Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year that families spend in the kitchen. All of this time and inexperience in some cases can lead to a dangerous combination. Assistant Fire Chief for the Dewey Fire Department Cody Meade lets us know how to stay safe when baking this holiday season.


Meade goes on to talk about the best thing to do if and when a fire occurs.


Meade adds that it is best to do research on what you are cooking because it may be something you rarely make or are trying for the first time. ​

The Salvation Army held a drive-through meal pick-up for families in need of a good Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday afternoon. It was a successful event, as Captain Ian Carr says they ran out of food quicker than expected.


This was Carr's third year being a part of the Thanksgiving meal giveaway. He says because of the COVID-19 pandemic,this has been a year unlike any other.


Carr said that the Salvation Army has been contact-free from the public since March. That is why he added it is so nice seeing people get help during this holiday season.


Looking ahead to the Christmas holiday, Carr says they are now looking for volunteers to help ring bells and sort items for the Angel Tree Distribution. For more information call 918-336-6454. ​

The Quail Place Tributary Drainage Project is officially set to start on this coming Monday. This is one of many projects that voters approved in the 2018 General Bond Election.
This is a project that will consist of making drainage improvements to the Woodland Park area, which has experienced flooding in the past several years. This project will help increase the size and capacity of already existing concrete-lined drainage channels and the box culvert under Cherokee Hills Dr.
Work will begin at the west end of the project around the intersection of Cherokee Hills Dr. and Evergreen Dr. Crews hope to have the work complete by April, pending weather delays. 

A Washington County woman has been arrested and is being charged with fraudulently using a credit card and financially exploiting the elderly.
A probable cause affidavit states that the victim recently informed officers that her granddaughter, Rebecca Lynn Gilliam, had used her bank account to make multiple purchases without the victim’s consent. Gilliam had spent $3,380.40. The victim showed several CashApp transactions belonging to the defendant in this case.
Upon learning this, officers conducted a traffic stop on Gilliam. A K-9 officer was alerted to the odor of narcotics. Inside Gilliam’s purse were several debit or credit cards with other person’s names on the cards. There was also a notebook with personal information about the victim and the victim’s husband. This included such things as bank account information and social security numbers.   
Gilliam went to the police department to retrieve her purse on Monday afternoon. The defendant was interviewed about the personal information in the notebook at which time Gilliam admitted she used the information to make several purchases without permission of the victim.
Bond for Gilliam was set at $10,000.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, anounced on Tuesday that free COVID-19 testing will be coming to Oklahoma beginning this Saturday and running through Saturday, December 19th. This is part of a public-private partnership with eTrueNorth and state and local officials.


These surge testing efforts will help to temporarily increase federal support in communities having a major uptick in cases and hospitalizations. Oklahoma Health Commissioner Lance Fre made the following comment regarding the free testing coming to oklahoma:


“Across the country, we are experiencing aggressive, rapid and expanding community spread of COVID-19, including here in Oklahoma. We must do everything we can to flatten the curve, to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies. Focused testing is key to interrupting the current surge, including the identification of asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals.”


There are currently no free testing sites coming to northeast Oklahoma, but they will be at the Payne County Health Department in Stillwater this Saturday and the following Saturday as well from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tests will be conducted using the nasal swab and are conducted via appointment only. ​

Osage County employees get 80 hours of sick leave throughout a year. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic where employees are forced to go home if they have been exposed to the coronavirus or have tested positive themselves, the board of Osage County Commissioners are trying to look out for them by giving them extra time to play with, as district one commissioner Randall Jones explains.


The thing that concerns the commissioners is for those employees who use up their 80 hours of sick leave and get ill again, but were to come to work because they don't want to lose a paycheck. This is why the commissioners took action at Monday's meeting. District two commissioner Kevin Paslay gives the updated regulations.


This is a resolution the commissioners will look to sign at next Moday's meeting. This will last through the end of the year at which point the government has the option to change the amount of sick leave county employees receive. ​

Lights have been installed at the Cooper Dog Park in Bartlesville. This is a park owned by the City of Bartlesville, but managed by a non-profit group.
Bartlesville Park Buddies President Bill Buckles says that without lights, daylight savings time makes it difficult for park-goers to take advantage of Cooper Park during the winter months:
“Many park users work until 5 p.m. and miss the daylight hours. Thanks to the generosity of Bartlesville citizens and four local businesses, the dog park now has solar lights that turn on at dusk.”
The Cooper Dog Park is leash free and is part of the Lee Lake Complex on Adams Blvd. City-operated parks are open until 11 p.m. daily.

Members of the Washington County Sheriff's Office handed out Thanksgiving baskets to families in need during the holiday season this week. This is an event that hs been going on for 25 years and Undersheriff Jon Copeland, who has been on the force since 1997, says he has seen it grow from being able to help out four or five families a year to where they assisted 31 families in 2020. Copeland goes on to explain the benefits of the yearly event.


Copeland goes on to talk about how rewarding this event is for he and his fellow officers to take part in every year.


Copeland would like to thank all of the community organizations, sponsors and individual donors who made the event possible. Copeland said this has been the largest one yet, which he admits is remarkable in light of the difficult times we have faced over the past year. 

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On Friday, an administrative order was put into place halting many dockets taking place at the Osage County Courthouse through February of 2021. The courthouse remains open for the public to conduct other day-to-day business, as the commissioners and county treasurer discuss during Monday's meeting.


On Monday, the City of Bartlesville made a mandate ordering all citizens entering City-owned buildings to wear a mask and the Board of Washington County Commissioners are now ordering everyone entering the courthouse wear a mask.

Osage County Tourism Director Kelly Bland gave a report at Monday's commissioner meeting and she said that the new brand of advertising the county has adopted is working flawlessly. As an example, she pointed to the fact that there have been four million impressions made on their social media pages and a record number of people continue to visit the website. Bland talks about the latest tourism campign they are working on.


To start the fiscal year, the county commissioners pre-approved the tourism budget so that Bland had the authority to take advantage of possible attractions coming to Osage County. Bland said the action that the commissioners took recently paid off in a major way.


Bland said the lodging tax dollars continue to be strong across the county.