Latest news with #RogersCounty
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Safenet gets settled in new building
Safenet Services, the local domestic violence nonprofit displaced by flooding last month, began moving into its temporary new home Tuesday. Executive Director Jody Moore got the keys Tuesday to 417 W. First St., formerly the Higgins law office, and showed her leadership team around Wednesday morning. Rogers County owns the building and expects to move the planning commission there as part of its courthouse remodel project. The commissioners leased the Higgins building to Safenet at their June 16 meeting for $1,000 a month. Moore said Safenet expects to spend about six months in the temporary building. She said the nonprofit hopes to have its First Street outpost in operation next week. "We'll offer all the things that we offered at our admin offices," Moore said. "We'll offer counseling services, groups, supervised visitation and our batterers' intervention program, case management ... the hope is that we can find some alternative placement for our shelter guests." Meanwhile, the agency is working through contractors and insurance to restore its Dupont Street offices. On June 6, sewage backed up and flooded about 90% of the building. Safenet staff and shelter guests had to evacuate. Moore said the shelter guests are all safe under the care of partner agencies. She said the goal is to find a place in Claremore to temporarily house some of Safenet's short-term, highest-risk cases. "How I explained it to my shelter staff is we have to be out of a crisis before we can start taking on the major crisis of finding housing for somebody," Moore said. Safenet maintains another office in Pryor at 118 N. Adair St., Moore said. People who want to reach Safenet in-person can visit with the organization's court advocates and other staff at its office on the second floor of the Rogers County Courthouse, 200 S. Lynn Riggs Blvd. People can also dial the crisis line at 918-341-9400 or reach Safenet's web chat system at Moore said Safenet expects to spend six figures or more moving into the Higgins office, working with insurance, fixing the Dupont Street offices and paying the rent on the new place. "The damages are super-extensive," Moore said. "It could be a million dollars, you know, but we don't know that. ... Right now, we don't have a solid answer to what it's going to cost, or who's paying for it." The nonprofit also continues to reckon with receiving less federal funding than in years past. Last year, Moore said, the agency lost about 40% of the money it receives from the federal Victims of Crime Act, which taps court costs paid by people and companies convicted of federal crimes. Safenet's fear of losing that money spurred Moore and five others tied to the agency to raise funds last August by summiting Colorado's Mt. Elbert. At just above 14,400 feet — as approximated by a sticker on Moore's water bottle — it is the tallest of the 50 or so fourteeners in the Centennial State. She said that last year, the hikers raised about $24,000. People could sponsor individual hikers and may do so again this year at "100% of people's donations go straight back to Safenet because everybody who is going, they're responsible for their own transportation, their own lodging, their own food, things like that," Moore said. "All of the donations go directly back to us." Moore said she will leave Rogers County Aug. 1 for Leadville, the base camp town. She said the elevation and resulting lack of oxygen punished her last year, and she wants to prepare better this year by spending a few days above 10,000 feet in the country's highest incorporated city. The hikers will begin their 4,500-foot climb Aug. 6. That same day, Safenet staff will gather at 8 a.m. at the Claremore Mountain Bike Trail, 15012 E. 470 Road, to symbolically trek alongside them. "If they can't do the climb, they still have an opportunity to come and support us and cheer us on," Moore said.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rogers County Youth Services to soon produce first grads of diversion program
The first two kids referred to Rogers County Youth Services' grant-funded juvenile diversion program will soon graduate. Like GRAND Mental Health's Release to Recovery program, Youth Services' juvenile diversion program is drawing from about $578,346 Rogers County has received since September 2024 from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Executive Director Herb McSpadden and two other RCYS personnel involved in the program gave a presentation on it to the Rogers County Commissioners at their Monday meeting. "We have an unproportionately high rate of kids who are going through the juvenile justice system and juvenile detention [in Rogers County], and so our goal is to work with law enforcement for some of those kids through the municipal courts, in the district courts and into the diversion program," McSpadden said. Shala Padilla is RCYS' juvenile diversion specialist. Padilla said since starting this role in January, 40 kids have been referred to her by the state Office of Juvenile Affairs, law enforcement and school resource officers. Padilla, licensed as a clinical social worker, said she assesses each kid to get insight into their mental health, family life and other issues that may have caused them to get in trouble. "Once that assessment is completed, we present it to our community accountability board," Padilla said. "Right now, that consists of us, GRAND Mental Health, Volunteers for Youth, Light of Hope and CREOKS. So we are reviewing the referral, we are reviewing that assessment that we completed, then we are taking our time and completing a 90-day service plan for that juvenile and that family to enter into." Padilla said the plan might include counseling, community service, parenting classes and more. Upon completing everything prescribed in the plan within 90 days, Padilla said the juvenile will see their charges essentially dropped. She said 14 kids are going through the program right now, and two will graduate at the end of the month. McSpadden said he spent a year working in a juvenile detention facility about 20 years ago, and he gathered from that experience that not all kids who break the law belong there. "If we can identify those ones who aren't a risk to the community and keep them at home, it's a cost savings, both to the county and the state, but it also shows long term, we're providing much better care for your kids and families," McSpadden said. RCYS is also working with kids in juvenile detention, per the Office of Juvenile Affairs' request. The agency recently hired Tracy Goad, who worked for the juvenile affairs office for 31 years, to reach this population. Goad's job is to work with the kids, their families and Judge Stephen Pazzo to develop a re-entry plan for the juvenile to follow upon release. She said this helps the court system move faster and gets kids get home and connected to local support services sooner. District 2 Commissioner and Chairman Steve Hendrix asked McSpadden if he knew why a disproportionate amount of Rogers County kids end up in juvenile detention; McSpadden said he hasn't gotten a chance to probe this question. "Historically, that's been the case, and I honestly couldn't tell you why," McSpadden said. "I haven't gotten into the weeds of why that occurs, but working with law enforcement, our school resource officers have been fantastic to identify these kids that aren't violent offenders. They don't need to go to district court, and so they're making those referrals to us."
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rogers County raises most money for CASA through Paper Doll Project
For the second consecutive year, Rogers County raised the most money in a six-county drive to benefit Court Appointed Special Advocates of Northeast Oklahoma. CASA, an organization of volunteers who advocate in court for kids in difficult situations, gathers donations each spring from its Paper Doll Project. Individuals or groups in Rogers, Craig, Delaware, Mayes, Ottawa and Washington counties give anywhere from $100 to $1,000 to receive child-sized wooden dolls to dress, name and display. Marketing Coordinator Mark Ogle came to the Rogers County Commissioners' meeting Monday to present a trophy to Rogers County for financing the most dolls. Ogle said in addition to funding CASA's operations, the dolls help foster kids because the kids will now receive the clothes donors bought for their dolls to wear. "It is a collaboration among the communities and all the counties," Ogle said. "It does get competitive, so you all won and for a second year over, so that's quite an accomplishment, and a lot of credit to Rogers County and all the businesses and organizations that joined in." Donors funded about 200 dolls this year, Ogle said. Also at Monday's meeting, the commissioners put out to bid a project to build a storage facility for Rogers County Emergency Management. District 2 Commissioner and Chairman Steve Hendrix said the project is part of an American Rescue Plan Act award that also funded a command center trailer for Emergency Management. Bid documents call for a 5,500-square-foot, one-story structure adjacent to the Rogers County 911 Center on State Highway 88. "Finally," Hendrix said after the commissioners voted to approve letting the bid. "Emergency Management has equipment strung out everywhere. We're going to finally get a place to put it." Anyone interested in submitting a bid should contact Samantha Sherman, purchasing clerk for the Rogers County Clerk's Office, at 918-923-4429 or purchasing@ Developers may purchase or view a set of the building plans at the Rogers County Clerk's office, 200 S. Lynn Riggs Blvd. in Claremore. The commissioners also chose Burgess Co. to replace a malfunctioning accordion fire door on the fourth floor of the Rogers County Courthouse. The county had previously let this project but received no bid offers. Doug Presley, director of the Rogers County Maintenance Department, instead sought phone bids and received three. Burgess' $49,412 offer was the low bid.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Attorney general applauds city-county opioid abatement project
Claremore and Rogers County's joint opioid abatement project is "nothing short of remarkable," said Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Drummond's office granted the city and county about $500,000 last fall to combat the spread of opioids in the community. Using money the state received from 2022 settlements with pharmaceutical companies, the Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Revolving Fund paid out $12 million to 85 entities last year and is getting ready for a second round of awards. The city and county have used those funds to hire a grant manager and two personnel to provide GED prep and testing in the county jail. The funding also buoys the Women in Recovery program offered through Tulsa Family and Children's Services. Drummond visited the Rogers County Courthouse May 30 to discuss the state of the abatement project. Fourteen people – from city and county leaders to Family and Children's Services personnel to people involved with the county's drug court – sat with Drummond around a rectangle of tables. "One of the takeaways I want you to get from this time together is that this involves a lot of people, a lot of directions, a lot of expertise, a lot of people that really, really care about tackling this opioid crisis," said Scott Greenland, hired by the county last December to manage the grant. Greenland said opioid deaths are increasing in Rogers County. Eight people died of an overdose in the county in 2019; that number climbed to 28 in 2022, then dipped slightly to 23 in 2023. Greenland said men are twice as likely to die of an overdose than women, and men aged 35 to 45 face the highest risk. In 2024, Greenland said, 116 overdoses occurred in Rogers County. Nearly all the overdoses occurred in residential areas, but other than that, Greenland said no common thread ties them together. He compared the geographical spread to the random locations of marbles dropped from a helicopter. "We don't know exactly how to tackle that yet, but we're working in that direction, realizing that it's not an easy, quick fix," Greenland said. "This is something that we've got to strategically look at." Claremore City Manager John Feary said he and District 3 Commissioner Ron Burrows had first talked about a joint opioid abatement initiative several years ago, but neither the city nor the county had the money then. Feary said he is thankful the state Legislature and Drummond had made funds available, and that partner organizations like Family and Children's Services and local recovery houses had joined the team to provide their expertise. The city and county have leaned on these partner organizations to provide high school equivalency exams and parenting classes to inmates in the Rogers County jail, help inmates find stable employment upon release and give those recovering from addiction a temporary place to live. Lani Burns, director of employment and education at Family and Children's Services, said a stable job and a gain in education level are the two biggest factors in decreasing recidivism. "If we combine expertise, and that's what this collaboration is all about, we allow for pathways and cycles to break within that familial cycle of addiction and incarceration," Burns said. The other part of the city and county's strategy of combating opioids is teaching kids why they're harmful. Greenland said school-based prevention is evidence-based and differs from past "just say no" approaches by showing students how drugs like fentanyl affect their bodies, brains and futures. He said about 1,215 of Rogers County's 13,500 public school students have received prevention education from local nonprofits Rogers County Youth Services or KeyChoices. Greenland said he aims to increase this percentage from 9% to 40% in the next few years. Burrows said school prevention is the heart of the project. "It starts with the youth," Burrows said. "We know we got an issue with adults, and how do you break the cycle?" The county introduced Drummond to Chantel Reben, two years sober after going through Rogers County's drug court and Family and Children's Services Women in Recovery program. Reben said she grew up surrounded by addiction and went to prison for drugs in Okmulgee County in 2012. A recovery program helped her get clean, and she established a life in Claremore for her and her son. But after a life-altering car accident injured her son, Reben relapsed, which culminated in 2022 with another arrest and the threat of 15 years behind bars. She said Judge Stephen Pazzo and Chrisie Stone, coordinator of Rogers County's drug court, saved her from prison because they understood she needed treatment for her addiction. She entered Women in Recovery and received trauma therapy. Reben said she graduated from drug court May 15. "I was given the opportunity to address my trauma, my loss, my addiction, my health, that reunification with my child, and I've returned to a truer version of myself," Reben said. "... I have a well-paying job — which I will be leaving to right after this — I'm supported in my community and my son is as well. I have fully reunified with him, and I'm actually in a healthy, loving relationship." After the meeting, Drummond said Claremore and Rogers County are deploying the opioid funds exactly how his office intended they be used. He said the city-county project should serve as a template for other entities seeking to combat opioid addiction in their communities. "We can invest money today with our youngest citizens and avoid this heartbreak as they become workforce-ready or not," Drummond said. "It's commendable ... to look at [Reben], truly, a wonderful young person that was on a path of destruction and lived hard years, but now I'm so proud of her in her sobriety, and she's got partnerships around her. They're gonna lift her up and keep her straight." Drummond said that regrettably, many local governments in Oklahoma aren't taking advantage of the settlement money. His office plans to distribute $28 million in its next tranche, for which applications close Friday. Claremore and Rogers County are asking for $2.4 million. From then on, the Attorney General's office will open grant applications every three years.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners approve enterprise zone resolution, defer bid package
The Rogers County Commissioners passed a joint resolution Wednesday that would provide economic incentives to the Inola area, if ultimately approved. The resolution, a request from Inola's town government, seeks for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to classify the town and surrounding areas as an enterprise zone. These are U.S. Census tracts the commerce department designates "economically distressed areas." The commissioners first discussed the resolution at their Monday meeting. Andrew Ralston, director of economic development for Tulsa Ports, presented the resolution and said passing it would stimulate business growth in Inola. District 1 Commissioner Dan DeLozier said Monday he needed more time to read the resolution thoroughly before he could vote for it. District 2 Commissioner and Chairman Steve Hendrix seconded his motion to table until Wednesday. "I'm pretty sure I'm able to support this," Hendrix told Ralston. "Your endorsement carries a lot of weight with me." At Wednesday's special meeting, the commissioners passed the resolution. The Delaware County Commissioners passed their version of the resolution when they met Tuesday; the Mayes County Commissioners elected Monday to revisit it at their May 12 meeting. All three counties must sign off on the resolution for Inola to submit an application for the Department of Commerce to consider. Ralston said Inola wants to become an enterprise zone because doing so opens up incentive dollars from the Department of Commerce to stimulate development. "Everything related to it is related to enticing and improving business conditions within the county and hopefully getting it out of an enterprise zone eventually," Ralston said. "You do want the data to eventually show that you don't need enterprise zones to attract business." According to the 1983 Enterprise Zones Act, these incentives include low-interest loans and additional investment tax credits. The joint resolution requests establishing an enterprise zone across seven census tracts in Rogers, Mayes and Delaware counties. These tracts run along U.S. Highway 412 from Inola to West Siloam Springs on the Arkansas border, and they encompass economic engines such as the Port of Inola, MidAmerica Industrial Park and Google's Mayes County data center. Ralston said a big reason why Inola wants to establish an enterprise zone is to capitalize on U.S. 412 soon becoming an interstate highway. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required the Oklahoma and Arkansas departments of transportation to study turning this corridor into an interstate, to be designated Interstate 42. Hendrix asked if there would be any downsides to establishing an enterprise zone; Ralston said there were none. In Rogers County, high-poverty parts of Chelsea, Claremore and Catoosa already fall under enterprise zones. Also Monday, the commissioners tabled action until May 12 on a bid package for Rogers County's maintenance building project. The county is refurbishing an old auto repair shop on Cherokee Street to house the Rogers County Maintenance Department, which is vacating the Rogers County Courthouse as part of that building's remodel. The county received 30 bids for the project in March but cut about $115,000 from the package March 17. Lyle Building Group, the project's construction manager, determined the cuts altered the bid's scope sufficiently to require a rebid. The rebid package the commissioners approved April 8 contained bids for glass and glazing, appliances, plumbing and HVAC. The commissioners received one bid for appliances, one for plumbing and two for HVAC. One bid came in for glass and glazing, but Samantha Sherman of the county's purchasing department said it was invalid because a required affidavit lacked a notary's signature. Justin Sessions of Lyle said he would prepare a package of the received bids for the commissioners to consider May 12. Sessions said the cost of the glass and glazing work would likely come out low enough that it could be added to the package after it receives approval.
