December 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY — A global company has once again decided against building an electric vehicle battery plant near Tulsa despite lawmakers offering a $698 million incentive package and funding millions of dollars in site improvements at the company’s request.

A Panasonic spokesperson said the company will not build a multibillion-dollar battery plant at Pryor’s MidAmerica Industrial Park.

LAWSUITS

Discover Bank vs. Heather Ellis for $5,142.90 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Capital One N.A. vs. Shelby Franklin for $2,256.36 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Citibank N.A. vs. Robert Walker for $2,549.31 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Capital One N.A. vs. Joseph Stephens for $2,267.67 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Citibank N.A. vs. Tamila Bentley for $5,151.33 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Agnes “Atty” Christina Nijkamp Fitzgerald passed away peacefully on Dec. 17, 2023, at Mercy Hospital.

Atty was born July 24, 1944, in Alkmaar, The Netherlands, to her parents, John and Agnes Nijkamp. Her family (including twin sisters, Frely and Gemma) immigrated to America when she was 14. They moved to Oklahoma to be near a family that sponsored them.

Welcome to open hunting season in Oklahoma on high school coaches thanks in part to a cowardly unsigned two-page letter from “Concerned Members of the Town of Okarche” directed toward a well-respected leader.

The letter was a direct written assault (in our business it’s called libel) on the character and leadership of Okarche head girls basketball coach Haley Mitchel.

In the wake of the letter surfacing and spreading like an Oklahoma wildfire, Mitchel resigned her coaching duties as well as two of her assistant coaches, Kaylene Ullom and Skye Tilley.

Wake for Andrea Dianne Patton of Kingfisher will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, with funeral services set for 11 a.m. Saturday. Both services will be at the Kingfisher Emergency Response Center with Rev. Wendell Prim officiating. Burial will be in the Kingfisher Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Andrea died Dec. 18, 2023, in Oklahoma City. She was born Oct. 24, 1977, in El Reno and was raised in El Reno and Kingfisher. She was a member of the All Nations Church.

CALUMET – Utilizing a two-platoon approach on offense and smothering defense, Calumet High School’s boys basketball team dominated Corn Bible Academy from the opening tipoff en route to an 80-37 win.

The 43-point decision sent the Chieftains, ranked No.1 in Class B for a third straight poll, into the holiday break with an 11-0 record.

Calumet has scored no lower than 62 points a game this season and the win over CBA was the 10th game with more than 70 points.

Union City High School’s girls basketball team slipped to the .500 mark in conference play, closing out the 2023 portion of its schedule with a 41-31 loss to Thomas/Fay-Custer.

The 10-point setback to the league’s newcomer left the Tigers with an 8-5 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the Washita Valley Conference standings.

The setback came on the heels of a 51-20 homecoming win over Mulhall-Orlando in non-conference action.

Calumet’s Hunter Arnold was honored recently for reaching the 1,000-point mark for career scoring.

Just a few games after teammate Hunter Arnold surpassed 1,000 career points, Calumet senior Dalton Belcher reached the milestone in the Chieftains win over Thomas/Fay-Custer in Washita Valley Conference action.