Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 4252
The Alva Board of Education met Monday afternoon with Board President Karen Koehn opening the meeting. Board members Shane Hansen and Jane McDermott were present. Board members Paul Barton and Kevin Pingelton were absent. Superintendent Jeremy Brashears announced some additions to those receiving extra duty pay. John Lowe is the assistant basketball coach for seventh and eighth grade boys. Randee Perks is the assistant for middle school cheerleading. Mary Tyree is working with TSA. Ryne Wilson...
On Monday, the Woods County Board of Commissioners signed paperwork proclaiming this as 4-H Week in the county. Chairman Shane Vore opened the meeting with Commissioners Damien Starks and John Smiley present. In addition to representatives of the Woods County 4-H, others present were County Clerk Shelley Reed, County Treasurer Rachel Spellman-Hughes, County Sheriff Randy McCullough, Purchasing Agent Ashley McLelland and visitor Alex Mantz from OG&E. 4-H Educator Susan Holliday said, “So far to date we’ve had 38 county events, which means all...
Alva High School fall homecoming includes a bonfire, parade, pep rally and crowning of a king and queen. About ten years ago, a new tradition was begun, honoring high school alumni and teachers. This year eight Distinguished Goldbugs were named and celebrated. Their homecoming Friday begins in small group student sessions with a goal of inspiring them to look beyond their high school years into what the future holds. The Distinguished Goldbugs are one of the programs of the Alva Goldbug Educatio...
Due to a previous incident, a local tire store was suspicious about a large tire purchase by credit card. Law enforcement was contacted, and the man picking up the tires was arrested. Court records show Kevin Pingelton, general manager for the Alva Farmer’s Cooperative, called Officer David Cummings about an unknown subject wanting to purchase tires from Ampride Tire and Auto Service. An incident occurred in February in which a caller ordered tires through Ampride totaling $14,069.72. The c...
The Casady Cyclones spoiled the Alva Goldbugs' homecoming game last Friday, Sept. 26. The Cyclones built a 27-0 lead at halftime and added two more touchdowns in the second half. The Goldbugs were finally able to score in the third quarter and crossed the goal line two more times, but the final was Casady 41, Alva 20. First Half Casady scored on their first ball possession when David Lawler passed to Kuba Malecki who broke a couple of tackles for the 65 yard passing touchdown. A bad snap foiled...
Meetings of the Woods County Board of County Commissioners have been moved. Instead of meeting in their courthouse office, the commissioners’ meetings have been relocated to the conference room down the hall. The commissioners’ office has been taken over by E911 while their area is being renovated. Commissioners’ assistant Christy Gregory is now in the separate building at the west edge of the courthouse lawn until the renovation is completed. Chairman Shane Vore opened the Monday morning meeting with Commissioners John Smiley and Damien Stark...
Last Thursday night, several of us were working at the newspaper office to finish the Friday paper. Suddenly, a loud bang was accompanied by vibration of the building. I speculated that Chris had just dropped a half-ton roll of newsprint to the floor. Others suggested it might be an earthquake. Soon we learned it was associated with the big homecoming bonfire. Alva High School’s homecoming literally started with a big bang. This year, students gathered by the swimming pool for a pep rally b...
Share Medical Center has hired a new medical provider, and the new CodeQuick billing is going well. The Alva Hospital Authority (AHA) met Tuesday. Chairman Dr. Bo Hannaford opened the meeting with trustees Dr. Ken Brown, Dr. Scott Burk, Dr. Halah Simon, Greg Bowman and Dr. Callie Mosburg present. CEO Report Share Medical Center CEO Kandice Allen began her report with exciting news. “We have hired a new provider. Bianca Ruiz is going to join us just after the first of the year. She will graduate from OU physician’s assistant school next mon...
An Alva man has been charged with domestic abuse after an altercation with his sister. Jason Scott Smith, 34, of Alva, has been charged with domestic abuse – assault and battery – second or subsequent offense, a felony. This crime is punishable by imprisonment up to four years or a fine of $5,000. Court records show on Friday, Sept. 12, about 4:46 p.m. Woods County E911 advised law enforcement they had received a call asking that officers respond to an address in the 900 block of Locust Street. Alva Police Lt. David Cummings and Officer Wil...
The Alva Ladybugs softball team had their first home loss of the season Friday, Sept. 19, against the Perry Lady Maroons who won by a 4-2 score. Earlier in the season, the Ladybugs defeated Perry 4-2. Trinty Stevens pitched all 11 innings surrendering three earned and one unearned runs on 16 hits. Despite the Ladybug loss Asia Blackledge went 1-for-5 at the plate with one home run and two RBIs. The loss dropped the Alva record to 19-9 for the season. Ladybugs at Enid On Tuesday, the Ladybugs...
For the first time since the retirement of David Hamil on June 30, the Woods County Commissioners have a full complement of commissioners. Following his win in the Sept. 9 primary election, Damien Starks was sworn in as District 1 Commissioner Monday morning. The courtroom was nearly full with the Starks family, employees from District 1 and county officials gathering to witness the ceremony as Judge Mickey J. Hadwiger administered the oath of office. Starks, who was District 1 foreman, filled...
There was an error in the Sept. 17, 2025, issue of the Newsgram in a story titled: Alfalfa County Commissioners sign Targa settlement, open bids for new fairground roofs. It stated “Details were not made public at the meeting.” That was incorrect. The details were available in paperwork but were not stated verbally during the meeting. County Clerk Laneta Schwerdtfeger offered the Targa settlement paperwork to a Newsgram employee who said it wasn’t needed. Schwerdtfeger has since provided the Newsgram with a copy of the settlement agree...
A truck driver from California has been charged with manslaughter in a collision that resulted in the death of an Alfalfa County youth. On Sept. 17 in Alfalfa County, Liang Guo, 50, of City of Industry, California, was charged with manslaughter – second degree, a felony. This crime is punishable by imprisonment for two to four years in the penitentiary, or a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The charge stems from a collision that occurred on May 22 about 5:20 p.m. on US-64 near County Road 570 i...
The Woods County Commissioners made a change to the 2026 holiday schedule during their meeting Monday. At the meeting were Chairman Shane Vore and Commissioners John Smiley and Damien Starks. Also attending was County Clerk Shelley Reed. Since they had already approved the holiday schedule for next year, the commissioners voted to rescind that one and approve Resolution 25-26-43 to add January 2 to the list. Since January 1 falls on Thursday, they decided not to have employees return to work on Friday. They’ll get a four-day weekend instead. Du...
The Alva Tourism Committee heard two funding requests for events during their regular meeting on Wednesday. Chairman Melinda Barton opened the meeting with members Scott Kline and Sadie Bier present. Angelica Brady was absent. Tricia Coday recorded minutes of the meeting. After approving minutes of the Aug. 20 meeting, the committee looked at the financial report. They were pleased to see first quarter tourism tax collections of $96,168.53 compared to $28,444.85 last year. Lt. Governor's Turkey...
The Avard Regional Rail Park Authority met Tuesday noon at Northwest Technology Center in Alva. Chairman Stan Bixler opened the meeting with Todd Holder and Matt Tucker present. Absent were Alan Poe and Scott Riley. Woods County Clerk Shelley Reed, Woods County Economic Development Committee Executive Director Jeremy Zeller and Glenn Hayes from Myers Engineering were also in attendance. Trustees approved the minutes of the Aug. 19 meeting. Holder gave the finance report. He said the current status at the rail park is that there are no rail cars...
The Woods County Excise Board approved the annual estimate of needs for three county schools during their regular meeting Wednesday morning. Chairman Chris Olson called the meeting to order with members Joe Shirley and Levi London present. County Clerk Shelley Reed and District 2 Commissioner Shane Vore were also present. After approving minutes of the August 30 meeting, the board approved a resolution establishing new Highway PACT accounts for all three commissioner districts. Board members asked for clarification on the new accounts. Reed...
The Class 2A Alva Goldbugs traveled to Woodward last week, Sept. 12, to take on the Class 3A Boomers. The larger size Woodward team with a deep bench quickly over-powered the Goldbugs, shutting down drives and establishing at 41-0 halftime lead. Although Woodward kept most of their starters in the game, during the fourth quarter the Goldbugs brought in younger players. It was then that a freshman quarterback passed to a junior for Alva's only touchdown. Woodward won the game 41-8. First Half...
The Alva Ladybugs hosted the Chisholm Lady Longhorns in softball Monday, winning 9-1. The Alva team has won by six runs or more in 13 games this season. Trinity Stevens played all six innings on the mound, surrendering one earned run on four hits. On the hitting side, Myka Louthan went 2-for-3 with seven stolen bases, four runs, and one double. That's the most runs she has posted since back in August. The team also got some help from Parker Grimsley had a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run,...
Three individuals have been arrested in an alleged attempt to introduce contraband into James Crabtree Correctional Center (JCCC) in Helena. Two hollowed out logs containing contraband were located inside the JCCC fence. According to court records, on Thursday, Sept. 4, at approximately 5:40 a.m. Helena Police were notified by JCCC of an individual trying to get into case manager Dennis Seevers vehicle by opening the door as he was driving on the road directly by JCCC. Seevers advised he watched the individual, later identified as Wesley...
An argument about rent money escalated into a physical altercation in Cherokee. Court records show on Friday, Sept. 5, at about 5:38 p.m. Cherokee Police Chief Ryan McNeil was dispatched to the 300 block of South Grand Ave. for a report of a subject being attacked by their landlord. The property is a multi-unit apartment building The reporting party was identified as Jordan Smith and the suspect was identified as John Bowman, the owner of the property. Smith stated the Bowman came to the building looking for him. Smith said he owed Bowman rent...
It’s this way every fall. Once school begins my calendar starts filling up with meetings and events. Last week during the Oklahoma Municipal League Conference, the City of Alva received the Innovations Award for the Cory Washburn Family Memorial Swimming Pool. In addition to local officials at the awards banquet, Kirk and Drue Washburn were present for the presentation. The Washburn’s sizeable donation kick-started the fundraising campaign to pay for the pool. Now Alva has received sta...
Last week was certainly eventful. Monday was Labor Day, and I was taking advantage of a quiet office to catch up on bookkeeping and other chores. I carried some bags of trash out back to throw in the dumpster. We have a four-yard trash container because two yards just can't handle our output, especially when we have a problematic press run with lots of waste. The top edge of the dumpster is about the height of my shoulders so I have to give trash bags a good heave to clear the dumpster sides. As...
An emergency meeting of the Alva City Council was held Saturday afternoon, Sept. 6, at 4 p.m. concerning the conduct of City Business Manager Stephen Ford. Mayor Kelly Parker opened the meeting with councilmembers Greg Bowman, Joe Parsons, Kenneth Pharis, Matt Adair and Garrett Lahr present. Gail Swallow, Sammy Kruckenberg and James Hoffman were absent. The council immediately went into a closed door executive session to discuss the conduct of the city manager. When they returned to open session, Lahr made a motion seconded by Parsons, to...
At their regular meeting on Monday, the Alva Library Board approved a policy for use of Cricut equipment. Now that all the equipment has arrived and the policy is set, Librarian Angela Courson has scheduled a Cricut class to help those interested to learn how to use everything. The free class is planned for Monday, Oct. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. Everyone participating can walk away with an item they have made. The library has 12 trucker hats and 12 tote bags for the class to decorate as well as plastic to put vinyl onto a frame. Advance signup will...
