The 17th annual car show in Shidler will take place this Saturday at Coussens Park beginning at 10 a.m.
The registration fee is $20 and dash plaques will be available for the first 150 entries. A best of show award will be presented at 3:30 that afternoon. Concession stands will be provided by the Shidler Volunteer Fire Department. Those proceeds will benefit the Fire Department. For more information, you can call 918-793-4961. The Better Barrel Races Recovery Series begins its six week buckle competition this Thursday at the Osage County Fairgrounds in Pawhuska. Exhibitions start at 6 and the race will take place at 8.
There is a $10 entry fee for those competing in the pee-wee division, $25 fee for those competing in the youth competition and $35 in the open division. The event will take place outdoors unless it is too wet to do so in which case it will take place in the Clarence Brantley Indoor Arena. Prizes will be available for those placing through fourth place. This event will take place for the next six Thursdays. For more information, text 918-693-8874. Riders must have their current Coggins papers and health certificate on hand in order to participate. The Board of Osage County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds in Pawhuska to discuss a wide array of items.
The commissioners reviewed rules and regulations for the public entering the courthouse and other county-owned buildings. They kept the procedures as they have been since re-opening the courthouse months ago and district three commissioner Darren McKinney said it is important to keep everybody safe during this time. The commissioners also talked about the distribution of funding for the road and bridge improvements program. A lease agreement was also signed with Joe Surber DBA Osage Cattle Co. LLC. The next regularly scheduled board of Osage County Commissioner Meeting will take place next Monday at 10:30 in the morning. In 2004, the state of Oklahoma ranked 49th nationally in bridge condition rankings, this a result of a high number of structurally deficient bridges across the state. The Federal Highway System now ranks Oklahoma in the top 10 for the first time ever.
In 2005, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation began a massive effort to begin improving highway bridges, this after decades of under-funding these efforts. Here is Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt on the accomplishment: “Transportation is the backbone of the economy, and this designation shows Oklahoma is a new national leader in highway bridge infrastructure thanks to the dedication of ODOT employees and an unprecedented investment in our bridges by the Legislature.” In 2004, nearly 1,200 bridges were considered structurally deficient. That number is now down to 86. The green dots on the map below shows the progress made by ODOT since 2004 in replacing or rehabilitating nearly 1,600 structurally deficient bridges since 2004. The red dots represent the remaining 86 structurally deficient bridges, many of which are already awarded for construction or are scheduled in ODOT's Eight-Year Construction Plan to be addressed. Duck blind drawings will be taking place at Hudson Lake on Friday, September 25th beginning at 9:00 a.m. There will be 10 of these drawings on the boat ramp for areas at Hudson Lake and The City of Bartlesville is putting the event together. Each blind costs $10 and any extra blinds can be purchased at City Hall.
Each duck hunter must make repairs and improvements to his or her blind. No more than 30 decoys will be allowed in the blind area. Duck hunters may enter Hudson Lake 90 minutes before sunrise to prepare for the day. Shooting ends at noon. For more information regarding duck hunting rules and regulations, go to wildlifedepartment.com. It is being reported that filmmakers for “Killers of the Flower Moon” will begin production in February, this according to the Osage News.
Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear recently had this to say regarding the movie, which is set to be filmed across Osage County: “My latest information is that they would start filming, subject to coronavirus, February 2021. And they will be here for about 16 weeks.” Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce Director Joni Nash has been in constant contact with the movie producers and she knew they were always invested in completing the project, despite recent setbacks with the virus. Killers of the Flower Moon is set to be directed by Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Pawhuska Public Schools will start the 2020-2021 academic year next week and roughly 75 percent of students will be taking in-person classes.
This decision to have students come back to campus isn’t something Superintendent David Cash took lightly. Cash says one thing people overlook in this debate about going back to school is the mental health problems the virus could create for students. Cash already knows of one suicide that has occurred in relation to COVID-19 and he is scared social isolation could cause other long-term problems for kids. Cash says it will be important to stay flexible and adjust as needed as the school year progresses. Pawhuska’s football field got new turf no more than a few years ago, but it is the bleachers on the home side that now needs attention. Superintendent David Cash told his board Monday night just how dire the situation is.
With the historical significance of the home side bleachers, Cash says the important thing is to save the exterior part of the bleachers while making the interior part more structurally sound. The best way to go about doing this is something the board will discuss at coming meetings. The Pawhuska School Board met Monday evening and at the top of everybody’s mind was the safest way to send students back to school next week.
Dr. Cameron Rumsey spoke to the board and addressed several issues regarding the virus, including the importance of spreading out while in groups. Rumsey also talked about how the virus spreads and what a student would have to do in order to get the virus. Rumsey said over the summer we have learned that this novel virus doesn’t care about the heat and your chances of contracting COVID-19 go down if you wear a mask. Rumsey added that it is important to keep tabs on how many cases the area has, as it may be necessary to shut down the school at some point throughout the year should things get bad enough. For more information on Pawhuska’s back to school plan, visit their school website, Pawhuskadistrict.org. District one commissioner Randall Jones held a meeting with the Osage County Health Department a week ago expressing his frustration on why the county doesn’t yet have the ability to conduct more effective testing for his residents. Jones says that is something he wants to see in Osage County.
Jones says the meeting was productive, but they are still working to resolve some issues moving forward. Osage County has 64 active COVID-19 cases according to the latest update from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. |
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