Oklahoma Briefs
Oklahoma Briefs

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Published: March 19, 2008

Firm starts building first of five hotels

Suenos LLC of Oklahoma started construction Tuesday on a 134-room Cambria Suites hotel, the first of five planned by Suenos, at 4410 SW 19.

"As residents of Oklahoma City, Pat and I are excited about strengthening our ties to the Oklahoma City community,” said John C. Lopez, managing partner of Suenos LLC.

"Our development of this Cambria Suites hotel allows us to continue contributing to the progress and economic development of our city.”

John and Pat Lopez are the founders — chairman of the board and secretary, respectively — of Lopez Foods Inc. in of Oklahoma City. The meat-processing company employs 1,000 at its headquarters and plants here, in Columbus, Neb., and Caryville, Tenn.

The company's customers include restaurant chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Sonic and Appleby's, and stores such as: Wal-Mart, Kroger, Target, Costco and Sam's Club.

"Cambria Suites is a great fit for business and leisure travelers to Okalahoma City and we are pleased to add it to the list of cities throughout the country that Cambria Suites can call home,” said William Edmundson, brand president for Cambria Suites.

"This is the first of five Cambria Suites hotels under development with Suenos LLC and its principals, John and Pat Lopez and we look forward to continuing to build our business relationship with these highly respected local entrepreneurs.”

Tulsa women sue medical company

TULSA — Several Oklahoma women are suing a California-based medical-supply company over a device used to treat urinary stress incontinence, claiming the product was defective and caused them serious injuries.

Three lawsuits, filed Feb. 29 in Payne County District Court, also allege the ObTape Vaginal Sling caused chronic pain, infections and erosion of vaginal tissues, among other problems.

The women are among nearly three-dozen in Oklahoma, Florida and Georgia who have already filed lawsuits against the Mentor Corp., a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based global medical products supplier and maker of the device.

Mentor's general counsel did not immediately return a request for comment.

"We have found many women do not know they have this product inside their bodies,” said Henry Garrard III, whose Athens, Ga., law firm is representing the Oklahoma patients. Garrard announced the lawsuits at a news conference Tuesday in Tulsa, equating the ObTape to a "time bomb sitting inside a woman's body that's ticking.”

The ObTape was removed from the market in 2006, three years after being introduced. About 36,000 devices were believed to have been sold in the U.S. since 2003.

First Financial sells bank loans for FDIC

First Financial Network in Oklahoma City successfully closed an FDIC loan sale it conducted as a receiver for an Ohio bank, it announced Tuesday.

First Financial marketed and managed the sale, which involved about $40 million of loans that primarily were residential, officials said.

The assets involved were located in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Florida, they added.

Bliss Morris, First Financial's president and chief executive, said the company looks forward to conducting additional loan sales for the FDIC.

The company, founded in 1989, has sold billions of dollars in loans and other assets in more than 28 countries, company officials said.

First Financial has a five-year contract with the agency to do loan sale work for it, Morris said.

From Staff Reports

Related Topics: Civil Trials, Trials