The Board of Osage County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at the courthouse in Pawhuska Monday morning.
All three commissioners know the importance of either getting a new courthouse or re-furbishing the current one. District Two Commissioner Kevin Paslay believes the time to go about voting on that measure and adding a courthouse annex in Skiatook is now. District One Commissioner Randall Jones worries that there are other things the county needs to be concerned about at the moment, as he is concerned about a lack of funding for the project. District Three Commissioner Darren McKinney is concerned that there wouldn't be enough public support behind the measure and the vote would fail. The commissioners decided they would come back to this agenda item next week and consider forming a committee that would hold town halls across the county to see what kind of public support the vote would have. The commissioners agreed to use more than $1,200 to help make repairs to the Avant Community Center and signed lease purchase documents with Armstrong Bank for two Caterpillar motor graders. There were no utility permits signed at the meeting. The next regularly scheduled Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting will be next Tuesday at 10 o' clock in the morning for those interested in attending. The Pawhuska School Board will meet for a regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening at the Administration Building and the teacher of the year will be featured.
The 2018-2019 financial audit will be presented to the Pawhuska School Board. They will vote to approve that audit, which will be presented by Sanders, Bledsoe and Hewett. The school board will give an evaluation on how Superintendent David Cash is doing in his position. They will then vote to renew his contract, along with Assistant Superintendent Beverly Moore’s contract, for the 2020-2021 school year. Personnel matters will also be discussed during the school board meeting. The meeting begins at 5:30 in the evening for those interested in attending. The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet for a regularly scheduled meeting at the courthouse in Pawhuska this Monday.
There was talk a few weeks ago about the possible reconstruction of the current courthouse or building a new courthouse in Pawhuska. In addition to that, there was talk about the City of Skiatook getting some sort of courthouse annex. The commissioners will re-visit this agenda item Monday morning. The Executive Director for the American Therapeutic Riding Center, Denise Ward, will be on hand talking about an upcoming rodeo for special needs on the weekend of April 25th. Ward will talk about other upcoming fundraisers as well. There will also be discussion and possible action taken regarding helping the City of Avant with repairs to the Avant Community Center. The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock in the morning for those interested in attending. A Bartlesville man was arrested and charged Wednesday evening for domestic abuse and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
The defendant, Mark Henshall had told the victim he wanted her to buy him cigarettes when she was leaving the residence. She told Henshall no and that is when Henshall became angry, throwing a book at her, which hit her in the left eye. The victim said after she was hit with the book, she threw a lunchbox at Henshall and walked into the bathroom. Henshall pushed her into the door however and she fell. The victim stated that as she attempted to get up, Henshall grabbed her by the sweatshirt and dragged her out the front door and down the stairs of the front porch. Upon arrival, officers noticed a small cut on her left eye and a swollen knot under her eyebrow from where she was hit. Henshall admitted to throwing a stack of sticky notes at the victim and added that she threw a lunchbox at him. When searching Henshall’s front right pants pocket, officers found a small plastic bag with a white crystalline substance that was later identified as methamphetamine. Henshall’s bond was set at $10,000 and he is to have no contact with the victim. He is due back in court on Friday, Feb. 21st at 9 a.m. A man charged with a 2015 murder occurring in Osage County pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to murder in the second degree.
35-year-old Jeremy Keith Reece (pictured), a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, admitted that he intentionally shot and killed Rick Holt in Osage Nation Indian Country on Sept. 5th, 2015. During the change of plea hearing and according to the plea agreement, Reece took the victim from his residence then transported him to Osage Nation Indian Country where he shot the victim three times. He then dug a shallow grave and set the victim’s body on fire. “In 2015, Jeremy Reece callously murdered Rick Holt on the lands of the Osage Nation. Heinous acts such as those committed by Reece will not go unpunished in the Northern District of Oklahoma. This United States Attorney’s Office takes seriously its special trust responsibility to prosecute violent crimes in Indian Country,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Assistant United States Attorney and Tribal Liaison Shannon Cozzoni worked closely with Osage County District Attorney Mike Fisher to move this case forward and secure justice for the victim and his family. I would note that this investigation is ongoing and we will not rest until we have held accountable all those responsible for this senseless act of violence.” "While there can never be a resolution to Mr. Holt's murder that can return him to his family and friends, the District Attorney's Office is thankful for the tireless efforts and assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office in bringing some closure to those who knew and cared about Rick," said Osage County District Attorney Mike Fisher. The murder case was originally filed in state court but in 2017, following an adverse ruling at the district court level that the State of Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction to prosecute the case, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals issued a ruling staying the case until jurisdictional issues were resolved. Chief U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell remanded Reece into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and set sentencing for May 6, 2020. Federal authorities continue to discuss his brother, Tyler Reece's case. In 2015 both brothers were charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit a murder, desecration of a human corpse and kidnapping. This prosecution is the joint effort of the Osage County District Attorney and the United States Attorney’s Office. The investigation was conducted by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, Pawhuska Police Department, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Osage Nation Police Department and the FBI. The City of Pawhuska Primary Election for the Councilman At-large, along with the Wynona Special School Election will take place this Tuesday.
Byron Cowan, Amber Nash, Steven Tolson and the incumbent, Rodger Milleson, are all running for the At-large Council seat in the city of Pawhuska. There is also a proposal that voters have the option to use $450,000 of bond money for the Wynona School District to make improvements to the school. Sample ballots are now available at osage.okcounties.org. Sample ballots are also available during regular business hours at the Osage County Election Board Office in Pawhuska, located at 630 Kihekah Ave. For more information, you can call the Osage County Election Board Office at 918-287-3036. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Both polling locations in Pawhuska will be open and Precinct 111 at the First Baptist Church in Wynona will be open as well. The Barnsdall Panthers have been on a tear recently, winning their last four ballgames by a combined 138 points. They have scored 77 or more points in all of those games. The Panthers had failed to score above 66 points at any point in time this year heading into that stretch of the season. Coach Wade Corder is glad to see his team beginning to click offensively, but he says it is all thanks to the improved defense.
The Panthers have a home game with Woodland on Friday and a road game at Hominy next Tuesday. The first time Barnsdall played these two teams resulted in losses. Corder says in order for the Panthers to come away with wins this time, they must play better defensively. Barnsdall sits at 9-9 on the season. After visiting with staff and reviewing results of a survey sent home to parents, Wynona Public Schools has made the decision to cancel school through Friday, this according to the Wynona Public School District Facebook Page.
The district says that at this time, there are a number of students and a few staff members sick with the flu or who have strep throat. Parent teacher conferences have been postponed to Thursday, Feb. 13th and Monday, Feb. 17th. Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts was able to report Wednesday morning that most of the main roads across Osage County are in good condition, but there are some roads that county crews are working to get treated.
The snow has stopped for now, but Roberts says another band of snow could come in sometime late this afternoon. What doesn’t melt today is expected to re-freeze this evening so Roberts says his crews will be back at it early Thursday morning if need be. There had been some setbacks in the plans to re-route the Pathfinder trail that is west of Eastland Shopping Center, but these plans are now moving ahead, this according to Director of Engineering for the City of Bartlesville, Micah Siemers.
City staff says the reason for the project is to make the trail safer for everyone who uses it. They received a $125,000 grant from the 2018 Recreational Trails Program to help fund the project. At the time, they began the process of acquiring the needed easements to complete the re-alignment of the new path. The plan is to have the Pathfinder trail run south of Turkey Creek as opposed through the Eastland Shopping Center. In addition to this, they hope to move the existing trailhead near Chick-Fil-A to the west side of U.S. Highway 75, north of Senor Salsa. Siemers added that design plans for the project should be complete be the end of February and it is possible the bid process could be complete by March. Construction could start in May if all goes according to plan. |
|