Area COVID-19 cases continue climbing

Lincoln County recorded its ninth COVID-19 related death last week, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported, and the county’s positive cases over the past week has jumped by 31. That put the county’s total at 334 on Tuesday.

New: free meals for all students

The USDA has announced that its school lunch program has been expanded to allow all school students throughout the nation to eat breakfast and lunch free through the end of 2020. Several area school administrators said this includes students attending traditionally and virtually.

Bridge projects in Wellston and Stroud

Construction started Tuesday on the bridge over Captain Creek on SH-66B on the west side of Wellston.

Lincoln County Fair

Payton Miller of Chandler FFA and her hog, Tillie, warming up for the hog show portion of the Lincoln County Fair last week. Tillie was the champion crossbred market hog. The fair ran Thursday though Saturday, with reduced traffic. Results and photos will appear in next week’s edition.

Meeker Homecoming

Meeker holds its annual football homecoming Friday night, with the queen coronation at 6 p.m. at the football field, followed by the Bulldogs playing Bethel at 7 p.m.

Antibodies

Back in January, I felt really bad. Part of it was lingering guilt from eating too much of the coconut cream pie at Christmas, but mostly it felt like a colony of sloths had moved into my chest and head. Coughing, headache, lots of congestion, muscle aches and an overwhelming sense of tiredness.

The joys of taking a trip

I remember the smell of the coffee bean farms during my missions trip to Costa Rica in 2009. The smell was earthy and energizing. I remember the feeling of the sand between my toes at the Dead Sea in Israel in 2018. It felt gritty and exfoliating.

Updates from Meeker Town Hall

1. Update on Meeker Lake “Quapaw 15 Project A. Surveyors are still at the Lake surveying. B. We are still waiting on the lab reports for the soil samples for the dirt to be used for filling on top of the existing dam. 8 1/2’ to 10’ of dirt will be added to the top of the dam. 2.

Kingdom of Heaven

We have the greatest time of all times to learn about God. The King James Version of the Bible has no mistakes. Where it looks like a mistake it is not but when changed to make it read as if it is correct it has become a mistake.

COVID-19 numbers reach 300

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Lincoln County has bumped to the 300 mark this week. In Lincoln and Pottawatomie Counties, the positive numbers combined now stand at 1,175 as of Tuesday, according to the Oklahoma State Department of of Health.