News

Alleged porch pirate charged

News Staff
Thursday, December 21, 2023
A Durant woman is charged with stealing packages off porches, authorities said. Forty-one-year-old Allyson Nicole Byron was arrested by Bryan County Sheriff’s deputies and Durant Police officers for misdemeanor porch piracy on December 14 from cases involving the Durant area as well as the county, the sheriff’s office said.

Candidates file for area school boards

News Staff
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Candidates for area school boards filed last week and Bennington is the only school that will have a race, according to the Bryan County Election Board. There will be a primary election for Bennington Board of Education on Feb.
The Okie Toy Run was Sunday beginning at Freedom Dodge and ending at the Durant Elks Lodge. The fifth annual run raised funds for the Durant Lions Club Toys for Tots program. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat

Okie Toy Run raises more than $27,000

Matt Swearengin
Friday, December 15, 2023
The fifth annual Okie Toy Run raised a record $27,257 for the Durant Lions Toys for Tots program, more than doubling what was collected last year. The run was Sunday beginning at Freedom Dodge and ending at the Durant Elks Lodge.

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

News Staff
Friday, December 15, 2023
Recorded in the Bryan County Clerk’s Office John Lyons and Amanda L. Lyons to Jordan Young Reynolds, warranty deed Gary Mark O’Hern and Sherri O’Hern to The Mark and Sherri O’Hern Family Trust, warranty deed Harry G.

COURT RECORDS

News Staff
Friday, December 15, 2023
Felonies filed Tyler Daniel Smith, 32, possession of firearm after former felony conviction. Alec Weaver, 25, DUI.
Photo provided | Choctaw Nation

Choctaw Cultural Center to launch book on Clara Sue Kidwell Dec. 16

News Staff
Friday, December 15, 2023
The Choctaw Cultural Center will celebrate the publication of the first book in the new series “Choctaw Culture Keepers” this month. “Dr. Clara Sue Kidwell, Teacher and Mentor” tells the story of a Choctaw tribal member from northeast Oklahoma who became recognized as a national leader in the field of American Indian studies.

Partisan battles in the Republican party

Jane Hicks
Friday, December 15, 2023
Here we go again. The Republicans cut taxes for the rich, then fret over the deficit they helped create. For example, the 2017 tax cut and the lack of any serious spending restraint caused the nation’s debt to soar.
Betty Wakefield was honored as the “Queen of Three Valleys” during the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade Dec. 5. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat

Wakefield honored as ‘Queen of Three Valleys’ during Christmas parade

News Staff
Friday, December 15, 2023
Centenarian Betty Wakefield represented Three Valley Museum in last week’s Durant Area Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade by posing as the “Queen of Three Valleys.” She celebrated her 100th birthday on July 22 and 95 of her 100 years have been in Durant. Last summer, Centenarians of Oklahoma inducted Wakefield into the Centenarians of Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
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