LAKES COUNTRY RADIO reminds you to please drive carefully,
buckle up & put down the cell phone

A second person has died following a head-on collision on 41^st Street in Tulsa Wednesday afternoon. The accident involved a 2002 Jaguar and a BMW. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports that the Jaguar was passing a line of cars when it crossed the center line striking the BMW. 

A Holdenville man 33 year old Rubin Rodriquez died Sunday when he lost control of his car on a snowy highway in Hughes County and crashed into a cement drainage culvert. Rodriquez was trapped inside and died at the scene.

Watie Zal 47 a Cherokee County man is going back to prison after he entered pleas in connection with assaults on two sheriff’s deputies and a area couple. Zal entered his plea before Associate District Judge Mark Dobbins. Zal was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Zal had assaulted two sheriff’s deputies after they arrived at the home of Charles Harmon and Vicki Cornsilk. It was reported that Zal chased Harmon and Cornsilk into a bathroom holding a knife which he jammed into the door.  It was reported that Zal has been in prison twice for assaults on police officers in the past. 

According to Cherokee County Commissioner Doug Hubbard the commissioners approved a disaster proclamation this week during a special meeting. Hubbard and Bobby Botts signed the paperwork. Gary Dotson the Cherokee County Emergency Management Director said the officials now need to prepare a preliminary damage report following the Winter Storm that moved through Eastern Oklahoma and Cherokee County. Botts said the roads are in bad shape and the county needs help. Seven inches of snow hit Tahlequah during the storm. Dotson said the proclamation will include the city of Tahlequah. It was reported the FEMA officials will meet with local officials at a later date to review the damage.

Assistant District Attorney BJ Baker said a warrant was issued for 18 year old Genaro Castillo the Second a Tahlequah man who is charged with aggravated assault. He is charged with assault and battery for an alleged January 12^th assault on a boy. Documents state the boy’s mother took the boy to Tahlequah City hospital for treatment after Castillo punched the boy several times in the face.

Assistant Administrator T.J Girdner reported to the Governmental Building Authority this week that the population of the Cherokee County Detention Center fell under 100 this week. Girdner to the authority 91 inmates were housed in the center. He said 12 of the 91 are women and about 20 are awaiting transport to the Department of Corrections. At the meeting the board approved a wire transfer of $74,799,48 for a payment on the facility. The next meeting of the Governmental Building Authority will be Wednesday Feb 18^th at 9am.

February 4 

Federal prosecutors in Muskogee have announced that seven men have entered pleas to drug conspiracy and forfeiture charges as part of a state, local and federal investigation which was known as “Operation Train Wreck”.  Prosecutors have said the men now face prison sentences which range from 10 months to 30 years. US Attorney in Muskogee Sheldon Sperling said residents of Tahlequah Shaun Johnson, Shannon Johnson, Lawrlence Eugene Blue and John Henry Johnson along with Dave Ellis Wilson of Keys and Orlando Wilson of Fort Gibson have entered pleas. Charges stem from an investigation by the Muskogee and Tahlequah police departments and the District 27 Drug Task Force. All the defendants have been detained since their arrests last November.

At a meeting of the Tahlequah City Council this week, councilors voted 3-1 to adopt an ordinance calling for license fee and general liability insurance for general contractors.  City Building Inspector Joe Williford proposed the ordinance which calls for an initial license fee of $300, and annual renewal fees of $50. The $50,000 general liability insurance is a requirement of the state through Senate Bill 306. Some seven contractors attended the meeting to learn of the ordinance’s fate.  The next Tahlequah City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday Feb 16^th at 7:30pm in the council chambers at City Hall. 

Maurice Ned Cook Jr. 70 a Hulbert man will spend the next two years on probation after he pleaded no contest this week to a reduced charge. Cook entered his plea to “acts resulting in groos injury” which is a misdemeanor. Cook was charged in July 2009 with a felony count of lewd molestation but that count was dismissed. According to court records the victim in that case recanted her testimony.  Cook was granted a deferred two-year judgment and fined $200 and also ordered to pay a $100 victim compensation and also court costs.

Entries for the 2009 Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Awards competition were judged last weekend. In the 2009 Outstanding Achievement Awards Non-Metro Radio Division KEOK Lakescountry 102.1  won the award for News/Weather/ Sport Image for an OU Football Promo the station produced. Personality of the Year Finalists Will Payne and Barry Diamond at KITX Hugo, our sister station. KITX is also a Station of the Year Finalist. The Awards Banquet will be Friday March 19^th at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City.

Mayor Ken Purdy reported at the Tahlequah City council meeting this week that the transaction concerning some 60 acres of property on the northwest side of the city has been finalized. Purdy said the deal for the property is now complete after a discussion of purchase or appraisal of the property. The property will be the site of the city of Tahlequah’s sports complex. The complex will be named for the Anthis-Brennan family which own the property in question.  Purdy said the property is located north of the Industrial Park with the east boundary of Moccasin Road and the West boundary of Main Parkway. At the meeting councilors also voted to grant permission to close Keetoowah Street from Water to Muskogee on March 23^rd from 8am to 5pm for the opening of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Museum.

Special District Judge Richard Woolery who is assigned to hear the case of Nathan Young the Third a former Tahlequah attorney on embezzlement charges plans to move the case to Sapulpa. Judge Woolery has set the case for a March 10^th preliminary hearing in Sapulpa. Woolery has directed District Attorney Rick Esser and defense attorney Donn Baker to file waivers announcing their consent to move the case. Young, who was disbarred two years ago, is accused of embezzling $25,000 from a former client.

At a Monday night meeting of the Tahlequah City Council, councilors voted 3-1 to adopt an ordinance calling for license fee and general liability insurance for general contractors.  City Building Inspector Joe Williford proposed the ordinance which calls for an initial license fee of $300, and annual renewal fees of $50. The $50,000 general liability insurance is a requirement of the state through Senate Bill 306. Some seven contractors attended the meeting to learn of the ordinance’s fate.  The next Tahlequah City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday Feb 16^th at 7:30pm in the council chambers at City Hall. 

On Monday, Cherokee County commissioners received checks from the Cherokee Nation Housing Authority in the amount of $16,765 in lieu of taxes on HACN property.  District One commissioner Doug Hubbard said the funds are paid to the county in lieu of ad valorem taxes. The amount paid per unit has nearly doubled to more than $30. Hubbard said the money will go to local schools districts and the other half will go to the county general fund.  At the meeting this week commissioners also approved purchase of a 2001 Sterling truck tractor for $16,700. The truck will be used for the county’s solid waste program.

According to the OSBI they are revisiting a 1994 homicide case in Sequoyah County. A Sequoyah County judge last month granted a request for the body of an unidentified woman who was found along I-40 near Dora in Sequoyah County exhumed. The woman’s body had been wrapped in landscaping mesh and tied with a rope. Her head was found 15 feet away. It was also reported that that the victims heart and left lung were missing.  According to court documents the OSBI had requested the body be exhumed to get a new DNA sample from the remains. The OSBI said that in July 1995 a woman was found murdered in Fort Smith Arkansas and the OSBI and Arkansas authorities are trying to determine if the two cases are related.

Sequoyah School sophomore Christie Tiger recently auditioned and earned a chair in the honor band. Tiger is the first Sequoyah student to earn this honor and will play the trumpet in the Eastern Oklahoma Band Directors Honor Band concert on Feb 6^th in Stigler. The Sequoyah band director Sam Morris said he asked Tiger to try out for the Eastern Oklahoma Band Directors Honor Band. Sequoyah revived its band class in the spring of 2009 after an extensive absence.  Tiger, 16, is the daughter of Dana Tigers of Muskogee and is Creek, Seminole and Cherokee.

A winter storm dumped around 7 inches of snow on Cherokee County this past week. Last Friday the Cherokee County Courthouse closed early due to the road conditions from the heavy snow.  Gary Dotson the Tahlequah Cherokee County Emergency Management Director said the county’s Emergency Operations Center has been active since the storm started.  There are still slick spots on some roads in Cherokee County.

The Cherokee Advocate newspaper printing press returns home after nearly 100 years and will be the centerpiece of the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum, which has undergone extensive historic restoration and is scheduled to open this March. The Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum will feature pieces in three historic areas  including the Cherokee National Judicial System, the Cherokee Advocate and Phoenix newspapers and the Cherokee language with a variety of historical items including photo’s, stories , objects and furniture. The Museum in located at 122 E Keetoowah Street in Tahlequah. At 2pm today the Cherokee printing press is scheduled to arrive.

Sequoyah drama students Carolyn Drywater and LeighAnna Evans recently competed in the first round of high school speech and drama competition and won second place to advance to the regional competition. The girls competed in the humorous duet competition. The regional competition will be held in March at Rogers State University in Claremore. A win will advance the duo to the state competition in April at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Drywater 15 of Tahlequah is a freshman and 15 year old Evans of Tahlequah is also a freshman.

31 year old Nickolas Ray Eller a Tahlequah man was arrested this past week after authorities saw him walking on State Highway 10 with a machete. The Sheriff’s office received a call about a man walking in the area near All American Floats with a large knife. Eller told authorities he had the machete because there was a man at All American with a firearm. Law officials found no one on the property and then found a small baggy containing a white powder and a clear liquid in a syringe on Eller. The substance was believed to be cocaine.  Eller was also arrested charging him with second-degree burglary. Court records show Eller is due in court Feb 1^st on a drug possession case filed last year. 

A Cherokee County man 36 year old Gregory Lhamon now faces drug possession and firearm charges after he was arrested this week as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation. Deputies with the sheriff’s office and the District Drug Task Force agents arrested Lhamon after they served a search warrant on his home.  Officers found a sawed-off shotgun along with a substance believed to be meth and also items of paraphernalia in his residence.  Lhamon, who has previous convictions, was booked on charges of possession of paraphernalia. He will be formally arraigned after charges are filed.

Board members of the Tahlequah Public Works Authority held a special meeting on Thursday night at which time they hired a former board member David Morrison to replace General Manager Stan Day who resigned from the job earlier this week. Morrison will serve in the post for between two and four months at a salary of $7500 per month with no benefits. After information came out that Day and other officials are the target of an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged use of TPWA personnel and equipment on his personal private property Day quit his job.  Morrison has been vice president and operations manager at Greenleaf Nursery. JD Carey the Public Works Board Chairman hopes that Morrison will not have to serve too long before a permanent replacement can be found for the job.

Northeastern State University’s Criminal Justice and Legal Studies Department will begin operation of a free legal clinic today for veterans on the Tahlequah and Broken Arrow campuses. Office hours for Tahlequah are Monday’s from 1pm to 2:30pm in Seminary Hall Room 337. Free legal advice on a range of issues will be offered to veterans at both locations.

A free workshop sponsored by the Cherokee Nation will be held in Muskogee this month for small business owners who would like to learn more about Oklahoma’s tax laws. The Oklahoma tax educator Dewey Brandon with the Oklahoma Tax Commission will present important tax law information for existing and potential small business owners from 9am to Noon February 11^th at the Indian Capitol Technology Center in Muskogee. This workshop will be open to the public and all materials will be provided. This workshop is being made possible through the Cherokee Nation Small Business Assistance Center. You do not need to be a tribal citizen or Native American to participate in the workshop.

Sequoyah School for the third year in a row has received notification it make “adequate yearly progress” according to benchmarks that are measured by the No Child Left Behind Act.  This is another appraisal on how well the school is achieving academic excellence according to Sequoyah School Superintendent Rita Bunch.