Sequoyah County Times

01/07/2026

Gubernatorial candidate McCall says state’s best days still ahead
By Lynn Adams Staff Writer
Ask a politician a question, even a simple one, and any office-seeker worth his weight in subsidies and campaign donations will undoubtedly respond with a lengthy answer that might address your query, but will likely also encompass several other points they wish to impart.

https://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/2026/01/01/gubernatorial-candidate-mccall-says-states-best-days-still-ahead/

01/06/2026

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01/05/2026

Bessie Edwards
By JADE PHILLIPS TIMES INTERN
Bessie Edwards, 97, of Muldrow, said she has lived in Sequoyah County for a very long time.

“I spent my youth in Middle Ridge and went to school there,” Edwards recalled. “And later, to high school at Central High School.”

Growing up, Edwards said she would help her mother, who worked in fields and helped the elderly. She remembers that a pound of cotton would bring three cents at that time.

https://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/2026/01/01/bessie-edwards/

01/05/2026

Man pleads guilty to unlawful reentry
By Amie Cato-Remer Editor
A 60-year-old Mexican national unlawfully present in Sequoyah County has pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawfully reentering the United States after a prior removal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

A 60-year-old Mexican national unlawfully present in Sequoyah County has pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawfully reentering the United States after a prior removal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

01/04/2026

4-day school weeks are growing in popularity, despite a lack of data on the effects
By ROBBIE SEQUEIRA | STATELINE

Northeast of the capital city of Des Moines in central Iowa, the 400-student Collins-Maxwell Community School District is one of many across the state shifting to a four-day school week.

Like many rural K-12 schools, the district has struggled to find teachers, and it sees the four-day week as a useful recruiting tool. It also wants to curb student absences, which tend to spike on Mondays and Fridays.

  ROBBIE SEQUEIRA | STATELINE Northeast of the capital city of Des Moines in central Iowa, the 400-student Collins-Maxwell Community School District is one of many across the state shifting to a four-day school week. Like many rural K-12 schools, the district has struggled to find teachers,...

01/03/2026

A-F grades released for public schools
Area schools have room for improvement
By Lynn Adams Staff Writer
The day reports card come out at school is often rife with anxiety for students. Did I do as well as I think I did? In areas with room for improvement, did I succeed? Students aren’t the only ones whose efforts are scrutinized. Public schools in Oklahoma are also under the microscope.

The day reports card come out at school is often rife with anxiety for students. Did I do as well as I think I did? In areas with room for improvement, did I succeed? Students aren’t the only ones whose efforts are scrutinized. Public schools in Oklahoma are also under the microscope.

01/03/2026

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01/02/2026

Drake murder trial scheduled for 2027
By Lynn Adams Staff Writer
The triple-murder trial of Stacy Lee Drake, the Alabama felon accused of the June 2024 murders of Tara Underwood and Taylor Sharp at LaFerry’s Propane near Gans as well as the El Reno slaying of Phillip Emerson, has been postponed until February 2027, according to Sequoyah County District Court records.

https://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/2025/12/30/drake-murder-trial-scheduled-2027/

01/02/2026

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01/01/2026

Looking at 2025 in review
By COMPILED BY LYNN ADAMS
Looking back on the year that was, Sallisaw and Sequoyah County were witness to a wide range of happenings. From the push by county commissioners to oust County Assessor Brandy Dobbs and the preliminary prosecution of Stacy Lee Drake for the first-degree murders of Tara Underwood and Taylor Sharp at LaFerry’s Propane near Gans to the search for a county man in the Paw Paw Bottoms area after the vehicle in which he was riding plunged into the Arkansas River to a fierce and sudden storm that roared through Sallisaw, tearing the roof off of the hospital and causing widespread damage, to the July fireworks explosion that hospitalized two Vian graduates and a Keys volunteer firefighter in critical condition to the openings of the Sallisaw Veterans Center, QuikTrip, Whataburger, 7Brew, Pizza Hut, Ollie’s Bargain Center, Local Bank and Millison Casting Technology.

Looking back on the year that was, Sallisaw and Sequoyah County were witness to a wide range of happenings. From the push by county commissioners to oust County Assessor Brandy Dobbs and the preliminary prosecution of Stacy Lee Drake for the first-degree murders of Tara Underwood and Taylor Sharp at...

12/31/2025

Leadership classes graduate
The Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce recently graduated two more Leadership classes.

But for Leadership facilitator Nan Stites, this year’s groups of leaders and future leaders just seemed a bit more special.

“This Leadership year has been such a blessing to me in every way,” Stites said. “I’ve met extraordinary individuals, learned so much with each of you and had a ball. Thank you for being such wonderful classes. I have been honored.

“Thank you all so much for enriching my life and that of Sallisaw. Go forth and lead!” Stites said.

The Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce recently graduated two more Leadership classes.

12/31/2025

Robbed of dignity, self-confidence, Griffin warns of fraudulent practices
By BY LYNN ADAMS STAFF WRITER
Anne Griffin is an 81-year- old mother of five, grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother of five. She’s also a decorated veteran of Operation Desert Storm, so she’s no pushover. She’s a widow who has lived in the well-established Bluff Acres neighborhood in north Sallisaw for the past five years, since she moved from California after retiring from the military.

LYNN ADAMS STAFF WRITER