OKLAHOMA CITY –– House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, on Monday recognized World War II veteran Claude Albert Savage, of Finley, Okla., as the Veteran of the Week in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

HUGO –– Hugo city council is still searching for someone motivated to fill the current opening of the Ward 4 council member position. Any interested party residing in 4th Ward should call city hall, 580.326.5616, or contact Ernest McCarty, Darren Frazier, Juanita Latimore or Josh Armes.

CHOCTAW COUNTY –– The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is investigating the death of a Hugo man last week in a rural area near Sawyer, Okla. Just before midnight, a 911 call was received

CHOCTAW COUNTY –– Law enforcement is investigating a Friday night shooting that occurred in Sawyer, Oklahoma., leaving one man hospitalized. According to Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park, the Sheriff’s Office, along with Choctaw Tribal Police responded to a call on Copperhead Road in Sawyer where a man had been shot in the face.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is working to make sure Oklahomans have widely available access to N95 masks in the state. In partnership with the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association and pharmacy partners around the state, the OSDH will be distributing N95 masks around the state to local pharmacies through a distribution system that will provide Oklahomans the opportunity to go to their local pharmacies to receive N95 masks, free of charge.

Isolation and stress caused from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic can lead many to turn to drugs to cope. According to the Center for Disease Control, Oklahoma has seen a 20% rise in drug overdose deaths during the pandemic. With the recent surge in the Omicron variant, further isolation and stress will leave family members looking for ways to help loved ones suffering from addiction.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), the Tulsa County Health Department (THD) and the Oklahoma City-County Health Department (OCCHD) are moving away from universal case investigation and contact tracing to focus on a more strategic approach of outbreak investigations and targeted case investigations.

Conservation Incentive Contracts (CIC) address priority resource concerns, including sequestering carbon and improving soil health in highpriority areas. Through these contracts, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) works with producers to strengthen the quality and condition of natural resources on their operations using management practices, such as irrigation water management, drainage water management, feed management and residue and tillage management that target resource concerns, including degraded soil and water quality, available water, and soil erosion.

Funding opportunities to enhance the specialty crop industry within the state are now available, thanks to the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Marketing Services. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, local, state, and federal government entities, for-profit organizations and colleges and universities.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is committed to sharing the most up to date and timely information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Monday, the FDA removed the authorization for the use of two monoclonal antibody treatments that have been on the market, REGEN-COV and Bam/Ete, due to their ineffectiveness against the omicron variant, taking into consideration the prevalence of omicron in the country.