Published: September 04, 2008 10:45 pm      

9-5 OKC briefs

2 debates set in U.S. Senate race

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe and Democratic challenger Andrew Rice may be meeting for the first time when they square off in the first of two planned televised debates in a few weeks.

Campaign officials confirmed Thursday that Inhofe had agreed to debates on KJRH-TV in Tulsa on Oct. 7 and on KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City in late September or early October.

Last week, Inhofe said in an interview with the Associated Press that he had never met Rice, a first-term senator from Oklahoma City, but had been told by a close friend that Rice was from a good family.

Josh Kivett, campaign manager for Inhofe, said details still are being worked out for the KOCO debate, which will be co-sponsored by the AARP.

He said Inhofe also will join Rice in a forum before the State Chamber in Tulsa on Oct. 14.

OHP warns of phone scam

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is issuing a warning about a telephone scam that’s reached the state.

The OHP has received several calls from people who say they’ve had messages stating there’s been a serious auto accident and their phone number is on a cell phone found in the car.

The person is then told to dial a sequence of numbers starting with *72 (“star” 72).

AT&T says *72 is a custom feature for call forwarding and when it’s activated it sends all calls to another phone number.

The OHP says the scam is being reported in other states and anyone who receives such a call should report it to local law enforcement.