The Board of Osage County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds on Monday morning to get some things accomplished before the Christmas holiday.
The commissioners talked about how COVID-19 has impacted them personally within the past week. District one commissioner Randall Jones said one of his employees recently died from the virus and district three commissioner Darren McKinney said four of his employees currently have it. All three commissioners stressed that it is important to continue taking the virus serious and take the proper precautions to avoid getting the coronavirus. There was discussion regarding district one getting quotes so that they can replace an equipment shed that has collapsed. It was decided that district one commissioner Randall Jones will now move forward with looking at selecting a company to replace the shed. The commissioners signed a title sheet with Guy Engineering so that they can move forward with a bridge project along the Caney River. There was also a resolution signed to purchase one or more used 2012, or newer, diesel pickup trucks with four wheel drive. The commissioners signed bid contracts for road oil, food, antifreeze, lube and oil. There were no utility permits signed at the meeting. The next regularly scheduled Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting will take place next Monday at 10 o' clock in the morning for those interested in attending. Court documents show that a cabinet member for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has been indicted for attempted bribery of an officer.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has filed charges against the Oklahoma Secretary of Digital Transformation and Administration, David Ostrowe for attempted bribery of two Oklahoma Tax Commissioners. Our news partners with the News on 6 reports that Ostrowe asked commissioners Steve Burrage and Charles Prater to waive the interest and penalty fees for a company owned by the state. Court documents show that if the commissioners didn’t do this, funds would be withheld from the tax commission. Governor Kevin Stitt’s office released a statement that said in part they are aware of the allegations and are working to obtain more information. The City of Pawhuska will experience a power outage lasting around 30 minutes on Friday. Utilities Director Bill Bruce lets us know the reasoning behind the expected outage.
To prepare for the outage, members of the Electric Department started up the generators last Saturday and Wednesday as well to make sure there were no issues moving forward. Bruce expects the actual project to take anywhere between 10 and 14 hours, but he details what the department will be working on while the town is without power. The power outage will occur sometime Friday evening. The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet for a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds on Monday morning.
The commissioners will have continued discussion regarding making possible amendments for the public entering the Osage County Courthouse and other county-owned buildings. There will be discussion and possible action regarding quotes on equipment in the district one shop and the commissioners will consider approving bid contracts for road oil, food, lube, antifreeze and oil. The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock in the morning for those interested in attending. An injury collision occurred to the southwest of Hominy on Thursday afternoon on State Highway 99.
A 2005 Chevy pickup was traveling southbound on State Highway 99 following a crane when the vehicle moved into the northbound lane and attempted to pass. A second vehicle, also following the crane, moved into the northbound lane in an attempt to pass. The Chevy pickup had to swerve into the east ditch to avoid the secondary vehicle. The Chevy pickup accelerated and traveled approximately 840 feet in the ditch before attempting to re-enter the road. At this time, the vehicle went across the road departed to the right side of the road in a broad slide at which time the vehicle struck a barb wire fence and a tree. Both people in the car were admitted to the hospital in fair condition. Public Works Director for the City of Pawhuska, Mark Chamberlain recently talked about a few water line breaks his crew has dealt with in the past month. One of these breaks occurred on property not owned by the City of Pawhuska. Chamberlain estimates they lost 1.5 million gallons of water over a three and a half day period.
Chamberlain says that the City intends to make the Osage Nation pay for the water that was lost, as he says it was their equipment that caused the break. There are many questions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine and the side effects it may have for those who take it. The State of Oklahoma is beginning to hand out the vaccine to different communities, including parts of Osage County. Dr. Ronald Shaw with Osage Nation Health Services gave some information about the vaccines coming to the area.
He started by saying that even though the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have only been studied for a handful of months, studies are finding little, to no, side effects. Most of these effects being shown included pain at the injection site, headaches or fatigue and didn’t last longer than 48 hours. Now that the vaccine is slowly being rolled out, Shaw went on to talk about the timeline on when people can expect to get the vaccine if they so choose. Shaw said that for now the most important thing to do is get a flu shot so that you prevent the chance of getting COVID-19 and the flu at the same time. The Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority met for its regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon and Executive Director Chris Wilson gave an update regarding various projects. He started by talking about a noise study project to measure ambient light in a building that is located in downtown Bartlesville. This is something the United States Housing and Urban Development made them conduct.
Wilson added that all windows are having to be replaced in the Hotel Phillips Building so that the building can be put on the historical preservation list and sidewalks in Tif two are continuing to get replaced. At Wednesday's meeting, the November financial report for 2020 was also accepted. Si Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” fame recently passed through Pawhuska and took in the sights and sounds of many area attractions, including the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum. Here is Robertson talking about his time in Pawhuska.
Duck Dynasty aired for 11 seasons on A&E Network. The Pawhuska School Board voted to approve the 2021 student drug testing policy Monday evening, but Superintendent David Cash made the board aware of a slight change being made to the procedures. Coaches came to Cash and said that it is important to continue including the students in practices who tested positive for illegal substances.
The new policy states that if an athlete tests positive, he or she will miss 20 percent of the season for a first offense. If a student were to test positive, they would get tested once a month for the rest of the year. |
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