The Osage County Fairgrounds in Pawhuska will be holding some special events this week to ring in the New Year.
On Tuesday, there will be a roping event. Sign up starts at 6:30 p.m. and the roping begins at 8. Pick one and draw two for $120 to enter. There is a mandatory $20 prize fee per contestant and the high money winner of the day gets a saddle. The average winner of each roping gets a trophy breast collar.
On Wednesday, there will be a barrel race. The race starts at 2 p.m. with the pee-wee’s, then the youth, followed by the open division. Entry fee varies in price between $20 and $40 depending upon what you sign up for. Text pre-entries to 918-559-2357.
American Bucking Bull Inc. will be bringing their bull riding organization to town on Saturday. Tickets cost $10 and children under the age of 6 are admitted free. The event begins at 7 p.m.  
The Osage County Fairgrounds is located at 320 Skyline Drive in Pawhuska. For further information, contact Trent Watson at 918-766-6043. 

At Monday's Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting, Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts talked about a donation the county received from the Tulsa Fire Department.
As Emergency Manager, communication between Roberts and the Tulsa Fire Department began a couple of years ago when he asked them to donate a fire engine to Barnsdall. The fire truck that Barnsdall had was given to Shidler at that time.
Baker Hughes donated six tanker trucks to the county. These are worth anywhere between $20,000 and $25,000 each. Roberts said he would like to do something special to thank Baker Hughes for their donation.
Roberts concluded by saying that for those who qualified for the storm shelter grant, the deadline to have the storm shelters installed in their homes is Thursday, Jan. 30. He hopes to get this grant again next year. 

The Board of Osage County Commissioners had no new business and there were no utility permits to sign. The only business on Monday’s agenda was getting an update on how things have been going across the county from Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts. He let the commissioners know FEMA relief is finally beginning to trickle in.
The next round of money that comes to the county will go towards portions of District Three.

The Osage Nation will be holding a blood drive on Tuesday, January 7th from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Osage Nation Law Building in Pawhuska.
To schedule an appointment, you can call 918-287-5482 or go to obi.org. All donors will get a long sleeved, “Follow Your Instinct” T-shirt. The Osage Nation Law Building is located at 1071 Grandview Lane.  

Pawhuska's downtown Streetscape project, which originally began to take shape in 2010 is finally becoming a reality nearly 10 years later. The project was originally going to cost just under $700,000. The cost has since been raised to 1.2 million dollars with the City of Pawhuska paying $100,000 and the Osage Nation paying just over $125,000. Pawhuska City Manager Dave Neely says the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is footing the rest of the bill.


Crews are expected to begin work on this project in early spring. 

Osage County voters who are wanting to use an absentee ballot to vote in the 2020 election year need to submit an absentee ballot application to the Election Board Office in Pawhuska as soon as possible. Voters who wish to send in absentee ballots can use that method for individual elections or all elections if they so choose for the 2020 election year.
Election Board Secretary Kelly Chouteau encourages early voting saying that, “We have many federal, state and local elections coming up this year. Signing up for absentee ballots is a great way to make sure you stay informed and never miss an election.”
Applications are available at the Osage County Election Board Office and they can also be downloaded at elections.ok.gov. The first 2020 election in Osage County takes place January 14th and a list of all other elections throughout the year can be found at elections.ok.gov.
It has also been announced that Wynona School has decided to close three Osage County precincts for the Wynona Special School Election, which is scheduled to take place on February 11th.
State law allows a school district to close a precinct if it’s not entirely within the district’s boundaries and if there are fewer than 100 registered voters in that part of the precinct. There are only 31 total registered voters in the three precincts. Voters registered in precincts 108, 112 and 306 will receive an application to fill out an absentee ballot. These ballots must be returned to the County Election Board by Wednesday, February 5th.  
For more information, call 918-287-3036. The Election Board Office is located at 630 Kihekah Ave. in Pawhuska.  

The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet for what appears to be a brief meeting Monday morning at the courthouse in Pawhuska.
Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts will give a safety update and will talk about what FEMA is doing to help the residents of the county.
At last weeks meeting, District Two Commissioner Kevin Pasley talked about utility permit violations that were taking place across his district. Pasley made it clear that he wants to see continued discussion on this topic in the coming weeks.
The Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting begins at 10 o’ clock in the morning for those interested in attending. 
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It was announced several months ago that filmmakers of, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” will be filming parts of the movie in Osage County. Pawhuska City Manager Dave Neely says things are rolling alongquite smoothly for that to take place.
Neely has been told filmmakers expect to start shooting in April and he adds that many residents across the area will be extras in the movies.
For those not in the movie, Neely said there is still plenty of work to be done if anyone is interested in helping with the production of the motion picture.
The movie is based off of a book written by David Grann in 2017.  

While many students are enjoying their Christmas break, Pawhuska basketball coach Jake Christenson is making sure his 6-1 Huskies are staying busy as they transition into the second semester of play. Christenson says he would normally give his team an extended break,but the Huskies are just now beginning to click. 


Having gone 6-1 in their first seven games of play, Christenson sees great potential in this team. 


Coming out of the Christmas break, Pawhuska will host Agra on Friday, Jan. 3rd. The Huskies defeated Agra in the championship game of the Agra tournament earlier this year.
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Effective January 1st, Pawhuska Police Officers who live outside the city limits will have to keep their cars at the police station overnight. This is something Police Chief Nick Silva isn't pleased about because he says it will take longer for his officers to respond to crimes taking place across town. City Manager Dave Neely gives his reasoning for taking the cars away.


Neely says this will be a way for the city to save some money as the new year rolls around.


Silva and Neely have met in an attempt to come up with some sort of compromise, but the two have yet to find a solution.