Vol. 126, No. 51
Payne County" Oldest Newspaper Sines
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County Budget Board approves revised salary plan
By Van Mitchell
Journal Staff Writer
The Payne County Budget
Board Monday approved a
revised salary plan for new
employees of the county
Sheriff” 5 department.
‘ Sheriff R B. Hauf presented
the board for a new salary
plan for his department which
stretches his current 10-year
plan to a 20—year plan.
He said the new plan
which would only affect new
employees is designed to pro—
vide a better balance of salary
increases for department
employees who are hired at
the same time.
“It would sure make my
budget process a lot easier
plus fairness in my office
where everybody lmows how
much year to year they will
make,” Hauf said. “It will
keep two employees who
have been here the same time
making the same amount of
money.”
Hauf said the new plan
is designed similar to what
public schools use in level
raises for teachers for each
year of service up to a maxi-
mum point.
Captain Kevin Woodward
said the new plan will provide
a salary balance for new
employees going forward.
“The current salary plan
for the county was basically
a bell curve where it went up
pretty fast at the beginning
and sort of tapered out over
the last years,” Woodward
said. “They don’t get any-
thing anymore other than if
it’s a cost of living increase.
Every year you won’t see a
big difference but you will
see something (with new
salary plan)
In other matters, County
Clerk Glenna Craig updated
board members on the new
federal overtime/compensa-
tion regulations that go into
Perkins Old Settler’s Day
set for Saturday, Sept. 24
By/Van Mitchell
Journal Staff Writer
Perkins will host its annual
fall festival Old Settler’ 5 Day
on Saturday, Sept. 24 starting
at 9 am. with a variety of
activities planned.
Kim Tumham with the
Old Settler’s Day planning
committee said this year’s
theme is “Famous in a Small
Town.”
“We started putting it
together last February,”she
said. “The idea behind Old
Settler’ 5 Day was to celebrate
the beginning of Perkins. The
whole celebration is to bring
I people together to enjoy
the parade and visit with
friends.”
Tumham said the festivities
include the annual parade
istarting at 9 a.m., vendor
alley, a food truck court,
kid’s zone, baking contest
and auction, hot dog eating
contest and a free photo
booth.
She said floats and parade
participants will line up
downtown starting at 8
am. and the parade will
begin along Main Street.
Past parades have included
marching bands, Native
American dress, tractors,
bikes, vehicles, floats, horses
and more.
This year’s parade mar—
shal is Joe McElroy, Per-
kins-Tryon High School
Principal. The 2016 Honored
Citizen is 99—year—old Doris
Clarke who was born in Per—
kins and her parents were part
of the original settlers group
in town. Her father provided
Frank Eaton (Pistol Pete) a
horse in later years.
Tumham said the Per-
kins-Tryon FFA will host a
dunk tank and baked item
sale.
“The FFA uses the money
raised to send kids to nation-
als,” she said.
Tumham said there will
also be a children’s covered
wagon obstacle race and
adults can enjoy Vendor
Alley, which is filled with
handmade items and unique
crafts. A variety of food
trucks will also be available.
The Old Settler’s Day main
stage entertainment will be
provided by Marty Tipton
who is better known as The
Oklahoma Kid. He will be
performing at 10 am. fol-
lowing the parade.
“The Oklahoma Kid is our
entertainment this year,”
Turnham said. “He is a
4. comedian and isnIQDSF'W-hg. ‘
will do a variety of'ropifigu...‘
trio 9’
Man arraigned on shooting charge
By Patti Weaver
Journal Correspondent
A 62-year-old landowner
was arraigned Monday on a
. felony charge accusing him
of using a Colt .38-caliber
revolver to shoot a 37-year-
old Spencer man on his
property east of Perkins in
the 4900 block of E. 122nd
five months ago.
p Payne County Assistant
District Attorney Tom Lee
filed an assault and battery
with a dangerous weapon
charge on Friday against
Raymond Scott Sewell in
the wounding of Micheal
:L'ynn Webb, court records
show.
Webb was shot in the
back about 10:15 am. on
April 16 and found lying
on the ground, according to
a Payne County Sheriff’s
Department report released
to the Journal.
Webb Was in critical con-
dition when he was taken to
the University of Oklahoma
Medical Center in Okla—
homa City, the report said.
“Webb previously lived
on the property in a camper.
Sewell had moved him out,”
Payne County Sheriff’s
Captain Kevin Woodward
told the Journal at the time
of the shooting.
A neighbor called 911
after the victim was shot, the
sheriff’s captain said.
“Deputies were advised
that an individual had been
shot in the back,” Deputy
Justin Henninger wrote in
a report.
“The suspect advised that
the victim had been warned
to stay off of the property.
“According to the suspect,
the victim has threatened the
shooter in the past numerous
times to cause great bodily
harm to him.
“The suspect informed
deputies that the victim
came towards the suspect.
“The suspect ordered the
b SEWELL, Page A4
effect Dec. 1.
“If you have any employ—
ees‘that make less than
$47,476 a year that are over-
time exempt they can no
longer be overtime exempt,”
Craig said. “You need to give
them either no overtime .or
we need to talk as a board
about, adjusting our salary
plan for employees.”
Craig said if raises are
given then those departments
would have to'have their
annual estimate of needs
revised.
The budget board also
discussed the upcoming elec-
tions to renew the county’s
3/8th sales tax on Feb. 14
and extending the county’s
1/ 16th sales tax April 4 from
five years to 10 years.
The 3/8th sales tax revenue
goes in part towards roads
and bridges, rural fire depart-
ments and the operations
of the Payne County Expo
Center and Payne County
Extension Center. The 1/ 16th
sales tax also benefits the
county’s rural fire depart—
ments.
“Last year our 3/8th’ 3 sales
tax was down 11 percent,”
Craig said. “If we keep on
this trend and it stays down
that is going to change the
operations of Payne County.
I would encourage you to be
talking to people in the com—
munity. We are going to have
to start a campaign to show
people the benefits of our
sales taxes and what it does
for the county. If these don’t
pass it will be detrimental for
Payne County.”
County lowers speed on Boomer Rd.
By Van Mitchell
Journal Staff Writer
The Payne County
Commissioners Monday
approved several traffic
sign resolutions aimed at
helping reduce speed and
improve safety near Cen—
tral Rural Electric Cooper-
ative’s new headquarters.
The Commission
approved resolutions for
adding a four-way stop at
32nd and Boomer Road,
setting the speed limit to 30
miles per hour on Boomer
Road from 32nd Street to
State Highway 177 and
setting the speed limit
to 30 miles per hour on
32nd from Boomer Road
to State Highway 177 and
a pedestrian crosswalk on
Boomer Road at CREC.
“We are trying to slow
traffic down because of
Central Electric’s new-
facility,” said Board
Chairman Kent Bradley.
“They are going back and
forth across the road there
on South Boomer. This
helps out with safety.”
In other matters, the
Commission tabled
naming new members to
the Yale’s EMS Board
for District 1 until its next
meeting.
District 1 Commissioner
Zach Cavett read off the
names of the people who
have applied for the board
and their qualifications.
“They want to be helping
the community,” Cavett
said.
Bradley announced for the
month of August the Payne
County Sheriff’s Depart—
ment spent $23,911.05 for
food and the August 3/8th
sales tax collection was
$339,313.84.
“That is dowu seven
percent from the previous
year,” he said.
C ulpepper Merriweaiher Circus
returning to Perkins Sept. 22
Thanks to the sponsorship
of The Perkins Lions Club,
the Culpepper & Merri—
weather Circus is returning
to Perkins on Thursday,
Sept. 22, with two sched-
uled performances at 5 and
7:30 pm. next to Oklahoma
Territorial Plaza on Perkins
Main Street.
TOSU hits record enronth on Stillwater campus
Following a regularly
scheduled OSU/A&M Board
of Regents meeting Friday,
Sept. 9, 2016, Oklahoma
State University released the
final enrollment numbers for
fall 2016.
Undergraduate enroll-
_.ment on the OSU—Stillwater
campus reached 20,277 up
-70 from last fall and an all-
»time high for the Stillwater
campus. In addition,the total
undergraduate enrollment for
Stillwater/Tulsa is also up
slightly to an all-time high
-of 21,093 ,
Total enrollment for
(OSU-Stillwater is 24,387
and total enrollment for
OSU-Stillwater/Tulsa is
25,594. Both are down from
a year ago due to a decline in
graduate student enrollment.
This year’s enrollment fig-
ures include the third largest
freshman class in OSU his-
tory of 4,156, down slightly
from last year’s freshman
class of 4,177. Here are few
other facts about the 2016—17
freshman class:
0 65% from Oklahoma
0 29.4% are minorities
- 29.2% have an ACT of 27
or higher
0 16.1% have a 4.0 high
school GPA
0 25.4% were in the top 10%
of their high school graduat-
ing class
0 16.2% percent are first-gen-
eration college students
0 45 different states are rep-
resented
In other action at Fri—
day’s board meeting, Selser
Schaefer Architect of Tulsa
was selected as the archi-
tect and Lippert Bros of
Oklahoma City was selected
as the construction man-
ager for the new Unmanned
Systems Research Institute/
Unmanned Systems Devel-
opment Center Building to
be located in the Oklahoma
Technology and Research
Park west of the main OSU
campus in Stillwater.
The current facility is
located northeast of campus
and is outdated. The new
building will be a high profile
facility for advanced test-
ing and research, as well as
enhanced outreach.
Several Oklahoma State
University personnel actions
were approved during
the OSU/A&M Board of
Regents meeting Friday in
Stillwater.
APPOINTMENTS:Justin
Crosswhite, clinical instruc-
tor, animal science; Mellissa
Crosswhite, clinical instruc-
tor, animal science; Phuong
Nguyen, assistant professor,
biochemistry and molecular
biology; Misha Manuchehri,
assistant professor, plant
and soil sciences; Lisa
Malone, assistant professor,
art, graphic design and art
history; Jeanne Bolliger,
assistant professor, chem-
} OSU, Page A4
Now in its 32th edition,
Culpepper & Merriweather
Circus has become interna-
tionally known for quality
family entertainment. This
authentic one-ring, big top
circus has been featured
on National Geograph-
ic’s Explorer TV series,
Entertainment Tonight, The
Los Angeles Times, The
Chicago Tribune, Arizona
Highways Magazine. It has
also been featured on the
A&E Special: Under the
Big Top and most recently,
On the Road with Circus
Kids, a Nickelodeon special
featured on the Nick News
Program.
Bring your friends and
family out circus morning
to watch as a vacant lot
on Perkins Main Street is
transformed into a bus—
tling circus city. Between
9:30 and 10 am. watch the
raising of the big top, then
stay for the free tour. This
presentation offers a unique
face—to-face opportunity for
families, schools, and inter-
ested community members
to meet and learn all about
the Culpepper & Merri-
:weather Circus family and
includes a walking tour of
the circus grounds. >
Activity swirls around
the grounds as animals
are unloaded, the big top
is erected, and riggingis
prepared for performances
later in the day. Enjoy the
magic and tradition of the
American circus with your
family and create memories
that will last a lifetime.
Learn interesting facts
about the performers, the
history of the show and the
different species of anirnais
in the circus family.
On circus day, the per-
formers bring the magic
of the circus to life in each
90—minute performance.
This year’s lineup
includes an all—star group
of performers and enter-
tainers that include: Miss
Simone and her breath
taking single trapeze, Miss
Paulina’s proud “ Big &
Little” prancing ponies,
The Arlise Troupe on their
wild and crazy unicycles,
Natalie’s American Eskimo
Escapades, and back by
b CIRCUS, Page A4
meme ' Ctassitéeds ass 5 Comics was? 3 History >A6 l Obituaries ma
1 Gpinions M4 1 Public Records M3
T No Softball District For P—T
By virtue oftheir No.2 ranking, the P—TLady Demons
Will notplay in a district tournament next week according
to the post-season assignments released by the OSSAA.’
Sparks 3* 81
raw '
What to watch
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trivia, and horoscopes.
Television Guide Inside
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