June 6, 2020 Issue, Page 1 of 8

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Western Oklahoma Saturday, June 6, 2020 Weekend Edition Elk City schools retirees look back on careers To ) PORUAUAU kids have their good days and bad days. It’s the hardest work you've ever done, but it’s also the easiest. It’s so fulfilling when you see the light coming on in their heads.” Because of the pandemic, teachers have gotten respected a little more and parents have received a glimpse in what teachers do every day, Hooper said. L.C. Price, who lives west of Elk City, speaks Nuttall began her career in the 1978-78 school year, start- to the Elk City City Commission at ing out as a teacher assistant at the middle school. Shortly meeting Monday night. Staff photo by Don Cathy Hooper Shari Nuttall Penny Ringer Munsch. after starting as a teacher’s assistant, she accepted a job in By Don Munsch, Editor The coronavirus pandemic forced educators to do some the library. She spent 42 years as a librarian in the Elk City Schools, ending her career as a media specialist at Elk City City commissioners changes this spring. hear concerns about Middle School. Namely, shifting from learning in buildings to distance “T was support personnel until I got my bachelor’s degree learning done at home. Elk City Lake in 1990, but I was always in the library for 42 years,” she COVID-19’s spread and subsequent lockdowns and dis- said. Later, in 1992, she earned her master’s degree. tance learning revealed the challenges teachers face, said She loved being a librarian and said working at the library By Don Munsch, Editor Shari Nuttall, librarian at Elk City Middle School library, was “meant to be” for her. One of the best parts of being a EIk City City Manager Lee Litterell said there is no sew- who retired after this recent school year. librarian was researching books that were current with what age in Elk City Lake. Nuttall and two other Elk City schools retirees - Cathy the students were interested in. Lots of people who appeared at the Elk City City Com- Hooper and Penny Ringer — discussed their careers and said “T really wanted them to love reading as much as I do,” she mission meeting seemed to have a different assessment. they will miss being in the classroom. Todd Beer, also a re- said. “I loved the teachers bringing their classroom to the The commission, which had to move Monday’s meeting tiree this year, is the former high school football head coach library. I just loved everything about it.” from City Hall to the Elk City Convention Center because and a district teacher. He did not respond to requests for an And of course, as a librarian, she enjoyed hearing students of an overflow crowd, was to meet late Thursday afternoon interview. say how much they love reading. One of her fondest memo- to discuss Litterell’s continued employment with the city. “Tt’s not as easy as a person thinks it might, but it’s not as ries is seeing students return to school after they have moved The News could not report on the decision the commission hard as a person might think it is, either,” Nuttall said about on in their lives. made because of an early Thursday afternoon press time. teaching. “You have your good days and bad days, and the See Retirees page 2. Around 160 people attended the Monday meeting at the convention center. ODOT asking for feedback in L.C. Price, who lives west of Elk City, was given a spot on the agenda to discuss his grievances with the city on its management of its sewer system and the status of Elk City Lake. [The agenda item stated his concern was about sewer transportation priorities line leaks.] He spoke for about 14 minutes, receiving ap- plause at the end. He was especially critical of Litterell’s handling of the matter and how he said Litterell responded The Oklahoma Department of Transportation asks the “Transportation planning needs to look decades into the to him personally. public to give its opinion on its transportation planning. future because the infrastructure decisions we make today After the meeting, in which several people spoke in the Oklahoma residents can weigh in on ODOT’s 25-year will affect future generations and the state’s long-term eco- public forum about the lake, Litterell denied there was sew- plan for transportation priorities, the agency stated it in a nomic outlook,” ODOT Deputy Director Dawn Sullivan said age in the lake and that the water had been tested and was news release. Over the past year, the 2020-2045 Long Range in the release. “We hope the public will continue to partner safe. Transportation Plan has been developed with input from with us to produce a long-range plan that truly addresses the See Concerns page 2. the public and stakeholders, the release stated. ODOT now transportation issues and needs that are important to Okla- presents a summary for final review and public comment at homans.” City, DEQ officials www.oklongrangeplan.org. ODOT began collecting public input last summer, the re- Rather than being a list of specific projects, the plan focus- lease stated, to document the condition of the existing sys- release information es on overall transportation priorities and goals for various tem, analyze future needs and trends and develop strategies modes of travel and freight movement in the state, including and policies for the next 25 years. More than 3,800 Okla- highway, passenger and freight rail, public transit, bicycle homans responded and overwhelmingly ranked safety as on work done at Elk See ODOT page 2. City Lake and pedestrian, ports and waterways and airport access. The ODOT’s top priority. Additionally, 84% of survey federally-required plan is updated every five years. The city of Elk City and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality released timelines to The News on New COVID-19 case in Beckham County sewage testing they did in Elk City. Below is an Elk City timeline for the work that was done on the sewer line leak. April 13 — The City was notified by resident about a One new case of the coronavirus has been reported in curred, but later revised figures to show it was just one. break in the sewer line crossing the creek on his property. Beckham County, District 5 Southwest Oklahoma County Beckham County Health Department stated in a Facebook April 13 — Leak was verified by the City and DEQ was Health Departments stated this week. post that sometimes a person is not a resident of the county notified as per state law at 10 a.m. Thus far, the county has had seven cases overall with six that was initially reported. April 13 — Work was being done upstream from the sew- recoveries. For more information on COVID-19, visit coronavirus. er line rearranging the creek bank with a track hoe. Health officials initially reported four new cases had oc- health.ok.gov. April 14 — Leak was stopped by the City. It was pumped across the creek through a 4” black poly pipe into another manhole. Census still needs responses April 14 — A pump was installed upstream from the break and water was pumped around the spill back into the creek. By Don Munsch, Editor cent and Sayre was a 44.5 percent. Clinton posted a percent- April 15 — DEQ visits the site. April 16 — Public facilities superintendent Myers En- Many area towns and cities, including Elk City, rank be- age of 48.8, while Weatherford’s was 53.3. gineering inspected the break to start working on a new low the state percentage in U.S. Census response rates, ac- In addition, Peel said 12 out of 16 counties in our region cording to recent data. were below the state rate, while 111 of 120 towns were be- crossing solution. April 16 — Public Facilities Superintendent Mike McFall Ron Peel, CED Planner for the Association of South Cen- low the national rate and 109 of 120 towns were below the asked the track hoe driver to remove the broken line form tral Oklahoma Governments, based in Duncan, provided state rate. the creek so it could be cleaned out. This took approxi- data that showed Elk City’s response rate was 48.8 percent, The census is important because of how it can translate mately 15 minutes. as of May 25. The national rate is 60.1. into more federal money for communities, Plus, the census April 16 —-Mike McFall ran water sample tests at the are As of May 25, Canute’s rate was 21.1 percent. The Chey- helps city and town planners make decisions for the future. of the sewer line break. Tests performed were Biochemical enne’s was 11 percent, while Hammon’s was 15.9 percent, Currently, 54.1 percent of homes in Oklahoma (1 million Burns Flat posted a 15.5 percentage, Dill City was 28.7 per- See Census page 2. See DEQ page 3. Weather Vol. 118, No. 45 Mail delivery View online LE tomorrow 96 / 71 75 cents, 8 pgs. 580.225.3000 elkcityoknews.com