Stories from Across the Sooner State

<b>Couple pleads innocent in death of girl</b> <br><br>SAPULPA, Okla. (AP) -- A Creek County woman and her boyfriend have pleaded innocent to a charge of first-degree murder in the beating death of the

Wednesday, April 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Couple pleads innocent in death of girl

SAPULPA, Okla. (AP) -- A Creek County woman and her boyfriend have pleaded innocent to a charge of first-degree murder in the beating death of the woman's daughter.

Tammy Renee Brooks, 27, and Kurt Arnold Vomberg Jr., 30, entered their pleas Tuesday in the death of 21-month-old Skyla Brooks. A judge set a May 16 preliminary hearing.

Skyla was pronounced dead at a Tulsa hospital on March 21, roughly 24 hours after Vomberg reportedly summoned authorities to a home west of Sapulpa.

Vomberg said the girl was choking and that he shook her "pretty hard" in an effort to revive her, authorities said.

But preliminary reports from the state medical examiner indicate the girl's brain stem was severed and that she had 19 bite marks on her body, said Creek County Assistant District Attorney Carol Iski.

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House passes bill aimed at loud radios

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma House has approved a bill that seeks to turn down the volume on automobile radios.

Senate Bill 1427 would make it unlawful for the operator of a motorcycle or car on streets or highways to blast radios, cassette and CD players, amplifiers or another sound system "loud enough to be detected by a person of ordinary hearing ability 150 feet or more from the vehicle."

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Danny Hilliard, D-Sulphur, said he's talking about the "really loud noise that can even rattle the windows in your house when a car drives by."

Under the bill, the operator could be cited with a traffic violation and fined $100 for a first offense. Any second or subsequent offense within three years would result in a misdemeanor criminal charge that could result in a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

The bill was approved Tuesday 85-12. The Senate had passed the same bill last month.

The measure now goes to a conference committee where final language can be written, although it may not pass this session.

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Alleged threats result in arrests of two Edmond students

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) -- Two Edmond Memorial High School students face complaints of allegedly mailing threatening or intimidating letters.

The 14-year-old boys were arrested Tuesday and released to their parents after school officials and police investigated a letter found Monday.

A typed letter that threatened 15 Edmond Memorial students "was found and read by numerous students" at lunchtime Monday, Sgt.Matt Griffin said. He said he could not elaborate on what types of threats the letter contained.

School officials interviewed the students named in the letter and came up with possible suspects.

Griffin said a search of the ninth-graders' homes indicated there were no means to follow through with the threats listed inthe note.

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Woman dies after house fire

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A local woman has died of injuries suffered in a house fire Monday night.

Sue Anne Scott, 60, died Tuesday at St. Francis Hospital, where she had been transported after firefighters found her in a fron bedroom of the burning house.

Firefighters had trouble getting into the house because of security bars on the front and side doors. The entrances also were blocked by debris inside the house.

"There were a lot of flames showing from the structure when the firefighters arrived on scene," fire Capt. Hubert Rouse said.

The woman was found in her bedroom.

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EEOC files lawsuit on behalf of fired employee

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contends a former employee of Warren Properties Inc. was subjected to racial harassment and then fired after complaining about the behavior.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, the EEOC said the worker, who is black, was subjected to racial slurs, jokes and graffiti, including messages such as "whites only" on the water fountain.

After the man complained, dolls spray-painted black were tied to his truck and racial slurs were left at the maintenance shop, the lawsuit said. It also contends he was subjected to racial slurs when he complained to the supervisor.

The man worked at Willow Cliff Lakeshore Apartments.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, including training for managers and the creation of policies to prevent and correct workplace discrimination. It also seeks lost wages and compensatory damages for the man as well as punitive damages.