Oklahoma placed fourth among 11 states that competed in the 42nd annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational from Sunday, July 24 through Wednesday, July 27. Teams from Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida placed first, second and third, respectively.

HUGO –– The vacant Ward 4 council seat was finally filled after a special meeting held by the Hugo City Council last Thursday. Upon a recommendation and a motion by councilman Darren Frazier, Corby Johnson was placed in the position.

Youth Services for Choctaw, Pushmataha and McCurtain Counties and the community held its Fourth Annual Back 2 School Bash at the Hugo Agriplex. More than 600 backpacks and school supplies were handed out by youth volunteers and community partners.

The board of county commissioners for Choctaw County voted Monday to continue a resolution passed a week prior regarding a burn ban for the county.

Game Wardens Jim Gillham (Atoka County) and Andrew Potter (Choctaw County) recently received information and began an investigation leading to the seizure of multiple illegal electrofishing devices at Hugo Lake.

Oklahoma received a commitment Thursday from four-star defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc. With LeBlanc’s commitment, coach Brent Venables and the Sooners added their ninth commit in July, which included six other four-star prospects.

An international study led by an Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist has nearly doubled the known genetic risk regions for Sjögren’s disease. The new research was published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications.

The moratorium on processing applications for new grower, processor and dispensary licenses begins Aug. 26, not Aug.

The harvest of fall crops will not go according to plan this season for some Oklahoma producers due to extreme summer heat and drought. For crops like corn that are not harvested for grain, repurposing the plants as forage might be an option.

Recently, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) joined Representatives Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting information about USDA’s process for compiling data and reporting on foreign purchases of U.S....