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Okla. Democrats say absent lawmaker voted on bill
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma House Democrats say an improper vote was cast for a $7.1 billion budget bill on behalf of a Republican legislator who had left the building. House Democratic Leader Rep. Scott Inman said Thursday that Tulsa Republican Rep. Terry O’Donnell had left the Capitol when two votes were cast on the general appropriations bill. O’Donnell was shown voting yes on both votes. It is a violation of House rules for a vo...
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Shannon Lynn Hutcherson
Man charged with possession and distribution of child porn
An investigation by Durant and Guthrie police led to child pornography charges being filed against a local man. Shannon Lynn Hutcherson, 22, Durant, is charged with aggravated possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. He is accused of possessing more than 100 separate materials depicting child pornography, court papers state, and also possessing shared files from the Internet that show minors in sexual and lew...
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<p>Kari Walker has been named Citizen of the Year by the Durant Kiwanis Club. She is shown with Kiwanian John Hoefer. Walker is an employee of First United Bank and she helped start the Boys and Girls Club in Durant.</p>
Walker named Citizen of the Year by Kiwanis
First United Bank CEO Greg Massey is pleased to announce that First United employee Kari Walker was recently honored by the Durant Kiwanis as Citizen of the Year. Walker has more than 13 years of banking experience. She began her career with First United in 2005 in the Corporate Risk Management Department. Prior to joining First United, Walker was employed by The Bank NA in McAlester. Walker holds a degree in Business Administration from Ea...
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Feds say Insure Oklahoma program must change
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma program that uses Medicaid funding to provide health insurance to 30,000 low-income Oklahomans must change in order to keep its funding, the federal government said this week, even as a legislative plan that tries to make those changes seems stalled. The Insure Oklahoma program needs a renewed waiver to use Medicaid funding to help some people pay for private insurance, which the Centers for Medicare and...
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Man charged with threatening witness on Facebook
The father of a man who was shot to death during a recent altercation has been charged with using a computer to threaten a witness in the case. Clinton Lee Tyson Sr. 53, is charged with using a computer to put another person in fear of physical harm or death. According to court papers, Tyson sent Amanda Wright harassing and threatening messages by text and on Facebook during March, April and May. Tyson Sr. is the father of Parker Allen Ty...
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Firefighters rescue boy stuck in tree
Durant firefighters rescued an 8-year-old boy who had climbed up a cedar tree and could not get down. Someone called the fire department at 4:17 p.m. Tuesday after the boy climbed approximately 20 feet up the tree in the the backyard of a 500 Meadowlark Lane residence. Firefighters brought the boy down in several minutes. In other fire-related calls Tuesday, firefighters were dispatched at 12:24 p.m. to an apartment at 815 Gerlach Drive...
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Sample ballots available for Silo bond election
A Sample ballot for the Silo School Bond Election is now available at the Bryan County Election Board office for voters who want to get a preview of what will be at stake in the Special Silo Bond Election on May 14. Linda Fahrendorf, Secretary of the County Election Board, said that sample ballots can be viewed at the Election Board office, located at 217 N. 16 Ave. during regular office hours, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. The bond is for improvem...
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Okla. Highway Patrol troopers push for pay hike
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Dozens of current and retired state troopers visited the state Capitol on Tuesday and urged legislators to revive a bill that would give them a pay raise. The House and Senate unanimously approved a bill earlier this session that would give a roughly 16 percent pay hike to all Department of Public Safety employees, including about 750 troopers. But funding for the raise, which would cost about $7.3 million, was not ...
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Okla. Gov. signs building repair bill, 15 others
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma could make $160 million in repairs to the crumbling state Capitol without using a bond issue to pay for them under a bill Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill Tuesday. The bill creates an eight-year infrastructure improvement plan and builds on an existing program for state building improvements by adding more ways to generate funding. The measure was one of 16 bills Fallin signed Tuesday. House Speaker T. W. S...
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Fallin signs Okla. workers’ compensation overhaul
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Mary Fallin has signed a bill to overhaul the state’s workers’ compensation system, a top priority for Republican legislative leaders who say the state’s current system is a detriment to business and industry in the state. Fallin signed the bill on Monday that changes Oklahoma’s current court-based system to an administrative structure, saying it will dramatically reduce the costs to businesses. The bill wa...
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Okla. Senate OKs fee hike for driver’s licenses
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma drivers would have to pay an extra $12 for a license under a bill given final approval by the Legislature on Monday and sent to Gov. Mary Fallin. The Senate voted 30-15 for the bill that would increase the cost of issuing or renewing a standard driver’s license from $21.50 to $33.50. The cost of various commercial drivers’ licenses also is going up by $10. The new rates will be effective Nov. 1. The fee h...
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Lawsuit on capital gains prompts worry over budget
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A lawsuit by an out-of-state company that challenges a tax break on capital gains for Oklahoma-based businesses is causing some consternation at the state Capitol after an analysis on the potential costs of a payback show Oklahoma could be on the hook for as much as $480 million. “My biggest concern from a financial risk standpoint is the severe damage that could be created to budget expectations over the next coupl...
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Shown from left, Masonic Charity Foundation President, David Ray; SODA AAA Director, Kathy Gooding; Mason Grand Master, Brad Rickelman.
Masons give funding to local program for seniors
For the seventh year in a row, SODA Area Agency on Aging was awarded $63,018 for 2013 from the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma. The program serves seniors 55 and over in order to assist them in maintaining independence and sustaining quality of life. Since the inception of the program in 2007, SODA Area Agency on Aging has utilized $383,427 received from the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma and has assisted 635 seniors with s...
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Silo Students participated in the Bryan County Curriculum Contest this April. (Back left to right) Patch Hamilton, Cord McDonald, Olivia Pettyjohn, Tesla Holley, Justin Nichols, Danielle Harrison, Dustin Barron, Kaitlyn Nazworth (Middle left to right) Kaden Johnson, Jason Weibel, Madison Gordon, Savanna Shults, Tyler Willman, Tanner Akers, Tre Cooke (Front left to right) Preston Pratt, Mason Burkhalter, Hannah Wheeler, Jaycee Ansiel, Faith Hill, Britt Duncan, Cade McElheney
Silo wins local contest for fifth year
Silo Elementary School was recently announced the sweepstakes winner of the Bryan County Elementary Curriculum Contest for the fifth year in a row. The contest was held at Bennington Public Schools on April 19. Two students from each grade level are chosen to represent the schools in Science, Social Studies, English, Math, and Spelling. According to Silo Elementary Principal Katie Brister, Awards are presented to students who place in the...
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Two members of state board say they must not wait for deadline to pass on Pointe Vista
      Two state Lands board members vowed Friday that the board won’t wait a year to decide the fate of the moribund Pointe Vista development on Lake Texoma. The company has announced that it can’t meet its deadline to complete a luxury hotel in Lake Texoma State Park by May 2014. Board members Gary Jones and Jim Reese told a restive crowd at Kingston Elementary School that the board mustn’t wait for that deadline to pass to ...
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Students from SOSU Head Start raised money for St. Jude's Hospital. (Back, left to right) Ava Allen, Penny Williams, Jaxon Whitaker, Justin Davis Seth Parker, Sadie Franklin. (Front, left to right)Stevie Dodson, Elexa Hall, Rylee Pound, Hayden Bush, Trinity Hill.
SOSU Head Start raises money for St. Jude’s
Students at the SOSU Head Start raised $1,070.26 for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital this month. The total dollar amount was calculated the morning of Wednesday May 1. While all of the children in the SOSU Head Start Program participated in the trike-a-thon this month, 11 children actively raised money for the cause. These students went around collecting donations within the community to raise money for the hospital and the cancer research...
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MCSO to celebrate National Nurses Week May 6-12
DURANT — Every year, National Nurses Week focuses attention on the diverse ways America’s 3.1 million registered nurses work to save lives and to improve the health of millions of individuals. This year, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has selected “Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care” as the theme for 2013. The ANA supports and encourages National Nurses Week recognition programs through the state and district nurses asso...
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Letter carriers to help stamp out hunger
DURANT – On Saturday, May 11 th letter carriers in 129 cities in central and western Oklahoma will help “Stamp Out Hunger” by collecting nonperishable food donations from households on their route. This is part of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Feeding Hope and Letter Carriers’ Food Drive . In Bryan County, Durant, Calera and Colbert are participating. To help “Stamp Out Hunge...
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Paige Johnson, from the University of Tulsa presents Ugliest Bug winner Cherish Huffman with a new telescope for Victory Life Academy.
Local girl wins ugliest bug
Local Victory Life Academy student Cherish Huffman recently won the PBS Ugliest Bug award for 2013. Huffman was among 10 Oklahoma students to receive the award. Huffman is a student from Mr. Hoffman’s 4th grade class. Each winning school received a new Leica stereomicroscope. The bugs submitted had to be native to Oklahoma and each entry had to include a description if the bug. The bug submitted by Huffman was a bed bug.
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Firefighters respond to lift fire
Durant firefighters were dispatched at 9:27 p.m. Thursday to La Quinta Inn on Criswell Drive about a fire that was initially disclosed to be a possible Dumpster fire. Upon arrival four minutes later, they discovered it was a Genie lift that was on fire. The small fire was contained to the chassis area, according to a fire department report, and firefighters disconnected the battery to the lift. In other fire calls this week, firefighters ...
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