May 16, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

Two free tickets to the Oklahoma City Zoo await each blood donor at a Clinton blood drive with Oklahoma Blood Institute and sponsored by AllianceHealth Clinton Hospital.

Anyone 16-years or older and healthy is urged to save local lives by donating Tuesday from noon until 6 pm in the Family Life Center at First Christian Church in Clinton. The church is located at 111 South 28^th Street.

Donors experience the satisfaction of saving as many as three people’s lives and will each receive a voucher that’s redeemable for two admissions to the zoo along with a free T-shirt featuring the zoo’s lively otters.

OBI President and CEO John Armitage reminds donors that summer is a time for fun including visits to the zoo, but first, donors can ease concerns for those in our area who rely on blood by taking just an hour to give.

He says health screenings and donor rewards points – redeemable in OBI’s online store – are also provided to donors and donations can be made every 56 days.

OBI is the ninth largest, non-profit blood center in America, providing every drop of blood needed by patients in 154 state medical facilities including hospitals throughout Paragon Communications listening area.

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May 13, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

Beckham County Sheriff Scott Jay’s name will be on the upcoming election ballot even though the sheriff has dropped from the race.

According to Beckham County Election Board Secretary Deidre O’Briant, Jay dropped out of the race after a deadline to withdraw in order to eliminate names of candidates from the ballot. That deadline came and went – and – in essence, the ballots have already been sent to the printers.

O’Briant says the deadline to withdraw from the Primary election was 5 pm, on Tuesday, April 19.

She says, at this point in the election process, if any candidate decides to cease his/her campaign and no longer desires to be elected, it is up to him or her to announce the decision.

Ballots for the June 28 Primary have already been printed and won’t be reprinted.

O’Briant also reminds voters that there won’t be a Democratic Primary in Beckham County because there are no Democratic candidates and that only registered Republicans are eligible to vote in the Republican Primary.

She also says the newly organized Libertarian Party will have a Primary, however, once again, only registered Libertarians are eligible to vote with this exception- the Libertarian Party has granted registered Independent voters permission to vote in their party’s Primary.

Independent voters who wish to do so will need to make their intent known to precinct officials at the polls on election day.

Besides the Republican Primary on June 28, the City of Sayre will hold a special election on June 28, presenting one proposition to voters who are registered at an address located within the municipal limits of Sayre. This is a non-partisan election, so party affiliation is not a factor.

But, as for votes for current Sheriff Scott Jay, they’ll be counted, even though he announced last week he’s not interested in another term as sheriff.

Former Oklahoma Highway Patrolman and former Elk City newspaper man Derek Manning is running against Barry Don Gowdy for Beckham County Sheriff.   The race will be decided on the 28^th and there’ll be no need for a fall campaign or election since they’re both Republicans.

Additionally, Desiree Brown is facing Frank Lucas for US Representative, District 3 on the Republican ticket and Robert T. Murphy is facing Dax Ewbank for United States Senator on the Libertarian ticket. These two races will also be on the June 28 ballot.

Next Tuesday – on the Texas side of the state line – Wheeler County, Texas voters will be going to the polls to elect a Wheeler County Sheriff.

The run-off election for the sheriff’s position will be held Tuesday, May 24 as incumbent Sheriff Wes Crites is facing Jimmy W. Adams for the job.

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May 13, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

Three people are recuperating in two different Oklahoma City hospitals in two separate motor vehicle accidents.

A 58-year-old Weatherford motorcyclist is in serious condition this (afternoon) after being air transported from the scene of the accident in Custer County on Saturday afternoon.

Robert Dwayne Runnels was westbound on State Highway 33 when his 2003 Harley Davidson took a curve at a high rate of speed and exited the roadway, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

The motorcycle struck a ditch and slide on its side for about 275 feet before coming to rest. The condition of the rider was reported to be apparently normal at the time of the accident which was about 2:32 pm on Saturday, about three-miles east of Thomas.

A head-on collision sent the other two victims to Oklahoma City hospitals.

64-year-old Alan Lavern Berry of Cordell is reported to be in good condition and 27-year-old Trapper Odell Fish of Blanchard is in fair condition.

The OHP report says Fish was eastbound on State Highway 152 about five-miles southwest of Colony when his vehicle was left of center going over a hillcrest prior to impacting Berry’s vehicle. Both were in pickups at the time of the collision.

The impact occurred on the left front to the left front bumpers of both vehicles.

Fish was pinned for about 35 minutes and Berry for about 55 minutes before each were extricated and flown from the scene of the accident.

Both men were wearing seatbelts.

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May 17, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

Blood donors will truly be winners at several area casinos this week as a total of eleven Oklahoma casinos are teaming up to support Oklahoma Blood Institute.

The goal of the various blood drives over the next four days is to exceed 500 blood donations collectively to save local patient’s lives. Additionally, each blood donor will receive a voucher for $10 casino play after giving.

In addition, those who donate will also get a voucher for two admissions to the Oklahoma City Zoo and a “You Otter Give Blood” T-shirt featuring the zoo’s lively otters.

Anyone 16-years or older and healthy is urged to save local lives by donating at three of the casinos that are in the Western Oklahoma area.

On Thursday, a drive will be in Hinton at the Sugar Creek Casino and the other one in Clinton at the Lucky Star Casino.

Then, on Saturday, a third local drive will held in Hinton at the Casino Oklahoma.

All three drives will run from 1 to 6 pm.

OBI President and CEO John Armitage says through this unified initiative, the area casinos’ commitment to saving lives is evident and could come at a better time. He says without help through the Memorial Day holiday, the local blood supply could be in jeopardy.

OBI is the ninth largest, non-profit blood center in America, providing every drop of blood needed by patients in 158 state medical facilities including hospitals throughout Paragon Communications listening area.

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May 17, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

An Elk City man has pleaded guilty to charges of possession of Methamphetamine on two, different occasions and been sentenced.

31-year-old Joe Bill Rogers was arrested in September of 2015 and again a month later, in October by Elk City Police. Each time, he told the arresting officer that he’d been smoking the controlled, dangerous substance.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Rogers was found on September 8, 2015 with a syringe in his hand while Elk City Police were executing a “domestic standby” at a home near 11000 North 2020. One of the residents of the home had previously pointed out to police a small baggie containing a white substance and then told officers that the “rest of the kit was in the bedroom.”

There, they found another syringe, spoon and torch lighter under the corner of the bed.

Then, about five weeks later on October 16, police were called to the 1800 block of West 7^th Street in reference to removing a subject from the property.  Inside the home, Rogers was found next to a clear plastic baggy lying on a couch containing a white crystal substance that appeared to officers to be meth.  When asked, Rogers said he’d forgotten about it and that he’d smoke meth earlier.

The police report at the time of the incident says Rogers was talking about people that were not there and was asking about his wife who he claimed was seated next to him. At the police department, Rogers was unable to complete the booking process due to his intoxication level so he was placed into the detox cell to be processed later.

In both cases, the crystal substance tested positive for Meth.

Last week, Rogers was given a deferred 5-year sentence on both possession of meth charges – to serve concurrently – with all but 72 days suspended and with credit for time served.

He was additionally ordered to attend 2 Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings each week and supervised probation by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

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May 17, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

Investigators have many more questions than answers right now following a one car/pedestrian accident that claimed the lives of two people in Mangum, a grandmother and her 1-year-old granddaughter.

Mangum Police are still trying to identify the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed 59-year-old Wanda M. Perry and granddaughter Aniya Jade Perry Monday night. According to witnesses, the accident happened around 9:15, just before a heavy thunderstorm moved through Greer County.

By the time police arrived at the scene of the accident, no one was found in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and it’s still unclear how many passengers were in the car.

According to the Mangum Star-News, the accident happened near the corner of South Louis Tittle and Johnson and the car that was involved was a blue, Pontiac Aztec that had been traveling south on Louis Tittle. The newspaper article says the car drove off the right side of the road for an unknown reason traveling about a block.  At one point, the car hit a small flatbed trailer, knocking it into a pickup truck, knocking the truck into a yard and then striking three other parked vehicles.

After hitting the vehicles, it continued across a yard where it struck and killed Perry and her granddaughter. From there, the Pontiac continued in a southeast direction where it hit a tree.

So far, no one has been arrested, but Police Chief Scott Paxton says the investigation is continuing and he hopes to soon know more.

The ensuing thunderstorm hampered last night’s physical investigation.

According to a Facebook account asking for financial contributions for funeral services, the two Perry’s were walking, hand in hand, when they were struck by a vehicle.

The Facebook pages say family friends have set up a “GoFundMe” account as well as an account at Stockman’s Bank in Mangum to help pay for funeral services. The friends are asking for funeral expenses in lieu of flowers.

Services are being planned by Fails Funeral Home in Mangum where they are pending at this time.

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April 6, 2016

By Paul Joseph, Paragon Communications News Director –

A Clinton man who shot himself by accident has been arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at others.

According to a story in the Clinton Daily News, 27-year-old Mikel Alex Salinas shot himself in the wrist recently, but was later arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at his three of his neighbors.

When officers went to handcuff him last Saturday, Salinas still had the bandages on from the self-shooting.

Detective Captain Mike Murley of the Clinton Police Department says police were called about 12:15 Saturday morning to an alley in the 500 block of South 11^th Street.  When officers arrived, they met with neighbors who pointed to a nearby yard and said two men there had a gun.  The men had an argument with the neighbors.  One went to his residence and then returned to the alley with what was described as a black handgun and allegedly pointed the gun at all three neighbors.  That man has been identified as Salinas.

When one of the neighbors told Salinas they were going to call the police, Salinas allegedly went back to the yard he had come from and hid the gun.

The other man with Salinas was reported to be his Salinas’ brother and the two had been working on a pickup when the verbal altercation started.

Murley says no shots were ever fired and no one was injured.

Salinas is due in court on May 13 on the charge of feloniously pointing a firearm for a preliminary hearing conference.

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May 18, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

This weekend is forecast to be light on precipitation and heavy on street racing in Sayre.

Race fans should be thrilled with the upcoming appearance of Street Outlaw, Chris Day, better known as Kamikaze, as he makes his debut in Sayre with his car “The Elco”.

Kamikaze will set up in downtown Sayre Friday night, May 20^th, at 6:00 pm during the Pre-Party Cruise-In with merchandise and for pictures with the fans.

Fans are invited downtown to check out race and classic cars and trucks and enjoy food vendors and burn outs in the Burn-Out Zone on south 4th Street.

According to Sayre Chamber of Commerce Director Belinda Graham, Sayre Street Race merchandise and advance tickets for the Saturday night race will be available at Tenacious T’s on East Main Street and several retail stores will stay open late for attendees to get in a little shopping.

Graham says it will be Kamikaze’s debut to the event and he’ll not only be at the Cruise in Friday night, but at the races Saturday night, too, in order to do some grudge racing.

Graham says the Chamber has a dedicated website just for the street races. It’s www.sayrestreetraces.com.

Graham says, in addition, Charles “Sleeves” Cimino recently called the Chamber and asked if he could come up this weekend. Sleeves is on the popular show “Fast-n-Loud,” which is filmed in the world famous Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, will additionally be set up for autographs and have Gas Monkey Garage apparel for purchase.

Gates open at 3:00 pm on Saturday night, the 21st, and racing will begin at 6:00 with Junior Dragsters starting at 5:00 pm.

Races will run until Midnight and admission is $10 for adults, kids age 6 to 13 are $5.00, kids 5 & under are free.

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May 18, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

An Elk City man has pleaded no contest to the strangulation of an ex-girlfriend.

24-year old Shane Joseph Gawlik appeared in court recently on a charge of domestic assault and battery by strangulation and was sentenced by Associate District Judge Michelle Roper to 3-years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. He was ordered to serve six months with 2.5 years suspended and with credit for time served since March 30, 2016.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Elk City Police were called to a possible vandalism case at a home in the 900 block of West Avenue B where officers met with a man and woman. The two told police there were “having problems with Gawlik.”  The woman, who is the mother of one of Gawlik’s children, told police Gawlik had slapped her in the right eye, hit her in the back of the head a number of times and had pinned her against a bed, choking her.

Gawlik was charged with the crime a month later, on August14, 2015 when his bond was set at $5-thousand dollars and he was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

Gawlik forfeited the $5-thousand dollar bond earlier this year when he failed to appear for a March 15 court date. His bond was doubled at that time.

Later and according to online court records, during a March 31 court hearing, Gawlik was belligerent and cursed at the court. Following the outburst, he found his bond substantially increased to $100-thousand dollars.

On May 5, he pleaded no contest to the charge of strangulation and malicious injury to property under $1-thousand dollars and at the same time – for a different crime, pled guilty on a criminal misdemeanor charge of malicious injury to property under $1-thousand dollars, petit larceny and harassing and threatening electronic communication.

Gawlik’s additionally facing a motion to revoke an earlier suspended sentence on a 2012 charge of burglary in the 2^nd degree and taking or receiving a stolen credit card.

May 18, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

Bond has been reduced for an accused drug trafficker traveling through the area on the interstate.

22-year-old Marco A. Cabrera-Arreola of Fayetteville, Arkansas is in the Beckham County Detention Center on $20-thousand dollars bond, charged with several felonies. His bond was initially set at $700-thousand dollars but was lowered following his recent initial appearance in court.

According to a probable cause affidavit, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper checked Cabrera-Arreola’s 1998 Ford Explorer at 77-miles an hour in a 70-mile and hour zone on Tuesday, May 3. Cabrera-Arreola told the trooper he was headed to Fayetteville to both visit his dad and work construction with him.

The trooper wrote in the affidavit that as Cabrera-Arreola was walking from his vehicle to the trooper’s vehicle, Cabrera-Arreola checked his pocket as though he might have been checking if he had a weapon.

As the trooper was giving him a warning ticket, he noticed Cabrera-Arreola appeared to be nervous and talking very fast and that his voice would crack while his hands were shaking. He told the trooper that he didn’t know of anything illegal in his car, but that the trooper could check it.

A search of his Explorer allegedly turned up a clear, plastic bag with two plastic baggies with several white powdery rocks. Also allegedly found were a loaded, Llama 380 pistol, a digital scale and another plastic bag containing crystal rocks.

Cabrera-Arreola was cuffed and taken to jail.

The white powdery substance field tested positive for cocaine and the crystal rocks tested positive for Methamphetamine.

Cabrera-Arreola is awaiting a preliminary hearing in District Court on July 19.

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May 19, 2016

By Paul Joseph, Paragon Communications News Director –

Felony charges have been dismissed against two of the three semi drivers that were first charged with road rage in a January incident on the interstate.

The three were initially held on $5-thousand dollar bonds each following the felony incident on Wednesday, January 25half way between Clinton and Weatherford.

Charges have been dismissed with prejudice against 61-year-old Ward Edward Swart, Senior from Bloomville, New York and dismissed with prejudice against 69-year-old Eric Chiles Irwin of Salem, Illinois.

Swart was originally charged with planning or attempting to perform an act of violence while Irwin was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

According to online law definitions, the phrase “dismissal with prejudice,” in which the plaintiff is barred from filing another case on the same claim, is a final judgment.

According to a probable cause affidavit and Custer County Undersheriff Kenneth Tidwell, one trucker cut off another one, threats were made over a CB radio and injuries sustained when they stopped on the shoulder of the road to discuss their differences.

One trucker allegedly exited his semi cab with a ballpeen hammer and another with a “cheater bar,” an improvised breaker bar typically made from a length of pipe and a wrench.

At least one trucker was hit in the head and taken by the sheriff to a local hospital and later treated and released. One semi left the scene of the fight, but stopped later at the Weatherford Police Department where the driver was detained until arrested and taken to the Custer County Jail.

59-year-old Dominick H. Gevara of Sacramento, California still faces a criminal felony charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

He’s due in court for formal arraignment next Monday in Custer County District Court.

According to online court records, no information is available regarding the dismissal of the charges.

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May 19, 2016

By Paragon News Intern Jami Butcher  –

Two Wisconsin women have each been sentenced to four years in prison for trafficking illegal drugs through Western Oklahoma.

40-year-old Melinda Brock and 31-year-old Nicole Anderson, both from Milwaukee, pleaded guilty and were sentenced on May 5th.

In July of 2015, Brock and Anderson were stopped by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on Interstate 40 about two miles east of Erick in Beckham County. During the stop, nearly 500 pounds of raw marijuana were confiscated from their vehicle.

While speaking to Brock, Patrol Trooper Brandon Bussey could smell the marijuana and went on to conduct a search of the vehicle. The trooper found 273 bundles of marijuana that weighed almost 500 pounds.

According to the affidavit, the two women were initially pulled over for driving five miles an hour over the speed limit.

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May 19, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

A Lawton man has been arrested in the pedestrian deaths of two people from Mangum, a grandmother and a granddaughter.

40-year-old Auntra Lawan Edmonds is in jail in Norman where he was arrested for the crime. He’s being charged with two counts of 1^st degree manslaughter in the deaths of 59-year-old Wanda M. Perry and one year old Aniya Jade Perry who were struck and killed Monday night on a city street in Mangum.

Police believe it was Edmonds who was driving a blue, Pontiac Aztec south on XX Louis Tittle just before a thunderstorm went through Greer County.  However, when police arrived on the scene, no one was in the front seat of the vehicle.

Mangum Police Chief Scott Paxton says through collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, Edmonds was found and arrested Wednesday night at an apartment complex in Norman.

Paxton says Edmonds arrest was made through tips given to investigators.

According to a probable cause affidavit, witnesses say they heard a loud crash and went to observe. Later they told police they saw a blue, Pontiac Aztec traveling south on Louis Tittle.  It drove off the right side of the road for an unknown reason traveling about a block.  At one point, the car hit a small flatbed trailer, knocking it into a pickup truck, knocking the truck into a yard and then striking three other parked vehicles.

After hitting the vehicles, it continued across a yard where it struck and killed Perry and her granddaughter. From there, the Pontiac continued in a southeast direction where it hit a fire hydrant and finally a tree.

Witnesses then ran to the driver’s door of the vehicle and spoke to a man with a blue T-shirt and facial hair who asked if the people he hit were okay. The court document says officers on the scene retrieved a driver’s license allegedly belonging to the driver who stuck the pedestrians.  It was later shown to the witness who confirmed that the picture on the driver’s license matched the individual with whom they had spoken.

The court document also says that the alleged driver was removed from the rear seat of the vehicle by Emergency Medical Service attendees and attended to as was another passenger who was removed from the vehicle. Both were transported for medical treatment.

According to the probable cause affidavit, EMS personnel advised that there was an odor about the alleged driver like that normally associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages and multiple alcoholic beverage containers were alleged to be in plain view in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

Paxton says the accident is still under investigation and can’t discuss how many people were in the car, but – according to Paxton, Edmonds was there. Earlier reports indicated that Edmonds may have fled the scene.

Edmonds was booked into the Cleveland County jail. He’ll be picked up by the Mangum Police Department and taken to an undisclosed location to be held until his arraignment.  His bond is set at $2-million.

According to a Facebook account asking for financial contributions for funeral services, the two Perry’s were walking, hand in hand, when they were struck by a vehicle.

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May 20, 2016

By Paragon News Intern Jami Butcher  –

A third drug interdiction along Interstate 40 on the Texas side in the last two weeks has netted another large bust near Conway, Texas. Once again.

Wednesday afternoon’s arrest resulted in the seizure of well over half-a-million dollars of marijuana. Wednesday’s traffic stop and arrest follows one a day earlier on the interstate where the Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper seized $4.3 million dollars in drugs, also near Conway, Texas.

Not very popular with many Texans, the town of about 20 people has become popular with law enforcement as it’s become known as the drug seizure capital of the Texas Panhandle of not all of Texas. The section of Interstate 40 is only about two miles long with the Conway exit right in the middle.  It’s comprised of a gentle cure on its east end and a gentle curve on its west end, as it travels in an east/west destination.  It’s almost half way between the Oklahoma state line and Amarillo.

A spokesperson for the department says there’s nothing special about that particular section of the interstate.

The two large drug arrests this week follow one a week earlier, on the same section of interstate. On Tuesday, May 10, a trooper stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation and ended up seizing more than four pounds of Methamphetamine, valued at approximately $350-thousand dollars.

Trooper Cindy Barkley says these troopers are highly trained and know what to look for. She says it always starts out, however, as a simple as a minor traffic stop for a burned out tail light or speeding of a few miles over the speed limit.

On Tuesday, the 10^th, 45-year-old Candy Crandall of Fort Smith, Arkansas was arrested and booked into the Carson County jail after a 10 am traffic stop when troopers allegedly discovered four plastic-wrapped packages of meth inside a trash bag.

On Tuesday, the 17^th, 32-year-old Pelaga Malakatas of Bellport, New York was booked into the Carson County jail after a 2 pm traffic stop when the highway patrol trooper allegedly found 11 tape-wrapped packages of heroin underneath the floor of a Dodge van.

And the next day, Wednesday, 35-year-old Camren Weigand of Portland, Oregon was booked into the Carson County jail after a 2 pm traffic stop when the trooper allegedly discovered several vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana in two large wooden boxes in a different Dodge van.

But what is it about Conway and that section? Barkley says she’s not sure, but knows that the troopers that patrol the section are some of the best.

Each of the three suspects was arrested for felony possession of a controlled, dangerous substance. The drugs were headed to Fort Smith, Medford, New York and Kentucky, respectively.

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May 12, 2016

by Paragon News Director, Paul Joseph

Bond has been denied for a Sayre man recently charged with several felonies including 1^st degree manslaughter.

22-year-old Waylon Lee Wisdom is in the Beckham County Detention Center and has been since he was arrested in the shooting death of 34-year-old Darren Austin Drake, also of Sayre. Drake died earlier this month from a gunshot wound to the middle of his back and was found by police lying in the doorway of a home in the 1500 block of North 3^rd Street in Sayre.

According to a probable cause affidavit, during an interview with Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Danny Sanders, Wisdom told Sanders that he and Drake had been fighting and Wisdom allegedly stated that he shot Drake around 8 feet away from him as he turned toward the door.

Besides manslaughter, Wisdom has also been charged with robbery with a weapon and possession of a firearm after being adjudicated as a juvenile in 2008 on a felony second degree burglary charge in Beckham County.

The robbery charge was for allegedly stealing a sub-compact .45 caliber Lama handgun from Jeorge Gladden, also of Sayre. The .45 was not the gun used in the shooting of Drake, but was allegedly stolen from Gladden as part of the circumstances surrounding the Drake shooting.

Wisdom allegedly told Sanders that he’d been approached at his home by four men The four ended up in the backyard of the home on 3^rd street.  One, Drake, had pulled a gun on him while asking Wisdom about the Lama handgun that Wisdom had taken.  The two men fought over the gun and Wisdom said he was able to take the weapon away from Drake who then ran into the house through the back door with Wisdom following him.

Wisdom told Sanders he was going to unload the gun and give it back to Drake, but when Drake heard the magazine come out of the gun, he turned and came at Wisdom. Wisdom put the magazine back into the gun and Drake turned toward the door.  That’s when Wisdom allegedly shot Drake.

The manslaughter charge alleges that Drake was shot with a .45 caliber 1911 handgun without “premeditated design to effect death and in the heat of passion.”

Wisdom is due in court for a preliminary hearing on July 26.

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May 20, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph  –

A Shawnee man is in stable condition in an Oklahoma City hospital following a motorcycle accident on the interstate.

49-year-old Charles Leslie Leblanc was air transported from the scene of the accident near the Burns Flat exit following the wreck Friday morning.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol report, Leblanc was apparently sleepy when his 2001 Harley Davidson departed the roadway to the left and overturned 1-1/4 times, landing in the center median.

Leblanc was admitted to OU Medical Center with head and arm injuries in the wreck that happened about 10:12 am, just east of the 53 mile marker in the east bound lane in Washita County.

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May 23, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is looking for input on a new Interstate 40 interchange in Clinton.

ODOT engineers are going to roll out concept designs for several different ideas at a public meeting tomorrow night and are encouraging public comments from citizens of the area about what they want to see in the new loop.

A new interchange near K-mart was placed on the ODOT eight-year plan last September after years of wishful requests that the transportation department provide eastbound travelers with an opportunity to “pop back onto” the interstate after stopping for an ice cream cone at Braums or any other retail outlets in the area. Without a lot of grumbling, it can’t be done.

Division Engineer for ODOT’s District 5, Brian Olmquist, says Clinton citizens will get their first look at the possible designs for the future interchange during the public meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at the Frisco Center.

Olmquist says the different concepts developed by Poe for traffic flow through the interchange will include suggested changes north of the interstate along Gary Boulevard, where it intersects with Lexington and Oliver avenues and Red Wheat Drive. According to numerous reports, that intersection has been one of the area’s most frequent sites for traffic accidents.

Olmquist says after the comment phase, ODOT will approve a design and get it added to the department’s 8-year-plan.

One good thing about the project is that an interchange already exists meaning that a lot of time, effort and money won’t have to be expended on purchasing right-of-way land for a large project as this. This way, most of the department’s money can be used on actual construction.

Still, Olmquist says, there’s no guarantee when the interchange can be built. He says this won’t necessarily move actual construction up from 8 years to five years.

The new interchange was placed on ODOT’s 8-year plan in September last year while engineering architects, Poe and Accosiates were picked by ODOT a year ago this month to conduct a feasibility study addressing the pressing changes needed at the location on I-40.

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May 23, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –

A Cordell man was found dead in a Washita County jail cell over the weekend.

60-year-old Max Lynn Stotts was to appear today in district court with his attorney on a criminal misdemeanor charge of violating a protective order but was found unresponsive about 11 pm, Friday night in his cell.

According to Sheriff Roger Reeve, Cordell EMS was paged out at 11:03 pm, Cordell Fire Department arrived at 11:07 and performed CPR, Cordell EMS arrived at 11:11 pm and transported Stotts to Cordell Memorial Hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

Stotts body has been transported to Oklahoma City for autopsy by the state medical examiner.

Stotts was arrested by Cordell Police Department last Wednesday on the protective order violation and was being housed in a cell by himself in the booking area, according to Reeve.

The Medical Examiner Investigator left Cordell shortly after 4:00 am Saturday morning.

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May 23, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph  –

One man is in critical condition while another is dead in separate weekend car accidents.

29-year-old Coray Hughes of Elk City is in an Oklahoma City hospital after being hit by a 2000 GMC pickup on Friday night about 9:16 pm on a county road.

Hughes is still in critical condition in OU Medical Center after being hit as he was walking in the lane of traffic, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

24-year-old Tanner Dearing of Elk City was driving the GMC eastbound on the road about a mile west of Elk City in Beckham County when the accident occurred.

A 38-year-old Garden City, Kansas man is dead after a one-vehicle accident yesterday afternoon in Hemphill County, Texas.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Oscar Garcia was traveling north on US Highway 83 about eight miles south of Canadian when a falling tree landed on top of Garcia’s vehicle causing his death.

According to a highway patrol spokesperson, it’s still being determined if high winds in the area was the cause of the falling tree.

The accident occurred just after 3 pm, Sunday.

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May 23, 2016

By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph  –

A Greer County man has been arrested in the 2015 death of a woman with whom he lived.

Special agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation along with Greer County Sheriff’s Deputies Monday afternoon arrested 50-year-old Dusty Earl Grossman. He was arrested at the sheriff’s office in Mangum for the murder of 51-year-old Carla Pursley of Willow and has been charged with murder in the first degree – deliberate intent.

According to an OSBI news release, on July 25 of last year, Pursley was found unresponsive in the home she shared with Grossman at 108 South Steep in Willow.

Medical personnel transported Pursley to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. At the time of the death, Grossman told authorities Pursley’s health had declined to the point she needed constant care and her mental capacity had diminished greatly.

An autopsy performed by the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner determined Pursley was a homicide victim and died from asphyxiation.

She was also found to have numerous contusions on her abdomen, pelvis, and left thigh; doctors found ligature marks on her right wrist and both ankles.

Bond has been denied.

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