THIS DAY IN HISTORY MARCH 7 TH 1814: An army led by Napoleon I wins the Battle of Craonne. Napoleon’s Imperial French army attacked a combined force of 22,000 Russian and Prussian soldiers of the Six Coalition near Craonne in northern France.

City of Holdenville Street Commissioner Jim Thetford reminds residents that the annual City-wide brush and limb pickup is underway. He encourages everyone to spend time during the next couple of weeks pruning trees and shrubs in preparation for spring, as well as clearing away dead limbs and branches that have fallen during the winter.

In a very moving moment at the Holdenville High School Band concert last week, Band Director Sam Crosby announced a last minute change in the opening song for the concert band that evening. The band was set to play a song entitled Moscow 1942. They practiced the piece for several weeks. That was before Putin and his Russian forces invaded the free country of Ukraine. Mr. Crosby felt it would be inappropriate to play the Russian piece during this time of war and decided to have the concert band play the Ukrainian National Anthem instead. The piece is entitled, “Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volia” (Ukrainian: Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля) literally translated as ”Glory and Freedom of Ukraine has not yet Perished” also known by its official title of “State Anthem of Ukraine” (Державний Гімн України, Derzhavnyi Himn Ukrainy). The band had only one day to practice but it made for an incredible, unforgettable moment. Everyone in attendance stood to their feet and removed their hats for the entirety of the piece. Holdenville Schools and the people of Holdenville support and pray for the good people of Ukraine during this dangerous, uncertain time.

Fully funding the police has been made a top priority for the Holdenville City Council. With a unanimous vote in the last city council meeting, all Holdenville police officers received what amounts to a more than a $300 per month raise. The department has struggled in recent years to attract and keep a fully staffed department. While several good officers have come to work for the department, almost all have left in a very short time citing better job offers from surrounding departments and agencies as their reason for leaving. Councilman Lynn Lantz proposed to the council that by eliminating one officer position from the budget, making the Holdenville Police Department an eight man department rather than a nine man department, the salary from the ninth officer position could be distributed evenly among the remaining eight officer positions. That means the starting pay for a CLEET certified officer just increased $3500.00 per year from $29,500.00 to $33,000.00 making it one of the highest paid salaries for a starting officer in the area.

THE HOLDENVILLE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE was happy to officially welcome Bill and Julie Wilkinson into membership this past Sunday. They have been an intrical part of the church fellowship for many years. They are pictured above with (L-R): Son-in-law Gunner Fullbright, daughter Olivia Fullbright holding granddaughter Rosalyn. Bill Wilkinson holding granddaughter Juliet, Julie Wilkinson, Pastor Dane Robinson, daughter Bonnie Workman holding their grandson AJ, and son-in-law Alex Workman.

Friends. As many of you know, Russia declared war and attacked in the dark throughout all of Ukraine.

February 25, 2022 Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) has confirmed that he will retire at the end of 2022, confirming scattered reports that such an announcement was imminent.

Weather alters basketball play-off schedule The icy weather has altered the basketball state playoff schedule. The Holdenville boys’ and girls’ team were scheduled to play on Thursday but the road conditions didn’t improve enough for the teams to make it to the tournament sites until Saturday.