The Bartlesville Police Department recently launched a new software system that will help bring information to dispatchers and patrol officers in real time. More accurate and timely crime stats for reporting to the public will also be a nice addition to the program. Police Captain Jay Hastings says this has been in the works since November of 2019 and it will be a big help to officers in the field.
Hastings says in the past, much of this information had to be transmitted over the radio. Hastings added that another nice feature of the new program is the ability to pinpoint where certain crimes may be occurring across town.
The City looks to make upgrades for utility billing and fire department software as well.

Since launching the, “Protect Our Herd,” campaign in December, The City of Bartlesville has published information on its website and released videos on how to best protect citizens from getting COVID-19.
Mayor Dale Copeland, along with City Manager Mike Bailey and other City leaders have been featured in campaign videos over the past month. Ann Ogelsby with Phillips 66 recently launched a video on the City website encouraging residents to wear a mask.
For additional information on the Protect Our Herd campaign, you can go to the City’s Facebook page or visit cityofbartlesville.org.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health is reporting an additional 2,686 COVID-19 cases in its latest situation update. There are 65 deaths being listed in the report, including four in Washington County. There are 1,322 Oklahomans hospitalized due to COVID-19.
The report lists 290 active cases across Washington County. Osage County is reporting 330 active cases as of Wednesday’s report. Nowata County is listing 90 active cases at this time. 

The Skiatook Chamber of Commerce will be holding its monthly chamber luncheon on Wednesday, February 10th. This comes one month after January’s lunch was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Networking will begin at 11:45 a.m. and lunch will be served at noon. Skiatook Chamber of Commerce members will be sworn in during this meeting. Cost to attend is $7 and the event will take place at the First Baptist Church Gym, located at 940 W. Oak Street in Skiatook. 

Two Bartlesville students in Elijah Winter and Samantha Simmons are among 97 Oklahoma students who are part of State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister’s Student Advisory Council for 2021. The council met to discuss how they can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In their first meeting of the year, Winter was one of four students recognized on the Oklahoma State Department of Education Facebook Page and was quoted as saying, “It shouldn’t take a crisis to get mental health support and more counselors. Put the humanity back in schools.”
During the meeting, Hofmeister said believes it is important to get more counselors in schools.   

There have been many questions regarding the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and how to best schedule an appointment for the injection. The Oklahoma State Department of Health recently released a video showing the best way to go about doing that.
Assistant Deputy Director with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Buffy Heater says the first step is going to vaccinate.oklahoma.gov website and then filling out a questionnaire ensuring that the individual is currently eligible to take the vaccine. Once that questionnaire is completed, individuals will see a screen showing all vaccination clinics available within a certain radius, up to 100 miles, depending upon the address you provide.
Once you have selected a location that has appointments available, you will have the opportunity to schedule what time you would like to take the vaccination.
A confirmation e-mail will then be sent to you, which you must have on hand when arriving for your appointment.

It was a wild Saturday evening in Pawhuska as both the boys and girls were playing for a championship in the Pawhuska Invitational. 
After the Lady Huskies got a victory over Oklahoma Union, both Morrison and Pawhuska were in the layup line when Pawhuska’s Jamar Goff went up for a dunk and broke the back board. Administrators from both teams talked it through and made the decision to play the game at the old gym, which is only used for practice and hasn’t been used for a game in several years.
The game lived up to the billing, as the lead changed hands on a number of occasions and the 200 some-odd fans packed into the three row high gymnasium were in a frenzy throughout the entire evening. With 10 seconds remaining, the officials ruled that a Morrison player stepped out of bounds as the Huskies trailed by a point, thus giving Pawhuska life. On the other end Pawhuska’s Dalton Hurd had the ball stripped away, though and Morrison would go on to get the 38-37 win.
To begin the evening, the Lady Huskies got a 49-40 victory over Oklahoma Union in the first game of the night. It was a game that the Lady Huskies controlled throughout, leading 11-6 at the end of the first quarter and Pawhuska took a three-point lead into halftime. Pawhuska was able to extend that lead to 36-30 going into the fourth quarter before getting the nine point win. Shelby Laird led Pawhuska with 15 points, while Miya Curry added 12 and OKU’s Riley Lemos had 11.
The Huskies were scheduled to play Barnsdall on Tuesday but COVID-19 issues have forced the Panthers to cancel that game. Pawhuska is currently seeking an opponent to replace Barnsdall.
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The Pawhuska Huskies and Lady Huskies both got victories on Friday night to advance to the championship of the Pawhuska Invitational on Saturday night.
The boys defeated Alva 43-33. Pawhuska had a 19-13 lead with two and a half minutes left in the second quarter before Alva went on a quick 8-0 run to take a 21-19 lead into halftime. Both offenses would struggle early in the second half, but big three-pointers from Tel Richardson and late free throws from Holton Justus secured the victory.
The Lady Huskies defeated Cleveland, 58-50. Cleveland led 11-9 at the end of the first quarter and had a 24-21 lead in the late going of the second quarter when Ariana Soliano made a shot at the halftime buzzer, which trimmed the lead to one. Pawhuska led by two going into the fourth quarter and in the late going of the contest, Miya Curry was nine of ten from the foul line.
The Lady Huskies will take on Oklahoma Union at 6:30 p.m. and the guys will follow with a game against Morrison. Both of those games can be heard on Sportstalk KPGM FM 99.1 and KPGMTV.com.
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It was another wild one for the Pawhuska Lady Huskies on Thursday afternoon, as they took on the Morrison Lady Wildcats in the first round of the Pawhuska Invitational. After losing to Morrison a week and a half ago, Pawhuska got revenge with a 46-43 victory.
Teams traded the lead back and forth throughout, as neither team led by more than five. With 23 seconds remaining and the Lady Huskies leading by one, it was this missed free throw by Miya Curry that put the Lady Huskies over the top. 
Morrison had a three-point attempt on the opposite end, which would have tied it, but Shelby Laird got the rebound and hung on to the ball for the final few seconds.
Jordan Nelson scored 12 points for Pawhuska, while Arianna Soliano added 11. The Lady Huskies next take the court on Friday at 4:20 p.m. where they will take on Cleveland.
On the guy’s side, the Huskies took on Mingo Valley Christian Academy. They got off to a slow start, leading 16-13 at the end of one. It was the defense that set the tone in the second quarter, though as the Huskies held the Eagles scoreless and Pawhuska led 33-13 heading into halftime.
From there, the Huskies went on to win, 53-37. Jamar Goff came off the bench and had 20 points and Holton Justus added 11, all coming in the first quarter.
Up next for the Huskies is an 8 p.m. tipoff against Alva on Friday night. Both of those broadcasts can be heard on Sportstalk KPGM FM 99.1 and KPGMTV.com.

he Barnsdall basketball team has been unable to practice since last Thursday due to COVID-19 issues. Coach Wade Corder says he hopes the Panthers will be able to take the floor again on Monday before a quick turnaround with a home game against Pawhuska. He says it has been difficult losing the practice time and the games in which they had hoped to play. 
Playoff information has already been released for Corder and the Panthers, as their district foes will be Garber and Yale. Corder says he has spent time studying up on their upcoming playoff opponents. 
Corder says that most importantly, from what he knows everyone is doing fine.