The Passover 1 Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name. 3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. 4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting 1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” 4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ” 8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

Choctaw County Sheriff’s Department took a report of a motor vehicle theft from Sawyer Monday morning. According to Sheriff Terry Park, Undersheriff Ronald Miller was in pursuit of the stolen SUV when the suspect ran into the back of a county grader off of Fallon Rd., fled the vehicle and took off on foot.

Leadership Oklahoma, the premier organization in the state committed to cultivating and connecting leaders to create a better Oklahoma, proudly announces the graduation of Class 36. The graduating class of 50 members from diverse backgrounds and industries completed an intense nine-month program that exposed them to critical issues facing the state, developed their leadership skills, and fostered relationships with other leaders from across Oklahoma.

The Fort Towson Historic Site hosted a living history event on May 18, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the fort’s establishment. Living historians presented a glimpse into the lives of military and civilians who lived on military forts during the time of Fort Towson.

The presence of the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) is confirmed in Grayson, Hill, Hood, McLennan and Palo Pinto Counties. EAB is infesting and killing ash trees in new areas of the state and continues to spread south.

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Bowman Comments to: andybowman839@gmail.com Coffeetimecolumn. com You are one talented and gifted person –– no doubt.

The Fort Towson Historic Site will host a nature walk with Kara Richardson, a wildcrafter from Broken Bow, on Saturday, May 25, from 9-11 a.m. Richardson draws on her experiences as a southeast Oklahoma native to advocate for natural resources education and the perpetuation of wild herbs and medicinal plants. Her methods focus on proper plant identification, range and historical uses.