Two men were sentenced Monday for their part in a bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in taxpayer funds connected to the city’s Public Works Department. in Tulsa.

Max Elliot Wolf, age 57, of Owasso, president of Horizon Construction Company, Inc., was sentenced to 57 months.  Wolf earlier paid restitution in the amount of $939,078.56, according to acting United States Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward.

Wolf plead guilty on September 10 to Procurement Fraud Bribery. He admitted that from mid-2005 until June 2008, he made numerous bribery payments to former Tulsa Public Works Field Engineering Manager Albert Martinez with the intent to influence and reward Martinez for certifying fraudulent inflated invoices submitted by Horizon.

Also, Harlan Eugene Yocham, age 49, of Yocham Enterprises, Sapulpa, was sentenced to five months to be followed by five months of home detention, according to Woodward. Yocham also paid restitution of $10,000. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

 Yocham had earlier plead guilty on September 8 to Procurement Fraud Bribery. He admitted that he paid a $7,000 bribe to Martinez for his approval of a fraudulent and inflated invoice involving a street improvement contract, Woodward said.

The scandal involving the Tulsa Public Works Department was made public on Jan. 22 when federal indictments were unsealed. At that time, it was announced that two former managers and four area businessmen were charged by a grand jury for bribery and fraud.

“Hundreds of hard-working public employees and private contractors work together every day to maintain and improve the operation of the City of Tulsa," Woodward said after Monday’s sentencing. "Rarely do we see such an obvious disregard for the public trust as these defendants have shown. However, when public corruption is exposed, we will do our best to ensure that the perpetrators are punished accordingly and the interests of the citizens are upheld.”

MaidPro of Tulsa was recently featured on A&E’s hit television series, “Hoarders.”

The series looks at people who can’t part with their belongings, to the extent they are on the verge of a personal crisis.  MaidPro partnered with Screaming Flea Productions to restore the homes featured on the show to a livable condition once the clutter was cleared.

The Dec. 7 episode, filmed in Tulsa, followed "Gail" as she cleaned up her home.  Once a disciplined ballerina, Gail’s life was falling apart because of stuff. The floors were sinking, the gas line was bent and the water pipes broken.

Goats had eaten through the siding to the back bedroom and chickens, dogs, and cats were seen roaming among the piles of clutter in the house.

 “We were incredibly privileged to help our new friend, Gail, in Tulsa,” said Greg Ford, owner of MaidPro of Tulsa. "Having a part in transforming her home was difficult, but completely rewarding. Our team made an unbelievable difference.  The walls were brighter, the hardwood floors were reconditioned, and even the appliances looked brand new after we got done with them.”    

Added Mark Kushinsky, CEO of MaidPro,  “I think this is a cause that is often overlooked and misunderstood. We wanted to contribute to the effort of spreading awareness and “Hoarders” gave us an outlet where our services are needed  … While MaidPro is not used to cleaning homes like those featured on the show, we wanted to provide our services because they are necessary for recovery.”

“Hoarders” explores the world of extreme hoarding; a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to collect things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous or unsanitary.  “Hoarders” is produced for A&E by Screaming Flea Productions. Executive Producers are Jodi Flynn, Matt Chan and Dave Severson. A&E Executive Producers are Robert Sharenow and Andy Berg. “Hoarders” Season 2 premiered Nov. 30 and the show is aired every Monday at 10 p.m. EST on A&E.     

For more on the series, click here.

A new outdoor billboard prominently proclaiming that people can be good without God is now appearing in Tulsa.

The sign, “Are you good without God? Millions are,” is located on I-44 West at Elwood and is visible to westbound traffic. It is sponsored by Tulsa CoR, the Tulsa Coalition of Reason, and is part of a nationwide campaign.

Consisting of nontheistic (humanist, atheist and agnostic) groups in the greater Tulsa area, Tulsa CoR seeks to raise public awareness that people can be good without believing in a god, according to a press release.  Funding has been provided by United CoR, the United Coalition of Reason.

Tied to the billboard campaign is a publicity tour on a new book, “Good without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe,” authored by Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University.

 Epstein will be speaking in Tulsa this week.

“The point of our national billboard campaign is to reach out to the millions of humanists, atheists and agnostics living in the United States,” explained Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. “Nontheists sometimes don’t realize there’s a community out there for them because they’re inundated with religious messages at every turn. So we hope this will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren’t alone.”

Added Bill Dusenberry, coordinator of Tulsa CoR, “People often think you can’t be moral if you don’t believe in a supreme being. The truth is, we organized secularists are involved in moral issues and social activism more than most people. Now it’s time that information got out.”

Epstein will speak Thursday, from 7-9 p.m. on the subject “How to Be Good Without God” at
All Souls Unitarian Church, 2952 South Peoria Ave.

On Friday, Epstein will sign copies of his book from noon to 1 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Bookstore
8620 E. 71st
These events are free and open to the public.

The United Coalition of Reason launched a dozen advertising campaigns previously this year. Each involved billboards or public transit ads. They appeared in Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago, Illinois, Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Morgantown, West Virginia; Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon.

Guitar Center announced it collected more than 52,000 cans of food donated by musicians as part of a four-week nationwide food drive. The Tulsa store collected 583 cans as part of the drive.

All the cans – 52,981 – were donated to local food banks across the country where Guitar Center has stores.

“When Guitar Center initially launched the nationwide food drive, we only had plans of collecting for two weeks,” said Gene Joly, Executive Vice President of Guitar Center Stores. “However, we quickly realized that due to overwhelming support from local communities, as well as each Guitar Center location, we needed to extend our efforts through the entire month of November. Guitar Center would like to thank everyone who made this project such a success–our generous customers and sales associates really rose to the occasion this holiday season.”

Guitar Center supported the local communities’ efforts with a multi-tiered marketing campaign–including presence in the Guitar Center buyer’s guide with a circulation of over one million. Guitar Center also conducted targeted in-store promotion with signage and in-store audio, a full online promotional push, as well as a public relations initiative, launched to drive additional awareness and participation.

The Tulsa Area Salvation Army and Myers Duren Harley Davidson will host the Salvation Army Santa’s Motorcycle Toy Meet this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

More than 1,500 bikers are expected to attend and help donate new unwrapped toys to needy children.

To help the event, there will be street closures and specific approach areas, according to the Tulsa Police Department.

Peoria Avenue between 51st St. and 48th Street will be closed between 9:45 .m. and 1:15 p.m. Drivers should use Riverside Drive as an alternate route.

Motorcycles must approach from 51st St. and Peoria Avenue to enter this exclusive motorcycle parking area to drop off the Christmas toys at Myers Duren Harley Davidson. Motorcycles traveling westbound on I-44 should exit onto Riverside Drive and return to Peoria Avenue via the south side eastbound access road. Motorcycles approaching southbound on Peoria Avenue will be diverted to Riverside Drive at 48th Street to approach the route.

For more information, go to www.salvationarmytulsa.org or www.tulsaharley.com.