Checotah experiences water woes LADONNA RHODES tures with negative wind chills. STAFF WRITER The following day there were two more leaks at SW Old Man Winter had his way this past week as 3rd and SE 2nd. Checotah and the county experienced several water By Wednesday, Feb. 17 Checotah Water Authorities woes due to extremely cold temperatures. reported they had run out of water and shut down to It started with a major water line break on W. Gentry replenish until 10 a.m. on Feb. 18. by the laundry mat. Traffic was diverted and the city The City of Checotah announced the return of water crew along with the mayor, worked through the day by 11 a.m. on Feb. 18 but several residents in rural ar- and into the night to fix the big leak. The mayor stat- eas were still without water into the weekend. The city ed it had been difficult to get equipment due to stores has asked residents to conserve water until the water COURTESY PHOTO being closed because of inclement weather. It had also levels have increased. They also ask to report any wa- Some water line breaks looked more like geysers at Yellowstone during last been extremely hard working in the sub zero tempera- SEE WATER, PAGE A5 week’s snowstorm. Communities work Teenager found together during safe after going blizzard conditions missing a day LADONNA RHODES STAFF WRITER During a record-breaking snowstorm that closed Youth was son of woman who down local businesses and crippled motorists on icy has been missing since 2015 highways, the City of Checotah, with the help of the Red Cross, graciously provided food and shelter at the JERRY FINK Checotah Community Center from Friday, Feb. 12 MANAGING EDITOR until Friday, Feb. 19. A 13-year-old Stidham boy who went missing Mon- However, Checotah wasn’t the only community day evening was found safe at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday reaching out to help those in need during the frigid on Texanna Road, according to Muscogee (Creek) Na- temperatures. Several other communities were doing tion spokesman Jason Salsman. the same with random acts of kindness that blanketed Ethan McIntosh, who lives on a farm about two miles neighbors, friends and family. northeast of Stidham, was found by MCN Lighthorse Associate District Judge Brendon Bridges and his COURTESY PHOTO | NATHAN JOHNSON police officers and Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troop- wife Erin Bridges, a Checotah Middle School teach- There’s nothing better than a cow selfie on a cold day. ers on Texanna Road. er offered rides to anyone who might need shelter at “EMSA is checking him out. He seems to be OK,” the warming station in Checotah. They also took hot Salsman said shortly after Ethan was found. pizza and soup that was donated by Mama Tigs Wood Texanna Road, also called S.H. 150, is about five Fired Pizza in Eufaula to the people staying at the shel- Go Fund Me set up miles north of Eufaula. Salsman said he wasn’t sure ter and for the city workers who had been out in the what part of Texanna Road the teen was found on. negative temperatures trying to fix broken water lines. Dozens of law enforcement officers, including Mayor Daniel Tarkington had voiced his concerns for Checotah family Lighthorse police, OHP and deputy sheriffs had been with the freezing temperatures due to it causing ma- A Go Fund Me Account has been set up for a searching since family members, including his father SEE TOGETHER, PAGE A3 Checotah family that has suffered inconceivable Thomas McIntosh, reported that the teenager had dis- loss since the beginning of this year. appeared while feeding cattle. Landon DeLuce, a 14-year-old student at A Kubota tractor the young had been using was PAGE A2SEE FAMILY, PAGE A3 SEE MISSING, PAGE A2SEE Black History Month: “Soul Food” in America ALMA HARPER made limited portions of these Okra is an important food used CLUB GARDENIA foods available on the slave ships in soul food dishes. Whether it’s Soul Food is a term used for an in order to keep the enslaved alive. stewed, fried or baked okra has ethnic cuisine, food traditional- Once in the Americas, the en- become one of the most used vege- ly prepared and eaten by African slaved Africans grew these crops tables used in Southern American Americans. It has been historical- on the plantations as food sources and soul food dishes. It has a deep ly associated with Black Culture. that would keep their energy up history, likely originating from It can be traced where blacks during the long days of hard labor. Ethiopia. Over the centuries the have been, combining the dishes A variety of rice was brought vegetable made its way through from various African tribal tra- to the Americas through the the Middle East, North Africa and ditions that were brought to the slave trade. Since rice is a staple even South Asia. It wasn’t until the Americas with Western Euro- in many African dishes, enslaved 18th century when okra made its pean/American ingredients and Africans adapted their cooking way to the Americans through the COURTESY PHOTO techniques. in the Americas with food items slave ships. Ladies from Freedom House volunteered over 36 community hours at the During the Middle Passage, that were most accessible, creating African slaves were given only Checotah Community Center that was used as a Warming Station during the slave traders intentionally took some of the most renowned soul the “leftover” and “undesirable” snowstorm this past week. several crops native to Africa and food staples. SEE HISTORY, PAGE A4 CHECOTAH NEWS Grocery distribution moved to this Friday McIntosh County RWD #3 Annual Meeting Notice CHS Prom tickets on sale The Least of These Food Ministry moved its month- McIntosh County Rural Water District #3 will hold Checotah High School prom tickets are now on sale ly food distribution to this Friday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. at their Annual Board Meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, until March 11. Cost is $35. Tickets purchased from the Assembly of God in Checotah. March 4, 2021, at 115 N. Broadway, Checotah. SEE CHECOTAH NEWS, PAGE A2 A2 • McIntosh County Democrat Thursday, February 25, 2021 Partners retire off the front lines LADONNA RHODES Jones had thought about this very mo- STAFF WRITER ment for the last couple years. Would Muskogee County Deputy Sheriff the department let him stay in the K-9 Bryan Jones and his K-9 partner Tibo, unit? Would Tibo have issues with Jones officially retired from their beat on the getting a new K-9 partner? Would the street on Friday, Feb. 12. They had been next one be near as good as Tibo? The partners in crime for over 10 years and questions were agonizing. their bond was more than just an every- “I finally decided the best decision day work schedule. It had crossed over for both of us was to retire off the front to being a family. lines with Tibo. It solved a lot of con- Jones, a 1981 Eufaula graduate who cerns and put some peace of mind in had been in law enforcement for 35 the hearts of JJ (Jocelyn, Jones’ wife) years had seen his fair share of drugs on and my family members as they knew the streets. Hence he would take Tibo Tibo always had my six.” and they would go into the school sys- Jones will continue to work as an in- tems to explain to students the effects of vestigator for an unnamed state agen- drugs on their brains and how it plays cy. Tibo though, who is now almost 12 a reward-motivation behavior response. years old gets to do whatever he wants. They literally become addicted to the He will get tons of attention and love feeling and so he believes the only way Partners in crime, Muskogee County Deputy Sheriff COURTESY PHOTOS and even his favorite treat, Frosty Paws. to keep kids off drugs is to get them to Bryan Jones and his K-9 Officer Tibo, retire from patrol. K-9 Officer Tibo Tibo has had quite a career. He’s made never start. the news a few times, been on a radio Jones, who has no children of his own, tion better than I ever could. He’s made Jones knows his partner too though show once and been in a dozen or so wishes he could save every child from a felony apprehensions, recovered drugs, and over the past eight months Tibo newspaper articles over the years. He’s life of addiction. and won multiple honorable mentions had started experiencing orthopedic is- the only K-9 I ever saw that knew he was “Tibo loves children and we enjoyed based on his fabulous abilities as a Law sues. a cop and was best entertained when in teaching students about the dangers of Enforcement K-9 Officer. Tibo has per- “I always said, when Tibo tells me the company of other cops. drugs, “Jones said. sonally met and helped me teach over it’s time, I’ll back him. A while back, His favorite times were squad meet- However, we have been in many dan- 15,000 kids in three states about sub- when we were getting ready to load ings or operations out in the field...the gerous situations and my K-9 partner stance abuse subsequently receiving a up for patrol, he made the decision to more cops around, the better for him.