Oklahoma Governor AWOL again !

Gov. Brad was AWOL, and took Him for ever
to get back to Oklahoma in the Ice Storm.

Now we find out that He is AWOL again, and he
left the State without making a new executive
order, waived many of the requirements on big
trucks so utility companies and others could
assist in the state of emergency.

One has to ask if maybe the Governor Office,
are the ones that goof up with FEMA on denied
Oklahoma’s request for individual assistance
for people hit hard by last month’s ice storm.

He is NEVER in the State, so who is running
'The Office of the Oklahoma Governor'?

Debris Haulers Face
Costly Permits Or Tickets
By Jerry Bohnen, NewsRadio 1000 KTOK

Oklahoma City leaders face a new worry as they
race to remove tens of thousands of tons of
ice storm debris from December---an executive
order signed by the governor and waiving
requirements for big trucks expired last week.

Now the Highway Patrol's warning the out-of-state
contractors that they have to get $7,500 permits
or face tickets.

"The Highway Patrol's been at some of the land
fills and been issuing warning tickets to the
contractors because there are certain permits
they don't have," explained Jim Lewellyn, a
Projects Manager with the Oklahoma City Public
Works Department. "There's a permit required
and they need to get that if they're going to
continue to operate in the state."

Acting Governor Jari Askins signed the original
executive order, #2007-50 on December 10th, 2007
and waived many of the requirements on big trucks
so utility companies and others could assist in
the state of emergency.

While the executive order was originally aimed at
out-of-state utilities, many of whom have left
Oklahoma, the debris contractors remain and their
work won't be finished for months. The executive
order expired on January 8th, 2008 and now Lewellyn
and others worry there won't be an extension. If it's
not? "Then it'll be a big problem," he admitted in an
interview with KTOK. "If it's not, we'll be talking to
whoever we can to get it taken care of because we sure
don't want our contractors to leave."

Captain Chris West with the Department of Public Safety
maintains that troopers are not targeting the debris
haulers. "It's not gonna be all bets are off and we're
gonna out there and hammer Oklahomans." West says the
concern is the safety of motorists on the roadways and
troopers won't target the truckers unless they see a
violation.