Children in the park
Students from the Stigler KI BOIS Head Start enjoy an end of year picnic at Roye Park. Enrollment for the coming school year is going on now. More end of year pics, Page 17 in this weeks News Sentinel. (submitted photo)
Runoff
Top two candidates willl face off for Choctaw council seat
By Heather Bekoff
Staff Writer
One of the things the runoff candidates for District 5 of the Choctaw council are in complete agreement on is that Charlotte Jackson's shoes will never be filled, but both Ron Perry and Louisa "Tad" Gonzalez say the good work she started must be completed.
Both of the Choctaw locals are now in a runoff election to do just that. Charlotte Jackson, Choctaw Nation Councilwoman of District 5, died on Jan. 18 and her seat at the table has been vacant since.
The District 5 election was held July 9 with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The results were not finalized until Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Walking away with the majority of the vote was Ronald Clyde Perry with 26.24 percent. Following just behind him was Louisa "Tad" Gonzalez with 25.51 percent, Doecha Carolyn Harris with 15.11 percent, Leland Lewis Sockey at 14.27 percent, Norma Anderson with 11.12 percent and Michael Jordan with 7.74 percent, making the combined total of 100 percent of the vote.
Judy Ogle from the Choctaw Election Board said Monday morning, "We're still winding up from the election, but there will be another election on July 30 to find our councilman. I am from Stigler and that person will be my councilman."
The candidates are now headed back onto the campaign trail for the remainder of the three weeks. Ron Perry said, "It was a good close race. I think I won by six votes. Now, it's time to go back to a lot of campaigning and hard work, lots of door to door for me until the 30th."
Tammy Snow, Gonzalez' campaign manager and daughter said, "She is very proud of the Choctaw people for getting out and voting on such a hot day." (more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)
A young patron of the Stigler Public Library uses one of the library's computers Monday. The newly revamped library has improved areas for children, teens and adults alike. (staff photo by Karen West)
A grand new beginning
By Karen West
Staff Writer
It's been 26 years since the Stigler Public Library had its last grand opening. The building had its problems, and now the library is in a grand, newly renovated space.
Movers and shakers, storybook characters, young and old alike came to the official grand opening of the new Stigler Haskell County Public Library held July 11. Members of the Steering Committee, Friends of the Library, bankers and donors were there to mark the occasion.
The library closed its doors at the old building on May 14 and re-opened at the new building on June 6.
"During our first month of operation in the new building, there were more than 5,000 books, movies and other media checked out," said Lola Hall, head librarian. (more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)
Josua Alan Bowen
Teen jailed in connection with shootings
By Doug Russel
News Editor
An 18-year-old Haskell County man was being held without bond Tuesday, arrested in connection with the shootings of his mother and stepfather.
Prosecutors anticipate charging Josua Alan Bowen with first-degree murder and shooting with the intent to kill, according to Assistant District Attorney Danita Williams.
"The initial call came in through the 911 system to the Stigler PD and was transferred to us," Hale said Tuesday. "He talked to our dispatcher and said his parents had been shot."
Deputies responding to the 6:46 p.m. call found Bowen's stepfather, 61-year-old Herbert Wayne "Beau" Moore, dead of what police believe to be a gunshot wound. Bowen's mother, Vickie Lynn Moore, 52, also suffered an apparent gunshot wound.
She was rushed to Haskell County Community Hospital for initial treatment, then taken by medical helicopter to another hospital.
According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Vickie Moore was able to provide law enforcement with information that directly led to Bowen's arrest.
"At this time there is no indication that drugs or alcohol were involved in any way with this event," Hale said Tuesday afternoon. (more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)
Kevin Statham
One arrested in Bokoshe slayings
By Doug Russel
News Editor
A man already wanted for probation violations was arrested Thursday in connection with the shooting deaths of his parents in LeFlore County.
Officers from Oklahoma picked Kevin Statham up from Grand Forks, N.D., Friday to question him about the deaths of his parents.
Paul and Helen Statham were found dead Wednesday night at their home near Bokoshe. Both had been shot.
Seventy-year-old Paul Everett Statham had been killed at the front door of his home, officials said. Helen Ruth Statham, 69, had been watering plants in her back yard when she was slain.
LeFlore County Sheriff Bruce Curnutt told reporters that a neighbor called police after finding Helen Statham's body. The couple may have been dead for a day and a half before they were found, Curnutt said.
The find prompted police to issue a bulletin asking the public to be on the lookout for 50-year-old Kevin Statham and his parents' 1993 Chevrolet pickup truck, which was missing from the home.
Police arrested Kevin Statham outside an apartment complex in Lakota, N.D., Thursday evening. Statham was initially pulled over on a traffic stop, but police arrested him after learning he was a "person of interest" in his parents' murders and that he had outstanding warrants in Oklahoma, according to Nelson County, N.D., Sheriff Kelly Janke. (more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)
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