Skiatook gets a mayor
The Skiatook’s new city council voted and approved councilman Randy Sien as the city mayor and councilman David Sutherland as the vice mayor during Monday’s special work meeting. Sien won reelection as an incumbent in the new ward district 5 while Sutherland ran for Ward 2 and won against Damon Pace and Nate Myers. Sien [...]
McKinney election brings an Osage back to the county commissioners
Darren McKinney, the first Osage to serve on the Osage County Board of Commissioners in 20 years, was a little nervous in his new role on Monday, when he was sworn in then faced an agenda with more than two dozen items on it. Like his predecessor, Jim Clark, he handled it all with a [...]
Osage County election results
Skiatook City Council 100 percent reporting Ward 1 Herb Forbes, 448 votes (46.8 percent) Debbie Cook* 337 votes Connie Clement, 173 votes Ward 2 David Sutherland, 663 votes (70.1 percent) Damon Pace, 181 votes Nate Myers, 102 votes Ward 3 Joyce Jech, 749 votes (80.4 percent) Moe Shoeleh, 185 votes [...]
Dog shooting charge filed
Leon O’Neal, the candidate for Skiatook City Council who was accused of shooting at dogs inside city limits, was charged Thursday with felony cruelty to animals. O’Neal, 51, entered a not guilty plea and was released on a $1,000 bond, but he might face more legal troubles encountered in the aftermath of a Skiatook police [...]
Oilfield rule changes approved
Despite requests from community members and a formal resolution from the Osage Minerals Council for more time, the Osage Negotiated Rulemaking Committee voted Tuesday to approve proposed changes to the federal drilling policies governing the Osage Mineral Estate. “The way it was explained to me growing up is that we live in two worlds: the [...]
Road fuss reversal
The Osage County Board of Commissioners took an oopsy-daisy step back Monday from vacating a county road near Foraker after an oil producer pointed out that the board had failed to follow state law regarding such actions. BGI Resources, a California-based company that operates exclusively in Osage County and uses three-dimensional seismic imaging to determine [...]
Dogs, gunfire and a candidate
Man’s best friend has not received a warm welcome in the neighborhood around 5th and Cherry in Skiatook. On Friday morning, gunfire greeted a pair of peripatetic pooches and one of the three bullets went through the wood privacy fence of a neighbor whose own yellow dogs were well behind a privacy fence. On Feb. [...]
Osage Nation open records
Osage Nation Attorney General Jeff Jones issued an opinion Monday instructing Chief John Red Eagle to released information regarding employee and contractor salaries to the Osage Nation Congress, which had subpoenaed records regarding pipeline consultant Rod Hartness. Red Eagle had requested the opinion, asking if confidential or proprietary information about employees or contractors was protected [...]
Republicans are meeting too
The Osage County Republican Party Convention will be held at the Inter Local Coop facility 207 East Main Street in Hominy on Sat., March 16. The Convention will be at 10 a.m. with the Osage County Precinct’s Meeting where business will be conducted per OKGOP rules. Activities will include the election of Precinct Chair and [...]
County Democrats meet
The Osage County Democratic Party will have a County Meeting on Sat., April 6, at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held in The Women’s Building at Osage County Fairgrounds in Pawhuska. Osage County Democrats will elect new county officers and delegates at that time. “We hope local Democrats will come out and support the [...]
2 will face off for commissioner
Democratic candidate Darren McKinney and the Republican candidate John Blakney won the special primary election for the District No. 3 County Commissioner position last Tuesday. Darren McKinney received 308 votes. John Blakney received 142 votes. A total of 986 votes were cast in the election. A Special County Commissioner General Election will be held for [...]
Oilfield concerns flare
Cattlemen and other landowners continued their full-court press last week to clean up oilfield activity in Osage County, pushing the Bureau of Indian Affairs for regulations that would bring the county “from worst to first” environmentally. At a meeting of the BIA and Osage Minerals Council Negotiated Rulemaking Committee that was highlighted by an OETA [...]
Defendant: Never bought ad at suit’s root
One of the four defendants in defamation lawsuits is distancing himself from the others and has hired an attorney to represent himself while the other three continue to represent themselves. Billy Barnes says in a motion to dismiss that he has never been a member of any organizations called Skiatook Citizens for a Better Government [...]
Duncan wins military lawsuit
Osage County District Attorney Rex Duncan has won is lawsuit against the state and will be paid about $7,000 in military leave pay and have his retirement benefits restored for the year he spent in Afghanistan with the Oklahoma Army National Guard, according to the Tulsa World. Duncan had sued the state after he got [...]
FBI: Interviews not needed in Village inquiry because the paper trail tells story
The FBI investigation into the former Pawhuska Five-Man Board might wrap up with some interviews even though they are not needed, said Osage Nation Attorney General Jeff Jones. “The FBI agent said he didn’t have to interview anybody: The documents told the story,” Jones said Wednesday at an Osage Nation Congress committee meeting. “The paper [...]
Commissioners vote $20,500 for website
Osage County Commissioners voted Monday to award One Fast Buffalo the bid to redesign the Osage County Tourism Oversight Committee’s website for $20,500. One Fast Buffalo also designed the curreny website, which is seven years old and has some outdated technology, said Tourism Director Steve Guy. Prices for the website design started at $2,900 and [...]
DA might get bill for aborted trial
Jury term at the Osage County Courthouse has not been a stunning success for the District Attorney Rex Duncan, whose office lost almost most of its cases during the last term. The current jury term could also prove costly: In an order that, by normally genteel judicial standards sounds rather annoyed, District Court Judge M. [...]
Running for office
The Osage County Election Board closed filing for the City of Pawhuska Municipal Election on January 16. The following candidates filed for the following offices: Roger D Taylor for Councilman Ward I and Cathy J Worten for Councilman Ward II. Both are three year terms. No election will be held because the candidates, both incumbents, [...]
Skiatook hires Yancey as City Manager
More than six months and a complete change in government later, Skiatook has found its new city manager: Dan Yancey. Yancey, 49, who will start with the city on Feb. 11, is currently the Owasso City police chief, and has been for the last decade. But he isn’t new to Skiatook or municipal government operations, [...]
Pawhuska city filing dates
Candidates for municipal offices in the city of Pawhuska can file Declarations of Candidacy beginning at 8 a.m. Mon., Jan. 14. The filing period ends at Wed., Jan. 16 at 5 p.m.. Declarations of candidacy will be accepted at the County Election Board office for the indicated offices. Councilman From Ward I Term of three [...]
Idle No More round-dance flash mob hits Tulsa
At 1:50 p.m. Sunday, a security guard at Promenade Mall in Tulsa got on her cell phone and told a superior: “I’ve got a lot of tribal members down here right now. I’m not sure what’s going on. But something is.” A few minutes later, the sounds of drums took over the mall and, peacefully, [...]
Retiring clerk is slight, but leaves large shoes to fill
For almost 10 years, Denny Hutson has only had to roll her eyes slightly over her glasses to keep the three Osage County Commissioners in line. “What’s really good is that look,” said District 3 Commissioner Jim Clark, who, like Hutson, is retiring at the end of the year with more than 30 years of [...]
