Oklahoma adds 15 COVID-19 deaths

(From the Oklahoma State Department of Health)

As of this advisory, there are 180,610 cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma. 

There are 15 additional deaths identified to report. No deaths were identified in the past 24 hours.

Four in Cleveland County, two females in the 65 or older age group, one male in the 36-39 age group, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Comanche County, one male in the 50-64 age group.
One in Grady County, one female in the 65 or older age group.

One in Grant County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
Three in Jackson County, one female in the 50-64 age group, one male in the 50-64 age group, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Kay County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
One in Oklahoma County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Tulsa County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
Two in Washington County, two males in the 65 or older age group.

There are 1,664 total deaths in the state.

For more information, visit coronavirus.health.ok.gov.

State health department schedules free COVID-19 testing at Ozark Christian College

 

Oklahoma records 15 COVID-19 deaths

(From the Oklahoma State Department of Health)

As of this advisory, there are 177,874 cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma. 

There are 15 additional deaths identified to report. No deaths were identified in the past 24 hours.

One in Cleveland County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Craig County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
One in Creek County, one female in the 50-64 age group.
One in Garvin County, one male in the 65 or older age group.

One in Nowata County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
Three in Oklahoma County, one female in the 65 or older age group, two males in the 65 or older age group.
One in Pottawatomie County, one female in the 36-49 age group.
One in Seminole County, one male in the 65 or older age group.
One in Stephens County, one female in the 65 or older age group.
Three in Tulsa County, one male in the 50-64 age group, two males in the 65 or older age group.
One in Woodward County, one male in the 65 or older age group.

There are 1,649 total deaths in the state.

For more information, visit coronavirus.health.ok.gov.

Arkansas reports 30 COVID-19 deaths

(From Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson)

Governor Asa Hutchinson provided today's update on Arkansas's COVID-19 response.

In its Monday update, the Arkansas Department of Health reported 1,017 new cases; 16,727 active cases; 974 hospitalized, which is up 12 from Sunday; 164 on ventilators, which is up 1 from Sunday; deaths added today, 30, for a total of 2,387; a total of 146,190 cases; 113,946 recoveries; PCR tests, 10,693; antigen tests, 890.

The Health Department reported that the top counties for new cases are Pulaski, 157; Washington, 75; Benton, 69; Sebastian, 57; and Saline, 54.

Governor Hutchinson released the following statement on today’s COVID-19 numbers:

“We saw a decrease in new cases from last Monday, and this is a hopeful sign; but our hospitalizations are still going up. How we handle Thanksgiving this year will determine our hospitalizations around Christmas. Thanks for being a part of turning this fight around.”

Recall effort started against Joplin mayor, council members who voted for mask ordinance, no word yet on the devil

Apparently Abbie Covington did not feel it punishment enough for the six Joplin City Council members who voted for the mask mandate Thursday to leave council chambers with a heavy burden of guilt and sick to their stomachs.

That was part of her lengthy prayer for the council she gave in her five-minute address during the special council meeting.

KZRG is reporting that Covington is spearheading a recall effort against Mayor Ryan Stanley and council members Keenan Cortez, Diane Reid Adams, Chuck Copple, Anthony Monteleone and Christina Williams.

Spokeswoman Abbie Covington says the group feels the members violated the Federal and State Constitutions by not protecting the rights of citizens and, as a result, deserve to be removed from office.  

Covington says if the signatures are properly collected, a recall election could take place sometime in April.

Covington and those seeking the recall election need to collect approximately 7,600 signatures to put it on the April ballot. 

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Joplin would normally not have a municipal election until 2022.

Covington said what the council was planning violated the U. S. and Missouri constitutions, though neither she nor anyone else has yet explained how it does so.

During her presentation, Covington told the council, "We are not at war with you, we are at war with the devil."

During her prayer, she made it clear that she was not at war with council members Gary Shaw, Phil Stinnett and Doug Lawson, who later voted against the ordinance and that she thought the other six were in league with the devil.

In her prayer, Covington beseeched the Holy Father to "cast the devil" out of City Hall, eventually it was Mayor Ryan Stanley who cast Covington out of council chambers when she angrily shouted at the council following the vote.

(Note: Covington's presentation begins at the 1:06 mark on the video, while Stanley tosses her out at approximately the 3:14 mark.)

Greene County Sheriff's Office mourns passing of detention officer due to COVID-19

(From the Greene County Sheriff's Office)

It's with heavy hearts that we at Greene County Sheriff's Office sadly announce the passing of one of our Detention Officers, Dwight Willis. 

Officer Willis passed away Sunday morning due to COVID-19 complications. 

Dwight has served GCSO for the past 19 years and he will be greatly missed! We ask that you keep his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Jason Smith on COVID-19 restrictions: It's not up to Democrat-socialists to tell us how to lead our lives

(From Eighth District Congressman Jason Smith)

Every holiday season, Americans across the country look forward to celebrating cherished holiday traditions. 

As we take time out of our busy lives to spend time with loved ones and reflect on our blessings, we are reminded that even during what has been a very difficult year as a result of COVID-19 and ineffective lockdowns, we still have much to be thankful for.

We’ve come so far since the beginning of the pandemic. Over the last several months groundbreaking therapeutics to combat the virus have been deployed saving countless lives, and thanks to American innovation and the leadership of President Trump, we have at least two new vaccines on the horizon, developed in record time. This on top of the early aggressive mitigation efforts by President Trump to close our borders to heavily infected areas, the end of this pandemic will soon be in sight.

What we cannot do now is shut our country down for a second time. Over the past few months, the U.S. has regained more than half of the jobs lost due to the pandemic, and we have experienced the fastest economic recovery in our nation’s history. In fact, we are recovering at a rate that is four times faster than the recovery after the 2008-2009 recession. Unfortunately, liberal politicians want to crush this economic rally by enacting more lockdowns. Leftist mayors and governors across the country have issued extreme lockdown orders telling people to cancel their Thanksgiving plans, even going so far as to tell people how many guests they may have in their homes.

What’s worse is that these same liberal mayors and governors do not practice what they preach. They use the force of law to prevent Americans from seeing their loved ones while hypocritically making no such sacrifices of their own. 

Earlier this month, the Democrat governor of California was photographed at an opulent dinner with a large group of people, including leaders of the California Medical Association. This event was in violation of his own restrictions on social gatherings. Earlier, the Democrat mayor of D.C. was seen partying with her staff in Delaware at a post-election event which she later designated as “essential travel”. 

This was in order to cover up the fact that she had violated her own travel restrictions. Meanwhile, the mayor of Chicago was seen gathering in the city streets with thousands of strangers…. wearing no mask. This is all while issuing restrictions telling residents to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans”. 

And of course, who could forget the video footage of Speaker Pelosi walking around a high-end California salon maskless while businesses across the country remained closed.

If the recent election results tell us one thing, it’s that the American people are fed up with this hypocrisy. They are not interested in eastern-European socialism or oppressive government mandates that tell them how to live their lives. The vote of 75 million Americans has charged Republicans to fight in favor of personal liberty and against socialism and tyranny.

Every year at this time, we as Americans give thanks for our many blessings and for our great nation. We remember that the pilgrims first came to this country seeking freedom. It is not for Democrat-socialist politicians to tell the American people how to live their lives, each individual decides how to worship, how to speak and how to live. Americans have always rejected socialism and embraced freedom, it’s time for the new leaders of the Democrat party to start listening.

Joplin Globe Editorial Board: City Council made right call on mask law, other counties, cities need to follow suit

In an editorial in today's edition, the Joplin Globe Editorial Board praised the Joplin City Council's 6-3 vote to reinstate a mask ordinance for the city and called on Jasper and Newton counties to follow suit, as well as the city councils in Carthage, Carl Junction, Webb City and Neosho.

Now it’s time for our other local government leaders to step up and do the right thing. A mask order in Joplin will help fight the virus, but to really make an impact, such a mandate should be a regional one. The commissions of Jasper and Newton counties and the councils of Webb City, Carl Junction, Carthage and Neosho should follow suit and adopt their own mask mandates. 

Because there is so much mobility among the cities and counties, and therefore so much opportunity for the virus to travel, a cohesive, united approach is what’s needed now.

The clock is ticking, but there is still time for our other communities to implement a mask mandate. Please do so, for the health and safety of all.

 

Former Joplin Globe reporter was first to tell nation that President Kennedy had been assassinated

Fourteen years ago, former Carthage Press editor John Hacker, who is writing a healthy portion of the Joplin Globe these days, asked me to write a weekly column for GateHouse Media's shortlived effort to gain access to the Joplin market, the Joplin Daily.

When the Daily launched in January 2006, I wrote a column about the 15th anniversary of the death of Nancy Cruzan, whose right-to-die case began in Carterville, went all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court and then back to Jasper County Circuit Court.

As it turned out, that was the only column I ever wrote for the Daily. The powers that be at GateHouse Media told Hacker they did not want a weekly column from me, but that he could run my columns every once in a while.

Since I was just as arrogant then as I am now, I decided if they did not want a weekly column from me, they would not receive any columns.

When I made that decision, I already had a second column written, a look at the role a former Joplin Globe newspaper delivery boy and later Globe reporter Jud Dixon played in a historical event that forever changed the United States.

I published the column in the Turner Report in January 2006 and for the past several years, I have reprinted it each year on November 22, the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 57 years ago.

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"Get your Joplin Globe, five cents. Get your Joplin Globe five cents."

The job didn't pay much, but the country was in the midst of a depression, and every cent counted. Even more importantly for teenager Jud Dixon, it was his entry into the magical world of news.

That road took Jud from the Globe street sales to reporting jobs with the Globe and the Springfield Daily News to a seven-decade career in journalism that ended last month with his death at age 85 at his Dallas home.

Jud Dixon spent the last five decades of his life in the Dallas area, and it was there on Nov. 22, 1963, that the Joplin High School and Joplin Junior College graduate had a brush with history.

Jud was in charge of the United Press International (UPI) bureau in Dallas when he received word that President Kennedy had been assassinated during a political trip to the city. 

Within seconds, with the cool demeanor that characterized his entire reporting career, he sat behind his manual typewriter pounding out the story that no reporter ever wants to write, but at times like that, when people absolutely have to know what is going on, that’s when reporters must be at the top of their game.

"He was completely stone-faced, pouring it out of that typewriter," Jack Fallon, who was UPI’s Southwest Division editor at the time, told the Dallas Morning News. "Just by his presence, he kept everyone else around him calm."

Within moments, it was Jud Dixon’s version of the death of President John F. Kennedy that went out over the UPI wire to radio stations and television stations across the United States.

Though Jud Dixon’s coverage of that watershed moment in American history was what led his obituary, he perhaps did his greatest service to journalism and to the public after his retirement from UPI two decades ago.

Jud spent the next 18 years of his life as editor of the newsletter for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas fighting for the public’s right to know.

When Jud retired for a second time, Freedom of Information director Tommy Thomason praised his years of service. "Jud’s a journalist’s journalist. His entire career has been committed to open government as the basis of solid reporting of the issues and events important to his readers."

Jud Dixon knew the importance of a free and unfettered press serving as the public’s representative. He knew that when the workings of government were open to the public that this country could survive anything from unpaved streets to official corruption to the death of a president.

McDonald County reports three COVID-19 cases Saturday, 23 Friday

 

The McDonald County Health Department reported three new COVID-19 cases during the previous 24 hours, according to statistics posted on its Facebook page Saturday.

Twenty-three new cases were reported Friday. To date, McDonald County has 1,524 cases.

McDonald County has recorded 17 deaths due to COVID-19.