CALERA — To commemorate the Choctaw Cultural Center’s inaugural year, the public is invited to a day of festivities for the whole family on Saturday, July 23. The Choctaw Cultural Center One Year anniversary celebration will take place inside and on the grounds from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) officials and members, including elders, are expected to be joined by other regional government and cultural leaders.

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal district court has temporarily prohibited the Biden Administration from enforcing new, expansive, and unlawful gender identity mandates against Oklahoma and 19 other States. The Biden “guidance” documents attempted, among other things, to force schools to allow biological males to compete on girls’ sports teams and use the girls’ showers and locker rooms.

TOPEKA — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd., plans to build a state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) battery facility in the Kansas City Region. The largest economic development project in state history, the Kansas Department of Commerce, the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) and its partners, shared that the company’s plans could create up to 4,000 new jobs and result in an investment of approximately $4 billion.

THE IRIS GARDEN CLUB Yard of the Month for June has been awarded to Mike and Beverly Ford. Their beautiful park-like setting features lots of trees, hydrangeas, hostas, flowers, shrubs, lovely rock patios and walkways. Pictured are Shelia Kidd, Harolynn Wofford, Beverly Ford and Sammye Thacker.

Last week, Senator Manchin blindsided his Democratic colleagues when he reversed course on his previous demands that their agenda be focused on tax reform and declared that he would not vote to raise taxes on the rich or massive corporations. In doing so, he dashed Democrats’ hopes to pass any sort of meaningful tax legislation before November. He also ironically proved, by showing the country just how shamelessly he is controlled by his wealthy donors and peers, just how important it is for us to tax the rich.

Sitting alone at the end of a large conference table inside the Hugo Public Schools Administration Building, Jacquline Mitchell was overcome with emotion. A member of the school district’s support staff for roughly nine years, Mitchell had just learned she would be retaining her position as a cook at the schools after the school board chose to reverse the initial decision to terminate her.

GOOD SAMARITAN RETURNS LOST MEDS to Wal-Mart Pharmacy — Daniel Birdwell was preparing to do some shopping last week at Wal-Mart in Hugo when he noticed a small sack containing a vial of prescription pain meds in the cart. It appeared the bottle containing the pills had been unopened, indicating they may have fallen out of someone’s pocket or shopping cart. Birdwell knew the individual would not want to be without the medication, so he returned it to the Pharmacy staff so they could verity that it had not been tampered with and return it to the rightful owner. Above, Birdwell waits while Wal-Mart Pharmacy staffers Camille Griffith and Kayla Stafford accept the returned meds. In a world that seems to be overfilled with hardship and grief, it’s nice to witness someone taking time to return valuable medicine and show consideration for others. Well done, Daniel Birdwell! Hugo News Photo / Stan Stamper

I know the highest temperature I see on that map is 113, but you just never know on days like this. With the proper air pattern--maybe some downslope SW winds--we could still hit some of those higher temps that take us back to 2011 and 2012.