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Local school officials keep preparing for the worst
The head of Durant school says planning, training and “safe rooms” within local schools will help protect children and school staff from most bad weather situations. Unless a monster EF-5 twister descends upon them at the end of the school day. Dr. Jason Simeroth said the scenario in Moore, where 10 children died when their elementary school gave way around them in Monday’s tornado, is virtually unprecedented. “Chances are you could hav...
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John Frazier stands alone in Durant to join the nationwide Tea Party protest of the IRS during Tuesday's downpour.
Durant man joins Tea Party protest of the IRS
One Durant man joined a nationwide Tea Party protest against the IRS Tuesday. Although Tea Party members around the country were all protesting the IRS from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, John Frazier stood alone in the rain in Durant. Frazier said he is sure there are others in the area who are part of the Tea Party group or would like to be but he is the only one who was protesting in the area. Frazier stood in the rain Tuesday At the corner e...
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Youngest Okla. tornado victims remembered by kin
MOORE (AP) — Nine-year-old Sydney Angle was “everywhere at once” when she was out on the softball field. Kyle Davis, 8, was nicknamed “The Wall” because of his size and presence on the soccer field. JaNae Hornsby, also 9, was the life of the party. The three were among seven small children pulled lifeless from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School after a monstrous tornado raked across the building, leaving the one-story buil...
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Officials warn residents to guard against fraud
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. attorney for western Oklahoma is urging residents and businesses to keep their guard up when preparing to make donations to aid the tornado relief effort. U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats says scams can come in a number of forms, including email, phone calls and mail solicitations. Coats says his office and other federal agencies are prepared to respond to scams. People can report suspected fraudulent ope...
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Drop off locations for Moore disaster listed
The Bryan County United Way and local businesses have formed an organized system for those wanting to help tornado victims in the Oklahoma City and Moore regions. Several businesses in Durant have offered to be drop-off points for donated supplies that can then be taken by the local National Guard Unit to the Moore area. The National Guard Unit in Durant told Pam Robinson of the Bryan County United Way that they would be able to travel to...
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County Commissioners hold last May meeting
The Bryan County Commissioners met the morning of Monday May 20. Commissioners approved an increase in insurance for the courthouse, the surplus equipment in the of sheriff’s office and hiring personnel. The Commissioners agreed to increase insurance coverage of the Bryan County Courthouse by $571,456. This will increase the coverage from $3,702,088 to $4,273,544. Commissioners also approved Sheriff Ken Golden’s request to deem a transpon...
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Parents face tough choice when tornadoes bear down
MOORE (AP) — With an ominous storm approaching, the Moore Public School District flashed a text alert to parents: “We are currently holding all students until the current storm danger is over. Students are being released to parents only at this time.” Parents had a gut-wrenching choice, and only a few minutes to make it. Trust the safety of the seemingly solid school buildings and the protection of trained teachers and staff. Or drive f...
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Power of Moore tornado dwarfs Hiroshima bomb
WASHINGTON (AP) — Everything had to come together just perfectly to create the killer tornado in Moore, Okla.: wind speed, moisture in the air, temperature and timing. And when they did, the awesome energy released over that city dwarfed the power of the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. On Tuesday, the National Weather Service gave it the top-of-the-scale rating of EF5 for wind speed and breadth, and severity of damage. Wind speeds w...
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Bryan County organizations collect donations for Moore disaster
In the wake of the tornado that struck the community of Moore Monday, the Bryan County United Way has been asked to be the organizer and drop-off location for disaster relief donations. Agency Director Pam Robinson said that she was contacted early Tuesday morning by a group of young Bryan County citizens and asked to be a drop-off point for donations to the Moore community. This group, who Robinson did not name, has received permission f...
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Re-count shows no changes in Silo bond election results
A hand re-count of the May 14 Silo bond election revealed no changes in the tally, meaning Silo school bond supporters will have to wait and try again to put the issue before the voters. The Bryan County Election Board tallied all 1,281 votes on Tuesday, resulting in the same percentages as the machine count from May 14. The results of 761 Silo voters in favor of the recent bond package (59.4 percent) and 520 against the bond (40.6percent...
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Re-count underway in Silo bond election
A re-count was underway this morning of the votes in the recent Silo School Bond election, held at the request of Silo Superintendent Bill Caruthers. The May election – Silo’s fifth attempt within a year to pass a school improvement bond – attracted 1,281 voters. The bond failed by just eight votes, with 59.4 percent of voters (761 total) approving the measure and 40.6 percent (520 voters) rejecting it. The bond requires a 60 percent “sup...
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Medical examiner: 24 dead in Oklahoma twister
MOORE (AP) — Emergency crews combed the sticks and rubble remains of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday morning less than a day after a massive tornado slammed through the community, flattening homes and demolishing an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least seven children, and those numbers were expected to climb. As the sun rose over the shattered community of Moore, the state medical examiner’s office cut t...
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Boswell couple injured in crash
A Boswell couple was injured Monday after a barrel came off a trailer and struck their vehicle and then caused a collision on Highway 70 three miles east of Durant, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. Major Vansickle, 83, and Martha Vansickle, 82, were taken to the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma in Durant and then flown to Plano Medical Center, Plano, Texas, where they are being treated for trunk and head injuries. Their conditio...
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Joe Chesnut and Elizabeth Maxey were named the 2013 Mardi Gras Prince and Princess during Calera Manor's Nursing Home Week Celebrations. Maxey was also awarded the Oldest Mother Award during the Mother's Day party.
Nursing Home Week is celebrated in Bryan County
Nursing homes all over Bryan County celebrated National Nursing Home week this past week. National Nursing home Week was started in 1996 by the Agency for Health Care Association (AHCA). It is celebrated by nursing homes across the country. The theme for the 2013 National Nursing Home Week was “Everybody Pitches In.” According to the American Health Care Association’s website, www.ahcancal.org, “the observance is an opportunity to invol...
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Vietnam vets to be recognized during Magnolia Festival
Vietnam veterans will be honored during the “Celebrate the Sacrifice” event to be held during the Magnolia Festival. The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 1 at the Choctaw RV Park. Mary Frank, a member of the board of directors for the festival, said the event will include a free lunch and each veteran will also receive a citation. Last year, the focus was on Korean War veterans and in 2011, World War II veterans were honore...
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Tornadoes level homes in Okla., hit other states
EDMOND (AP) — One of several tornadoes that touched down Sunday in Oklahoma turned homes in a trailer park near Oklahoma City into splinters and rubble and sent frightened residents along a 100-mile corridor scurrying for shelter. The tornadoes that touched down in Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa were part of a massive, northeastward-moving storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. At least four separate tornadoes touched down in...
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Fallin urges health care fix in Okla. Legislature
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Mary Fallin proposed a last-minute legislative change Friday to the state’s Insure Oklahoma program that would direct $50 million in state tobacco taxes to pay for more than 9,000 people who are expected to lose their health insurance under the program. Insure Oklahoma currently uses federal Medicaid funding, state tobacco tax revenue and payments from workers and employers to provide health insurance to about ...
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Time waning for Okla. lawmakers to tackle credits
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Despite calls by several Oklahoma legislators to address hundreds of millions of dollars in state tax credits and exemptions for businesses and industries, little has been done as another session approaches its end. And at the same time, other legislators are trying to write even more tax giveaways into state law for things like tickets and hospitality suites to sporting events and the sale of helicopters. “Once a...
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Magnolia Festival is now under the umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce
The original committee of the Magnolia Festival of Oklahoma voted unanimously to move the event under the direction of the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce. Co-chairs of the Magnolia Festival, James Dry and James Dunegan both agree the move will allow the event to move forward in growth and participation under the umbrella of the chamber. Committee members for the Magnolia Festival are a combination of strong partnerships from the bu...
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Aaron McCoy will serve as Durant Intermediate School Principal beginning in July 2013. (Photo compliments of durantisd.org)
New Durant Intermediate School principal named
Durant ISD School Board held a special meeting on Wednesday May 16 to hire four employees for the upcoming school year. Among the positions to be filled was the position of Durant Intermediate School Principal. Current principal Todd Harrison will be taking a position at Hugo High School after the 2012-13 school year. “Hugo’s an opportunity for me and my family,” said Harrison. He said his goal at Hugo is to become the Superintendent when...
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