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State not ready for executions Vendor sought for gas delivery device BY NOLAN CLAY Staff Writer nclay@oklahoman.com
Ten months after abandoning lethal injection, frustrated Oklahoma officials have yet to find a way to execute inmates with nitrogen gas. “I’ve got both arms tied behind my back,” said Joe Allbaugh, director of the Oklahoma Corrections Department. At issue is an inability so far to find a manufacturer of a gas delivery device willing to sell it for use in executions. “They’re all concerned and afraid of the same thing — every one of them — retribution, losing their business, protests,” Allbaugh said in an interview last week. “They’re concerned for their
employees, the threats that come.” Attorney General Mike Hunter told The Oklahoman “at some point we may just have to build it ourselves.” “I would support that,” he said. The last execution in Oklahoma was more than four years ago. Allbaugh and Hunter declined to predict when they will resume. “I think it’s just going to take some time,” Allbaugh said. Hunter said, “We’re resolved and laser-focused on getting the right equipment and developing a protocol that’s going to stand review by the courts. ... And that’s the most important thing.” SEE EXECUTIONS, 4A
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, left, and state Corrections Department Director Joe Allbaugh in March announce their intent to come up with a protocol to use nitrogen gas for state executions. [PHOTO BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]
Cutting the cord
Oklahoma County jail has decades-long history of problems BY SILAS ALLEN Staff Writer sallen@oklahoman.com
The largest pay-TV providers in the United States, which represent about 95 percent of the market, lost about
975,000 net video subscribers during the third quarter of 2018 and now account for about 90.3 million subscribers.
69%
43%
of all U.S. households have a subscription video on-demand service from Amazon Prime, Netflix and/or Hulu. That’s up from 52 percent in 2015.
Almost since the day it opened, the Oklahoma County jail has been a constant source of problems. Walls leak. Mold grows so quickly that jail staff can’t stay ahead of it. And over the past five years, an inmate has died in jail custody, on average, roughly every six weeks. For decades, Oklahoma County commissioners have struggled to come up with a solution. But with two of the three current board members having been on the job for less than a month, commissioners are again considering options for how to address the problem. At least one commissioner doesn’t think the aging structure is salvageable. “I’d like to tear the building down,” said Carrie Blumert, the commissioner for District 1. When it opened in 1991, hopes were high that the new jail would help modernize the county’s criminal justice system. In a report from that year, an Oklahoma County grand jury praised taxpayers for approving the penny sales tax that funded the building’s construction, saying that “every citizen of Oklahoma County can be proud” of the new jail. “With this ultra-modern facility, Oklahoma County moves from its 20th-century jailhouse to a 21st century detention facility,” the grand jury wrote. “The citizens can be assured that in this modern facility prisoners will be kept secure from escape and will be reasonably safeguarded from personal harm from other prisoners.” But problems presented themselves almost immediately. Shower walls leaked, walls cracked and concrete support beams crumbled. When inmates flushed toilets, water and waste would back up into toilets in nearby cells. Within the first three years after the jail opened, six inmates broke out and another 150 tried to escape. Some inmates used coat hooks to dig through the hollow concrete blocks that make up cell walls. Others chiseled away at glass block windows and slid down bed sheets to escape. In 1993, two years after the building opened, commissioners sued the jail’s builder, Manhattan Construction
53%
of households now have more than one subscription video on-demand service.
of TV households get both a pay-TV service and a subscription video on-demand service.
SOURCE: LEICHTMAN RESEARCH GROUP
THE OKLAHOMAN GRAPHICS
SEE JAIL, 4A
Some Oklahomans say goodbye to cable BY DARLA SLIPKE Staff Writer dslipke@oklahoman.com
ason Carpenter hasn’t missed cable TV since his family decided to “cut the cord” about 10 years ago. He and his wife and four children now use Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube TV. When they first made the switch, live streaming options
J
TODAY’S PRAYER Loving God, guide us as we work to eliminate prejudices that should have been vanquished long ago. Amen.
were limited. But in recent years, they have multiplied fast, with more coming this year. “Now, it’s not necessarily if you’re just going to cut the cord and stream online, but who do you want to use?” said Carpenter, 39, a software developer who lives in Edmond. “There’s several really good providers out there, and the quality has gotten really good. … You have all the quality and all the Business 1C Classified 1D Deaths 12A Life 7C
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selection that you would want from cable and satellite now available through the online streaming services, and you have choice.” With the rise of subscription video on demand services, such as Netflix and Hulu, and virtual pay TV services, such as Sling TV and YouTube TV, many consumers are getting creative with their viewing experience by mixing and SEE CORD, 5A
Weather, 16A
SUNNY H: 56
L: 33
The Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City in a file photo from May 2017. [PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]
CUSTOMER SERVICE Online: oklahoman.com/account Phone: 405-478-7171
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