Week of March 20, 2026
What began in 2021 with a small leak in the ceiling at 625 Barnes St. in Alva developed into an amazing new chapter for the Woods County Senior Citizens and Nutrition Center. It was determined the roof supports were unstable, and the Woods County Board of Commissioners looked for a better solution. The commissioners had some ARPA funds still available and decided to use them for a new building, but they needed land. The funds wouldn't stretch that far so they talked with the City of Alva about...
During their meeting Monday morning, the Woods County Commissioners signed a contract for a solar project, received an update on the Salt Fork Event Center and heard about Shane Vore's investigation into rumors of a data center coming to the county. The courthouse conference room was nearly full as county officials and visitors gathered for the 10 a.m. meeting. Chairman Damien Starks, District 1, opened the meeting with District 2 Commissioner Vore and District 3 Commissioner John Smiley...
ALVA – King Cabbage Brass Band will take the stage at Fellers Family Auditorium in Herod Hall, Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m. for the third and final performance of the Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series of the 2025-2026 season. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. General admission is $20, senior admission is $15 and student admission is $5. Tickets may be purchased at Holder Drug, the Graceful Arts Center or online at nwocs.ludus.com. Tulsa's King Cabbage Brass Band was founded in the summer of 2021...
Saturday, granddaughter Jennifer, Anne, Joy and I went to Deer Creek for the 128th anniversary celebration. They had a parade with a few cool cars, lots of fire and emergency trucks, and a boatload of candy. Joy was the recipient of several Tootsie Rolls. There was a very good crowd. The fire department had food, and it was very good. After a trip to the mercantile, we drove around town and found some captive daffodils in a deserted lot and liberated a few. I don't remember the trip home, because Jennifer drove and I slept. Saturday evening...
Last week, we looked at the song "We Are the Champions" which was a hit in 1977 for the English rock group, Queen. Written to honor the loyalty of the band's followers, sports fans all over the globe soon adopted it to celebrate athletes who were successful in sports contests. Another song of the early rock and roll era that fans quickly embraced to mean something the authors did not have in mind when they wrote it is "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." Composed by the husband-and-wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the tune became a huge...
I hope this doesn’t sound like I am bragging in today’s article, but I wanted to share and, honestly celebrate the content of my first video that recently went viral with 135,000 views and 7,500 likes. I am still trying to get my head around it. So with that said, often we have the false belief that most of our fellow humans have the same dreams, aspirations, hopes and desires as we do. Or in the alternative, that we should have the same dreams and hopes as our fellow man. As a result, we often convince ourselves if we are not just like...
MANKATO, Minn. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team fell to Concordia-St. Paul, 52-45, in the NCAA Division II Tournament Central Region Quarterfinal last Friday. The game started off as a defensive battle, as both teams traded stops early on to keep the contest deadlocked at 7-7 midway through the opening quarter. Concordia took the lead off a three, but Kira Bass and Summya Adigun scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Lady Rangers their first lead of the game before the Golden Bears answered back to lead at...
ALVA – On paper, Nathan Duvall didn’t think he had much of a chance. It might be a good thing his skin is thicker than that. He stopped the clock in 3.8 seconds during Sunday’s championship round of the Fort Scott Community College rodeo to not only win the day but also the steer wrestling title in southeast Kansas. “I thought I was out of it, so I took a start,” said Duvall, a junior at Northwestern Oklahoma State University from Henryetta, Oklahoma. “I drew a steer that they hadn’t done any good on him. I watched video, and he...
ALVA – The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team defeated Oklahoma Panhandle State, 21-11, on Tuesday. The win moves the Rangers to 14-15 on the season. Oklahoma Panhandle State struck first with three runs in the top of the first, and the Rangers got a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the inning with Blake Mattern drawing a walk and stealing second before advancing to third on a groundout from Matthew Bailey. Northwestern put another runner in scoring position in the second inning, as Joel Lindahl ripped a single through the...
ALVA – The annual Baseball, Hot Dogs & Apple Pie event at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid will be hosted on April 14. The evening will be filled with friends, fun, hot dogs and apple pie as you cheer on the Ranger baseball team when it takes on Southern Nazarene University at 7 p.m. Northwestern alumni are invited to the President's Reception located on the mezzanine level beginning at 6 p.m. Alumni need to check in at the registration table in front of the ballpark gate. Northwestern baseball alumni will be recognized on the field...
ALVA – After a back-and-forth game, the Northwestern Oklahoma State Softball team dropped both games against the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders last Friday Kaitlyn Corn scored the first run of the game after a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the first inning. Northwestern held the Muleriders scoreless until the top of the fourth inning by hitting a home run off pitcher Chloe Brown in the top of the fourth. Jamie Molina responded with a two-run homer of her own in the bottom of...
Players and fans alike had high hopes as the Alva Ladybugs traveled to Oklahoma City for the Class 3A state playoffs last week. After defeating Spiro 47-32 in the Wednesday quarterfinals, the Alva girls faced No. 1 ranked Washington on Friday morning, March 13, at the OG&E Coliseum. It was Washington who ended the Ladybugs' playoff journey last year. Alva built a 4-0 lead to start the game, but the Lady Warriors quickly took control, leading 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. The scoring...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The dangerous heat wave shattering March records all over the U.S. Southwest is more than just another extreme weather blip. It's the latest next-level weather wildness that is occurring ever more frequently as Earth's warming builds. Experts said unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people in danger. For example, the Southwest is used to coping with deadly heat, but not months ahead of schedule, including a 110-degree Fahrenheit (43.3...
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is stumbling toward the finish line of a fourth straight losing week on Friday, but an ease in oil prices is taking some of the pressure off stock markets worldwide. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% in early trading and was on track for its longest weekly losing streak in a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 126 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower. U.S. stocks slipped under the weight of another rise for yields in the bond market. That makes borrowing more...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said on Friday that Congress should "preempt state AI laws" that it views as too burdensome, laying out a broad framework for how it wants Congress to address concerns about artificial intelligence without curbing growth or innovation in the sector. The legislative blueprint outlines a half-dozen guiding principles for lawmakers, focusing on protecting children, preventing electricity costs from surging, respecting intellectual property rights, preventing censorship and educating Americans on using the...
On one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar, Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, insisting that it can still build missiles and issuing a new threat, to deny safety to its enemies in "parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations" worldwide. Israel meanwhile pounded Tehran with airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Israeli and U.S. officials have said weeks of airstrikes have decimated Iran's military, but there's little information from Iran about damage to its weapons and...
OKLAHOMA CITY – Candidates for state, judicial, federal, district attorney offices will file April 1-3 at the Capitol. All statewide elective offices are up for grabs as well as 101 state House seats and 25 Senate seats. Also, Oklahoma voters will decide who will fill one U.S. Senate seat and all five U.S. House seats. The filing period in gubernatorial years draws more candidates than presidential elections because more candidates are on the ballot, said Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax. The Senate seats on the ballot...
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would make fireworks more available. Senate Bill 1948 would remove the time sale restrictions on fireworks to the public. Currently, fireworks may be sold from June 15 until July 6 or the first Sunday after July 4, whichever is later. They also can be sold from Dec. 15 until Jan. 2. “Senate Bill 1948 updates Oklahoma’s fireworks laws to better reflect current use and sales practices,” said Sen. Bryan Logan, R-Paden, the author. “It removes the imposed sales window. (It)...
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would require those holding a special event license to carry liability insurance, despite concerns over fairness. Senate Bill 2178 would require the licensee to carry general liability insurance, including liquor liability coverage, of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million total. A special event license allows the holder to sell and distribute alcohol for on-premises consumption at up to four events in a year. The measure would require licensed employees serving alcohol at a...
