Inmate found dead in county jail



FEBRUARY — A 44-year-old Locust Grove man was found dead in his jail cell from a lethal combination of drugs.

Barron Davis was being held in a holding cell in the Mayes County jail after being arrested for shooting at a Locust Grove officer who was investigating an incident where Davis allegedly drove into the pumps at a gas

station and left the scene.

No officers were injured in the shootout resulting from the incident, and Davis gave himself up after a short standoff.

The death was due to a lethal combination of drugs, according to the state medical examiner’s office. Found in his system were morphine, alprazolam and cyclobenzaprine.

Davis was taken to the hospital earlier that evening when a cut was found on his head after a “grappling” match with officers. When he was put back in the holding cell, he began banging his head on the wall, so officers put a football helmet on him to prevent injury.

A jailer thought he looked “strange” at

1 a.m., but his vitals checked out fine. By 2:30 a.m., he was found unresponsive in his cell. He was declared dead on arrival at Mayes County Medical Center.





Family dies in fiery crash



MARCH — A family of four was killed in an accident which set their car ablaze in March.

Dead were the Hayes family, Robert, 52, Melissa, 41, Tyler, 15 and Colby, 11, all of Joplin, Mo. Their vehicle was rear-ended by a semi truck while sitting at the stoplight in front of Walmart on Highway 69.

The gas tank in the Hayes’ vehicle ruptured on impact and ignited the vehicle and diesel fuel.

Witnesses said the fire had engulfed the



vehicle within minutes of the crash. The medical examiner’s office later determined the family died on impact.

The driver of the semi, James C. Buchholz, 53, Arizona, was helped out of the semi by witnesses before officers arrived on the scene. He was charged with four misdemeanor counts of negligent homicide. The case is set for Feb. 2, 2009, at 9:30 a.m.





Sanders guilty of

four-year-old murder



APRIL — Four years after Tammy Rohde, 43, was found shot to death in her home, her killer was found guilty by a jury of nine women and three men.

Sammy Sanders, 31, was sentenced to life in prison. He won’t be eligible for parole until 2046 because he must serve 85 percent of his sentence.

Testimony from an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation ballistics expert linked shell casings at Sanders’ residence to shell casings found at the scene.

Rohde had been shot three times in the head.

A previous girlfriend of Sanders testified he confessed to shooting her three times in the head.

“At that time her body hadn’t been found yet,” said Assistant District Attorney Chuck Ramsey. “No one knew Tammy Rohde had been shot three times in the head except the man that shot her three times in the head. He knew it, ladies and gentleman, because he’s the one that pulled the trigger.”

Sanders’ attorney attempted to place the blame on Sanders’ girlfriend at the time, claiming she had motive because she was jealous of the affair between Rohde and Sanders.

The attempt to place the blame elsewhere failed, and the jury returned with a guilty verdict. They could have recommended life without parole, but returned with the lesser sentence of life in prison.





Girl scout murders

remain unsolved



JUNE — Approximately 31 years after three girl scouts were found dead at the Girl Scout camp south of Locust Grove, the final DNA evidence was used up with no results.

Grant money

was used

by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) in 2007 to pay for the latest DNA test of evidence left from the 1977 murders.

The only catch was the evidence would be depleted after the test was complete, so the families and Mayes County District Attorney Gene Haynes had to be consulted first. Once approval was given, the evidence was sent to an independent lab in Texas.

Investigators hoped the evidence would link the only suspect in the case, Gene Leroy Hart, to the murders, or would provide a DNA profile which could be entered into the OSBI’s database.

Since the test results were inconclusive, the murders of Michelle Guse, 9, Broken Arrow, Lori Farmer, 8, and Doris Denise Milner, 10, both of Tulsa, may remain unsolved forever.





Employment takes dive



JUNE — Two plants in the MidAmerica Industrial Park (MAIP) announced plans to close in 2008, while another announced cutbacks.

Georgia Pacific announced in June the doors would close indefinitely, laying off over 100 people. The lowered demand for sheet rock made at the plant was the

reason given for the shutdown. Plant officials wouldn’t say whether the plant would reopen in the future.

In October, Labinal followed suit, announcing the plant would be fully closed by April 2009. The plant employed 458 people, approximately 10 percent of the workforce in the industrial park.

Management with Labinal said the layoff was necessary because in the 10 years since opening, the plant was unable to turn a profit. Labinal hosted a job fair at their facility in November to help the displaced workers. Employees were informed of their specific layoff date and were offered incentive packages to stay through their release date.

Gatorade was the third factory to announce a cutback in 2008. The factory cut 22 salaried positions in October. All hourly employees were sent home Monday, Oct. 20, to give management time to restructure the facility. They were asked to return the following Monday. Management said the layoffs became necessary due to the softening of the liquid refreshment market nationally. Severance packages were offered to salaried

employees in October. Plant Manger Chris Weber said Gatorade made a $185 million investment in the facility at the industrial park and is “committed to be here.”

In December, Gatorade made another round of cuts with 87 hourly employees losing their jobs. Two full months of pay and six months of benefits were offered to the laid off employees. The layoffs reduced Gatorade’s workforce from 243 to 137 people.





Famous

legislator dies



JULY — Clem McSpadden, a grand nephew of Will Rogers who went on to serve in Congress and become known as one of rodeo's premier announcers, died July 7 at M.D. Anderson cancer hospital in Houston, Texas. He was 82.

McSpadden, who was from Chelsea, served as a Democrat in the U.S. House from 1973 to 1975 and founded the Congressional Rural Caucus. He ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1974, losing to the general election's eventual winner, David Boren.

He also gained fame as the announcer at the National Finals Rodeo, where he helped discover Grammy-winning country star Reba McEntire.

He served in the Oklahoma Senate from 1955 to 1972, including two terms as its president pro tem, but never again sought political office after his failed run for governor. He was still active as a lobbyist.

He was the oldest of the three sons born to Herb McSpadden. He was named for his great-grandfather, Clement Vann Rogers for whom Rogers County is named. He attended 12 years of school at Oologah and

following graduation enrolled at Oklahoma A & M College, Stillwater. He attended the University of Texas and and Redlands University in California while in military service.

In 1965, he was named General Manager of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) for 18 years. He served as general manger of the Old Timers Rodeo and Indian National Finals Rodeo. He served as announcer for the the NFR and worked as announcer for ABC television's “Wild World of Sports” as well as announcing rodeo events on The Nashville Network (TNN).





E. coli outbreak rocks community



AUGUST — The largest E. coli 0111 outbreak in the nation’s history was found at a restaurant in Locust Grove.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health linked the outbreak to Country Cottage, but were never able to find the actual source of the

contamination.

The restaurant closed a week after the outbreak began and remained closed until November, when they reopened without the buffet-style the restaurant was famous for.

At the height of the outbreak, one man, Chad Ingle, was dead and 248 were sick, including 46 children.

Several people, particularly children, were put on kidney dialysis due to the severe diarrheal illness.

The community of Locust Grove was stunned by the outbreak. Several residents spoke out in support of the restaurant and family, while others vowed to never eat at the restaurant again.

The health department determined most of the cases of infection occurred the week of Aug. 15. The restaurant was allowed to reopen in November after meeting several conditions set forth by the health department.





Obama wins



NOVEMBER — Barack Hussein Obama was

elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, Nov. 4. History was made as America elected their first black president.

Obama, 47, defeated Republican John McCain, 72, with 365 electoral votes to McCain’s 173.

Obama not only won the presidency, but will be serving over a Democrat controlled House and Senate. This is the first time since 1995 that Democrats will control both houses and the

presidency.

Obama will take over the presidency after a Republican administration he criticized throughout his campaign. He inherits a country in the midst of an economic crisis and a war which he pledged to end.

“The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” said President-Elect Obama during his acceptance speech. “We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.”





Man takes hunter hostage, shot after chase



DECEMBER — A 37-year-old Peggs man was shot by officers after holding a hunter hostage, then exchanging gunfire with law enforcement in December.

Robert Lee Thompson was shot in the groin area and taken by helicopter to St. Francis Hospital.

He was listed in critical condition.

The incident which led to the shooting began Sunday, Dec. 7, when Thompson attempted to run over a Peggs man and shot three arrows at him.

Thompson drove his truck into a wooded area south of Locust Grove, then took a hunter hostage at gunpoint. Thompson let the hunter go, but stole his 4-wheeler. He was located near a smoke shop on Highway 82. When a highway patrol officer arrived, Thompson shot at his vehicle. Several law enforcement officers arrived at the same time and returned fire. Thompson was shot twice. Two Mayes County deputies, a highway patrolman and a Cherokee Nation marshall fired their weapons. Who actually shot Thompson is still being investigated.

Thompson is still in St. Francis Hospital. If he recovers, he’ll be arrested and charged in Mayes County District court.



Ruffin wins

second state title



Pryor’s Kamryn Ruffin became the first Mayes County golfer to win two state titles in the sport. Ruffin won the 4A title in her sophomore year, was runner-up her junior year and won 5A in her senior season.

Ruffin shot a 69 on her final day of the state tournament to beat Bishop Kelley’s Erin Fuchik.

Ruffin now plays for the University of Tulsa golf team and has traveled to tournaments in Florida, North Carolina and Japan in her first semester there.





Beige Roberson wins two

individual titles



Chouteau’s Beige Roberson went out in style, winning two individual track state titles in her final year as a Ladycat.

Roberson won the shot put and discus with throws of 39-05 and 107-09, respectively.

Roberson now is a part of the University of Memphis track and field team.





Adair Lady Warriors finish runner-up



The Adair Lady Warrior softball team finished

runner-up to Washington in the 3A State Softball Tournament in October.

The Lady Warriors came in as the No. 6 seed, but beat No. 3 Little Axe and No. 2 Tahlequah-Sequoyah in the first two days. In the final day, Adair lost to Washington 5-2.





Pryor Tigers

finish 2A

runner-up



The Pryor Tigers 2A American Legion team finished state runner-up in July. The 2A Tigers ended the season 25-4, but lost to Woodward in the finals 2-1. The Travelers were made up of players from northern Texas and

western Oklahoma, while Pryor included only

players from the Pryor High School and Junior High teams.