News

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The Festival of Angels is a staple in the winter time in Ponca City and has been since 1994. Many citizens of Ponca City and the surrounding communities share a deep-rooted love for the festival. What most don’t realize is the work and energy it takes to continue to offer this to the community.

Love can be found in a myriad of place, often times where and when one least expects it. That is what happened for Robert and Cleta Collyar, whose story saw the two come together by happenstance, and following both losing their longtime spouses.

It seems like just yesterday students were going back to school and now the holidays are upon us. Work has been nonstop at the Capitol this interim as I’ve attended meetings for the Senate Tax Reform Working Group, the Jim Thorpe Building Repair Oversight Committee and the Governor’s Council on Workforce and Economic Development. We’ve also held meetings for the Senate Select Committee on Business Retention and Economic Development and numerous interim studies. I’ve also visited with agency reps, local businesses and constituents about issues and policies of importance to them. In the coming weeks, we’ll also start meeting with the agencies to go over their budget requests and performance measures.

The U.S. and its European allies are pushing a plan to deploy an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip after the war, according to people familiar with the matter, raising pressure on Israel to bring its military operation to an end as civilian casualties mount.