February 14, 2026 Issue, Page 9 of 13

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The Elk City News NEWS Concert Tickets Available for 56th Annual SWOSU Jazz Festival Feb. 19–20 The 56th annual SWOSU Jazz Festival returns to Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) in Weatherford Feb. 19–20. The festival brings two full days of live jazz to campus, including ticketed concerts, educational clinics, and the SWOSU Big Band Festival. Several events are free and open to the public, giving students, musicians, and community members a chance to enjoy jazz up close. Highlights include: Thursday, Feb. 19 – Free public concert at 7 p.m. in the SWOSU Fine Arts Center Auditorium featuring trombonist Andy Martin and the Stockton Helbing Trio in an evening of small-group jazz. A kickback follows at 9 p.m. at the Best Western Plus Lobby Lounge with snacks provided by the SWOSU Music Department. Friday, Feb. 20 – SWOSU Big Band Festival from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., featuring middle school, high school, junior college, and university bands from across the region. Each ensemble receives written feedback and ratings from judges, many of whom are SWOSU alumni. Free jazz clinics with Andy Martin take place at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Hilltop Theatre. Friday concerts – SWOSU Jazz Orchestra performs at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Auditorium, joined by Andy Martin and the Stockton Helbing Trio. A Jazz Sip and Slide Happy Hour happens at 5:30 p.m. at the Timothy D. Day Business Enterprise Center. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2026 • 9 Save the Date for ECHS Reunion By Sheryl Ponce The next Elk City High School tri-annual reunion date has been announced as Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st. This is the all-class reunion that includes all years through 2006, which means that anyone who graduated or attended ECHS is invited to the reunion. The event will be held at the Elk City Convention Center both evenings from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., that includes a catered meal. A plethora of other activities are being planned for both afternoons as well. For the first time, there will be a special reception for former teachers on Friday, July 31st, in the west room of the Conven- tion Center. A golf tournament will be held at the Elk City Golf and Country Club on Saturday morning. Along with reunion visits, there will be tours of the Elk City Schools Saturday afternoon. The reunion committee needs addresses and change of addresses for all classes through 2006. Forward those to echsalumni@ outlook.com or calling Linda Cook at 580-799-0432 or Basil Weatherly at 580-821-2795. This event only happens every three years, therefore, plan to return to Elk City and see how classmates have changed. It is an event that gets the whole community involved in celebrating those who left their marks in ECHS history. Public Comment Open on Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies Tickets for Friday’s events are available online at share.swosu. edu/swosujazzfest26. Adult tickets are $25, seniors $15, and students $10. Additional tickets are available for the Jazz Sip and Slide Happy Hour. The SWOSU Jazz Festival is supported by the SWOSU Foundation. Donations help provide participating school bands with masterclasses and support guest artists and festival organizers. Those interested in supporting SWOSU Jazz can visit www.swosufoundation.com/give/give-to-swosu-jazz/. For more information, contact Dr. Richard Tirk at Richard.tirk@ swosu.edu or visit www.swosujazzfest.com. MERRITT The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) has opened a public comment period for the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies. The standards were revised during the 2024–2025 school year. Following a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Social Studies standards have undergone an additional review and will again be available for public comment in 2026. OSDE encourages all interested stakeholders to participate in the review process and provide feedback on the draft standards. Stakeholders may choose to conduct the review individually or as part of a review team and are encouraged to set aside time to examine a specific grade band or all grade bands. The Draft Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies, published on January 29, 2026, are available for public comment. Feedback must be submitted no later than February 18, 2026, by completing this form. All feedback received during the public comment period will be reviewed by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the executive committee for consideration as part of the standards revision process. For additional information, including details on the standards review and revision process, visit the Standards Review and Revision Process webpage. For questions regarding the Social Studies standards review process, please contact Brenda Beymer-Chapman, Project Manager for Social Studies and Personal Financial Literacy, at [email protected]. Letters to the Editor Merritt 2nd Grade Mystery Reader for 2nd grade, Sydney Ham. WTC Dental School goes to Merritt to teach the elementary kids about dental care, and examine the kids. Elementary School Pep Assembly Yes Finance We proudly support the students, staff and administration at Merritt Schools 1414 W. 3rd St., Elk City, OK ~ Great Plains Bank ~ First National Bank 580.225.1525 LocalLoanGroup.com Another week brings another barrage of distractions from the Epstein files. The DOJ arrests 2 black journalists including nationally known Don Lemon for covering ICE protests and objects to them even making bond. The DOJ seizes 2020 Fulton County Georgia voting records by FBI agents dressed like ICE thugs. Trump personally sues the IRS for 10 $billion. The IRS is controlled by his sycophant Secretary of Treasury Paul Bessent and will be defended by his sycophant Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump posts a video on his Truth Social site portraying the Obamas as apes. Trump calls for the unconstitutional national takeover of elections. Trump refuses to rule out the presence of ICE agents at polling places for the 2026 elections. Trump says he will be closing the Kennedy Center. Trump wants Dulles airport and Penn Station named after him before he will restore major funding to the state of New York. Meanwhile Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general who is now the president’s Epstein spokesman announces that there will be no more files released. Anybody else concerned about the Epstein spokesman being Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer? This announcement comes after release than of less than half of the files and those were heavily redacted. Even though the released files are heavily redacted to protect names of friends of Epstein, including a person who was told by Epstein of a new 9 year old Brazilian girl; the administration violated the law by not redacting the names of victims. By redacting names of friends of Epstein and leaving in names of victims, they sent this message to victims who have not come forward:”the evil is still in control”. In other countries people named in the files have lost their jobs and positions. In the United States the man Epstein called his best friend and who is apparently named 38,000 times in the files is chosen to deliver the address at the National Day of Prayer. Some elected Republicans have bravely come out in opposition. But most including those from Kansas are MIA. Ron Svaty Ellsworth, Kansas 785-531-1250 Our Friends in the Media, Thank you for your recent coverage on hunger and food insecurity. We appreciate your attention to this important issue and your role in helping inform the public. We are reaching out because we noticed that some of the information cited in recent coverage we’ve seen does not fully reflect the most current or accurate data. In the interest of clarity and transparency, we have attached a brief fact sheet that outlines the correct information, including context around error rates that are often misunderstood or misreported. We know how challenging it can be to navigate complex data under tight deadlines, and we’re always happy to help. If you ever need us, we are always available to serve as a resource for you or your team when covering stories related to hunger, food access, or nutrition assistance. We’re also glad to provide background, data, or on-the-record insights at any time. Thank you again for your work and for considering this information. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be helpful. Chandy Rice Director of Strategic Advancement, Hunger Free Oklahoma [email protected]