The Department of the Interior met with the Osage Nation in an effort to help the United States better understand the Osage Nation's water rights claims in Osage territory. The Osage Nation also showed the three steps that they have taken to protect those water rights. These include limiting the ability to export water from the Arkansas River basin, negotiating capacity in the Enid pipeline so that water can be delivered to the Nation at a future date and preparing an engineering analysis of both current and future water needs.
Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said this on Osage Nation water rights: “Our water rights are under attack. We will continue to defend ourselves. This is our water and we will protect it.” The Osage Nation says water rights are vital to the the Nation's sovereignty and any attempt to interfere with that will be met with opposition. The Board of Osage County Commissioners will convene for a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds on Monday morning at which time the Board will continue discussion on the construction of the courthouse annex.
Matt Littleton and Cliff Crawford with Cardinal Building Solutions will give the owner’s representation for the courthouse annex. The Board will consider taking action on that item. The Board will also consider establishing a point of contact for the project. Board members will consider allowing bulls and broncs to use the indoor arena at the fairgrounds at a reduced rate next Saturday. There will also be consideration to sign an MOU with the Osage Nation to overlay Javine Rd. from Highway 20 to Highway 11. This stretches nearly 12 miles of roadway. Monday's meeting is slated to start at 10 a.m. The Bartlesville Police Department (BPD) warns of a new scam going around town that is targeting businesses.
According to a release from the BPD, people are calling businesses, posing as corporate leaders and telling employees their managers are under investigation. They are then directing the employees to take all of their nightly deposits to one of the two bitcoin ATM kiosks in Bartlesville. An officer was called to Scooter's on Friday morning for this unsuccessful scam. You are asked to stay safe and vigilant. Ty LoftisIt was announced on Tuesday that former Osage Nation Principal Chief Charles O. Tillman Jr. passed away. He was 84 years old. Tillman served on the 25th Osage Tribal Council from 1978-1982 and was elected Chief in 1990 and he would hold that title until 2002.
Some of Tillman’s accomplishments include being the first Osage tribal leader to attend what would later become known as the White House Tribal Nations Summit. In 1994, he was able to meet with President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore at the event. Tillman is also credited for claiming victory in the Osage Trust Case. That was the biggest payment the U.S. Government had ever negotiated with a Native American Tribe. Osage Nation flags have been lowered to half-staff. Each District across Osage County gets a certain amount of money to work on roads and bridges. The figure each District gets is based on how many road miles each District has. At Monday’s Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting, District Two Commissioner Steve Talburt wanted to know if there was a better way to go about splitting up those funds, as he only receives 17 percent of that money.
District One Commissioner Randall Jones explained why he was against the change in funding. Talburt made a motion to increase his funding to 25 percent. District Three Commissioner Darren McKinney, would come out about even after that transaction, was the deciding vote after Jones voted no, as District One would stand to lose $8,000. Jones would go on to make a motion to take no action on the agenda item and that carried with a 2-1 vote. There was more talk regarding a rise in COVID-19 cases across Osage County at Monday’s Board meeting. It was reported that there are now 421 active cases across the county, that an increase of 43 from last Monday’s report.
A representative from the Osage County Health Department was on hand talking about the third shot that is becoming available for those who are immunocompromised. She went on to say that there has been an increase in people making appointments to get the vaccine. No changes were made regarding the public entering the courthouse or other county-owned buildings. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt recently took away unemployment benefits for those who have not yet found work. An Oklahoma County District Court Judge ruled that the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission needed to re-instate those $300 payments.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court reviewed the case on Wednesday and has granted the State’s request for a stay on the re-instatement of those benefits. Mark Hammons, an attorney representing the petitioners had this to say: “The policy of the act is to protect unemployed workers and their family members from the effects of invalidated unemployment.” Oklahoma Attorney General John O’ Connor applauded the decision, as he has strongly defended Governor Stitt’s decision to end those benefits. This ruling impacts around 90,000 Oklahomans. The Osage County Health Department recently got the mobile testing van it had been waiting to receive. This offers services such as COVID-19 vaccinations, school physicals and general wellness checks. On Tuesday, they will be traveling to Prue offering both appointment-based and walk-in visits. Administrative Assistant Sarah Patterson describes what she hopes they will be able to do with the mobile unit.
The event will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 654 Lake Dr. in Prue. For more information, you can call the Osage County Health Department at 918-287-2740. The Board of Osage County Commissioners will convene for a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds on Monday morning.
The commissioners will look to amend or rescind a resolution determining the best way to allocate health insurance 25 percent benefits to Districts one, two, three and the Sheriff’s Office. The Board will also enter into executive session to discuss the caretaker position at the Osage County Fairgrounds and have further discussion regarding the possibility of making possible amendments for the public entering county-owned buildings. The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock in the morning for those interested in attending. State health leaders recently provided a COVID-19 update and gave some promising news regarding a rise in vaccination rate across Oklahoma.
Deputy Commissioner of Health, Keith Reed says those receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has increased by 137 percent since early July. Around 63 percent of adults across Oklahoma now have at least one dose of the vaccine. Reed goes on to talk about the rollout of the booster shot, which will begin in mid-September. The Health Department reports that of nearly 6,000 staffed hospital beds across the State, about 22 percent of those beds are filled with COVID-19 patients. |
|