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The Ledger/LCJ blog 2-21-2023

Hello and welcome to the Ledger/LCJ update for Tuesday, Feb. 210, 2023.  For those of you keeping track at home, this is the 49th day of 2023. There are 314 days left in the year.

If you care about local and county news, sports, obits and more, please subscribe to our daily newsletter at heavenerledger.substack.com, it is published every day with the best news coverage in LeFlore County. Plus, you get access to all the stories on our website and the weekly e-edition. What a bargain for only $5 per month or $50 a year.

Today’s really bad joke of the day: What do you call a factory that sells generally decent goods? A satisfactory.

Because of yesterday’s holiday, LeFlore County commissioners will hold their weekly meeting 9 a.m. Tuesday in the office of the board of county commissioners.

Among the items to be discussed, possible action overruns/underruns summary as reviewed and submitted by Robinson Construction regarding Conser Road Phase I project.

A 49-year-old Florida man died in a motorcycle accident at approximately 12:57 p.m. Monday nine miles north of Talihina.

Russell Townsend of Valrico, Florida, was driving a 2016 Victory motorcycle, when he failed to negotiate a curve, departed the road to the right, overturned a quarter time and struck ground.

He was transported by LeFlore County EMS to Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center in Talihina, where he was pronounced dead.

In today’s weather forecast, Mostly cloudy skies Tuesday with a chance of showers or storms in LeFlore County.

The high is forecast to be 73 degrees with a low of 65.

Sunrise is 6:57 a.m. Sunset is 6:06 p.m.

Average temperatures for Feb. 21 are a high of 57 and low of 28.

The records for the date were a high of 81 in 1981. The record low was 18 in 1978.

Monday’s high was 72 with a low of 46.

Last year on this date, the high was 70 with a low of 50.

On today’s calendar of events, LeFlore County commissioners meet 9 a.m.

Graveside service for Raymond Hamby is 11 a.m. at the Fort Smith National Cemetery in Fort Smith, Arkansas

High school baseball: Pittsburg at Bokoshe

Poteau Evening Lions Club meet 6 p.m. CASC

Funeral service for Donny Gene Shadwick, 68, of Wister is 10 a.m. Wednesday at Bethel Baptist Church in Wister with Pastor Brooks Deatherage officiating.

Burial will follow at Ellis Chapel Cemetery in Wister, under the direction of Evans & Miller Funeral Home of Poteau.

He was born Sept. 7, 1954 in Oakland, California to Retha Jean (Brand) Shadwick and L.D. Hotshot Shadwick and passed away Feb. 16, 2023 in Wilburton.

In today’s other top stories, President Joe Biden is set to consult with allies from NATO’s eastern flank in Poland on Tuesday as the Russian invasion of Ukraine edges toward an even more complicated stage.

After paying an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Biden made his way to Warsaw on Monday on a mission to solidify Western unity as both Ukraine and Russia prepare to launch spring offensives. The conflict — the most significant war in Europe since World War II — has already left tens of thousands of people dead, devastated Ukraine’s infrastructure system and damaged the global economy.

The United States and its allies urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to condemn North Korea’s unlawful ballistic missile launches, but China and Russia blamed the U.S. for escalating tensions with stepped-up military exercises targeting Pyongyang.

At the emergency meeting, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council that the United States will propose a presidential statement, saying at a minimum all 15 members should be agreeable to condemning the North’s unprecedented missile launches, to urging Pyongyang to comply with U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions, and “to engage in meaningful dialogue.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the nation’s freight railroads to immediately act to improve safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules in the wake of a fiery derailment in Ohio that forced evacuations when toxic chemicals were released and burned.

Buttigieg announced a package of reforms Tuesday — two days after he warned the railroad responsible for the derailment, Norfolk Southern, to fulfill its promises to clean up the mess just outside East Palestine, Ohio, and help the town recover. He said the Department of Transportation will hold the railroad accountable for any safety violations that contributed to the Feb. 3 crash near the Pennsylvania border.

Dozens of well-wishers made the pilgrimage Sunday to The Carter Center in Atlanta, as prayers and memories of former President Jimmy Carter’s legacy were offered up at his small Baptist church in Plains, Georgia, a day after he entered hospice care.

Among those paying homage was his niece, who noted the 39th president’s years of service in an emotional address at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school for decades.

In sports, West Virginia ended a 3-game losing streak with a 85-67 victory over Oklahoma State Monday night in Morgantown.

On this date in history, in 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up (each ended up serving 1 1/2 years).

In 1437, James I, King of Scots, was assassinated; his 6-year-old son succeeded him as James II.

In 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.

In 1965, minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York.

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing.

Five years ago: The Rev. Billy Graham, a confidant of presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, died at his North Carolina home at age 99.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Tyne Daly is 77. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 68. Country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 65. Actor Christopher Atkins is 62. Actor Jennifer Love Hewitt is 44 and actor Sophie Turner is 27.

I thank all of you again for joining us, remember to subscribe and again, hope you have a great day.

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