HUGO –– Kiamichi Technology Center’s Hugo campus held an open house last week to mark the launch of a new program –– KTC’s Kubota Tech and National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) partnership.

CHARLIE BOB WIBBEN (center), of Hugo, was this week’s winner of the Hugo News Football Contest after choosing 17 out of 19 games correctly. Wibben guessed closest (403) to the OU Sooners’ total offense figure (313) to edge out Jon Kroeger and Ernest McCarty. Above, Wibben collects the $50 weekly prize from Zack Savage and Gwen Coffman of First Bank, where he obtained his winning entry blank. Sponsoring this year’s Hugo News Football Contest are: Dr. Wade Rowland DDS, First United Bank, Dyer Quick Lube, AmeriState Bank, Red River Counseling, Sonic, Hugo Lake Marina & Cabins-Little Dixie, Busy Bee, Security First National Bank, First Bank, Pruett’s Food, Superior Wheel & Tire, Shelter Insurance-Julia King, Ed Wallace Ford, Stoned 4 Survival, R.E. McGuire Insurance-Ernie Taylor, Jay Hodge, U.S. Cellular and Hugo Express Pharmacy. Game selections can be found in each Wednesday edition of the Hugo News.

We’ve had two or three fake falls already--oddly, in July. This is going to be our first extended cooldown since we actually entered the season, be it climatological fall on Sept. 1 or astronomical fall on Sept. 23.

• Commissioner urges vaccination, mitigation efforts for protection against the virus OKLAHOMA CITY — Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye issued the following statement last week regarding Oklahoma surpassing 10,000 provisional deaths due to COVID-19: “We are sorry to report that as of today, we have lost over 10,000 Oklahomans to COVID-19.

OKLAHOMA –– Delta Dental of Oklahoma, the state’s leading dental benefits provider, announced a free resource available to Oklahoma third through sixth-grade teachers. MouthScience is a science program that demonstrates why good oral hygiene and healthy food and drink choices are important to overall health. Created by the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation, the MouthScience Kit helps students use basic science and math skills, aligned with Oklahoma Academic Standards, to see and understand the correlation of sugar and acid to tooth decay.

On Friday, Sept. 17, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) joined a coalition of organizations requesting Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Director Adria Berry to adopt a temporary moratorium on issuing new marijuana grower permits.

OKLAHOMA –– As the principal producers of wheat, corn and additional high-volume crops, Oklahoma farmers are huge contributors to the United States agricultural market. Each September, large quantities of wheat are harvested across the state, making it important for farmers and ranchers to have the necessary insurance protection.

THE 2021 HUGO BUFFALOES include: Landon Lemmons, Ashton Barnett, Stacey Powers, Aden Parish, Cameron Hamill, Hunter Sims, Amareion Maytubby, La’Marcus Davis, Cam Holt, Davionta Jackson, Caselin Davis, Dakerrious Wilson, Don’tez Cherry, Ethan Sparks, Da’shon Sims, Dacorion Cook, De’Koryian Mitchell, Pierson Evans, Isaiah Greer, Micah Ribiero, Sharod Holt, Noah Joe, Kameron Allred, Kane Worthy, Ethan Bigfeather, Mekii Bell, Trandon Morgan, Jonathon Gilley, Caleb Allen, Caleb Joe, Jordan Creel, Connor Frazier, Payton Parra, Jaren Trantham, G’Mariyon Wallace and Logan Allen. Coaching staff includes: Head coach Krystopher Gross, Cody Tramble, Derek McKinney, Dante Dangerfield and Cody Gilmore. Not pictured: Kvon Bradley, Evan Tollett, Kamoney Garrett, George Gentry, Caleb Allen and Carlos King.