Staff photo by Doug Russell
People gather at The Eaton Hole restaurant for the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner Nov. 24. Eaton Hole staff and volunteers prepared hundreds of free meals for the day, many of which were delivered to Haskell County residents who did not make it to the restaurant.

Coming soon: a mini-casino in Stigler

Gregory

By Doug Russell
News Editor
It's official: there's a casino planned for Stigler.
Actually, the facility that's planned is what's called a "mini-casino," according to Matt Gregory, executive director of commerce for the Choctaw Nation.
Rumors spread like wildfire when the Choctaw Nation purchased about 30 acres across the road from Twin Lakes Inn a couple of years ago, but no one in tribal government would talk about the purchase, much less what the land might be used for.
A casino? A travel plaza? A bigger medical facility?
The first guess was right, Gregory said. "But this is not going to be a full size casino. Instead, we're looking at getting a smaller facility than one of the larger casinos like we have in Durant or Pocola."
The proposed mini-casino will be a 7,500-square-foot facility with about 200 gaming machines, Gregory said. "We believe it will generate about 30 jobs for the Stigler area," Gregory said during a recent meeting of the Stigler-Haskell County Chamber of Commerce.
The new facility will bring the number of Choctaw jobs in the area to 80, Gregory said, adding that planners estimate the 80 jobs, which include summer youth jobs, will have about a payroll of about $1.2 million.
"We believe that's a pretty good influx in any area," he said.
The mini-casino is expected to cost about $1.75 million and will have a sportsman's theme.
Gregory said that many of the specifics for the mini-casino still hadn't been finalized at the time he spoke to the Chamber. "Still, we're looking at starting on that in the next 90 days."

Firefighter charged with arson

By Doug Russell
News Editor
A Haskell County volunteer firefighter accused of setting a house fire as a way to combat boredom is facing up to 42 years in prison if he's convicted.
Eighteen-year-old David Allen Valouch, who has a rural Stigler address, was charged Nov. 18 with three felonies related to a Nov. 10 house fire in the McKinney Addition near Brooken Mountain.
Valouch was charged with endangering human life during arson, a felony punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for three to 10 years, a fine of up to $10,000, or a combination of a fine and imprisonment; second-degree arson, a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to 25 years, a fine of up to $20,000 or both a fine and imprisonment; and second-degree burglary, a felony punishable by imprisonment for two to seven years.
Valouch is alleged to have started a fire that burned the home of Jim and Barbara Morgan on Nov. 10. A fire marshal's report estimated damage to the A-frame home at 270 N. BK 1500 Road to be $40,000. (more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)