The Bartlesville City Council met for a special meeting Tuesday evening with the objective being to authorize City staff to submit a coronavirus response grant, thus helping Bartlesville residents recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assistant City Planner Nancy Warring gave a presentation and said just over eight million dollars are available to distribute to 18 eligible cities, including Bartlesville. Warring is unsure how much of that money Bartlesville is eligible for, but said it is important to apply based on estimated local needs. These local needs include helping individuals with utility assistance for up to six months, rental assistance for six months, medical aid, mental health assistance and nutrition aid. Warring said cities can only apply for three of these needs. Warring went on to talk about why she felt it was important that these were the three areas the council choose. The council went on to authorize that CDBG grant and Warring says she is unsure when we will find out how much aid the City receives. Claude Rosendale with the Osage County Tourism Committee gave a presentation and summary report as to how Tourism Director Kelly Bland has been doing to promote the county across the state and at the national level in the past year.
Rosendale said she has developed a real love for the county and has done a great job in marketing Osage County. Rosendale says one of Bland’s strengths has been developing contacts with those not only across the state, but nationally as well. District one commissioner Randall Jones did have a question for Rosendale regarding their monthly meeting schedule and what is most often talked about in open discussion now that the tourism committee doesn’t have to request funding from the commissioners. The concern that came from Jones is a flow of information from the tourism committee, but Rosendale said minutes of each meeting are sent out and the meetings are open to the public. The Board of Osage County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds on Tuesday morning and President for the Osage County Tourism Board, Claude Rosendale gave a review as to how to Tourism Director Kelly Bland has been doing.
Rosendale said that her review received excellent rankings in all categories and that she has developed a real love for Osage County. Rosendale was also impressed with the way Bland has improved the social media presence for Osage County and improved the branding for the county as well. Interlocal agreements were signed between the Board of Osage County Commissioners and the Town of Sperry, along with the Sperry School District, City of Skiatook and the Skiatook School District. Seven utility permits were signed for district three and one utility permit was signed in district one. Eight roads were also signed over to inventory for district two. The next regularly scheduled Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting will take place next Monday at 10 o’ clock in the morning. Sophomores, juniors and seniors at the high school level in Pawhuska had the opportunity to take the ACT test this past fall. 84 of the students took advantage of this free opportunity because they lost out on that chance to take it last spring. High School Principal Lori Justus says the numbers weren't as high as she had hoped, but she did she positive areas for growth.
The average score between the three grade levels was 14.8. Statewide averages will not be available until the spring. Late last week, Barnsdall Public Schools made the decision to pivot toward virtual learning beginning on Tuesday and running through Friday. This comes after two more students tested positive for COVID-19.
Elementary teachers will be in contact with students regarding what students will be doing during this three-day span. Junior high and high school students will fill find their assignments on the Google Classroom. The two wresting matches scheduled for the week are still on at this time. A post on the Barnsdall Public School website says in part that the school is doing its best to make decisions for a vast array of situations and a large number of individuals. The health and safety of students is always the biggest concern. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to adapt and change plans constantly. Producers of the movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” were not immune, as they had hoped to begin shooting in the spring of 2020, but as we move into 2021, film crews have yet to begin rolling tape. There have been whispers that they hope to start within the month and director Martin Scorsese recently had this to say:
“We are still working on the film. I did costumes last night. We are working on casting, all done by Zoom and FaceTime.” Scorsese says he plans on having a seven month shoot across Osage County beginning in February. The film is expected to be released in early 2022. Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the book by David Grann and focuses on the real-life events of Osage murders and the birth of the FBI. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are scheduled to play lead roles in the 200 million dollar film. A Fairfax man who was being held in the Jackie Brannon Correctional Center in McCalester on first degree arson charges escaped for a short time Thursday afternoon, but was located a short time later by McCalester Police.
Kirby Yates is serving a five-year sentence for setting a residential structure on fire in Fairfax in July of 2019. At the time of the fire, a probable cause affidavit stated that an agent with the state fire marshal's office located a melted plastic container consistent with a fuel canister in the southwest bedroom. Officers had spoken with multiple people who stated that Yates had threatened to burn the house several times. Yates could be facing additional charges after Thursday's escape. As we head into the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday weekend, Pawhuska Public Schools has announced that they will be transitioning to virtual learning through Friday, January 29th.
A Facebook post states that this is thanks in large part to positive COVID-19 cases and staff members and students having to quarantine after contact tracing. Meals will be delivered beginning at 9:30 a.m. and available for pickup at the elementary cafeteria from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Meals won’t be available on Friday, as the school had a built-in snow day. All scheduled athletic events will continue as scheduled. It was a clean sweep for the Pawhuska Huskies on Thursday evening, as both the boys and girls came away with easy victories over the Dewey Bulldogers. On the guys side, the Huskies got a convincing 54-28 victory and it was Isaiah Walker leading the way with 20 points.
The Huskies controlled the game throughout, leading 20-8 at halftime and extending that lead in the third quarter. This Tel Richardson bucket at the third quarter buzzer extended that lead to 17. Richardson went on to score 11 points, while AJ Soliano and Mason Gilkey each added seven. The Lady Huskies held a 26-24 lead at halftime before getting a 67-48 win. Dewey will be in action on Friday night on Real Country KRIG 104.9 FM, as they celebrate homecoming against Caney Valley. Pawhuska is off until next Monday when they host Woodland. Ugly wins are better than pretty losses. The Pawhuska Huskies got just that on Tuesday night, earning a 40-31 victory at Hominy on Tuesday night. The Bucks led Pawhuska 9-8 at the end of the first quarter and had a 22-20 lead going into halftime. Hominy’s Shane Brown had 20 of those first half points.
Isiah Walker and Mason Gilkey each scored in double-figures and it was this three-pointer in the third quarter that got the Huskies rolling. Pawhuska would outscore Hominy 20-9 in the second half. The Lady Huskies struggled as well, as they got a hard-fought 37-28 victory. Navaeh Taylor scored 11 points and Shelby Laird had seven. Up next for Pawhuska is a road contest at Dewey on Thursday. That is a game you can hear on both KRIG 104.9 and KPGM FM99.1. |
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