Board cuts vice principal position, hears from mother about lost child
The Pawhuska School Board of Education voted, after much discussion, against rehiring Vice Principal Joel Witcher for the 2013-14 school year. Superintendent Landon Berry said they decided to cut the vice principal position for financial reasons. “Our [weighted] enrollment is down almost 78 kids,” Berry said. “And with the sequester, our federal funding is down [...]
Run for the Health of it
The Osage Nation hosted a 5K run and Littlest Amazing Race during their ‘Run for the Health of it’ event in Pawhuska Saturday morning. The 5K started off at 8 a.m. followed by the Littlest Amazing Race. The even also had food, a dunk tank, music, climbing wall and bounce castle Cultural Park behind the [...]
Pawhuska Native crowned Miss Indian NEO
Robynn Rulo, a Pawhuska native and sophomore at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) was crowned 2013 Miss Indian Oklahoma after winning Miss Indian NEO. “I am so pleased with the way Robynn Rulo has represented Northeastern A&M College and the American Indian Center for Excellence as Miss Indian NEO,” said Claudia Little Axe, AICE cultural [...]
School van kills 11 bison
At 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, workers at Ted Turner’s Bluestem Ranch had their hands full. One of the bison ranch’s fences had been breached, and about 100 yearling buffalo had streamed out in force and onto U.S. 60 about seven miles west of Pawhuska. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Bluestem ranch manager John Hurd called [...]
Calling in the Calvary: No longer trapped
Spending almost 30 years on her feet as a Pawhuska nurse finally took its toll on L.J. Collier. The steep stairs at her home were more like a locked gate than a pathway. “She bought a house with stairs that were almost keeping her trapped in the house,” her son Jake Collier said. “We knew [...]
Cops work unusual burlargies
Some unusual burglaries have been reported in Osage County in the past week, including the heist of a hefty gun safe containing an as-yet undetermined number of weapons and commercial burglaries in which the thieves took nothing. The gun theft occurred east of Barnsdall on State Highway 11 and was reported by a caretaker at [...]
Preordained for the priesthood
When he was just a toddler, Todd Nance stood apart from the other young parishioners at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hominy. While the other kids climbed over pews, fidgeted and ran around the nave, he was rapt, fascinated by the rites and ceremony administered by Father Jerry Ryan. “Todd would stand there enthralled,” his [...]
A diamond anniversary
The Osage Tribal Museum celebrated its 75th anniversary on Friday and Saturday with a ballet performance, parade and several other events, including a dance at the Cultural Center that drew both young people and adults. By Louise Red Corn
BIA rule changes in oilfield not that big
The proposed changes to the regulations governing BIA administration of the Osage oil and gas have been the subject of much misinformation. The process was started as part of the 2011 Trust case settlement. The BIA/DOI paid the Osage a great deal of money largely because they failed to provide their basic trust responsibility of [...]
5-year-old gone astray from school is safe, but parents irked
Brianna Cass, a 5-year-old kindergartner from Pawhuska with flyaway hair and big brown eyes, says she was scared Monday when she got off the school bus and found no one at home. Brianna’s parents, Jake and Stormy Cass, were fit to be tied that Pawhuska’s Indian Camp Elementary School lost track of their daughter, who [...]
Pawhuska’s Field of Dreams wins tentative lease agreement on split vote
In a rare split vote to which they were pushed by several passionate souls, the Osage County Commissioners approved leasing unused land near the county jail to a group that intends to build a ball field complex. Commissioner Scott Hilton cast the lone no vote, with Bob Jackson and Darren McKinney voting yes to approve [...]
Huskie golfers get to regionals: Only team to do so with no home golf course
Pawhuska High School’s golf team, despite being hamstrung by the demise of the city’s historic nine-hole course, competed in the regionals Monday. They didn’t do well enough to compete at the state tournament next week, but they are likely one of the few golf teams to make it into regional play who have no course [...]
Woman killed in Okesa mower accident
A woman was killed Monday while mowing, when she apparently got too close to a dike around a pond and her mower overturned, pinning her. Deanna Kay Pierce, 43, of Bartlesville, was found by a friend who came to visit at 2:50 p.m. The Osage County Sheriff’s Office responded and found Pierce pinned beneath a [...]
Village debates changes
Proposed changes to the federal laws governing the three Osage Indian villages in Pawhuska, Hominy and Grayhorse caused some raised eyebrows after they were revealed on Friday. The most surprising change, which struck many as rather cozy given the fact that the former Pawhuska Five-Man Board is currently the target of a federal criminal investigation, [...]
Man shot in home invasion
A man who used a sledge hammer to bust into a house in southern Osage County in an effort to get some possessions back was greeted with three 9mm rounds in a “stand-your-ground” shooting for which it is unlikely that the shooter will be prosecuted. Jason Ray Smith, 29, was hit in the chest – [...]
Man charged in reported brutal rape in Pawhuska
A Pawhuska man has been charged with rape, kidnapping and other felonies in a reported brutal assault on a woman during which she was allegedly held hostage for 12 hours. Christopher Beatty Harris, 27, was charged last week in the assault that took place at a woman’s home and then at the defendant’s apartment on [...]
Prom proud pawhuskans
The Pawhuska Huskies had their annual prom event Saturday. This year they marched into the Women’s Building at the Osage County Fairgrounds to their Hollywood theme dance. Photos by Jack Buzbee
Smoky Heights: Fire creeps onto Dial Hill
A grass fire that puttered along slowly from Sunday overnight into Monday took off with a vengeance around noon Monday, enveloping Dial Hill in chokingly think smoke and sending homeowners out to spray down leaves to keep their homes safe. Above, Ben West sprays water around his house. Pawhuska and Osage Nation fire departments responded, [...]
Village dumps city trash service
Residents of Pawhuska’s Indian Village voted unanimously Monday night to dumped the City of Pawhuska’s trash service and to hire JC & Sons Waste Management to do the job instead. JC & Sons made a one-year offer to do the job for $12.95 per household per month, nearly half the $22 the city charges, said [...]
Green campus gets go-ahead
In a suspenseful vote, the Osage Nation Congress approved spending $13 million to start building a new campus that will feature modem, sustainable buildings to replace a hodgepodge of trailers and other inefficient offices. The project, which will cost $23 million or more total, is for the first phase of the development and will pay [...]
Celebrating 75 years
The Osage Tribal Museum, Library & Archives will celebrate its 75th year of operation as the oldest tribally owned museum in the country on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. “This is a memorable event for the Osage Nation,” said Kathryn Red Corn, director of the museum, “and we want everyone to take part in [...]
Sports complex faces hurdle
For years, the idea has simmered to build a complex of ball fields on fallow land the county owns near the old Pawhuska Hospital south of town. This year, with Beth Reed leading the charge, Pawhuska Youth Sports is poised to turn the dream into a turfed reality within the next year. Reed has lined [...]
Special Olympic Huskies finish fast, first
Tyshawn Cochrane looks back over his right shoulder as his arms pump back and forth. He’s in the lead of the 100 meter speed walk and is not about to give it up. In the end he takes home a blue ribbon for the event, along with fifth in the softball throw from the Area [...]
Green comes at a price
The Osage Nation Congress is poised to vote Wednesday on whether to approve the first brick-and-mortar step in its campus master plan: Building a new “welcome center” that will house several key offices, including human resources, membership and the Osage News. Some Congress members are balking at the price tag of $23 million, but others [...]
