Seniors from the Pawhuska class are scheduled to graduate Friday evening. The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. at Ormond Beach Memorial Stadium. While David Cash has only been at Pawhuska for one year, he recognizes that this is a special group of kids who will be graduating.
There are certain members of the graduating class who will hate to leave their high school days behind. As a result, Cash hopes to send them out with a smile on their face. Cash says this great senior class is a product of the Pawhuska community raising great kids and becoming great leaders. Spring practice for the Pawhuska football squad has ramped up, and for the first time in a while, there are some big expectations with the Huskies this fall.
Coach Matt Hennesy took over a program last year that was 0-10 in 2017. Last year, Hennesy coached the Huskies to a 6-5 record and their first playoff appearance since 2014. Pawhuska only graduates one senior from last years playoff team. That is only one reason Hennesy expects to see more success this year. The Huskies have about 35 players out for spring ball this year, compared to 12 when Hennesy took the reigns last year. Hennesy says he has seen a culture shift in the program and he says that change should result in more wins. Pawhuska opens the season on Friday, Aug. 30 at Kellyville. Barnsdall started spring football practice on Monday. While the Panthers only have about 28 guys coming out to practice, over half of those suiting up are seniors. Coach Kylee Sweeney is excited to becoaching such a mature group.
On Tuesday, the Panthers focused primarily on familiarizing themselves with the playbook from last year. Sweeney said because of the experience on this years team, they were able to catch up quickly. During spring practice, Sweeney is hoping to fill a couple of gaps that will be missed from last years team. The Panthers went 4-6 last year, but three of those wins came in the first three games of the year. Sweeney hopes to get more wins and get them later on in the season. This will be Sweeney's fourth year as Barnsdall's head coach. Oklahoma Wesleyan University will be partnering with local law enforcement Thursday morning to host a safety drill, including a few different scenarios if an active shooter were to be on school grounds. Several members of OKWU staff, faculty members and volunteers will participate.
OKWU’s emergency communication system will be tested, along with timing to see how long it takes for law enforcement to get on the scene. The school, along with local law enforcement, hope to test their response strategies to properly protect their community. Campus will be closed in the morning while the drills take place. Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts and his team extending a helping hand to the residents of Kay County last week when an EF-1 tornado struck downtown Newkirk.
Roberts said it was an even bigger challenge because I-35 was closed along that area due to flooding. Roberts and his team were in the Newkirk area for the better part of a day helping in any way they could. Roberts added that when the Fairfax tornado hit Osage County last year, a number of emergency personnel from Kay County helped in the recovery process. The Bartlesville Police Department honored officers who have fallen in the line of duty Wednesday afternoon. In conjunction with the City of Bartlesville, they have constructed a monument outside the police station to honor those who have given their all to protect the citizens they serve.
Bartlesville Police Chief Tracy Roles speaks on the importance of remembering these heroes who died serving their community. The peace officers and firefighters who the monument are dedicated to are: George Williams, Harrison Jones, Robert Bowman, William Butler, James Gibson, Walter Mull, William Lockett, Herbert Marlow, William Ellis, Henry Cobb, William Clark, Isaac Lincoln Hicks and a K-9 Officer named Cooper. Director of Planning and Zoning for Osage County, Jake Bruno, says one of the biggest things he has been working with is how to properly handle the multiple Air BnB facilities in the area.
Bruno is making even more of an effort to reach out to other counties and see how they are handling the medical marijuana laws. The Planning and Zoning Office is located downtown Pawhuska. At last months school board meeting in Pawhuska, high school principal, Lauri Lee, brought up a proposal to re-open the junior high building to house sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. Currently, the junior high building is being occupied by high school students for con-current classes and alt-ed classes.
Middle school students are having to walk down the same halls as high schoolers, something Lee has heard numerous safety complaints about. That is why Lee wanted to re-configure the two buildings. At Monday evening's school board meeting, Superintendent David Cash and the school board did just that. Jodi Culver, a teacher at the junior high level, stated that she was for the move, but said she wants to make sure it will be open permanently. Cash added that there will be an administrator in the building at all times to supervise the students. At Monday evening's school board meeting in Pawhuska, it was determined that the junior high building would re-open to house sixth, seventh and eighth grade students.
Superintendent David Cash gave a financial report showing that everything was trending in the right direction. He added that they were ahead of the curve in some areas. Assistant Superintendent Beverly Moore will serve as the special education coordinator for the 2019-2020 school year and Bill Williams was hired as an assistant football coach. Williams comes from Holdenville and has 18 years of head coaching experience. Track and Field Coach Mark Frye was at the meeting to thank board members for helping pass the bond, which allowed the school to get the new track facilities. Frye's team won the state championship this year. The next regularly scheduled Pawhuska Public Schools Board meeting will be Monday, June 17 at 5:30 in the evening. The Board of Osage County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse in Pawhuska and got a lot accomplished.
Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts let the commissioners know they were continuing to get grant money to assist with storm shelters across the county. In June, the grant will have aided in putting in 67 storm shelters for county residents. It was reported last week that Miller EMS took close to an hour to respond to a phone call in the Avant area. Roberts opened an investigation and learned that it took them approximately 17 minutes to respond. Two members of Miller EMS were there to confirm this. In March and April, Miller EMS responded to 67 phone calls. Larry Burrows was introduced as the new Operations Manager for Miller EMS. Director of Planning and Zoning for the county, Jake Bruno, told the commissioners that he had been gathering information from other counties on how to properly handle the new medical marijuana laws and if businesses should be allowed to grow it and sell it. Director of Osage County E-911, Kay Kelley, talked about some of the classes she has been taking to gain information about different personality types. Kelley also learned better ways to motivate her staff through various group activities. During citizen's input, Macy Strom of the Osage County Fair Board, made an announcement that the butterfly exhibit will be coming back next year and the car show should be better and bigger than last year. Strom added that at 6 in the evening next Monday, there will be a fair meeting at the fairgrounds and anyone is welcome to attend. The next regular scheduled Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting is scheduled for next Monday at 10 o' clock in the morning. |
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