Don’t apologize this July 4th. Conscientious, well-meaning people often slip into this: “I know the United States is flawed, HOWEVER” or “We’ve made mistakes, BUT” and similar white noise. I understand the urge; these things are not untrue but they are profoundly unfitting and disordered. They are truisms. All men and all nations are flawed. It is impious and pointless to harp on it on a day set aside for celebration of what is good in the U.S. Seriously, who prefaces a eulogy, wedding speech or birthday card with disclaimers about the character of the person being celebrated? To paraphrase Chesterton, “a nation isn’t honored because it’s great, rather, it’s great because it’s honored.” The honor due isn’t contingent on the quality of the person or thing being honored, but on what it is in itself regardless of what it has done, for good or ill. Perhaps if on such occasions we refused to qualify our devotion into oblivion we’d become people who could create a country more perfectly worthy of devotion, rather than bunch of navel-gazing solipsists who turn every lofty human thing into a house of mirrors at a carnival. As Coolidge wrote in 1918, “Reverence is not the measure of others, but ourselves.” We fight for what we honor, not the other way round. For the record, anyone who refuses to honor this nation would dishonor any. The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court shows this nation has a greatness many refuse to see. Happy Independence Day weekend, 2022.

WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4 that Oklahoma can prosecute non-Native-Americans in Indian country, clawing back part of its 2020 decision recognizing nearly half of the state as a reservation.

Kylie Michael Hartley recently graduated as Salutatorian of Kaufman High School with a 5.0 gpa. She was President of the National Honor Society, President of Kaufman FFA, a State Qualifier in Computer Applications for UIL, and a member of the Kaufman High School Theater Company. Kylie has been accepted to the Texas Tech Honors College where she will be attending in the fall.

JULY 11 TH —15 TH Mon: Frito chili pie, warm corn relish, warm cinnamon apples, brownie and milk Tues: Chicken fried steak w/gravy, mashed potatoes, seasoned green beans, roll, fruit crisp and milk Wed: Chef salad, cottage cheese, mandarin oranges, baby carrots, crackers, oatmeal raisin cookie and milk Thurs: Lasagna, California blend vegetables, side salad, garlic bread, pudding and milk Fri: Chicken fajita tacos, refried beans, fajita vegetables, ice Fri: Chicken fajita tacos, refried beans, fajita vegetables, ice cream and milk.

Dr. Hartfield , Holdenville’s Veterinarian and Local Author , read her newest book “Stewart the Goat” to guests of the Holdenville Library’s Summer Reading Program .

Vance Vanhooser was a life-long resident of Holdenville. His wife Mabel was well known and loved by everyone. Their son, Vance Jr. is a close friend of mine who lives in Okemah. What many folks don’t know is that Vance was a World War II hero and kept a journal of his service. Today, we share a portion of that journal with you.

JUNE 28TH 1846: Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone. The Belgian inventor and musician invented several other brass instruments, but the saxophone became his most popular.

In what proved to be one of the most peaceful, productive meetings held by the Holdenville City Council in several months, a budget was passed for the upcoming fiscal year set to begin July 1. Included in that budget was the much-anticipated raise for Holdenville Fire Department employees. The council increased the fire department’s annual budget by more than $64,000, all going to wage increases. The bottom four ranking firemen received a raise to $13.00 an hour, the next two were raised to $14.00 an hour, the Lieutenant was raised to $15.00 an hour, the Captain to $16.00 an hour, and the Assistant Chief to $17.00 an hour. After budgeting for FUTA, SUTA, FICA match, and retirement, this was a total annual budget increase of $64,359.18 for the fire department.

Drivers in Holdenville, OK, can now receive realtime digital alerts when fire apparatus are active nearby through a new service equipped on Holdenville Fire Department apparatus. Safety Cloud by HAAS Alert protects first responders and roadway fleets and improves driver compliance with Move Over laws by sending real-time notifications to drivers approaching active responders en-route or on-scene. The service reduces the risk of drivers colliding with responders and workers I the field and improves awareness for all drivers by adding a digital component to lights and sirens.

Every day we see the challenges of patients who struggle to afford their medications. Patients who choose between food or bills and meds. This program can alleviate some of that burden but we know most of those patients do not have access to social media. So please share with your loved ones, your friends, neighbors etc. the benefit of this program!