June 25, 2022 Issue, Page 1 of 14

Page Text

Paint The Town Purple Late-stage Alzheimer’s (severe) In the final stage of the disease, dementia symptoms are severe. Individuals lose the abil- ity to respond to their environment, to carry on a conversation and, eventually, to control movement. They may still say words or phrases, but communicating pain becomes difficult, ‘As memory and cognitive skills continue to worsen, significant personality changes may take place and indi iduals need extensive care. At this stage, individuals may: fequire around-the-clock assistance with daily personal care. + Lose awareness of recent experiences as well as of their surroundings. « Experience changes in physical abilities, including walking, sitting and, eventually, swallowing + Have difficulty communicating. + Become vulnerable to infections, especially pneumonia. The person living with Alzheimer’s may not be able to initiate engagement as much during the late stage, but he or she can still benefit from interaction in ways that are appropriate, like listening to relaxing music or receiving reassurance through gentle touch. Serving Western Oklahoma Museum TeePee Erected by Professionals ail As the teepee is almost completed, they had to secure the top flaps, using the long poles to Father’s Day Winner be placed strategically at the top.; With a base Bryan Snowder, from Canute was the winner of the of three poles, Chief Bullcoming and Byron Byrd “Make Dad Famous” promotion. Bryan received a prize start the process of setting each pole around the package totaling $250. Bryan is the father of two chil- concrete pad. Staff'photo by Sheryl Ponce. dren. His son Wyatt is five years old and his daughter Ryan is four months old. A special thanks goes to H2O By Sheryl Ponce has, and how it was passed down from his father. Bait, Tackle and More, Boomtown Grille and Ace Hard- “My dad had two, and when he passed away I got one of them. ware for providing a great Father’s Day package. Staff Elk City Commissioner Rick Shelton wanted the Elk City’s Na- My brother got the other one. Mine is only about five years old. photo by Neva Pyatt. tional Route 66 Museum and Complex’s teepee to be put up, so ‘The other one is about 37 to 40 years old. My mother made the A Closer Look at the he went straight to members of the Cheyenne tribe to get it done one that is 37 years old, and it had ornaments on it, beaded at the correctly. Last Monday evening seven members of the tribe came top. That is the one my brother has. It was made for my father in from Hammon to accomplish that goal. 1985,” Birdhead said. Chief Bullcoming said that it usually takes about 20 minutes 2023 Budget City Manager Tom Ivester and museum curator Charles Wren stood ready to provide the group with whatever they needed. The to put up a teepee, once they get started with the right measure- expertise came from Amick Birdhead, Byron Byrd, Ethan Byrd, ments. He just put his own teepee up, as have some of the others. Berek Whiteskunk, Roger Davis, Chief Wilbur Bullcoming, and “Our ceremonies are coming up so I put mine (teepee) up just Terry Byrd. Because the teepee was torn from last year's wind, to make sure everything’s good. The ceremonies are when the By Sheryl Ponce Cheyenne get together. The young chiefs will come and sit with us they had to decide how to make it work, and secure the canvas older ones, or the elders in the teepee. They have to just sit there At the June 15 Elk City Commissioner’s meeting, the Fiscal for the summer season. Year 2023 Budget was presented and approved. In that budget, and listen to see how everything is done,” Bullcoming explained. ‘These seven have erected their own teepees in preparation for City Manager Tom Ivester wrote a letter of presentation stat- their upcoming ceremonies. Birdhead talked about the one he See TeePee page 2. ing that the budget is about $30.6 million, and after subtract- ing the use of approximately $1.9 million in one-time Capital Construction money, it is 8.94 percent smaller than the 2022 Semi-Pro Football Team Starting in Elk City fiscal year’s budget. He attributed the decrease to the declining balance in the CAPPS program because of the costs of the new activity center and pool project, as those costs are paid out. “The General Fund, which pays for most day-to-day opera- tions, is projected to grow by 16.7 percent at about $11.95 million. The primary driver of this increase is the filling offive empty patrol positions within the police department and the operational and maintenance costs of the new activity center or Arrowhead Center. The remaining increase is attributable to a2 percent pay increase for full-time city employees. There are 165 full time employee positions and 105 part time positions in the FY 2023 budget,” Ivester wrote in the letter to the Mayor and City Commissioners. He continued to talk about the nation’s inflation rate and how it could impact the budget in the future. This may be ad- dressed in budget amendments throughout the year. The nine percent inflation rate during the 2022 fiscal year will continue to be an issue in the new year. ‘There have been two major capital projects that were ap- proved in 21-22, which were the water main replacement proj- ect at a cost of $1.9 million, and the aquatic center at the cost of $9,982,000. He said that both of these projects will continue to be important to the town. “These projects are vital to the continued core functions of the city. To put this dollar amount into perspective, the total Pictured are Shaun Poe and his son Zachary.; Shaun Poe available for capital construction for 21-22 from the collection in action. Courtesy photo. of sales tax was $3,041,000,” Ivester wrote. year team, as far as players and things like that. We went eight ‘The budget highlighted the area of public safety, which pro- By Sheryl Ponce and three for our first year. We made it to the championship, un- posed the filling of the five empty positions in the police depart- fortunately, we lost in the championship round. But we still made ment. This impact came to around $700,000 which includes Shaun Poe reached out to the Elk City Community Discus- it there, as a first year team. That’s a great accomplishment,” Poe salary, benefits and equipment. The budget also accounts for sion Facebook page about interest in forming a semi-pro foot- said. four new police vehicles that will be rotated into the fleet. ball team. In one day he has been contacted by enough interested ‘The team was more than a football team to him. It has been a ‘The Fire and EMS department budget includes the second people in the community that he has decided to make it a go. He passion. He traveled to Tulsa each week, giving of his time to the year of a new salary schedule. He indicated that it will help plans on having try-outs in September and begin the process im- players and the sport. He confessed to being highly competitive, pave the way for employee stabilization and recruitment. mediately. as well as dedicated to winning and to his players. Employee compensations includes a 2 percent increase for Poe is no stranger to the game. He has played semi-pro ball “You get with these guys on a weekly basis, and they go from full-time employees, non-public safety city employees. This in- players to being family. That is what it comes down to, we try to crease is following at 2 percent increase from last year that was for the last 17 years, and he owns and coaches a semi-pro team the first in two years. The previous increase came in 2019 in the out of Tulsa. He has earned two championship rings and went to give these guys an outlet, to let out their aggression or even just to keep them out of jail. The Hornets have kept numerous guys form of a 1.5 percent pay raise. the finals last year. He is passionate about football and wants to A major component of the budget is in the form of capital bring the semi-pro team to western Oklahoma, giving others the out of trouble. I was looking around to see if we have a team that can help Elk City. This is a great spot for a team with the talent construction. The Capital Construction Fund’s projected rev- chance to continue to play outside of high school ball. enue is $3,879.885, that includes ARPA one-time income of “[played semi-pro for 17 years, and I actually blew my knee out from Elk City, Clinton, Burns Flat, Weatherford, and all the way $1,010,992. The difference is made up from the unspent FY last season. So I decided thatI still have the passion for the game, up to Shattuck and surrounding areas. This is a way for them to 2022 funds of $1,797,665. and I decided to make this team in Tulsa (Oklahoma Hornets). get back on the field. We like to supply them with film from the Because it is a bigger city, it was a lot easier to come by as a first See Football page 2. See Budget page 2. «IU Weather tomorrow & 96/ Vol. 120, No. 51 75 cents, 14 pgs. Mail delivery 580.225.3000 View online elkcityoknews.com