As I prepare to celebrate another birthday, I find myself continually looking for new ways to irritate my children. With that in mind, I want to share the following sent to me by one of our readers . . .

Since the dawn of the internet, pornography use has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, available now to anyone at the click of a button. It is arguably one of the greatest public health crises facing America, and yet, no conservative political leader, namely the ones who espouse family values, have even mentioned this issue, much less lifted a finger to do anything about it. That all changed last month when a young U.S. senator from Missouri boldly addressed the issue of pornography and what it truly means to be a man.

I’ve always wanted to write something about my mom’s stepfather, Will Armstrong. Her dad died in the great flu epidemic in 1918. It was a hectic time ripe with public panic. Funeral homes were out of caskets and if you had a death, your neighbors and families had to step up. My dad’s father, J. T. Bullard, and Will Armstrong volunteered to step up and help the Boyd’s. The two built Grandpa Boyd a casket and took care of the details so he could have a funeral and be buried at the Maxie Cemetery in Victor.

As a lifelong English teacher and coach of numerous academic bowl teams, I’m always on the lookout for proper English usage. We ran across this once while studying for an academic bowl and I have used it ever since.

We always enjoy hearing from our readers and this week we received two letters from longtime subscribers and friends. Here is the first… Enclosed is my check for another one-year subscription to the Holdenville News.

The Holdenville City Council held their regularly scheduled meeting last Tuesday. Many things were discussed but little action was taken on any agenda items.

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HOLDENVILLE, OK - A potential crisis was averted thanks to the quick action of law enforcement and school officials on Thursday, February 24. Holdenville Public Schools contacted Chief Lening of the Holdenville Police Department after the victim (a parent) came to the school to report that her husband had made threats to kill her, her children, shoot up Ethel Reed Elementary, and any police officers that try to engage him.

Imagine if companies that make cigarettes along with stores that sell cigarettes wanted to encourage people to start smoking. Most of us would not like that very much in fact most people have a dim view of smoking. Yet, now we have State Question 820 where marijuana producers and stores that sell marijuana want to encourage people to start smoking. This is not a good idea. The producers and dealers claim it will raise millions of dollars for schools, roads and drug treatment. Not likely, how many of these ‘funding schemes’ have we been subjected to only to be disappointed. There was the lottery that was going to make schools flush with cash yet every year there is a call in the legislature to increase funding for schools. Now we have gambling that empties money out of the pockets that can least afford it. It too was supposed to fund schools, but has it? Now, we are to believe that making marijuana available to everyone will magically fund schools, not likely, it is also not likely to fund roads or drug treatment either. Not to mention how absurd it is to suggest revenues from selling drugs will be used to treat addicts. It appears they are admitting that State Question 820 will create more addicts. What about driving under the influence, do we want more impaired drivers on our streets and highways? 820 is bad for Oklahoma, it is bad for our communities and it is bad for our children, Vote NO on 820.

1963—OLD NEWS Livestock Takes Stage Center At Hughes County Fairgrounds The 26th Annual Hughes County Junior Livestock Show was held at the Hughes County fairgrounds in Holdenville on Thursday evening. The show is sponsored by the Holdenville Chamber of Commerce.