Oklahoma briefs: Saturday, May 10, 2008

Oklahoma City's homeless can reconnect with family on Mother's Day from the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library where U.S. Cellular will provide free phone calls.

The free Mother's Day local and long distance phone calls will be offered from 2 to 4 p.m. from the library at 300 Park Ave.

U.S. Cellular said it wants to help reconnect those who would not have the resources to make phone calls.

U.S. Cellular employees will provide wireless phones and assist individuals with placing free local or long-distance phone calls.

The OSU-OKC Farmers Market returned this week to downtown Oklahoma City's Couch Park.

The market is open every Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Couch Park between Broadway and Robinson at Robert S. Kerr, across the street from The Skirvin Hilton.

The Oklahoma made and grown items available include fruits, vegetables, nuts and baked goods many of which are certified organic.

Former employees of International Business Machines, or IBM Corp. in Tulsa, are now eligible for the Trade Readjustment Assistance program by the U.S. Department of Labor.

TRA provides assistance to those who lose jobs or significant work hours because of increased imports or a shift in production out of the country.

The Labor Department found that former Tulsa IBM workers met all requirements. Once certified, TRA recipients must enroll in training, although the state can waive this requirement in certain cases.

Employees can apply for TAA benefits at the nearest Workforce Oklahoma Center at 1-888-980-WORK (9675.)

BP is giving $135,000 to the University of Oklahoma's K20 Center to support a program to encourage new students to pursue energy-related degrees.

The K20 Scholars program offers scholarships to graduates from K20 network high schools that are entering OU.

TULSA — Ram Energy Resources reported a net loss of $523,000, or 1 cent a share, for the first quarter of 2008, company officials announced this week.

Earnings were impacted by hedges that cost the company $5.3 million on cash flow operations of $16.2 million, they said.

The company lost $580,000 during the first quarter of 2007, they said.

Officials also said that the company's first quarter production was 612,000 barrels of oil equivalent — nearly double what was produced during the same time a year before.

TULSA — Apco Argentina Inc. announced on Friday that it earned a net income of $6.4 million, or 22 cents a share, during 2008's first quarter.

That compares to a net income of $7.7 million, or 26 cents a share, during the same period in 2007.

Officials said the change was primarily caused by lower equity income from Argentine investments and higher operating and depreciation costs.

From Staff Reports