The Iris Garden Club of Hugo met on April 25 at Burnside Community meeting room. President Harolynn Wofford called the meeting to order. She welcomed everyone then called on Rick Lowrance to open with prayer. Everyone recited the gardener’s creed.

There is so much going on around the world today, this is not a very good time to have your head in the sand. Almost everything is dynamic and some things that directly affect our quality of life are moving quickly.

The White House on Monday fired back at criticism from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos over its economic policies in the latest back-and-forth between the administration and the tech and retail magnate. “It doesn’t require a huge leap to figure out why one of the wealthiest individuals on earth opposes an economic agenda for the middle class that cuts some of the biggest costs families face, fights inflation for the long haul, and adds to the historic deficit reduction the President is achieving by asking the richest taxpayers and corporations to pay their fair share,” deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A proposal to give state correctional and pardon and parole officers a significant pay raise has been announced by the state Department of Corrections (DOC), a move largely facilitated by Rep. Justin JJ Humphrey, R-Lane.

WETUMKA — Authorities arrested a police chief in connection with an investigation into meth distribution in southeastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics officials said law enforcement arrested Calvin Police Chief Joe Don Chitwood on Thursday.

A number of political observers are trying to find the appropriate words to describe why the U.S. would be admitting to Russian leader Vladimir Putin... that we were the architects of the destruction and death of Russia’s beloved “Moskva” flagship destroyer, as well as a large Russian transport early in the Ukraine war that was carrying scores of top level troops and several military leaders.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell, today celebrated the governor’s signing of House Bill 3530 which will create a grant program for county sheriffs to combat illegal marijuana activities in Oklahoma. The bill was authored in the Senate by Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, and passed by wide margins in both chambers.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation aimed at increasing the number of direct flights to Oklahoma has now been signed into law. Senate Bill 1461, by Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, creates the Oklahoma Air Service Development Grant Program (OAS-DGP), which will be administered by the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC).

All across the 50 states, local governments are morphing, changing, breathing new life into rules under which citizens are to be governed. At the same time, governments (including Uncle Sam) are struggling to understand exactly what the framers of the Constitution meant when they wrote the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The Department of Homeland Security has announced the formation of the Disinformation Governance Board — charged, according to Politico, with “countering misinformation related to homeland security, focused specifically on irregular migration and Russia.” In a twist too implausible for fiction, the abbreviation is DGB, one letter off from KGB.