November 15, 2025 Issue, Page 2 of 12

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NEWS 2• SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2025 The Elk City News taken. dents. We are again seeing really tion, revisions, or elimination of on individual assessments in each the Pioneer Center was completed, BONUSES The next item on the agenda was to approve the 2026 Board Meet- good results for our kids academ- ically. On top of that, I think it all the following policies: Revision – BEC Executive Session; GBA Open building. Item 8 on the agenda was the and they will be working on the lights at the elementary school. He Continued from page 1 ing Schedule. Sparks said that it is goes hand in hand, we’re serving Records Request; GBA-E Open approval to employ Lena Harrell as also told the board that they are ex- the first Monday following the first more meals and feeding more kids Records Request Form. Adoption a paraprofessional at the Elk City panding the Read Aloud program The board then voted to convene Monday of the month with two than we ever have before, and they – CKAK Behavioral Threat As- Elementary; employ June Rinner to include members of the com- into executive session to do one of meetings during the month of June. have a safe, clean place to come to sessment and CKAK-E Behavioral as a paraprofessional at the Elk City munity and students to read to stu- the following – discuss the employ- Another item on the agenda was school, because we’ve got people Threat Assessment Checklist. Elementary; and Irma Soto as a dents in their classrooms. ment, resignation, termination, or the approval of the performance to take care of those facilities, bus Resource officers were there to custodian at the Elk City Elementa- The board voted to adjourn at appointment of all persons listed as bonus for the employees of the dis- drivers that greet them warmly, and explain the new behavioral threat ry and the cafeteria at the Elk City 6:53 p.m. The next meeting will such on-tonight’s agenda. They left trict. so this is just a thank you to our assessment, and that it would com- Intermediate School. take place on Dec. 8th, at 6 p.m., in the board room at 6:04 p.m., and “This (performance bonus) is staff for the job,” Sparks said. pile data throughout the district to Sparks gave a brief superinten- the conference room at the board returned to open session at 6:39 based on the outcomes of our stu- The board approved the adop- see patterns of threats not based dent’s report, saying that the roof at office. p.m. No comments or action were pletely different, and the stream Elk Creek watershed. Those are two ing the end users. And by the way, Misdemeanors Felonies WATER water and ground water are treated completely differently. different water sources. Tom Steed feeds water to the city of Altus. Al- the end users down there are the irrigators in Jackson County. Al- Continued from page 1 “The City of Elk City draws its tus annually leases the rights from tus is not using water, and they’ve MISDEMEANORS water supply from ground water the Lugert Altus Irrigation District. consolidated so much on the farm- State of Okla vs Heidi L Shannon DUS is treated completely differently. from water wells located south of But they have not drawn water ing ground down there, there’s State of Okla vs Ernesto Juarequi Public intoxication Groundwater is treated as a proper- Sayre, just south of the North Fork from there in over 70 years. only about 12 entities or farmers State of Okla vs Brayden Phillips DUS ty right owned by the surface own- of the Red River. It is drawn from “Altus is very organized, politi- that actually irrigate. It’s not like State of Okla vs Jesse W Orr Possession of CS & parapherna- er, if it has not been severed. that basin which is supplied by the cally, very organized. Elk City has 100 farmers from Jackson Coun- lia “For those of us in western Okla- North Fork of the Red River. We always had the luxury of usually ty are losing using that lake. They State of Okla vs Isaiah J Cleveland DUI homa, that doesn’t mean much, pipe it 18 miles over here (Elk City), having a representative from here, bought each other out, and there’s State of Okla vs Christopher E Racelis Possession of CS because there’s not a lot of water we now have 324-inch pipelines State Representative, Purcy Walker, only about a dozen. So they got this State of Okla vs Ashley A Nunez Trespassing. Possession of under here. You know, you’re lucky that pipe our water from south of Randy Beutler, and now we have study done. And the study basically paraphernalia to get a well. In fact, you know, we Sayre over to Elk City,” he said. Nick Archer. We’ve had the luxury says, because of overuse upstream, pay the well drillers to come out to “We have about 3000 surface of having that representation. Altus that there is a lack of water coming FELONIES witch and try to find a well. So it acres south of Sayre and about has had a state senator from Altus into Lugert, and that is adversely State of Okla vs Christopher R Reed Protective order viola- hadn’t meant a lot to us, unless you 10,000 water acres. So, we bought for the last 55 years. They haven’t impacting our water rights.” tion find a lot of water,” Ivester said. water rights under property that we been without a state senator for 55 Ivester said that the proposal State of Okla vs Stephanie L Crowe Domestic assault & bat- He went on to say, “There are don’t own the land. This is where years, so they’re very used to having assumes that the decline of water tery by strangulation. Assault & battery on officer two distinct areas of law, there is they can be severed. We have a lot a direct representative at the state should constitute a conjunctive use State of Okla vs Amado G Marquez Possession of Firearms. a theory, that it’s statistically been more water acres than we have ac- capitol,” Ivester said. of the groundwater and stream wa- Purchasing/possession of tattoo equipment without license proven in some areas, but it de- tual surface acres.” Two years ago, Senator Brent ter. Who has priority rights of use State of Okla vs Stacy Vega Conspiracy pends on geologically, where you Elk City’s water supply could Howard filed a bill, several bills would be the irrigators because State of Okla vs Talitha J Wann Domestic assault & battery are. There is a tie between ground- serve a population of approximate- that would require metering on all they got their water permits years by strangulation water and surface water, that one of ly 40 to 50,000 people, which was ground wells in the state of Okla- ago. This means that they are com- State of Okla vs Edward J Guidry Assault & battery with a them affects the other, or they are acquired a long time ago. Erick and homa. Another bill would create a ing after Elk City’s water to be used dangerous weapon conjunctive. They’re tied together.” Sayre are the same water supply, special water district for the North to irrigate their crops. Elk City is State of Okla vs Rodney L Kirk II DUS. Reckless driving. Does the groundwater affect Elk from wells. If one were to follow the Fork of the Red River Basin. This the biggest user of groundwater in Endangering others by eluding Lake? Does groundwater usage Red River North Fork of the Red would only be the second special the area. State of Okla vs Kenneth A Goodman DUI affect Elk Lake? It is known that River, it flows into Lake Lugert. water district in the state. They After explaining the possible re- Elk Lake would seep through the “Ten or fifteen years ago, Lake wanted to follow up bills to talk percussions of future laws and Elk ground and go into the ground. Lugert started dropping and started about conjunctive use and directly City’s water rights, Ivester urged Marriages & Divorces There may be a well that could be drawing from water that seeped into the ground from Elk Lake. sinking in on the north end. It used to be full of water, it ran under the tying the use of groundwater and stream water. the Rotarians and citizens of West- ern Oklahoma to be aware of what bridge, but now there’s just nothing “We started looking into it. The is happening. It could have long Ivester explained that in certain but salt cedars underneath there. Bureau of Reclamation came out reaching effects on Elk City’s water MARRIAGES geological formations, that’s ab- Slowly the water level went down. with a study in 2023. It was a sev- supply, therefore, the City of Elk Lester German, Elk City – Ginger Baker, Granite solutely correct. In others, it’s not You can see it on the rocks; there’s en-year study that had all stake- City has taken steps to be ahead of correct. just not much water. The water in holders in, which is what they brag the southern political forces. DIVORCES One could say that surface water the lake is owned by the Lugert-Al- about. It was 291 pages. The exec- This fight is far from over; there- Lori Willams vs Lloyd Williams does not penetrate below 20 feet tus Irrigation District. The lake it- utive summary is 27 pages long. I fore, the city is preparing to battle Victoria Massoumi vs Kamran Massoumi because of the clay shelf in the area. self is owned by the Bureau of Rec- downloaded it and started looking over their water rights for the town. Hannah Calloway vs Dylan Calloway If it hits something that has been an lamation,” Ivester noted. at it,” Ivester said. It is a continuous and moving issue. Nickolas Comer vs Shay-Lynn Comer unbound stream, then it moves on. The Bureau of Reclamation is a He added, “This is really hard Ivester told the Rotarians to reach Kelsey Wynn vs Ryan Wynn The only way to tell is to bring in federal agency that was created in to dissect, but once you do, they out to judges, politicians, friends, a hydrologist to tell that relation- the ‘30s, like Tom Steed Lake, which are targeting us. So, what the study and family to make them aware of ship. That theory is the conjunctive is south of Lugert. Ivester said that says is that there’s less and less water the water issue in Western Oklaho- theory. The other theory is there is Tom Steed gets it water supply from coming into Lugert, which is affect- ma. no legal connection. They are com- (USPS # 173-020) 580-225-3000 OBITUARIES correspondence course with LaSal- Is published once weekly by Beckham County Media, LLC 109 W. Broadway, Elk City, OK 73644-4736 Periodicals Postage Paid at Elk City, OK 73644 Lou Ansley le Interior Design and worked for Grubitz, a local furniture store. In Lou Ansley passed away on evident in her personal and busi- 1968, she and the Thornton fam- POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PO BOX 964, Elk City, OK 73648 November 8, 2025, in Edmond, ness career. She began sewing at ily founded the Ansley Thornton Oklahoma. Her father, William La- age 8 and made patterns from Furniture Store, where Lou loved SUBSCRIPTIONS Sheryl Ponce, fayette Blair, came to Oklahoma on old newspapers. After graduating helping dreams come true for oth- Staff Writer horseback from Arkansas, and her from Merritt High School, she was ers. She did the interior design for Deliverd by mail: mother, Louiza Nichols, drove a working at a local department store the new First Baptist Church in $50/yearly print only Neva Pyatt, Elk City, where she attended for 64 $60/yearly print & online covered wagon from Texas in 1907, when an award-winning advertis- $40/online only Advertising Director they married in 1908. Lou was ing manager, William “Bill” Ansley, years. After the Thornton’s passed born on January 20, 1921, in Elk happened in. They married April away, she continued to operate the No refunds on subscriptions. Gina Jones, store for nine more years. She sold Advertising Director City, one of eight children, many of 25, 1941, in Elk City, and Bill later [email protected] whom were born in a dugout. served in the Navy during WWII. the business in 1993, to care for Bill, [email protected] Nancy Karnowski, Lou’s parents’ determination, After the war, Lou enrolled in a who suffered from Parkinson’s. In 2001, they moved to Oklaho- ECNclassifi[email protected] CSR strength, and steadiness became correspondence course with LaSal- le Interior Design and worked for She was preceded in death by her ma City to be near family. Leaving Grubitz, a local furniture store. In parents, siblings, and Bill, her hus- friends behind in Elk City was 1968, she and the Thornton fam- band of 65 years. She is survived by very difficult, but with a positive ily founded the Ansley Thornton her daughter, Sharon Ann Willis of spirit, she built a new life in Okla- Furniture Store, where Lou loved Edmond; a grandson Carter Wal- homa City and became active at helping dreams come true for oth- lace, his wife Ivonne, and two great Quail Springs Baptist Church. She ers. She did the interior design for grandchildren, Alex and Emma attended church every Sunday the new First Baptist Church in Wallace. until she was 103 ½, and at age Elk City, where she attended for 64 Funeral service for Lou will be 104, she was recognized as Quail years. After the Thornton’s passed held Friday Nov. 14 at 10 am in Springs’ eldest member. She con- away, she continued to operate the the Parlor at Quail Springs Baptist tinued to cook and read for hours store for nine more years. She sold church. Graveside service will be into her 100’s. the business in 1993, to care for Bill, held Friday Nov. 14 at 3 pm aLou Growing up, Lou was grateful for who suffered from Parkinson’s. Ansley passed away on November her farm neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. In 2001, they moved to Oklaho- 8, 2025, in Edmond, Oklahoma. Leonard Searight, who picked her ma City to be near family. Leaving Her father, William Lafayette Blair, up and took her to church where friends behind in Elk City was very came to Oklahoma on horseback she accepted Christ as her Sav- difficult, but with a positive spirit, from Arkansas, and her mother, ior when she was 15. Her advice she built a new life in Oklahoma Louiza Nichols, drove a covered to others was “First join a church, City and became active at Quail wagon from Texas in 1907, they study the Bible, and accept the Lord Springs Baptist Church. She attend- married in 1908. Lou was born on Jesus Christ.” Her greatest blessing ed church every Sunday until she January 20, 1921, in Elk City, one of to her family is knowing exactly was 103 ½, and at age 104, she was eight children, many of whom were where she is now, in the presence of recognized as Quail Springs’ eldest born in a dugout. her Lord. member. She continued to cook Lou’s parents’ determination, She was preceded in death by her and read for hours into her 100’s. strength, and steadiness became parents, siblings, and Bill, her hus- Growing up, Lou was grateful for evident in her personal and busi- band of 65 years. She is survived by her farm neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. ness career. She began sewing at her daughter, Sharon Ann Willis of Leonard Searight, who picked her age 8 and made patterns from Edmond; a grandson Carter Wal- up and took her to church where old newspapers. After graduating lace, his wife Ivonne, and two great she accepted Christ as her Sav- from Merritt High School, she was grandchildren, Alex and Emma ior when she was 15. Her advice working at a local department store Wallace. to others was “First join a church, when an award-winning advertis- Funeral service for Lou will be study the Bible, and accept the Lord ing manager, William “Bill” Ansley, held Friday, Nov. 14th at 10 am at Jesus Christ.” Her greatest blessing happened in. They married April the Parlor in Quail Springs Baptist to her family is knowing exactly 25, 1941, in Elk City, and Bill later church. A graveside service will be where she is now, in the presence of served in the Navy during WWII. held Friday, Nov. 14th at 3 pm at her Lord. After the war, Lou enrolled in a Fairlawn Cemetery in Elk City.