December 24, 2019 Issue, Page 1 of 10

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yd Serving BZ "4 Western Oklahoma (| Since 1901 Tuesday, December 24, 2019 Weekday Edition Commissioners approve motel demolition bid, fencing for baseball field at Ackley Park By Don Munsch, Editor dard state. The building was once a Travelodge that eventu- Elk City City Commissioners on Wednesday approved a ally became a Motor Lodge. bid for the demolition of a former motel building on East The bid from M&M was about $7,000 higher than the U.S. 66. lowest overall bid, from K&M Dirt Services in Oklahoma The commissioners approved, in a 4-0 vote, a bid of City, but the city staff chose M&M because staffers thought $141,240 from M&M Wrecking in Blanchard for the demo- it was a better bid. [A city document said the city reserves lition of the dilapidated motel building, which sits at 2500 the right to accept or reject any or all bids.] City Manager E. Highway 66. Lee Litterell said he thought the demolition could start at the It was the last Commission meeting of the year. Commis- end of the month. The remains from the motel will be hauled sioner Larry Muck was absent from the Wednesday meeting. out of town, to Oklahoma City. Commissioners approved removal of the abandoned mo- Commissioners also approved: tel in November. Also at that November meeting, the city --A resolution to approve the city’s responsibility to select planned to explore its option concerning the value of a lien a company to have bridges inspected, which is done every after the demolition job has been conducted and the lien has two years, Litterell said. been filed. — Fire department bunker gear purchase from Casco in The commission in its November motion declared the Oklahoma City. The amount was $37,695. former motel building to at 2500 E. Route 66 to be a di- — Purchase ofa new NH L220 T4B Skidsteer from Arnett lapidated structure detrimental to public health, safety and New Holland of Arnett in the amount of $46,925.00, which welfare. The motel closed four years ago, and the building is state contract pricing. The equipment is used for cleanup and its parking lot area have deteriorated. A city document and setup after livestock shows at the South Build described the building as being in a deteriorated, substan- See Commissioner page 2. Leadership Elk City Class a bi “ ‘i VI members show the check they will give to Bank celebrates open Lincoln Teen Center in Elk City for renovation house with prizes of the center. The money Top: Eli White, 3, of Elk City, right and sitting came from the Run Elk with Santa Claus, was the customer grand City event in September. prize $500 winner in the Bank of Western Shown here are Christy Oklahoma's Christmas Open House give- Pollard, Kyle Evans, away on Wednesday. Eli is shown with his Stephanie Ellis, Sheryl Ponce, Kandi Newberry, mother, Vanessa White, and brother Lincoin, Justice Rheaume, Tiphani 18 months, and Jimmy Harrel, chief execu- Currell, Chuck Hargrove, tive officer of Bank of Western Oklahoma. Payton Hamm, Maddi Bottom, Susan Howard, compliance officer | Magers, Pam Muncrief, with Bank of Western Oklahoma in Elk City, | Juli Kilhoffer and Ronda was the bank's winner in the giveaway. She © Smith. Submitted photo is standing with Santa Claus and Jimmy Har- = from Eddie Holland. rel. The bank had hourly $100 cash drawings for customers and employees from 11 a.m. to Sheriff's office sees incident 3 p.m., with the big drawing for $500 at 4 p.m. ee? photos by Don Munsch. | numbers plummet at jail Santa Letter winner Beckham County Sheriff Derek Manning said recently 2019. A most dramatic drop occurred in assaults, from 72 in that he and his staff continue to see success in their efforts 2016 to 20 in 2017, and then to 12 in 2018 and 16 in 2019. to reduce violent and damaging incidents within the Beck- Staff assaults shrank from 16 in 2016 to one in 2017 to two ham County Jail. in 2018 to four in 2019. Use of force incidents went from 45 All categories have seen a major reduction in reportable in 2016 to 20 in 2017 and then 12 in 2018 and 13 in 2019. Addelyn Hart- incidents for everything from assaults and contraband- [Numbers given for 2019 are through November 1.] man was our smuggling incidents to damage of county property, Man- Another significant drop was in damage to county proper- Santa Letter ning said in a news release. ty, which went from 57 in 2016 to eight in 2017. It then went winner. Addelyn “We’ve improved immensely, but we’re not perfect yet,” to four in both 2018 and 2019. Contraband cases dropped submitted a let- Manning said in the release. “Our goal is zero reportable from 55 in 2016 to 11 in 2017. Those cases increased to 17 ter from Merritt incidents, and while that may seem a difficult thing to strive in 2018 and have slid back in 2019 to eight. Data from the Elementary to for, it means that we are not going to be satisfied by any- SO also show attempts to escape — just three in four years be entered into a thing less than our very best effort.” with none in 2019 — and suicide attempts, with just one, random drawing Total incidents went from 470 in 2016 to 99 in 2017. which occurred in 2016. for a ham that Those numbers continued to slide, to 59 in 2018 and 48 in See Incident numbers page 2. United Super- SWOSU to host powwow market of Elk City donated. Staff photo by Don Munsch. Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford Grand entry events are planned at 1 and 7 p.m. Jan. 4 and will hold the second annual Governor’s Powwow in ear- 1 p.m. Jan. 5. Gourd dances will be held at 11 a.m. on both ly January. It is sponsored by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Jan 4 and 5. Tribes. There will be dance competitions in the categories of tiny The event will be held Jan. 4-5 at the Pioneer Cellular tot, elders, golden age, adults, teens andjuniors. In addition, Event Center on the SWOSU campus and the public is in- there will be a singing contest. Large cash prizes will be vited, according to a SWOSU news release. awarded in the competitions, the release stated. Nate Downs, director of the Pioneer Cellular Event Cen- For more information, visit Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes ter, said the tribes are having a large event that will also fea- Second Annual Governor's Powwow on Facebook or call ture arts/crafts vendors and food booths. the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes at 405-262-0345. Vol. 117, No. 101 | aT Te |. Weather tomorrow 129 75 cents, 10 pgs. Mail delivery 580.225.3000 View online elkcityoknews.com