Published: November 17, 2007 11:58 pm         

High participation in city government commendable

Thumbs up to people getting involved in city government.

About 75 people showed up last week for a town meeting hosted by Ward 3 Commissioner Larry Dillon. They asked some good questions, and there was plenty of good discussion about issues facing our city.

The meeting was the fourth in a series sponsored by city of Enid and Enid News & Eagle and its Making A Difference partners, St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and Autry Technology Center.

The town meetings have proven to be popular, and we are glad to see people so involved.

Still to come are meetings in Wards 2 and 5. When their time comes, we hope residents in those areas also will turn out.





Larry and Dolores McClure deserve a big thumbs up for their five-year labor of love to get The Homesteaders statue created and on display.

They wanted to do something special for Enid for Oklahoma’s Centennial. The end result was the 9-foot-tall statue honoring the early day pioneer families who settled this part of the state.

They commissioned artist Harold Holden to do the monument and raised money before donating the finished product to the city of Enid.

It stands outside what will become the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center.





Thumbs up to everyone in Oklahoma for being safer.

The number of traffic fatalities was down in October, and that trend really has played out throughout the year.

Last month, 59 people lost their lives on Oklahoma roadways, compared to 69 in October 2006. For the year, there have been 603 fatalities as of Nov. 12. For the same period last year there were 650.

It’s sad when anyone loses his or her life in an accident, but we are encouraged to see the number going down and not up.





We’re seeing a sad situation play out in the court system in Alfalfa County.

So far, one Cherokee High School student has been charged with indecent exposure in an alleged hazing incident involving athletes at the school.

There could be more charges filed in Alfalfa County, as well as Noble County, where authorities are investigating other allegations.

We hate to see these kinds of things come up. It’s unfortunate, and frankly, we can’t accept this type of behavior. We hope the authorities work through this carefully and get to the bottom of it, then punish those who deserve it.





Congratulations to Oklahoma, and congratulations to everyone involved in the celebration of our state’s Centennial.

Two full days of activities honoring Oklahoma’s 100th anniversary of statehood in Guthrie were fantastic. Thumbs up, too, to all the activities across the state.

The party started last year in Tulsa and carried on for the next 12 months. It ended up with a big bash in Oklahoma City.

We can’t wait for the bicentennial celebration.