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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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Okla. legislators, governor reach deal on budget
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature reached an agreement Thursday with Gov. Mary Fallin on a $7.1 billion budget that includes major boosts in funding for public education, health care and state infrastructure improvements. The budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 increases spending by nearly $270 million over the current year’s state budget, with growth in funding focused on what Fallin descri...
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Breakdown of winners and losers in proposed budget
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — About half of the 76 Oklahoma agencies, commissions and organizations covered by the state budget proposal unveiled Thursday will see their budgets shrink or stay the same, with education and health services getting the lion’s share of additional funding. Below is a breakdown of the largest increases and some notable snubs. INCREASES: —Education: $74 million, a 3.2 percent increase from this year, much of which wi...
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President of First United Bank of Durant Bert Davison presents their Red Cross Hero donation to Lynn Edwards of the Red Cross.
Local bank gives to the Red Cross
Chapter Director of the Southeastern Oklahoma Chapter American Red Cross Lynn Edwards came to Durant Tuesday to accept a donation from First United Bank and Trust. Edwards was given the check donation by President of First United Bank of Durant Bert Davison. This is the third year the bank has given to the Red Cross Hero campaign. “The Red Cross plays and important role” said Davison. He said that the Red Cross serves the communities that...
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Pointe Vista says it won’t meet deadline for Lake Texoma project
Under pressure from Gov. Mary Fallin and the Commissioners of the Land Office board, Pointe Vista project developers say they won’t meet the May 2014 deadline for “substantial completion” of the project’s hotel. In a letter to the governor and the Land board, Pointe Vista operations chief Scott Fischer indicated he will seek an extension to complete the expansive development at Lake Texoma State Park. Acting on repeated requests by the Dura...
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Jason Parks
Man charged with procuring a minor to make pornography
A Mead man has been charged with filming a girl while she was undressing. Jason Benjamin Parks, 50, was arrested Wednesday by investigators with the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office. Parks is charged with procuring a minor for the purpose of manufacturing pornography. He is accused of secretly video taping a 10-year-old girl while she was undressing. According to Sheriff’s Investigator Nathan Calloway, Parks can be seen in the video hidin...
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Oklahoma House Democrats decry education funding
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Democratic lawmakers huddled with school superintendents, principals and students from across the state Wednesday to urge the Legislature to boost funding for public education. Democrats in the Oklahoma House urged Republican legislative leaders to make funding for the state’s public schools a priority as budget negotiators from the House, Senate and Gov. Mary Fallin’s office work to craft a budget for the fiscal ye...
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Okla. House gives final approval to income tax cut
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma House gave final legislative approval Wednesday to a bill that would slash the state’s income tax rate to 5 percent in 2015 and provide $120 million for improvements to the state Capitol, both top priorities of Republican Gov. Mary Fallin. The Republican-controlled House voted 65-35, mostly along party lines, to send the bill to Fallin, who is expected to sign it. It would cut the state’s top income tax...
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Lawmakers call for testing moratorium after mishap
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Some state legislators called for a moratorium on public school testing Wednesday after a number of computer glitches were reported by state education officials. The Department of Education said there were problems with online assessments for grades 6 through 12 on Monday and Tuesday. Testing company CTB/McGraw Hill reported problems with their servers while uploading student assessment results and students were kno...
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Okla. Senate derails armed teacher proposal
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Senate has for a second time rejected House efforts to allow some teachers to carry guns to schools. The Senate removed an amendment to a law enforcement training bill that would have let school districts decide whether teachers could be armed after going through a training program. The bill now heads to conference committee between the two chambers. Earlier this session another House proposal to allo...
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