"Payne Count 3 Oldest
: Since 1890" ,
Judge
Case
750
Bates had a sle on '
fiisfaceMondayaftcr Federal Reserve tries to steal Christmas
Phmi00 Cor00ey
., O.v,,,m°r ro,i0000ous 00o.00ative
lie was facing in Payne I Journal Publisher political organizations
County District Court I Perkins was a buzz last from across the country to Americans."
for alleged violations of [ week, not only with people become involved. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe
the OMahoma Computer
Crimes Acti
If convicted, he could
have been sentenced to
up to 10 years in prison
and been ordered to pay a
$5,000 to $i00,000 fine:
Stillwater Journal
Page A1
4 Wrestlers
Medal At
Kingfisher
Four Perkins-Tryon
High School wrestlers
medaled in their respective
weight classifications
following last weekend's
tournament in Kingfisher.
Page 1
Rural Fire
Subscriptions
Due
Renew your Rural Fire
Subscriptions now.
• $50r year
, covers all rural proper-
ties you own.
• helps the fire depart-
ment purchase new equip-
ment and keep on top of
new fire fighting methods
and techniques.
A fire call can quickly
amounf to thousands of
dollars in expenses.
Get your application at
Perkins City Hall or online
at www.cityofperkins.net.
Got calen( ems?
Emsil them to
news@thejoumalok.com
;.l:e. 25 - Christmas
oay
• Dec. 18, 7 p.m. - Perkin:
Masonic Lodge #92
meeting, 915 E. Kirk.
,Dec. 29, Noon - Perkins
Lions Club meeting,
Holsinger Lions Den
;Dec. 29, 7 p.m, :
- Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA) meeting, Perkins
Lions Den
• Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m.
- Perkins Planning
Commission meeting, Ci
Hall Annex
• Jan. 1 - New Year's Day
finishing up their Christmas
shopping, but with televi-
sion news crews.
Local residents had learned
it wasn't the Grinch trying to
steal Christmas this year, but
the Federal Reserve Bank of
Kansas City.
A week earlier, Federal
Reserve Bank. examiners
had completed a compliance
review at Payne County
Bank. While they found
the bank had not
violated any
of the fed-
eral fair
lending
regula-
tions,
they
instructed
bank
officials to
remove any reli-
gious decoration objects
from the bank's lobby and
teller windows and to also
remove a Bible verse of the
Day from the bank's website.
This included crosses and
personal items employees
had at their work stations.
They also told employees
they couldn't wear buttons
that said, "Merry Christmas,
God With Us."
The examiners told the
banks officers that they
believed the symbols vio-
lated the discouragement
clause of Regulation B of
the fair lending act, stat-
ing, "...the use of words,
symbols, models and other
forms of communication ...
express, imply or suggest a
discriminatory preference
or policy of exclusion." In
other words, a non-Christian
seeing the items might be
discouraged from applying
for credit at the bank.
When officers of Payne
County Bank objected,
they were threatened with
U. S. Department of Justice
action. So they complied.
Soon, local residents
learned of the demands,
and it didn't take long for
INDEX
Church .................. C3
Classifieds .......... B4-B5
Comics .................. B6
Entertainment ...... C2
Farm & Ranch ....... $6
History .................. A5
Obituaries ........... A2
Opinions ........... A4, $4
Public Records .... A2
School .................. A6
Seniors ................. C4
Sports ................. B1 -B4
The banned buttons had
been purchased from the
American Family Associa-
tion (AFA) in Tupelo, Miss.
From this tiny community
more than one million of
the colorful Christmas but-
tons have been sold since
October.
"This is both absurd and
tyrannical." said Tim Wild-
mon, president of AFA.
"Christmas is an official
national holi-
day. Telling
a privately
owned
bank it
show any
mages
Christ
connec-
tion with this
holiday is no
different than tell-
ing the bank it can't show
images of George Washing-
ton and Abraham Lincoln in
connection with President' s
Day.
"For bureaucrats of the
central government to
threaten employees with
prosecution by the Depart-
ment of Justice for exer-
cising their constitutional
rights to freedom of speech
and religion is flatly illegal,
heavy-handed, and sounds
more like something you'd
read about in Communist
China."
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and
U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas also
got involved issuing a joint
letter to Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke
over what the two view as
a "distressing interpretation
of Federal Reserve Regula-
tion B" concerning a bank
in Perkins, Oklahoma.
Lucas said, "The recent
actions taken by the Federal
Reserve at Payne County
Bank are of great concern
to me. I do not agree with
its interpretation of Regula-
tion B in this circumstance
and believe that it infringes
agreed.
"This is an all out assault
on the faith, values, and
rights of the bank, its
employees and the people
of Perkins they serve,"
Inhofe said. "It is abso-
lutely ridiculous for the
regulation to be interpreted
this way, and it unduly
discriminates against a
person's faith in Christ
and their Constitution-
ally protected freedom to
publicly express that faith.
It is simply another case
of liberals in Washington
overstepping their bounds
and intruding in the lives
of individuals. I expect the
Federal Reserve to rectify
this situation quickly."
And the Federal Reserve
See BANK, Page A6
Payne County Bank teller Glennyce Davis shows off one
of the items examiners from the Federal Reserve Bank of
Kansas City tried to ban in the bank's lobby. Public outcry
made the government agency reverse its earlier decision to
ban the religious items. Journal photo by David Sasser
Perkins Fire Department Station 2 is being constructed in northeast Perkins, near the inter-
section of State Highway 33 and Brush Creek Road. Journal photo by David Sasser
Additional
fire station
now under construction
By Cindy Sheets
Contributing Writer
Perkins Fire Department
Station 2 is going up.
The new fire station is being
constructed in northeast Per-
kins, near the intersection of
State Highway 33 and Brush
Creek Road.
Dirt work and a concrete
slab for the new station was
completed several weeks ago
and framing started last week
on the 60xS0-foot building.
Fire Chief Joe Barta said
primary funding for build-
ing materials was provided
by REAP/CDBG grants.
Fire department mem-
bers will provide the labor
to erect the structure, with
some assistance from local
contractors, Barta said.
"That will save us quite a
bit of money on the overall
cost," Barta said. "We hope
to have it fully complete by
April 1.
"Since it's being done with
volunteer labor, it will just
take time to do this."
The station will be large
enough to house five or six
trucks, with three doors exit-
ing to the south and two to
the north. The building will
feature plenty of apparatus
parking, a training room and
a shop area, Barta said.
"This will help alleviate
some crowding [at the Main
Street station]," Barta said.
"The current fire station
building (built in 1985) has
little apparatus storage."
The new station will also
allow plenty of room for
firefighters to maintain their
equipment.
The fire department also
uses another city building
located off Kenworthy Street,
behind Oncue downtown.
The building was enlarged
in 2005. This addition, on
the north side, will continue
to serve the fire department,
but the south side will Wansfer
back to other city agencies.
The new station is being
constructed on a nearly two-
acre parcel of land owned
by Perkins-Tryon School
District. "We obtained it
on a 99-year lease from the
school district," Barta said.
Barta said he hopes the
new station will help Perkins
achieve a lower ISO rating.
"A lower ISO rating translates
into lower insurance rates
for everyone - residential,
commercial, and the school
system," he said. "This will
benefit residents inside and
outside the city limits."
An Insurance Services
Office (ISO) rating for a com-
munity reflects an evaluation
of the community's ability to
fight fires, which primarily
See STATION, Page A3
IIIIJlLI!l!!lll!l! " " -'
