News

McLoud band students performed their Spring Concert recently. .

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Team are excited to announce the launch of the first annual school garden contest for Oklahoma. Applications opened on May 1st for any public or private PK-12 school, early childhood education facility, and alternative learning environment to participate. The deadline to enter is Sunday, June 15, 2022 at 11:50 p.m.

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, held May 7, will shine a spotlight on the importance of caring for every child’s mental health and reinforce that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development.

Opinions on Oklahoma’s weather are often more variable than the weather itself. Some Oklahomans will look back on April 2022 and remember the seven confirmed tornadoes that touched down, although that is still below the longterm average of 11.7 for the month. Many others will remember drought that saw both intensification in the northwest and improvement across the southeast. There is one aspect of this April’s weather that would unite most Oklahomans, however — the wind. Already Oklahoma’s windiest calendar month climatologically, the seemingly unceasing gales howling day and night became a common point of exasperation.

This is the time of year when Irises bloom. If yours are not blooming as much as normal (and mine are not) it may be because they have not been divided for some time.

Is it okay to use manure and hay in my garden? Many are ready to plant their gardens or have just done so. Manure can be a great nutrient boost and a way to add organic matter to the soil, but we do recommend fall application.

Local coffee shop Comma, located in Downtown Shawnee, hosted its grand reopening Friday, April 29. According to owners Jonathan Hilton, Rebecca Hilton, Jesse Ingram and Callie Ingram, the reopening was a success as many people came to see the shop’s new design and name.

Student of the Year finalists Cora Bender and Payton Greenwood have been named the Shawnee News-Star and Patriot Auto Group Students of the Month for April. Bender is a senior from Dale High School and Greenwood is a senior at Shawnee High School. They are now in the running to compete for the distinction of Student of the Year, who will be the recipient of a new car.

Blue Zones Project has begun its annual Move to the Moon step challenge for area residents during the month of May. Since 2,000 steps is equivalent to one mile of walking, for Shawnee to (figuratively) travel to the moon, 238,855 miles need to be logged.