Dear Editor,



On Feb. 27, I went to the Mayes County Democrats meeting.

A number of candidates running for Mayes County offices introduced themselves and gave a run down of their qualifications.

When the floor was opened for questions, I asked sheriff candidate Tommy Parker about the problem and issues I have in my neighborhood with drug trafficking. I told him I called and visited the sheriff and his officers on numerous occasions. I video taped the activity. There was a stolen car hidden behind their barn. It took the sheriff’s department 90 days after I called in the tag and VIN number before the sheriff’s office came to pick up the stolen car.  There was never anything done in charging the neighbors or even holding them accountable for possession of stolen property.

Parker assured me if I come to him with that kind of evidence, he will aggressively take care of it with every means he has available.

Sheriff Frank Cantey interrupted and asked if he could address my question.

Cantey started to make all kinds of reasons why he did not take care of the problems. Then he turned to one of his deputies, Allen Davis, to address the issues. Deputy Davis said that I was just a nosey neighbor.

I have lived in my home for 33 years. My neighbor’s house is only 150 feet from my bedroom window. When you find out that your new neighbor is a felon, with a long list of charges from possession of controlled drugs and paraphernalia to child endangerment and the felon is shooting off rifles (which felons cannot have), loud fights in the yard at night, screaming and yelling, cars peeling out late at night, traffic coming and going at all hours and on the weekends, you complain.

And when I complain, they pass me off as a nosey neighbor.

This is the way the Sheriff’s Department has treated me all along.

The felons and drug traffickers get more protection than me.



Diana Reeves



Dear Editor,



I’m terribly disappointed that Rep. Dan Boren voted for a bill that will open all 1.5 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain, and almost every acre of our coasts, including along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, protected areas of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Bristol Bay to oil and gas drilling.

In a move the Competitive Enterprise Institute calls “myopic political gimmickry,” House leadership is pushing a shady plan to use speculative revenue from oil and gas drilling in the Arctic refuge and coastal waters to close the funding gap in the Transportation Bill.

What they aren’t saying is that even the most generous revenue estimates will not be enough, as any revenue from drilling will be drastically reduced by state-revenue sharing agreements and any Arctic production revenues would likely not be seen for at least 10 years.

Sadly, our Representative fell for it.

There is still an opportunity to stop this extreme bill from moving forward. I hope Rep. Dan Boren will vote against final passage of the transportation package. I also urge senators Brian Bingman and Mike Schulz to stand strong and reject this fiscally and environmentally irresponsible bill in the Senate.



Crystal Davis

Catoosa



Dear Editor,



Well here I go again with my most humble and honest opinion. 

What in the world are we coming to? A nation of “who cares” or just “stupidity?” When a person has given his or her lifetime of doing good and helping others, and then die of a horrible disease or get killed, there is very little written or talked about.

Then when we have a person like Whitney Houston destroy her life, what do we do? Every paper, magazine, talk show, etc., can’t stop praising her. She was a talented woman, but who did she help by destroying her life?

When I was growing up, I was taught to always do ‘what’s right,’ not necessarily by words, but by example my parents set for me. You would almost think that very few people even know anything about the biblical principles that God laid down.

Now let’s get to the Postal Services. What company in their right mind would have a person mail a letter or ship an article in the town they live in, to another address in the same town, and they ship it to a town miles and miles away, and then ship it back? You guessed it. The government. How can this cost less? Any reasonable person knows it can’t. Makes you wonder how Fed Ex and UPS make a profit? Oh, I know, they aren’t run by the government.

I just heard that someone was filling out a medical record and they were asked if they own a gun. They have gone too far. If you don’t take this personal and speak up now, next time you may not be able to.

Think about it.



Bonnie Pribble

Pryor