Published: August 26, 2008 10:29 pm      

8-27 OKC watch

$15.5 million certified from tobacco fund

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state board has certified $15.5 million for use in Oklahoma tobacco cessation programs.

The tobacco endowment earnings were certified Tuesday by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund Board of Investors. The board certifies dividends and interest earned after investment fees are paid.

State Treasurer Scott Meacham says the certification represents a 50 percent increase over funds certified last year from Oklahoma’s share of the nationwide settlement with big tobacco companies.

Since Meacham took office in 2005, earnings from the tobacco settlement endowment have more than tripled.

The money is used for tobacco cessation programs designed to improve the health of Oklahomans.

The endowment currently contains more than $422 million. More than $45 million in earnings has been generated by the board.

Moore woman fights off attacker

MOORE (AP) — A 75-year-old Moore woman told police she fought off an attempted rape by kicking the 35-year-old man in the groin and gouging his eyes.

The woman told police Shane Davis of Oklahoma City stopped at her home Thursday and asked for help with a wound then attacked her when she went to her bedroom for medicine.

She says she fought back with a kick to the groin, poking his eyes and hitting him on the head with a cordless phone until he ran away.

Police say the woman told officers she saw how to fight off the attack on the daytime “Dr. Phil” talk show.

Davis is now wanted in Cleveland County on a rape complaint. He’s being held in the Oklahoma County jail on an unrelated robbery charge.