CMYK

Fridays forecast:

A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high

near 63. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Single Copy 50 2014 McCurtain Daily Gazette

Periodicals Postage Paid at Idabel, Oklahoma

McCurtain Daily Gazette

Proudly serving McCurtain County since 1905

THURSDAY

January 30, 2014

Volume 108, Number 73

Kidnapping, assault tied

to lack of dead chickens

Stephanie Friesen of the K20 Center visits with Alice Smith and Stephanie Wase today
during a site visit at Idabel Primary South Elementary School. The students in Shannon
Archies first-grade class work at a Smart table, one of many new technologies being
used currently by more than 400 students at Primary South thanks to a $65,000 grant
from the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust. (Staff photo)

Primary South students use

new technology from grant

Primary South Elementary School

is one of 18 schools this year that
has received a grant for technology
and professional development.
The $65,000 grant provides Smart
boards, document cameras and 64
iPads to facilitate authentic learning
and increase student achievement,
according to the Oklahoma
Educational Technology Trust
(OETT).
In the 12 years since the trust was
established with a $30 million contribution by AT&T under an agreement with then-Attorney General
Drew Edmondson, OETT has given
grants to 188 schools Primary
South, one of 18 schools selected for
a grant this year, was the focus of a
site visit today by Susie Graves,
Linda Atkinson and Stefanie
Friesen. Friesen and Atkinson are
part of the K20 Center at the
University of Oklahoma.
The K20 professional development teams go to the schools receiving technology grants to work with
teachers, training them on how to
use the technology.
Susie Graves is with the
Communities
Foundation
of
Oklahoma
and
Foundation
Management, Inc., which administers the grants in conjunction with
the K20 team.
Also taking part in the site visit
were Idabel School Superintendent
Doug Brown, federal programs
director Linda DeBerry and Primary
South Elementary Principal Terri
Bastible.
Each of the classrooms at Primary
South has five I-pads. Also each
class has a Smart board and Smart
table.
Primary South, Idabels newest
school, has 400 students in four
grades, from pre-kindergarten
through second grade.

During a reporters visit to one

first-grade and one second-grade
classrooms (just a part of the OETT
site visit), students were observed
with teachers Shannon Archie and
Trudy Procell in groups or centers,
some using technology and some
using other or more traditional materials to do math, word creation, writing and other exercises. Teachers
were either reading with a group of
students or observing at each site in
the classroom.
Each student rotates to the different sites or centers, so that all utilize
the technology materials.
Graves said the decisions OETT
on grants are made by the nine
trustees, which are appointed by
nine different entities.
She said the grants are based
totally on merit, after blind
reviews in which the trustees look at
all the applications.
About 400 students in from prekindergarten through second grade
attend Idabel Primary South, the
newest of the four main school
building sites in the Idabel district.
Approximately half of the grant
money goes to professional development training and Friesen is currently working with teachers at 18
schools from Boise City to Idabel.
Since 2003, the OETT grants
have been utilized by 75,000 students, and more than 5,500 teachers
have received training to assist with
how to use the new educational
technology in the classroom.
About half of the money in OETT
grants goes for training teachers.
Brown became superintendent
last summer and one of his early
steps was letting students bring their
own technology to school to use in
education. He said he especially
appreciates how K20 Centers professional development is helping

teachers here.
About half of the money in OETT
grants goes for training teachers,
said Graves. She noted that knowing
how to effectively use the new technology is just as essential as being
able to get it.
An Idabel committee was meeting
today on plans for utilizing a technology grant funded through a
recent bond issue passed by Idabel
district voters.
A first priority for the $1.3 million
in bond funds, said DeBerry, is
upgrading the technology infrastructure.
Currently, OETT trustees are Phil
Berkenbile, appointed by the
Oklahoma State Board of Career &
Technology Education; Steven
Crawford, appointed by the
Cooperative Council for Oklahoma
School Administration; Robert
Franklin, appointed by the
Oklahoma State Senate Education
Committee; Lela Odom, appointed
by the Oklahoma Education
Association; Scott Sparks, appointed by the Oklahoma State
Superintendent
of
Public
Instruction; Bob Stafford, appointed
by AT&T; and John A. Wright,
appointed by the education committee of the Oklahoma House of
Representatives.
The trustee board had a vacancy
when one of the trustees recently
died. Jeff Mills was executive director of the OSSBA (state school
board association) and an OETT
trustee. The new OSSBA executive
director, starting in April, will be
Idabel native Shawn Hime.
OETT is administered by
Communities
Foundation
of
Oklahoma and the OK-ACTS Phase
IIU Grants-to-School professional
development team at the K20
Center.

An Eagletown man has been

charged with kidnapping, assault
and battery and threatening to perform an act of violence, a court filing indicates.
John Cody Brantley, 37, was
charged in district court this morning; a district attorneys filing
shows.
The incident began when the victim, Rodney Reece, failed to bring
Brantley dead chickens to feed his
hogs, a report said.
In his sworn statement deputy
Stacy Caldwell said the following:
The victim was taken to
McCurtain Memorial and spoke to
Caldwell after having been kidnapped and assaulted by Brantley,
he said.
Hospital staff told Caldwell
Reece had a broken nose and a split
lip.

Reece said Brantley came into his

chicken houses Jan. 20 saying
Brantleys uncle had a problem with
a dog that had been run over in front
of Reeces chicken houses.
Brantley made it sound like Reece
had run over the dog, Reece told
Caldwell.
He told Reece they needed to talk
and his uncle was near a pond. Both
men got into Reeces truck and
drove to the pond.
Thats when he snapped, Reece
said.
Brantley told Reece he lured him
there because he had failed to bring
Brantley dead chickens for his hogs
and dogs.
Reece said Brantley told him he
had a .357 pistol in his pocket and if
Reece tried to leave he would kill
him and brag his body to a nearby
creek.

He punched Reece several times

while threatening him, Reece said.
Brantley ranted and threatened
him for at least an hour, Reece said,
and told him he could do whatever
he wants anything and anywhere he
wants, until Brantleys uncle came
and cooled him down.
If (his uncle) hadnt shown up
Im certain I would be dead. I was
afraid to fight back because I was
afraid he would shoot me, Reece
said.
Brantleys uncle told officers he
told his nephew to leave after seeing
Reeces bloody face.
Brantley was arrested Tuesday by
US Marshals with assistance from
sheriffs deputies and Idabel police.
He is currently on probation for
cruelty to animals and has been
charged with assault in the past,
court records show.

Charges are pending against three

people following an armed robbery
at a rural Rufe home Tuesday.
The victim, a Hugo man, said a
Valliant man and woman came to his
house and wanted a ride to the
womans brothers house in Rufe.
The man agreed to give them a
ride and drove down several roads in
Rufe until he reached a dead end
where there were two houses.
When he pulled in front of one of
the two houses several men holding
shotguns with flashlights taped to
the barrels surrounded his truck.
The woman he had given a ride to
reached over and pulled his wallet
from his pants at that point, he said,
and counted the $300 in cash in his
wallet.
The couple tried to get out of the
truck after taking his wallet, but
couldnt because the passenger door
sticks badly, he said.
When the couple couldnt get out
of the truck, one of the shotgunwelding men yelled for them to get
out right now, the victim said.
The couple got out on the drivers
side and the victim sped away.

Deputies responded to the rural

home and ordered everyone inside
the home to come out.
Officers spoke to several people
who said they didnt see anything
happen in the driveway.
The Valliant couple said the victim had given them a ride to the
home, but he made them pay for his
gas.
They denied robbing the man.
Deputies spoke to the home
owner and asked if there were any
guns in the house.
The man replied that there were
guns in the house and he might be
a felon.

old boys, who harass and intimidate

him daily, stopped him and demanded his New York Knicks hat.
The 16-year-old took the hat and
later bragged on Facebook about
having done so.
The victim showed officer
screenshots where the 16-year-old
suspect posted on the victims
Facebook page saying, I told you
Id get that hat.
Robbery charges will be sought
against both teens through Juvenile
Services.
An Idabel woman tried to reason
with police when an officer told her
she was under arrest for public
intoxication Wednesday.
Officers spotted the drunk woman
at Briarcliff Apartments Wed-nesday and told her she was under
arrest for public intoxication.
She replied, I wasnt drinking in
public. I drank before I left.
She was arrested anyway.
Deputies investigated two checks
being written from a mans account
while he was in jail.
The checks totaled $138 and the
man named two women as suspects.

Robbery victim says

several had shotguns

The man brought officers a shotgun from the home and he was
arrested for felon in possession of a
firearm.
The Valliant couple will face robbery charges.
In yet another robbery, charges
will be sought against two Idabel
teenagers who stole a ball cap from
another teenager Tuesday.
The victim said he was walking
near city hall when 15- and 16-year-

Extended weather forecast

Tonight A 20 percent chance of
rain after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with
a low around 39. East wind 5 to 15
mph.
Friday A 20 percent chance of
rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high
near 63. Southeast wind 5 to 10
mph.
Friday Night A 20 percent chance
of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low

around 51. Southeast wind 5 to 10

mph.
Saturday A 40 percent chance of
showers, mainly after 7am. Cloudy,
with a high near 59. Southeast wind
around 10 mph becoming northwest
in the afternoon.
Saturday Night A 30 percent
chance of showers, mainly before
7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low

around 34.
Sunday A 50 percent chance of
rain, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny,
with a high near 43.
Sunday Night A chance of rain
showers, snow, and sleet. Mostly
cloudy, with a low around 32.
Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Monday A chance of rain showers, snow, and sleet.

Reader photo of the day

Fire bans are being added by

neighboring SE commissioners
County commissioners in 23
Oklahoma counties including
LeFlore, Latimer and Pittsburg
have now issued bans on outdoor
burning.
The number of fires for 2014 in
the southeast protection area went
up by three on Wednesday, with
three fires reported for 34.5 acres
burned.
The largest was a 32-acre incendiary fire in Pushmataha County.
McCurtain and Pushmataha counties each reported escaped debris
burns that totaled 2.5 acres.
Four counties in the state forestry
southeast protection area do not
have burn bans (McCurtain,
Pushmataha, Choctaw and Atoka).
The southeast area includes a small

part of LeFlore County, whose commissioners recently banned burning.

Forestry officials are strongly discouraging anyone from burning
today. No confirmation numbers are
being given out by the state forestry
office at Broken Bow.,
Winds today will be in the 20-25
mph range with gusts to 30 mph.
They are from the south/southwest
ahead of a cold front moving across
the state that is expected to cause a
slight chance of showers here by
this weekend and bring possibly
sleet and freezing rain to southeast
Oklahoma by Monday or Tuesday.
Chances of needed moisture this
weekend are slight, but there may be
a better chance early next week.
Howver, amounts may not make up

the January deficit.

The first month of 2014 will end
Friday with most stations recording
an inch or less of January precipitation.
Rain in the first four days of
February
(Saturday
through
Tuesday) may total as much as an
inch.
There have been several large
wild fires in Oklahoma. Two crews
from the southeast area traveled to
Cement to fight a large uncontrolled
fire earlier. Wednesdays largest fire
was 132 acres in the west part of
Pottawatomie County. It threatened
35 structures.
The southeast area answered 279
wild fires in 2013, the lowest number of fires since 2007.

Ward Messing photographed the lilies beginning to bloom in Carolyn Bates garden
last spring.