June 7, 2026
Choctaw Nation opposes ICE detention facility in Durant
Durant Lady Lions basketball head coach Tony Robinson talks to his team during a time out in last week’s home game. During a Monday meeting, the Durant Board of Education voted to rename the high school gym the Robinson Family Gymnasium in honor of the family that su_ered the tragedy of the deaths of head coach Will Robinson and his daughter Clara during a Christmas Eve 2024 car accident. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat
The I Heart Cookies Wild Adventures: A Smart Zoo Experience was at the Lowe’s parking lot in Durant on Saturday. The event featured realistic and fully animatronic animals, including lions, tigers, elephants, a smoke- breathing king cobra and dinosaurs. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat
Dot Myers-Landeros of First United Bank was named an honors graduate of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Consumer Lending School. From left, First United Bank’s Jimmy Fernandez, Janis Reeser, Myers-Landeros, and First United Bank’s Katie Jordan, who was a 2024 honors graduate of the same school. Photo provided
Dillon Bowen, community loan officer for Durant First United Bank, speaks to students during the Eighth Grade Discovery Day. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat
The quilt for the Friends of the Donald W. Reynolds Library Annual Holiday Craft Show was donated by the LuLu & Hazel Quilt Shop, Durant. The winner of the T-Shirt quilt this year is Elbert and Marion Hill. Friends of the Library member Angie Mullen presented the quilt to Elbert & Marion on December 10, 2025. Photo provided
Durant High School cheerleaders performed during last week’s basketball games. Bottom left is Savannah Wells, bottom right Kinlee Goza, the top person is Blair Burrage and the person in the back is Lauryn Staneart. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat