Week of December 26, 2025
In a special meeting Thursday, Dec. 18, the Alva Board of Education had a first look at preliminary plans for capital improvements. One of those, a renovation and restoration project at Washington Early Childhood Center, will be paid for using a donation earmarked for that purpose. It's estimated the donation will cover 90 percent of the project with the remainder coming from the school budget. Two other proposed projects will require passage of a bond issue of somewhere around $31 million to...
FORT WORTH, Texas - Taylor Munsell arrived at the WPRA National Finals Breakaway Roping knowing a world championship was within reach. Leaving Fort Worth, Texas, she did so as the newly crowned world champion, an accomplishment that she said felt almost unreal. "I don't know that it's fully sunk in yet," Munsell said. "It's a surreal feeling. I come in here knowing there was a possibility I could do it or it would happen, and to finally finish it was an awesome feeling." The Alva, Oklahoma,...
ALVA – The No. 19 Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team extended its winning streak with a 67-55 victory over Southern Nazarene, led by Kira Bass' 28-point, 11-rebound performance. The victory moves the Lady Rangers to 10-1 on the season, and 5-0 in Great American Conference play. It wasn't long before Northwestern got things going, getting out to a 12-4 lead just four minutes into the opening quarter. The next few minutes of the quarter turned into a defensive battle, as...
ALVA – The Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball team upset No. 3 Southern Nazarene 63-60 on a Mikey Hawkins half-court shot at the buzzer. Southern Nazarene opened up the game on a 6-0 run, before Justin Norris hit a three pointer to put Northwestern on the board. The Rangers tied the game minutes later on a Keyondre Young three-point play. The two sides went into the media break knotted up at 6. The two sides traded baskets the next few minutes, as both shared time with the lead....
The outcome of the game wasn't much of a mystery when the Alva Ladybugs traveled to Perry Friday afternoon, Dec. 19, to take on the Lady Maroons. The Alva team went into the game with a 4-2 record while Perry was at 1-5. The Ladybugs dominated the contest and came away with a 63-12 win. The Ladybugs built up a 20-0 lead in the first quarter. Perry was finally able to score on a free throw and a single made basket. Alva led 22-3 at the end of the first period of play. The Ladybugs let up on the...
Coming off their first win of the season, the Alva Goldbugs were hopeful of improving their 1-5 record as they traveled to Perry on Friday, Dec. 19. Although the Goldbugs got off to a slow start, they trailed by only three points at halftime. The Alva boys tied the game once during the third quarter but still lagged by three points going into the final period. Despite Alva obtaining a one-point lead once in the final period, Perry took the victory by a slim 45-43 margin. The Perry Maroons led...
When turbulent weather with whipping winds and heavy snow is in the forecast, meteorologists sometimes warn that a storm could "bomb out" or become a bomb cyclone. But what exactly does this mean? According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, certain storms undergo bombogenesis, which happens when a storm's central pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. These storms are sometimes called bomb cyclones. Storm intensity is measured by central pressure, so the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. Such...
Many consumers feel pride in avoiding the glazed pastries in the supermarket and instead opting for "all natural" granola that comes packed with extra protein. Same goes for low-fat yogurts "made with real fruit," organic plant-based milks and bottled "superfood" smoothies. Buyer beware: Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an unhealthy amount of sugar. Added sugars are difficult to quickly spot because many companies use clever marketing to distract consumers, said Nicole Avena, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at...
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has indicated that the U.S. has "hit" a dock facility along a shore as he wages a pressure campaign on Venezuela, but the U.S. offered few details. Trump initially seemed to confirm a strike in what appeared to be an impromptu radio interview Friday, and when questioned Monday by reporters about "an explosion in Venezuela," he said the U.S. struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs "load up." "There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,"...
A strengthening bomb cyclone barreled across the northern U.S. on Monday, unleashing severe winter weather in the Midwest as it took aim at the East Coast. The storm brought blizzard conditions, treacherous travel and power outages to parts of the Plains and Great Lakes on Monday as sharply colder air, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain swept through. Forecasters said the storm intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops. The sharp cold front left parts of...
HOLBROOK, Ariz. (AP) — Investigators declined to reveal the suspected motive in the shooting death of a prominent California farmer's estranged wife in eastern Arizona, but they said the couple's prolonged divorce case arose in nearly all interviews with family and friends. Michael Abatti, 63, was arrested last week in El Centro, California, in the shooting death of Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, at her family's vacation home in Pinetop, Arizona, where she moved after splitting with her husband. Investigators, who discussed the case at a news...
BOSTON (AP) — More than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions due to snow as thousands took to roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Year's. New York City received about 4 inches (10.2 centimeters) of snow Friday night into early Saturday — slightly under what some forecasts had predicted. At least 1,500 flights were canceled from Friday night, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. But by the morning, both the roads and the skies were...
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian judge on Saturday issued house arrest orders for 10 people who have been convicted and sentenced for participating in a plot to keep former President Jair Bolsonaro in power after he lost the 2022 election. The decision by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes came just hours after authorities in neighboring Paraguay arrested a former police commander, who also had been convicted in the plot and returned him to Brazil. Silvinei Vasques, the former director of Brazil's Federal Highway Police, was extradited to...
