March 2023

George Ray Heupel, a lifelong resident of Okarche, passed away Sunday morning, March 19, 2023, at his home. George was born Feb. 15, 1940, at the Heupel farm homestead in Okarche.

George married Carol Bullard in 1961 and had four children, Cynthia, Shelly, Wesley and LaVon. He later married Deanna Maass-Hedrick on June 23, 1972. Together they made a home in Okarche with their blended family of six children. You could say they were the Okarche version of the Brady Bunch.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill to provide better access to child care for Oklahoma’s teachers and school employees passed out of the Senate. Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, authored Senate Bill 16 to create a pilot program to provide child-care grants to school districts.

“We’ve been working so hard in recent years to find innovative ways to help retain our current teachers and recruit more outstanding professionals to our classrooms.

Mary Ruth Akers Patman went to her heavenly home on March 17, 2023, surrounded by her family. Mary was born Oct. 20, 1950, to Clifford and Omabelle Akers.

She spent her early years in Union City and graduated from Union City High School in 1968.

Mary was a career teacher, having taught in Union City, Marland, El Reno, Oklahoma City (Capitol Hill) and Granite as well as in Liberal, Kan.

She also had worked at the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and Canadian Valley Technology Center.

Her greatest joy was the birth of her son, David Paul, in January 1984.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill to provide an across-the-board pay increase for Oklahoma’s teachers and certified school personnel received overwhelming support in the Senate.

Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, chairman of the Education Committee and Education Appropriation Subcommittee, authored Senate Bill 482 to provide a scaled pay increase ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 based on years of service.

U.S. President Joe Biden “stresses that Silicon Valley Bank is not getting a bailout,” The Hill reported on March 13.

“No losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” he said of the federal government’s decision to cover depositor losses in excess of $250,000. “Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced legislation to authorize increased funding for Impact Aid programs for federally-impacted public school districts which have significantly less tax revenue due to the presence of non-taxable federal property.

Oklahoma has more school districts receiving Impact Aid than any other state in the nation.

LAWSUITS

Matthew Claverie vs. Tyrell Thomas, individually, and KLLM Transport Services LLC for an amount in excess of $75,000 for injuries and damages alleged to have occurred during an automobile accident.

Linda Grimes vs. Ricky Michael for $19,018.07 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Snap-On Credit LLC vs. Eugene O’Kelley for $18,306.07 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Prestige Financial Services Inc. vs. Frankie Stafford for $9,317.90 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

The inability to avoid big innings by opponents once again haunted El Reno High School’s baseball team as the Indians were swept by the Guthrie Bluejays in District 5A-1 play.

El Reno opened the series on the road with a 6-1 setback, before losing 9-1 at the Hub Reed Complex.

The sweep dropped the Indians to 3-7 on the season and 0-4 in the 5A-1 standings, for a tie for fifth with three other squads.

Gusting winds played havoc with pitching on both offense and defense last week for Calumet High School’s slow-pitch softball team as the Chieftains split games with Geary and Sentinel.

Calumet defeated the Bison 18-10 with 18 of the combined 28 runs being scored in the first inning, which took over 52 minutes to complete. There were just three base hits in the frame between the two schools but more than a dozen walks due to the wind.

The Chieftains were shut out a day later by Sentinel 8-0, to drop their season record to 2-4.

Bragging rights in the Canadian River baseball rivalry between Union City and Minco will stay on the north banks for another season following the Tigers 12-3 win.

In their only scheduled spring meeting, Class A’s 15th-ranked Tigers used a 10-hit attack to extend their current win streak to three games. Union City moved up two spots in the latest poll and takes a 7-1 record into its own Wooden Bat Tourney.