a U.S. military laptop at a base in the Middle East," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn writes in an article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs. "The flash drive's malicious computer code, placed there by a foreign intelligence agency, uploaded itself onto a network run by the U.S. Central Command." Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn says the thumb drive that caused the virus that breached the U.S. military's computer system was "a network administrator's worst fear." Lynn goes on to describe the malicious code as a "digital beachhead" that allowed the foreign agency to suck up data from the Pentagon's classified and unclassified networks, creating an unprecedented security breach
• Gary Busey is being hailed a highway hero -- after the actor witnessed a collision in Malibu earlier this week ... and rushed to the scene to help out a 21-year-old man who was injured in the wreck. Law enforcement sources tell us Gary called 911 on Tuesday afternoon after two cars collided on Pacific Coast Highway ... but after the call, Gary was the first person who went down to the scene to help out. According to a witness, Gary helped slow traffic -- and stayed with one of the injured men until paramedics arrived. TMZ spoke to the injured man's mother -- who told us Gary was "very sweet and caring" ... and wanted to thank the actor for all of his help. The mom also told us her son only has minor back pain ... but on the whole, he's doing fine. So far, no word from Busey himself.
• Fox News' Chief White House Correspondent is leaving the network -- and TV entirely. Fox News announced Wednesday that Major Garrett, who covers the Obama White House for the network, will "return to his roots in print journalism" effective September 3. Garrett will join the National Journal as a congressional correspondent, the New York Times reports. Wendell Goler and Mike Emanuel will share the White House beat.
• Foursquare players too busy painting the town red to go to the trouble of whipping out their iPhone and checking in can sit back and let Checkmate do the work for them. At $1.99, Checkmate offers a convenient alternative for those looking for a passive aggressive way to play the geosocial game. The brand new app harnesses background-running location on the iPhone to check in Foursquare players automatically at specified venues. After you download and fire up the app, you can select different venues to add to your "Auto Checkin Venues" list. You can toggle automatic checkins on or off for the whole list, as well as specify whether to automatically post a shout or share the checkin on Facebook and Twitter. Once you're within 50 meters of a designated venue, Checkmate will take over and check you in on Foursquare.
• The new, sleeker Kindle may be a relatively minor upgrade compared to its predecessor, but it's making an impact where it counts the most: sales. According to Amazon, the new Kindle has been selling faster than any of its previous iterations in its first four weeks of availability. Furthermore, the Kindle has been the bestselling (as well as the most gifted and most wished for) product in the same timeframe on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk combined. The new Kindle has the same 6-inch reading area as its predecessor, but it's smaller and lighter. Screen contrast has been improved by 50%, and page turns are 20% faster. The battery life now lasts up to one month, and storage on the device has been increased to 4GB. There's also some good news for buyers hidden in the announcement: The new Kindles started shipping today, two days earlier than previously announced.