GINGERBREAD PRESCHOOLERS caught the Gingerbread man last week.

RATTAN –– The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and its division of Strategic Development awarded the town of Rattan $89,531 that will be used to match a USDA grant to enhance the community and make it a safer, more desirable place to live.

• Come and meet Whimpy’s baby boy HUGO –– Endangered Ark Foundation will host its first ever baby shower honoring the newest addition to the EAF herd born on Aug. 2.

Choctaw County Ambulance Authority has some new tools on hand to help save lives –– three LUCAS Chest Compression Systems. The refurbished devices were purchased at a discounted rate of three for the price of one, Ambulance Authority Executive Director Randy Springfield said, recently.

Shortly before noon last Wednesday, Aug. 12, Hugo Chief of Police John Mitchell confirmed two men perished early Wednesday morning, when they were working on a railroad car at Trinity RailCar in Hugo.

New accounts of patients who believe they’ve been reinfected after recovering from COVID-19 are popping up daily, leading to an unnerving question: Can we get Coronavirus twice? Unlikely, say experts at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, at least in the short term.

OKLAHOMA CITY –– The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) announced it is expanding ongoing contact tracing efforts in Oklahoma with the launch of a new COVID-19 contact tracing and case investigation call center.

STILLWATER –– Oklahoma leadership for the agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Oklahoma Tribal Conservation Advisory Council (OTCAC) are hosting a “Nation to Nation” Tribal Consultation ZOOM Meeting on Aug. 18.

OKLAHOMA CITY –– Central Life Sciences presents Paul Bogart Music Live after the Friday night performance of the 36th Annual Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s (OCA) Ranch Rodeo. The event will take place Aug. 21 at the Lazy E Arena, near Guthrie, Okla.

Temperatures in the upper 90s are likely to continue through Sunday. The days will be sunny and hot with a heat index near 104.