Monday, July 31, 2017

Keith Retires from Fire Department after 40 Years

Danny Keith 

Retiring Sallisaw firefighter, Danny Keith, third from the right in front, is the
 “last of the old timers” in this photo taken in 1984, said Fire Chief Anthony Armstrong.

“It’s the camaraderie. That’s what I’ll miss. The guys are what I’ll miss and what will hurt me. We’re brothers.”

After almost 40 years as a Sallisaw firefighter, Danny Keith, 61, is retiring from that post today, July 31.

But, as he joked with Sallisaw Fire Chief Anthony Armstrong Monday afternoon, “You still got me until midnight.”

Keith became a volunteer Sallisaw firefighter at the age of 21 in 1977. Being a firefighter and the training provided were very different then compared to now.

“It’s more professional now,” Keith said. “Back then you just watched everyone else. That’s how you learned. Then you just broke out a window and put water on the fire. Now you go in and fight the fire.”

Keith said that, with his retirement, the Sallisaw Fire Department will have three openings. Jarret Hetherington retired after 22 years and Dwayne Burgess retired after 17 years. That leaves three openings on the 20-firefighter city fire department.

Armstrong said the department had eight applications, now down to seven because one applicant did not pass the agility test. The seven remaining applicants must also pass a physical exam.

The new firefighters are all required to be certified as Firefighter 1. He explained that is a 40-hour college-level course, Keith explained.

“We trained for eight weeks on Saturdays,” Keith said. “It’s pretty inclusive.”

In addition, firefighters are also required to continue to train for at least one night a month.

All Sallisaw firefighters, with the exception of the chief and assistant chief which are full-time salaried positions, are volunteers but get a small wage depending on their experience and rank.

Keith recalled, “When I started we got $5 a run if we squirted water.”

In the last 40 years, Keith has held every position available at the Sallisaw Fire Department. He recalled he has served as lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and chief. In the early days, the firefighters rotated through the ranks. Now the ranks are permanent.

Keith, and many of Sallisaw’s firefighters, are also city employees. Keith is telecommunications supervisor at Diamond Net where he has worked for about 14 years. He began with Bill Martin at Martin’s TV Repair, then went to work for Sudden Link before taking the Diamond Net post with Sallisaw. Keith said he plans to stay on with Diamond Net for a while.

Those 40 years as a firefighter have left Keith with many memories.

He said the biggest fire he and fellow firefighters had to fight was the one that destroyed Peggy’s CafĂ©, a popular eating spot in downtown Sallisaw, and the adjoining building, which once was a bank that drew the attention of Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd. Another fire Keith recalled was the one in June 2004 that destroyed the old Sallisaw High School, which, through the efforts of many residents and graduates, had been turned into a museum and community center.

But the most devastating fire for Keith was the one that took the life of then Fire Chief Gus Fullbright Jr.

“The fire that got Gus was the worst,” Keith said. “Gus was my best friend.”

In 1995 the Sallisaw fire station was renamed as the Gus E. Fullbright Jr. Fire Station in memory of the late fire chief. Keith said that fire was studied in depth because it was a car fire that erupted forcefully when the gas tank exploded, spraying the unsuspecting firefighters with gas. Several were burned and Fullbright died as a result of his injuries.

Keith himself was uninjured during that fire but was injured in a different one. 

He explained, “It was at a house at night, and I guess the resident had left a grill burning on the deck. It caught the deck on fire, but when we got there, the fire was up the side of the house. I didn't see the deck had burned.”

When Keith stepped on the deck to fight the fire, he fell through up to his chest. Fellow firefighters pulled Keith out, but he suffered a broken rib in the fall.

The role and mission of Sallisaw firefighters has evolved in recent years. Now most are also first responders and are called to accidents of all kinds and to help those who cannot help themselves.

“The rescue,” Keith said, “that’s the part I enjoy the most.”

There is one rescue that will remain with Keith forever.

“It was a guy, who was drunk, who hit a family head on,” Keith recalled. “It killed the mom and dad instantly. There were three or four kids, I don’t remember how many, in the car too. I carried one little girl to the ambulance. She was about the age of my own daughter. I learned later she died. She probably died in my arms. That one has stuck with me. It’s the innocent ones that pay the price.”

While paying one more visit to the Fullbright Fire Station on Monday, Keith took a bit of brotherhood ribbing from Chief Armstrong and Assistant Fire Chief Steve Padgett. It was the kind of brotherhood Keith said he will miss the most.

“He will be missed,” Armstrong said. “He is the last of the old timers.”

“I’ve seen a lot,” Keith admitted about his experience over the years. And he would serve his community and do it all over again, he said.

“I don’t regret any of it,” he concluded.

Keith and wife Debby have 5 children and 7 grandchildren. 



Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director


For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


Stites Arrested on Drug Charges

Stites

Drugs and paraphernalia confiscated


Richard Darren Stites, 52, of Sallisaw was arrested Saturday on drug-related charges, Sequoyah County Sheriff Larry Lane reported.

Stites is being held without bond.

Lane said Sheriff’s Deputies Galen Irvin and Colton Goff, Sheriff’s Investigator Dwayne Frizell and Sallisaw Police Lt. Herb Hutchinson teamed up for the investigation and arrest at a rural Sallisaw residence after they received information that drugs were being kept and sold there. Officers confiscated methamphetamine, marijuana, and prescription narcotics as well as scales, baggies and paraphernalia



Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

CASC Fall Semester Begins Aug. 14


The fall semester at Carl Albert State College (CASC) in Poteau and Sallisaw begins Aug. 14 and there is still time to enroll. 

Classes are offered on the CASC campuses in Poteau and Sallisaw, and CASC also offers a wide variety of courses online through the CASC Virtual Campus. Classes are offered in full semester as well as eight-week time frames.

For students living in residential housing at the Poteau campus this fall, move in is set for Aug. 12. Randy Graves, CASC VP of Student Affairs, said there are still rooms available for fall.

“For students wanting to reserve a room for fall, call us as soon as possible at 918-647-1371,” he said. “Also, if you signed up for housing but have not completed the process, we need to hear from you so please call us or stop by the housing office in Hemphill Hall on the Poteau campus.

“Living on campus is a great opportunity and very convenient for students.  We offer nice rooms and excellent food service at an extremely affordable price. We encourage students to give living on campus a try,” Graves said.

For enrollment assistance call 918-647-1248 in Poteau or 918-775-6977 in Sallisaw.  Information is also available at carlalbert.edu.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Back-to-School Round Up Will Be Aug. 5 in Sallisaw


It’s Back-to-School Round Up Time and it’s free!

It’s the Back-to-School Round Up on Aug. 5 at the Sallisaw Rodeo Arena. The roundup, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. offers free games, free photos, free activities, free food, and school supplies as prizes.

Royce Alverson of KiBois Community Action, which helps sponsor the roundup, said, “It’s going to be fun, fun, fun!”

This year KiBois Community Action is collaborating with the Sallisaw Lions Club that is sponsoring the Sallisaw rodeo on the same weekend. Both the roundup and the rodeo will be held at the Sallisaw Rodeo Arena.

Alverson said the Lions Club holds free pony rides and other activities for children on the same morning, and the two organizations have combined events for all kids.

Two bicycles will be given away through a drawing, and free hot dogs, chips and water will be available.

Other activities include a water slide, a bounce house, and face painting. 

“We will have some vendors there who will be offering carnival games and will be giving away school supplies as prizes,” Alverson said. A limited number of back packs will also be given away. And it’s all free.

Other sponsors for the Back-to-School Round Up are People Inc., TSet Healthy Living, Creoks Behavioral Health Services, the Lions Club, the Health and Wellness Center, the Cherokee Nation, the Sallisaw Youth Coalition and Central Youth Coalition, the Boys & Girls Club of Sequoyah County and the Mix 105.1.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Friday, July 28, 2017

Horse Trainer, Sentenced for Cruelty, Released Thursday


Robert Dimitt, race horse trainer sentenced in Sequoyah County District Court for cruelty to animals, has been set free.

Dimitt was released from jail Thursday. He was sentenced to five years in prison on five counts of cruelty to animals that led to the deaths of several race horses. Dimitt had cut the bottoms, or frogs, out of the horses’ hooves “to make them run faster.”

Doping suspensions had left the trainer without a license in Oklahoma and New Mexico, but he continued training under the names of his assistant trainers, Ty Blackwell and Tana Pace.

At a judicial review hearing Thursday in Sequoyah County District Court, District Judge Jeff Payton granted the defendant’s motion for an early release. Judge Payton noted that he has received more than 50 emails opposed to the change of sentence.

Dimitt’s attorney, Donn Baker of Tahlequah, argued that Dimitt had good behavior while in the county jail, and that an Arkansas masonry business has offered Dimitt a job, with a $15 an hour salary, and temporary living accommodations.

Assistant District Attorney Stacey Slaughter’s request that Dimitt wear an electronic ankle monitor was denied by Judge Payton.

Dimitt will be required to have no contact with horses during his 15-year probation. And he remains the responsibility of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Sallisaw Nazarene Church for Sale


The Church of the Nazarene, at 1000 N. Wheeler in Sallisaw, is for sale along with the church parsonage.

Margaret Slaughter wife of the church pastor Jim Slaughter, said the Sallisaw church membership has decided to merge with the Muldrow First Church of the Nazarene where Carl Fugett is pastor.

“Most of our members are from Gans,” Margaret Slaughter said, “and they want to merge with Muldrow.”

The Sallisaw church membership, she said, has decreased over the past 10 years.

“There are not enough people to support the building, pay the pastor, or pay the taxes,” Slaughter said.

The church has 11,000 square feet and seats 200. It has two choir rooms with a baptistry, a sound booth with sound system with front and back projectors and screens. The building also has a children’s wing with 10 classrooms and nursery with bathroom, and boys and girls bathrooms. The church has one office, four adult classrooms, two offices with a bathroom, fellowship hall with kitchen and men and women’s bathrooms, one supply room, one outdoor building, and a covered front entrance, all on several acres.

The parsonage, at 922 E. Hazel in Sallisaw, has three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a two-car garage, fenced yard, covered patio, and one outdoor building.

Prices for the properties are negotiable Slaughter said. She said the church building would be perfect for private schools, churches, a nursing home, etc. 

The membership is also planning a yard sale on Aug. 5. The sale will start at 9 a.m. and will feature children’s clothing, tables and chairs, kitchen items, desks, flower arrangements, a drum set and lots of miscellaneous.

For more information or for tours of the property contact Slaughter at 918-571-3945.

Slaughter said if the property is not sold within a month, it will be transferred to the Oklahoma District of the Church of the Nazarene.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Warner to Serve on Health Committee


Next month Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor Bryan Warner of Sallisaw will begin serving a two-year term on a national advisory committee that will give input on tribal health issues to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its sister entity, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Warner, who serves as Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor for District 6, will serve as a Tribes-at-Large delegate on the Tribal Advisory Committee, with the authority to act on behalf of the Cherokee Nation while representing Indian Country as a whole. The committee addresses everything from environmental toxins to emergency preparedness, diseases and mental health.

Warner is a professor at Carl Albert State College in Sallisaw and Poteau.

“It is an honor to serve Indian Country in this capacity,” Warner said. “As a microbiology instructor, I have always found that the work done by the CDC has played a major role in how the health of our society is shaped. I look forward to sharing our local concerns, as well as gaining insight to what others are facing in order to continue our quest for healthy collaborative efforts across Indian Country.”

In 2005, the CDC and ATSDR established the Tribal Advisory Committee to advise the two federal agencies through input and guidance on policies, guidelines and programmatic issues that affect the health of Indian tribes.

“I commend Councilor Warner for his willingness to represent not only the Cherokee Nation, but tribes across the country, on important matters of health and safety,” Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “Promoting strong and productive relationships between Indian country and federal agencies is critical work. With his background, Councilor Warner will provide invaluable wisdom and advice to the CDC Tribal Advisory Committee.”

The CDC has been dedicated to protecting health and promoting quality of life through the prevention and control of disease, injury and disability for more than 60 years. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances.

The committee is composed of 16 delegates, including one from a federally-recognized tribe within each of the 12 Indian Health Service areas and one from four federally recognized tribes-at-large. Delegates typically meet for two face-to-face meetings each year and also hold monthly conference calls. For more information, go to the website www.cdc.gov/tribal.



Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Past & Present Quilt Show Is Friday and Saturday


The annual Quilts of Past & Present Quilt Show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Blackgum Harvestime Church.

The Sewing Sisters sponsor the show. Admission is $4.

This ninth annual show will feature judged and non-judged quilts, a vendor mall, boutique, demonstrations, and a tea room.

Items to be given away include a sewing basket filled with sewing and quilting supplies valued at over $250, a sewing machine tote, and a chair-side ironing table.

For more information call 918-457-9362 or 918-773-8767.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Pop Up Prairie Day Planned for Sept. 9


Pop Up Prairie Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 9 on the library lawn in downtown Sallisaw, and is free to all vendors.

The Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the event. Judy Martens, the chamber executive director, said this downtown event is the outcome of a workshop held earlier this year. Deb Brown of SaveYour.Town encouraged chamber members to try different projects to bring life to a small town and to get people enthused about their small town.

“We’re pleased that Main Street is already trying some of her suggestions,” Martens said about the Main Street organization’s Thursday Night Locals in downtown Sallisaw.

Martens said Pop Up Prairie Day will have three areas for pop up stores. There will be areas for foods, for flea market tents and a retail section that will include new arts and crafts. Individual spaces will be about 10 feet, or about the size of a pop-up tent.

Musicians are also invited, and it is hoped will provide entertainment while performing under the gazebo on the library lawn.

Martens said the chamber will coordinate efforts with the Sallisaw Farmers Market, held every Saturday and Wednesday morning in downtown Sallisaw.

Application forms for Pop Up Prairie Day will be available on the chamber’s website by the end of the week. Martens said those interested should stay in touch with the chamber’s Facebook page to download an application form. Forms will also be mailed upon request.

For more information contact the chamber at 918-775-2558.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

School Remodeling Continues at Dwight Mission


Dwight Mission Camp and Conference Center continues with its $2 million building project, said Dr. Robert J. Duncan Jr. this week.

Duncan is the mission’s executive director.

He said the project is to renovate the mission’s 1917 school house into a Heritage and Administration Center.

We are in phase one of an eight-year campaign,” Duncan said. “The campaign is to preserve our history.”

The first phase is the renovation of the 100-year-old school house. It will eventually include a Heritage Center and administration offices.

The building has three floors. Plans are to remodel the first (or basement) floor for conference rooms. The second floor will be for meeting rooms, offices and for the heritage display, and the 200-seat auditorium on the third floor will be renovated.

Duncan said the 200-seat auditorium has 100 chairs on one side for the boys, and one chairs on the other side for girls. He said the boys’ seats all had places underneath for the boys to stow their hats. The plans are for all those auditorium seats to be restored with hat racks during phase two.

At the present time, two outdoor stair towers are being added at the front and back of the building. Duncan said the towers are regular steel fire towers which bring the building up to the state fire marshal’s code.

Also underway or complete is a new roof and siding and elevators. Duncan said the area in front of the building is being graded so that visitors will not have to climb steps to the Heritage Center.

He expects the remodeling to be complete in September. Then the mission will begin the campaign to raise money for the interior remodeling. Duncan said that is expected to cost $1 million to $1.5 million. The exterior remodeling is projected to cost $1 million plus.

Crawford Construction of Fort Smith is the contractor on the project.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Marine Corps League on the March Upward


It’s all about helping others.

That’s why the members of the Cpl. Joshua J. Ware Detachment #1403 of the Marine Corps League in Sequoyah County are working hard to rebuild their organization.

The detachment took a hit last year when the commander was charged with embezzlement, and eventually removed from office. That allegation has been turned over to the justice system, and the detachment is rebuilding, said present commander, Bill Brocker.

On the agenda are a toy drive for Christmas (not titled Toys for Tots), assisting the families of veterans and the military, the search for a building, buying uniforms and rifles for honor detachments, a barbecue pit, water tent, and food trailer.

“We are still in the planning stages,” Brocker said this week. “We are looking for boxes and barrels to put out for the toy drive, that we will not call Toys for Tots. But donors may still get a tax deduction.”

Brocker said all funds donated to the detachment stay mainly in Sequoyah County. A few from Muskogee County will help families there.

“We will be putting out the boxes or barrels shortly after Halloween this year,” Brocker said. Brocker said he has been visiting with those who have supported the detachment and its programs in the past.

“We’re trying to be more visible. I’ve been visiting with individuals, businesses and industries that have supported us. We’re trying to rebuild our detachment and our reputation,” Brocker said.

The detachment had booths this spring at both Old Settlers Days in Muldrow and Diamond Days in Sallisaw.

“We had a pretty good response from everybody,” he said. “We had a really positive reaction in Muldrow.

He explained detachment members see the need for assistance in the depressed area.

“We want and need to step up,” he said.

Brocker said detachment members are fundraising for a building for the organization, but haven’t forgotten the immediate needs of veterans and the military. He explained detachment members provide rides to VA Hospitals for veterans, have helped veterans pay their utility bills, and recently helped an Air Force family whose vehicle broke down near Muskogee.

Brocker said, “We helped the family repair the car and put them up for the night. We helped provide a vehicle rental so they could continue on to their duty station. These are the types of things we normally do.”

Detachment members want the organization to be open to the public.

Brocker concluded, “We are accountable to the populace, and that’s the way we want it.”

For information on the detachment contact Brocker at 918-235-4590 or Charles Cloud Sr., vice commandant, at 918-774-4497.



Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Top Receivers of State Appropriations, By Rep. John Bennett


My next few columns will focus on the 10 state agencies that receive the largest amount of taxpayer money. Human Services is No. 4 on that list behind K-12 education, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and higher education. I’m going to talk about them first, however, because of the current dustup in the news over the Department of Human Services (DHS) funding and programs that are being cut.

First of all, DHS let it be known earlier this year – through the media – that they were planning to cut programs that help disabled adults and seniors on Medicaid stay in their homes with home health services instead of being moved to nursing homes. The Legislature gave the agency supplemental funding of $34 million in early April to save these programs.

In the final budget, DHS was appropriated almost $700 million. This included $7.7 million so the agency can secure federal matching funds and $11.3 million for the Pinnacle Plan, which is helping ensure the state’s Foster Care system is meeting civil rights standards for the children in its care. Without counting the supplemental appropriation, the agency received almost $20 million more dollars this year than last year. Many other state agencies, including higher education, took an average cut of 4.2 percent.

Yet, even with this increased funding, DHS has decided it still has to cut programs, like the one mentioned above, as well as childcare assistance, senior meal assistance and some foster care and adoptive services.

I want to make sure it is understood that DHS decided to cut these programs, not the Legislature.

This is a load of bull. The agency could afford these programs last year with less money. But, now suddenly they can’t pay for them? That makes me question what they’re doing over there. An agency spokeswoman said the department has had to cut 1,200 positions in the last two years. They can still function, she said, but just barely. Does that mean they could have functioned without these positions all along? Probably. I also have to believe that DHS has other areas it could cut before it takes funding from vulnerable adults and children.

The Legislature does not line item funding for state agencies. We trust they can make decisions to care for the neediest citizens and forego things that do not need to be handled by the government or at the very least can wait until the state is completely out of a recession. I coauthored a bill with the speaker of the House that will require agency budgets to be audited, however, before future funding is granted. DHS should be among the first agencies audited when this bill takes effect.

Government should not be the fix-all solution to every problem. It can’t employee everybody and run every program ever dreamed up. What it should do, though, is take care of the most vulnerable.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Made in Oklahoma: Elderberries, Fish and Aquaponics


WEBBERS FALLS – 360 FARMS is an enterprise focused on growing elderberries as well as other produce and creating a high quality, healthy product that people love.

At 360 FARMS, they pride themselves on their research about elderberries. Elderberries are anti-viral and anti-inflammatory which allows them to be used in various forms to aid in healing. 360 FARMS raises, harvests, dries, and produces products with the elderberries. They also raise other produce like fennel which is used in the final products.

“We did this to transition our garden outside into here for agritourism,” said Brent Madding, owner and operator of 360 FARMS. “School kids come and we show them that there is another way to grow their food.”

360 FARMS is unique in that it uses an aquaponics system to grow their produce. This system constantly cycles water through the rock beds where the plants are planted. They have koi fish that live below the beds in the tanks and provide the nutrients. 360 FARMS is an advocate for using Oklahoma products and supporting local business.

360 FARMS produces the finest elderberries and superior products. They allow tours and teach about elderberries, the health advantages of them and the aquaponics system. They can be found in Webbers Falls and can be contacted online at 360okfarms.com. They can also be found on the Made in Oklahoma website www.madeinoklahoma.net.


Editor’s Note:  This is one of several stories about Oklahoma businesses by the Made in Oklahoma Program.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Monday, July 24, 2017

Train Misses Woman in Overturned Car by Inches


Muldrow Police Chief George Lawson, Assistant Chief Tim Keith and Muldrow EMTs are credited with rescuing a female driver from an upside-down vehicle on Monday morning in Muldrow.

An unidentified woman was reported to have rolled her vehicle at the Fargo Street crossing on the Union Pacific Railroad, just moments before a train passed by. Lawson said that the crossing is wide, but the street isn’t. The right front wheel of the tire ran off the road and caused the Hyundai Elantra to flip upside down.

Lawson, Keith and the EMTs arrived in the nick of time but were unable to get the upside-down woman out of her vehicle before a train came whistling by.

“Our hearts just sank,” said Lawson. “We just had to step back. I was only three or four feet away from the car when the train went by. It just missed the car by 18 inches.”

Lawson said two EMTs were then able to get into the car and help release the woman from her seatbelt, with the help of Lawson and Keith. Dispatchers were able to contact the railroad and have all rail traffic stopped until the rescue was complete.

The woman was uninjured, Lawson reported. 

“I was tickled to death she is OK,” Lawson said. “She was just sitting there and we asked her if she was OK. She said ‘I don’t think I’m hurt. But it’s hot. I just want to go home.’”

Lawson said Keith gave the woman a ride home.



Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Beaird Embezzlement Case Continued for ‘Written Offer’


The hearing for Alan Wayne Beaird, 49, formerly of Sallisaw and former commandant for the local Marine Corps League, was continued to Sept. 7 in Sequoyah County District Court, Sallisaw.

The court notes the continuance was agreed upon by both sides because the state was making a written offer, perhaps a plea agreement, to the defendant.

Beaird is charged with embezzlement for taking money from the league. He was charged Sept. 27 for allegedly embezzling a sum “in excess of $1,000 that belonged to the Marine Corps League.”

Now listed as a resident of Rogers, Ark., Beaird is free on a $5,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the charge on Oct. 5.

According to the affidavit filed with the charge Beaird became a suspect when the current Marine Corps League commandant, William Brocker, reported money was missing and he “believed Beaird to be the responsible party.” The affidavit notes that Beaird was removed from the commandant position early in 2016.

The affidavit notes that Beaird would sign out the league’s debit card and not return it or the required receipts to the league’s paymaster. 

Bank statements from October 2012 through June 2016 were reviewed. In 2015 investigators found seven transactions that appeared to be unauthorized. In 2014 four transactions appeared to be unauthorized, and in 2013 the investigator found 24 transactions that appeared to be unauthorized.

Both the paymaster and current commandant told investigators “the charges were not approved or voted on,” and “Beaird was in possession of the debit card during the times of these transactions.”

The affidavit concludes “…the Marine Corps League has held multiple fundraisers and received thousands of dollars in donations. . . .Beaird always insisted on making the deposits. . .” but would have an excuse for losing the deposit slips. “At this time it is unknown if any of the donation money had been taken.”

The Sallisaw Police Department investigated the allegations.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com


     

Friday, July 21, 2017

Former Teacher to Go to Trial Aug. 7


A 53-year-old Muldrow woman, a former teacher at Muldrow High School, will go to trial Aug. 7 for enabling child abuse by injury, according to Sequoyah County District Court records.

Julie Boshers was charged Oct. 6, and entered a not-guilty plea to the charge on Oct. 12. She is free on a $2,500 bond.

The accusation against Boshers was investigated by the Muldrow School police and Muldrow Police Department. According to the report and charges filed Oct. 6, Boshers was on duty as a safety monitor at the school during the lunch break, when her son, identified as B.B. in court records, told his mother, Boshers, that he was going to beat up another student, identified in court records as G.B.

B.B. and Boshers, according to the Muldrow police officer’s report, then went to the gazebo where G.B. was standing and a fight began that lasted about two minutes.

The report continues, “During the fight BB picked GB up off the ground, slamming him to the concrete flooring on his head and neck area then punching him in the back of the skull and spinal area.”

The report alleges Julie Boshers did nothing to stop the fight, and can be seen in a video standing, with her arms at her side, observing but making no attempt verbally or physically to prevent or stop the fight. Witnesses said another student stepped in and stopped the fight.

Boshers entered a not guilty plea to the charge on Jan. 12. District Judge Jeff Payton set the trial date at a hearing last week in district court.


Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director


For more news stories stay tuned to The MIX 105.1 or visit www.kxmx.com