Meeker News

T hirty years ago today, homicide detective Ron Chambers looked inside a restaurant freezer and saw the handiwork of evil.

He's usually looking up. McAlester High School teacher Phillip Scott is a finalist for the 2009 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year Award.

Oklahoma investigators are trying to identify a human skull found in a box on a ranch in Woodward County.

Gas prices appear to be having a nominal effect on sales of recreational vehicles and boats, according to people at the Original Free RV and Boat Show on Sunday.

Violence erupts between partners in one out of every six couples in Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

A former postal worker faces up to 10 years in prison after admitting to taking credit and debit cards out of the mail.

Now that ethanol has become more and more common in gas pumps nationwide, many locals who work with smaller gas-powered engines have mixed emotions about the corn-based fuel additive.

Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 227 people in western Oklahoma on outstanding warrants as part of an annual sweep known as Operation FALCON.

Hundreds of friends, associates and people who had never met him paid their final respects at the Capitol Friday to Clem McSpadden, well-known rodeo announcer and political figure.

The sad truth is that child abuse may never stop happening. The hope is that more people will get involved in the effort to lessen its trauma and provide a path toward healing.

Two state senators on Friday called for the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board to remove Jerry Regier, who they recently hired as administrator.

The first person many of the 906 International Finals Youth Rodeo contestants will meet when they start checking in Friday morning will be the contestant who first checked in at the IFYR in 1993.

"I always teased her that she was going to be the answer to a Jeopardy question," said her coach, Mickey Thorpe.

Rob "Pup" and Kasey Jean Rogers of Noble recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary.

State Superintendent Sandy Garrett has announced the names of the 12 finalists for the state's 2009 teacher of the year award.

The 12 finalists are Sherilynn Admire of Midwest City, Debbie L. Flowers of Meeker, Betsy Ellen Glad of Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Matthew Holtzen of Enid, Valorie Ann Lewis of Stigler, Cheryl McCord of Jenks, John Daniel Nolan of Norman, Denise Radcliff of Claremore, Mandy Rowley of Woodward, Phillip R. Scott of McAlester, Heather Sparks of Oklahoma City and Nolan Watson of Cache. The winner will be announced on September 16th.

Together, www.FreeKelseysMom.com and www.Raye-of-Hope.org are hoping to educate the public about wrongful convictions by holding a rally on June 21, 2008 in Harrah, Oklahoma at Heritage Park. Oklahoma City, OK (PRWEB) May 23, 2008 -- The recent release of wrongfully convicted Cynthia Sommer has brought awareness to the imprisonment of the innocent. The trend of crime lab mistakes, judicial errors, and incorrect eyewitness accounts is spreading nationwide. These contribute to years being stripped away from those who are mistakenly confined in a system that promises "Justice for all." Together, www.FreeKelseysMom.com and www.Raye-of-Hope.org are hoping to educate the public about wrongful convictions by holding a rally on June 21, 2008 in Harrah, Oklahoma at Heritage Park. Oklahoma's own "Innocent Man" Dennis Fritz and Tabitha Pollock who was exonerated in an Illinois Supreme Court after six years in prison are among scheduled guest speakers. Ultimately, we want to educate the public of this very real epidemic of wrongful convictions.

To quote Sommer's website, "Putting an innocent person in jail is the legal equivalent of a plane crash." Unfortunately, these "plane crashes" are part of a trend that is being seen across the country. With high profile cases such as Sommer's making the nightly news, the public is now opening its eyes to the reality that wrongful imprisonment can happen to anyone. In Oklahoma, awareness of our "injustice" system has gone virtual with the websites www.FreeKelseysMom.com and www.TheTruthAboutKelsey.com. These sites are in support of a woman named Raye Dawn Smith. Free Kelsey's Mom members believe Smith has been wrongfully convicted by a one-sided media blitz that altered public opinion and led to an unfair trial. During the trial, Richard Smothermon, District Attorney for Lincoln County, Oklahoma, stated that he believed Smith's daughter, Kelsey Smith-Briggs, was sexually assaulted and murdered by Mike Porter, Smith's ex-husband and Kelsey's step-father. According to Smothermon, Smith "should have known" Porter abused Kelsey. (Oklahoma Case(s) CF-06-00033 & CF-07-00134)Smith now sits in an Oklahoma prison waiting for her appeal to the 27-year sentence she received for "should have known." Evidence in support of allegations of perjury, jury tainting, juror misconduct, timelines, the conspiratorial emails, and other documentation can be found on Smith's sites at www.TheTruthAboutKelsey.com.

Sweltering heat of 92 degrees in Oklahoma City didn't stop guests of all ages from enjoying a family fun festival before the RedHawks' game at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark on Sunday. Both Braden Thames, 12, who was visiting his grandparents from Texas and Mike Hoover, 10, from Meeker expressed that the festival was lots of fun after finishing a race on the Bungee run

Amanda Marie Hall of Buena Park, Calif., and Christopher Lee Peters of Stillwater announce their engagement and Aug. wedding in California. The bride-to-be's grandparents liveare Sherman and Marie Hall of Meeker.

Four young men were rescued from the North Canadian River near Shawnee early Friday morning after a float trip carried them too far downstream the night before, forcing them to dig a hole in a sandbar to stay warm overnight. The stranded group was made up of youth ranging from ages 16 to 21.

Friends Of Libraries In Oklahoma recently inducted Betty Hardin of Bartlesville and Cletta Kinnear of Meeker into the FOLIO Hall of Fame. Several years ago, Meeker did not have a public library. Kinnear said, “The Meeker Public Library was a dream I wanted to complete. I believe every town, no matter how small, should have a library.”