Muldrow Man Missing

Over the weekend, Albert Eugene Mears from Muldrow left to go metal detecting and has not been heard of since.  His family said he left without his cell phone.  He was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans and was driving a 2008 black Toyota car.

Mears' daughter, Donna Casey, said this is the first time anything like this has happened.  Sequoyah County Undersheriff Roger Fuller said they've checked everywhere, along with the family.  Mears is believed to be out of the county.

They are about to celebrate their fifty-eighth wedding anniversary Mears' wife, Helen, said and the idea of him not returning home scares her.  She thought maybe he had had a wreck or something.  She also said she figured they would probably know where he was at or get a phone call from him.

Mears has no serious medical problems the family said.  His bank account records are being moni- tored.  However there's been no activity.

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Water Resources Reform Passed

The US House of Representatives passed Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 with overwhelming bipartisan support this past week by a vote of 417-3.  WRDDA brings extraordinary reform through cutting the red tape of federal regulation and clearing the path for increased efficiency and competition in our nation's water infrastructure system.

Congressman Markwayne Mullin said in a release late last week that people often believe water infra- structure doesn't directly impact them if they do not live near a port or a waterway.  But on the contra- ry, many of the products Oklahomans rely on each day are transported by ports and waterways.  Such products include food, clothing and appliances.  Without an up-to-date water infrastructure sys- tem, these products no longer move efficiently and sometimes not at all.

Oklahoma's water infrastructure alone plays a critical role in global competition.  With the McClellan- Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) Oklahoma is connected to the rest of the nation and the world, while having a $2 million daily impact on Oklahoma's economy.

WRRDA not only means an empowered economy with less federal regulation, but it also means jobs for Americans.  As a member of Congress who is actually creating jobs in the private sector, this is huge.  Thirteen million jobs depend on water infrastructure.  WRRDA is pro-business legislation that will partner with the private sector and result in greater efficiency and accountability.  

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100 Roland Students Sick (Updated)

Wednesday more than one hundred students were out of school in Roland due to high fever and vomiting.  The school's cafeteria was inspected by the Oklahoma State Department of Health, according to Leslea Bennett-Webb with the department.  Everything was inspected and the depart- ment has ruled out any food-borne illness.

Bennett-Webb said only nine students had symptoms Tuesday, but as of Wednesday that number escalated to more than one hundred students and thirteen adults.

It is likely a virus that spreads from person to person, according to the Health Department.  Parent Tara Keach said she thinks maybe it's a virus.  Her son has a runny nose and upset stomach.

The Health Department stated that the school contacted them for the inspection.

- - - UPDATED 3/27 10:03 - - -

This would be where we would write the update to the story is there was anything else to report or if there were any new developments.

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71 Yr-Old Pilot Found Dead At Crash Site

Ray Broadbent of Heber Springs has been found at the site where the plane he was piloting cra- shed.  A signal believed to be from the transponder of the plane was picked up Thursday by rescue crews in Leflore County.  The team received a strong signal near the border of Pushmataha County where the plane was found three miles off Indian Hwy in K Trails rugged terrain, according  to Leflore County Sheriff Rob Seale.  He said the wings were off and debris was scattered pretty far, with one piece in a nearby tree.  Most of the plane's body lay on the ground in the woods.

Leflore County deputies, Civil Air Patrol, Okla. Hwy Patrol and volunteers from local fire departments assisted in the search in the air and on the ground.

Dardee Broadbent, the pilot's wife, reported to the FAA Tuesday that her husband was missing.  She had been unable to contact him.

Broadbent took off Monday around 1:30 p.m. from Scearcy heading to Elk City, OK.  He had not checked into his Elk City hotel.  The last known radio contact with the pilot was at 8:03 p.m. Monday, Sheriff Seale said.  According to FAA record, Broadbent was traveling at approximately 105 mph when contact was lost.  The aircraft was a single-engine Piper and is reliable and has never had any problems, Dardee said.

Broadbent was 19 when he received his pilot's license.  He flew commercial planes for Pan-Am and owns three planes in Sceary.


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Couple Killed In Plane Crash Identified

The pilot and passenger on board the 1997 single engine Piper Saratoga that crashed near Huntsville Monday have been identified as Ivan and Adina Williams, husband and wife, owners of Williams Con- struction Company in Pryor, Oklahoma according to officials.

Monday afternoon emergency crews and law enforcement agencies searched for several hours in an area approximately twelve miles south of Huntsville for a possible plane crash.

According to flight records at 11:01 a.m. a single-engine plane left Sylacauga, Alabama heading to Claremore, Oklahoma.  Air traffic control was notified by the plane's operator that the plane was ex- periencing problems.  The operator never checked back with air traffic controllers, according to the Madison County Sheriff's office.  The plane was suppose to have arrived in Claremore around 3 p.m.

The plane, according to officials, was losing altitude near Huntsville.  It was flying at approximately 156 knots or about 170 mph when the aircraft was last seen on radar.  Phyllis Turner, who lives near the search area, said she heard a boom between 2:10 and 2:30 in the afternoon.

The search was resumed Tuesday at 7 a.m.  The last place crews had looked on Monday was be- tween Mountain Road and Ball Creek Road near St. Paul.  The plane was found early that morning, according to Robert Loeher with the Civil Air Patrol.  About eighty people from agencies in Benton, Madison and Washington County assisted in the search.  The U. S. Forest Service, Game & Fish Commission and the Arkansas State Police from Troop L in Springdale also responded.

From 1968 to 1972 Ivan Williams, 63, majored in industrial management at the University of Arkan- sas.  He has owned Williams Construction since 1977 which laid the concrete structure for the BOK Center in Tulsa.

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Man Arrested For Gans Store Robbery

The Sequoyah County Sheriff's Department arrested James A. Reed, 50 from Gans, for the armed robbery of the Git-N-Go in March.


According to Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart, the suspect entered the Git-N-Go on March 24 a little before 10 p.m.  He locked the store employee in a cooler, at gunpoint.  He then left with an unknown amount of money.  There was no one injured in the robbery.

Surveillance video of the robbery was viewed by investigators.  They suspected the robber was either an employee or former employee at the convenience store.  An employee, Sissy Crow, said Reed is the husband of a former employee.  She said he was at the store all the time.  He knew where every- thing was and everyone's schedule.

According to records, in July Reed had been booked into the Sequoyah County Detention Center on charges of lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child and two counts of rape by instrument.  He will now also be charged with aggravated armed robbery, Lockhart said.

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Sallisaw Man Killed By Train

Michael Crabtree, 20 of Sallisaw, was killed Saturday evening when he was struck by a train as he was attempting to cross the tracks near the intersection of Cherokee & Wheeler.  There was a carni- val going on nearby.

According to eyewitness Tawaun Smith, the rails were going down as the train approached.  She then saw Crabtree walking by the barricade and the train blew its horn.  He just leaped in front of the train.  Smith said she guessed he must have thought he could make it.

Police Captain Bo Gabbert of the Sallisaw Police Department said that the Police Department and Union Pacific Railroad authorities are investigating to determine what happened in the moments be- fore Crabtree darted in front of the train.

The driver of the train has not been issued a ticket and is not expected to be cited in the accident, according to the authorities.

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Train Speeds Increase

Union Pacific Railroad has notified the City of Sallisaw that it plans to increase train speeds through the city beginning November 1, 2013.

In an excerpt from the letter written to the city's officials, Union Pacific states, "The Union Pacific tracks through your area are Class 4 track, for which the speed limit for freight trains is 60 miles per hour.  Although we have in the past restricted speeds over this track to 35 miles per hour for various reasons, we will increase the speed to 50 miles per hour.  Weekly speed increases of not more than 5 miles per hour will start on November 1, 2013 and will be 50 miles an hour effective December 1, 2013.  The speed increase will start at Mile Post 525 to Mile Post 526.2.There are 8 crossings in this area.  These crossings include Dogwood, US 59 or Wheeler, Oak, Elm, Maple, Hickory, Washington and Adams in downtown Sallisaw."  This according to the city's website.

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2 Elections In Sequoyah County

Two elections took place Tuesday, October 8 in Sequoyah County, one for the Vian Public School and one for the Gore Public Schools.

Vian Public School's school board election was for the vacated seat no. 3 position.  The candidates running were Sherry Pack-Pickles and Ed Barton.  The winner by a margin of 185 to 98 was Ed Barton.

The Gore Public School NO TAX increase bond divide into two separate proposals.  Proposal 1, being for $300,00 will go towards designated repairs, updates to the facilities and technology updates to meet current students needs, passed by a margin of 202 for and 67 against.  Proposal 2, being for $100,000 will go towards one late model route bus and other student/staff transportation vehicles, passed by a margin of 205 for and 67 against.

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Stabbing In Lake Tenkiller Area

Darrell Brown of the Vian area and Kevin Robinson of Gore were at a residence north of Vian and Gore, west of Fin & Feather, when the stabbing occurred.  The stabbing took place beginning with an argument between Brown and his mother.  It was regarding how much money she owed him for pur- chasing groceries for her on his food stamp card, according to Sequoyah County Sheriff's office De- puty Monty Davis.

Brown is accused of stabbing Robinson once in the abdomen with a four-inch blade.  Robinson is now recovering at St. Francis Hospital where he was life-flighted after the altercation.  He is in improving condition.

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