Three defendants will be back in the Osage County Courthouse Monday afternoon for a motion hearing in the murder of John Adkins.
Daniel Keene, Maurice Kent and Toby Bighorse all entered not guilty pleas in April for the October 1 death of Adkins. Motions were filed by the Defense in April, one of which claims that the defendants have Native American blood. Because it happened on Native American land, the Defense says the case should be turned over to the United States Attorney’s Office.  
The four were believed to be traveling in a car north of Pawhuska when an argument broke out and Adkins was stabbed and killed. Adkins’ body was found 17 days later approximately one mile north of Pawhuska. 

The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet Monday morning for a regular scheduled meeting and the commissioners will revisit items dealing with policies and procedures at the fairgrounds.
The county commissioners will consider re-appointing Jim Goodwin and Rick Hedrick as members on the board of adjustments. Their term is set to expire on March 1, 2022.
There will also be possible action taken to sign a letter that would support Pawhuska EMS so that they could grants from the Oklahoma Emergency Response Systems Stabilization and Improvement Revolving Fund.
The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock for those interested in attending.    

The Bartlesville Board of Adjustment committee held a regular scheduled meeting Thursday evening at city hall and appointed Jessie Gonzalez as new chairman to the board. Laura Jensen was appointed as vice-chair.
The board allowed a business to expand its building so that they could begin putting in a safe room. They also allowed for the rebuild of an existing garage at a house.
They did however table the application for someone to put a mobile home in the Rainbow Gardens Addition, as that area is in the floodplain. The board requested more information before making a ruling.  

Disaster recovery teams are being sent to Osage County to help residents pick up the pieces left behind from flooding that hit the area in May and continued through early June. Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts says the group will be in Avant beginning on Friday.


Residents from across Osage County may come to the center and check in on their FEMA report or see why they may have been denied.


Roberts says they will be set up at the corner of Broadway and Grand right in front of city hall. After the center passes through Avant, Roberts hopes the mobile center will move to Hominy.

The Bartlesville Area History Museum will present an educational program on legendary Ben Johnson on Wednesday, July 10 on the fifth floor of city hall. Director of the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum in Pawhuska, Cody Garnett, said Johnson is a true Osage County legend.


Education Coordinator for the Museum, Betty Keim will examine his acting career, but also take a look at what made him such a great roper, as he was a world champion team roper in 1953. The event will begin at noon.


Admission to the museum is free and hours of operation are from 8 to 4 Monday through Friday.

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The first annual Pawhuska fishing derby will take place on Saturday, July 20 to benefit the Huskie baseball team. Cost to sign up is $100 and up to four people can be on a team.
First place payout is $300, second place pays $200 and third place pays $100. The event runs from sunrise to 7 o’ clock in the evening. Check-in is at the Pawhuska baseball field.
On Friday, July 19 an alumni baseball game will take place. Registration is from 4 to 8 at the softball field and the game will follow. Concessions will be available and payouts are set for 10 or more teams. For more information on the event, call Coach Rumsey at 918-857-2269.   

The Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority met for a regular scheduled meeting at City Hall in Bartlesville on Wednesday afternoon and the board is looking at utilizing downtown lofts as a place for people to live. Executive Director Chris Wilson said a study they conducted last year shows that people could be interested.
That is why the board approved a professional services agreement with Upstairs Downtown to continue doing research on both upstairs and downstairs lofts.
The board voted to allow the chair and vice-chair to view banking statements from each TIF district at Bankfirst. The financial report for the month of May looked promising and so the board accepted that report.  

FEMA has been approved to begin assisting with cleanup efforts in Osage County, but because Governor Kevin Stitt hasn't signed a public assistance declaration, the only thing FEMA has been able to help with thus far is individuals on a one-on-one basis.


This means bridges, roads and other infrastructure needs have yet to be looked at. Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts says residents have already began getting help, though.


Roberts believes the reason Osage county doesn't have the declaration yet is because there are several other counties who haven't yet completed their individual assessments. Roberts says the Governor will likely give the declaration to all of the counties once that is completed.


Over the weekend, parts of Osage County got up to two and a half inches of rain. While the ground was still very saturated, Roberts said the rain didn't cause much damage.


In the coming days, FEMA is going to set up declaration recovery centers in Hominy and Avant. Residents are welcome to come check in on the status of their FEMA reports or see why they might have been denied assistance.

Pawhuska's Fourth of July celebration is almost here and Executive Director for the Chamber of Commerce, Joni Nash says she is very excited for this year's schedule of events, which starts with a parade that morning.


If you would like to be a part of the parade, sign up at the Chamber of Commerce. There will be prizes given out for different categories, including most outrageous float and most patriotic float. At the end of the parade, water, hot dogs and apple cobbler will be handed out.


The Chamber of Commerce partners with the Pioneer Woman Mercantile, who will be putting on a number of musical events throughout the day.


Other events you will be able to participate in include rock climbing, mechanical bull riding and looking at various arts and crafts vendors. The fireworks show starts at dusk and will take place behind the Chamber of Commerce office.

Throughout the summer, YouthWorks a Christ-centered mission group, will be making trips to Pawhuska to help make improvements to the school. Last week, students from Iowa and Illinois came to town. Maintenance Director Dean Hicks said they did a great job making improvements to Indian Camp Elementary School.


One of the youth group leaders from Illinois said she was glad she got to make the trip to Oklahoma. She also noted the hard work the kids put in while they were there.


A fourth year student in the program said she always looks forward to learning new things on each trip she goes on.


Hicks said that he enjoys pushing each new group that comes to the school by telling them how much the prior group completed and telling the current group they better do more. Various school improvements are expected to continue throughout the summer.