COVID-19, which officially debuted as a pandemic in the U.S. on March 15, remains a key focal point for emergency management personnel despite the easing of safety restrictions locally.

• Online scholarship applications for 2021-22 academic year open Oct. 1 OKLAHOMA CITY –– The Oklahoma City Community Foundation recently awarded scholarships to three Choctaw County high school graduates through the state’s largest independent scholarship program.

• Flu vaccinations are now available in county health departments Health departments located in southeast Oklahoma began offering flu vaccinations on Monday, Sept. 28.

CHOCTAW COUNTY –– Two Choctaw County residents were airlifted to a Texas hospital Monday afternoon after a motorcycle accident on Hwy. 70, approximately one mile west of Hugo.

HOME RUN HITTER! — Boswell’s Eli McIntyre gets the full-team congratulations for slamming a home run for the Scorpions last week during their 12-0 victory over Highway 70 Rival Soper Red Bears. First to congratulate him was teammate Ethan Beddo.

Hugo Buffalo running back Lige White currently leads the team in offensive rushing yards with 165 yards after the first three games of the season. He is averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

CASEN KNIGHT, DANIEL BARGER, JACE BAKER get Hugo’s offensive line set to move the football against Valliant. Hugo cruised to a 34-0 road victory against the Bulldogs.

Sharp and critical words flowed from the recent Oklahoma Independent Stock Growers Association board meeting. Board members are cautioning, “Meat buyer beware.” The United States is importing three billion pounds of beef and two million head of cattle per year or 20% of beef consumed by American households. Very little of the imported beef is inspected before it receives the USDA inspection stamp and is shipped to various parts of the county. Tim Bryant, Ardmore rancher, said, “We will fight the USDA recommendation for traceability. We understand the need to trace cattle with disease, but how can you ask American ranchers to place traceable Radio Frequency Identification (RIFD) tags on our cattle when billions of pounds of foreign beef is imported from countries like Namibia? “ R-CALF, the national representative for OISGA filed a lawsuit alleging the USDA RFID mandate was unlawful. In response, USDA withdrew their mandate, yet shortly thereafter, USDA contracted with three cattle ear tag companies for millions of RFID tags.