Daily Bible verse

Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

Mark 12:10

Minutes from commissioners’ meeting

The LeFlore County Commissioners met in a regular business meeting Monday with , LeFlore County, State of Oklahoma, met in a Regular Business Meeting on May 19, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. with Chairman Jamie Oliver presiding. Also present were Vice-Chair Vallard Campbell, Member Josh Blaylock and County Clerk 1^st Deputy Jedd Kirby. Absent: County Clerk Kelli Ford. 

The following action was taken by the board: 

(1.) Chairman Jamie Oliver called meeting to order.

(2.) Motion was made by Jamie Oliver and seconded by Vallard Campbell to approve the minutes of regular meeting held May 12, 2025.  Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(3.) Motion was made by Jamie Oliver and seconded by Josh Blaylock to approve purchase orders and payroll as presented. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(4.) Monthly Fee Reports: None presented. 

(5.) Motion was made by Jamie Oliver and seconded by Josh Blaylock to approve the following transfers of appropriations:

· $2.64 from Sheriff JSFA-2 M&O account to SSFA-2 M&O account.

· $100,000 from FDOCT-2 M&O account to FDOCT-3 Capital Outlay account.

· $74.42 from ARPA-COM Unrestricted account to ARPA-2 M&O account.

Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(6.) Blanket Purchase Orders: None presented. 

(7.) Motion was approved by Jamie Oliver and seconded by Vallard Campbell to approve support document regarding BEAD Grant Application as submitted by Cox Communications. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(8.) Contract Labor/ Service Agreements, Annual Contracts. None presented. 

(9.) Burn Ban. Not needed at this time. No discussion. 

(10.) Motion was made by Vallard Campbell and seconded by Jamie Oliver to approve Road Maintenance and Repair Agreement between the LeFlore County Board of County Commissioners and Clenera Devco, LLC regarding construction and installation of a solar- powered electric generating and/or energy storage facility in LeFlore County.  Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(11.) Motion was made by Vallard Campbell and seconded by Josh Blaylock to divide Title 1 U.S. Forestry Funds as follows:

· District #1- 30%

· District #2- 30%

· District #3- 40%

Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(12.) Motion was made by Josh Blaylock and seconded by Vallard Campbell to table plat maps as submitted by CDF & Associates concerning new subdivision known as Station Road Pines located in Section 23, Township 8 North, Range 23 East, LeFlore County, Oklahoma. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(13.) Motion was made by Josh Blaylock and seconded by Vallard Campbell to approve Declaration of Surplus document regarding County Inventory Number D2-499.005A, John Deere Lawnmower, serial number MOL166D051689, purchased on 7/10/2018 in the amount of $800 to benefit LeFlore County Commissioner District 2. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(14.) Motion was made by Jamie Oliver and seconded by Vallard Campbell to approve Bid Notice and Resolution to advertise 6- month County Highway Material Bids. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(15.) Motion was made by Jamie Oliver and seconded by Josh Blaylock to approve Bid Notice and Resolution to advertise Publication of the LeFlore County Commissioners Proceedings. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(16.) Motion was made by Josh Blaylock and seconded by Vallard Campbell to approve programming resolution for project number 25-CBRI-D2-RD-P085, related to improvements on Milton Road located in LeFlore County Commissioner District 2. Motion was approved, all voting yes. 

(17.) Motion was made by Josh Blaylock and seconded by Vallard Campbell to approve Resolutions for Disposing of Equipment regarding County Inventory items to benefit LeFlore County Commissioner District 2 as follows: 

· D2-301.075, 2002 Chevrolet truck with original purchase price of $17,400, purchased from City Chevrolet Inc on 5/1/2002, sold on Purple Wave on 4/1/2025 in the amount of $1,850.

· D2-301.080, 2007 Chevy Truck with original purchase price of $23,012, purchased from Hudiberg Chevrolet on 5/31/2007, sold on Purple Wave on 4/1/2025 in the amount of $2,000.

Motion was approved, all voting yes.

More severe weather pummels the central US

By  BRUCE SCHREINER

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — More tornadoes plowed through the central U.S. on Monday, ripping apart buildings and knocking out power as people from Texas to Kentucky continued to clean up from days of severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

At least four tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service.

See the whole story HERE.

Trump is heading to Capitol Hill to persuade divided GOP

By  LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING and LEAH ASKARINAM

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill early Tuesday to seal the deal on his “big, beautiful bill,” using the power of political persuasion to unify divided House Republicans on the multitrillion-dollar package that is at risk of collapsing ahead of planned votes this week.

Trump has implored GOP holdouts to “STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE.” But negotiations are slogging along and it’s not at all clear the package, with its sweeping tax breaks and cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs, has the support needed from the House’s slim Republican majority, who are also being asked to add some $350 billion to Trump’s border security, deportation and defense agenda.

Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue. At the same time, a core group of lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states want bigger tax breaks for their voters back home. Worries about piling onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt are stark.

See the whole story HERE.

Trump confident Putin wants peace with Ukraine

Following his phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, President Donald Trump appeared confident that peace talks between the two warring nations will soon be progressing.

In response to a reporter’s question outside the White House on Monday, Trump said that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is genuine in his seeking a peace deal.

See the whole story HERE.

Sooners face Kentucky in SEC Tournament

NORMAN – 12-seed Oklahoma (33-19, 14-16 SEC) begins postseason play Tuesday at 1 p.m. CT in Hoover, Ala., at the SEC Baseball Tournament with a first-round matchup vs. 13-seed Kentucky (29-23, 13-17).  

• The tournament can be seen via SEC Network with the championship game airing on ESPN2. All OU games can be heard on the radio in Oklahoma on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF or nationwide on The Varsity app. This weekend’s radio crew includes Toby Rowland, Kendall Pettis and Carly Murray.   

• Oklahoma enters the postseason at 33-19 with nine ranked wins, including a pair of top-10 non-conference victories, and five SEC series wins on its resume. The Sooners went 5-5 in SEC series on the season, with four of their five series losses coming to top-15 opponents, three of which were to top-10 squads. 

• The Sooners currently sit at No. 27 in the NCAA RPI and 17th in SOS. OU heads into the postseason unranked in the D1 Baseball top 25 for just the second week since Feb. 18. 

• OU meets Kentucky for the second time in the last three weeks as the Wildcats swept the Sooners in the first meeting in the history of the two programs, May 9-11, in Lexington. It was just OU’s second time being swept this season.   

Pacers-Knicks renew a rivalry with memorable moments

By  BRIAN MAHONEY

NEW YORK (AP) — The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks have faced each other eight times in the postseason.

Those matchups have produced some memorable NBA moments involving Reggie Miller, Spike Lee and others.

With the teams set to meet again in the Eastern Conference finals beginning Wednesday, a look at some of those notable highlights.

See the whole story HERE.

Budget agreement has some highs and lows

By Rep. Rick West 

Well, the gang was all there last week to announce a budget agreement has been reached. The speaker of the House, the president pro tem of the Senate, the budget chairs and vice chairs from each chamber and as many representatives and senators as could crowd behind the governor. It made for a pretty picture. 

There's some good parts to this budget. They want to cut the state personal income tax by a quarter-percent for the top three brackets and eliminate it altogether for the bottom three brackets. This ought to hush those who claim tax cuts are only for the rich and famous. There's also a plan to get the income tax to zero for everyone if certain revenue projections are met. 

I'm for this deal. Arkansas charges only 3% income tax and Texas none. We've got to get in line, or we lose people and business. As long as we don't try to come along later and try to tax something else, we should get rid of income tax and slash state spending to go with it. 

One area we don't need to slash, though, is transportation. This budget would get us up to $4,000 per mile for our county roads and provide about $25 million to address dilapidated county bridges. This ought to make every county commissioner in the state jump for joy. It also ought to make those who drive over these roads pretty happy. 

Education is slated to get about 49%, or about $6 billion of this budget. This will add about $26 million to the school funding formula, and about $88.5 million to teachers' flexible benefits allowance, plus $3 million to pay for maternity leave. Also this year, we voted to allow teachers to now use their sick leave as extra maternity leave. 

Kids whose parents are teachers will now qualify for the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship regardless of their parents' income. That is unless the public school teacher's children are homeschooled. Then the child must make at least a score of 22 on the ACT to qualify for the scholarship. This to me is blatant discrimination. 

We're also extending the teacher salary schedule to include another pay step for teachers with between 25 and 35 years in the classroom. 

The budget also includes about $800 million for capital improvements. It designates $250 million for the new state-of-the-art veterinary hospital at Oklahoma State University, which is needed. There's also $200 million planned for a pediatric heart hospital at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. In addition, we plan to pay $312 million to buy a private prison in Lawton. 

It contains about $3 million for Rural Economic Action Plan Grants. These help rural communities complete sewer, water and other projects, which is huge for our rural areas. 

We're losing about $30 million to bail out the Department of Mental Health. Everyone and their dog is trying to figure out what happened there, and I'm hopeful we'll get to the bottom of it and put in place better practices going forward. 

The state budget was about $7 billion when I first got elected back in 2016, and we had no money in our state Rainy Day Fund. This budget is almost $12.6 billion, and after we're done with appropriations, we'll have about $3.5 to $4 billion in savings.  

Negotiations are still ongoing on some items on the budget. My vote on the overall product will be determined on some issues still under consideration. 

Remember to listen to my Capitol update on the radio at 7:35 a.m. every Thursday on KPRV 92.5 FM. 

As always, if I can help you with anything, please call my Capitol office at (405) 557-7413 or email me at [email protected]. 

-END- 

Rick West serves District 3 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes part of LeFlore County.

Remembering kinfolk, friends as Memorial Day approaches

By TERRY JOE WILES

Memorial Day has always been a special time of remembering kinfolk and friends by doing a little caretaking and decorating their bodies’ final resting place. Following the theme of this column, music and musicians, I am going to focus on fellow musicians that have gone on before us.

Support Local, Live Music

In the little more than six years that I have been gathering information and schedules of bands, singers, guitar pickers and, heck, even drummers, I have lost count of the many talented ones that we have lost. Give yourself a minute to thank God for all the fine people that have helped shape us by sharing their gifts. Without them, I wouldn’t have made the music that became a passion that I could pass on to the next generations. Support live music, but always remember those folks.

AS for live music this week, “Jazz Night at the Museum” will take place tonight at the LeFlore County Museum at Hotel Lowery. “The Al Grzech Trio” will play a couple of sets on tunes from 6-8:30 p.m. It is a free show put on by David and Donna Deaton and staff of The LeFlore County Historical Society. It’s on Dewey Avenue in downtown Poteau. Refreshments are available. Donations are appreciated. Tips to the band for their talents shared will be welcome.

The Fort Smith (Ark.) Senior Activity Center will have two nights of music. This Friday, dance to the sounds of “The Lawman Band.” It will start at 7 p.m. There will be lots of country music to keep the dance floor full. These guys are a favorite, so get there early for a good seat.

Then on Saturday, there will be a benefit for the Sebastian County Retired Citizens Association. It will be a folk music kind of night with sing-a-longs and other favorites. It will start at 6:30 p.m.

In Downtown Wister, there will be good food and awesome music on Saturday. “The Tribadours” will bring songs from country, red dirt and rock. Get your friends together and enjoy this great environment. The music will be from 6-9 p.m.

The hottest dance hall going now, Muldrow City Limits, will have the very finest bands. This Saturday, “Sidekicks” will bring their unique harmonies and classic arrangements for two-steppers, line dancin’, waterfalls and waltzes. Grab your partner and be there for the first note at 7 p.m. See you there.

Just across the line in Hackett, Ark., at Crocky’s Cafe on Friday, “The Common Thread Bluegrass Band” will take the stage. Whether it’s flatout picking or high-lonesome singing, you will enjoy this band’s show.

Then on Saturday at Crocky’s Cafe, it’s “Bourbon Rain.” This band will play country with just enough R&R to satisfy everybody. There will be great food and awesome music at Crocky’s on those two nights, with the music starting at 6 p.m. on both nights.

That ain’t all I got to say, BUT it seems a good place to quit.

For additional information about any live-music events or to let know about any other such venues, call me or text message me at (918) 649-5736, get with me on Facebook or e-mail me at [email protected].

Nice day expected Tuesday

After a few rough weather days, we should have a nice day Tuesday with clear skies and moderate temperatures for LeFlore County along with Heavener, Poteau and southeastern Oklahoma.

The high is forecast to be 79 degrees with a low of 55.

Sunrise was 6:11 a.m. Sunset is 8:19 p.m.

Monday’s high was 80 with a low of 62. A total of 0.734 inches of rain was recording, leaving the monthly total for May at 5.80 inches. Average rainfall for the month is 6.20 inches.

Average temperatures for May 20 are a high of 82 and low of 56. The record high was 91 in 1972 while the record low was 36 in 1971.

Last year on May 18, the high was 91 with a low of 74.

LeFlore County calendar

LeFlore County calendar of events for the next week. The calendar is a free service for our readers. If you are with a non-profit and want an event publicized, email [email protected].

Tuesday

Poteau Evening Lions Club meet 6 p.m. CASC

Wednesday

Poteau Rotary Club meets noon EOMC

Nadine Shupert funeral service

Thursday

Poteau Kiwanis Club meets noon

Heavener VFW bingo 6:30 p.m. Highway 59 North 

LeFlore County Republicans meet 6 p.m. Patrick Lynch Library

Monday

LeFlore County commissioners meet 9 a.m.