VAT for prison considered

-Sequoyah County Times, August 26, 1999

From the files of your Sequoyah County Times

25 years ago

(From the August 26, 1999 edition of the Sequoyah County Times) — Sequoyah County residents may again be asked to vote on a half-cent sales tax for a new jail.

At a public meeting with county officials on Monday, the consensus was that the county jail is too old to be renovated. The options are to build a new jail or to buy or lease a building and convert it into a jail.

County commissioners said at their regular meeting Monday that the county jail “will never meet state standards.”

The recent rejection by the Office of the State Fire Marshal was the reason why the county commissioners invited the public to discuss the 85- years old prison.

—Once land and utilities are secured, a new Cherokee Nation food distribution store is planned for Sallisaw.

The new grocery stores being planned by the Cherokee Nation are modeled after a store that opened in Jay last year. The stores will allow food distribution participants to shop for the food they need in the environment of a grocery store. Participants will pick up their groceries from the aisles and coolers, then go to a checkout area where employees will help them bag the groceries and fill out paperwork.

50 years ago

(From the August 22, 1974 edition of the Sequoyah County Times) — Webbers Falls lost its water Saturday night when an excavator removing sand from the bottom of the Arkansas River channel broke the main drainage pipeline.

The community of 600 residents has taken the incident in stride, as it gets its drinking water from a variety of sources. Several wells in town are being used for the first time in many years. A Muskogee National Guard unit, activated almost immediately, has trucked in tanks of water and distributed them to residents. Volunteers are bringing water to those who cannot leave their homes.

75 years ago

(From the August 26, 1949 edition of the Sequoyah County Times) — Vian city fathers moved this week to make their city more attractive as a commercial center for the residents of Sequoyah County and the southern part of Cherokee County by opening their new restrooms for the convenience of their customers.

The building that formerly housed the city jail has been completely remodeled and modernized. Mayor Armstrong said today, “One of the biggest complaints that people in the rural areas hear about all towns is that there are no facilities for those who want to spend several hours in town shopping and doing business. Vian's Lions Club took care of the drinking water situation last year by installing an electric drinking fountain. Our city officials now provide clean restrooms. We want people who live in the country to know that we want them in Vian.”

—ML Bland, assistant manager of the Sallisaw Hardware Store, announced today that the catfish category of their fishing contest is growing in numbers. JJ Cox has entered a 43-pound willow catfish, Bland said.

“But bass fishermen still have a very good chance of winning first prize. We haven't received many entries in this category,” he added.

100 years ago

(From the August 22, 1924 edition of the Sequoyah County Democrat) —Charles Melton, Jess Melton and Henry Gann were arrested last week by James D. Quinn, state game warden, and local officials and charged with blowing up Little Sallisaw Creek with dynamite to catch fish. The creek was blown up on the night of July 18th and the state game warden and local authorities, assisted by the Isaac Walton Club of this county, began working the case to bring the culprits to justice. According to a local official of the Isaac Walton Club, the state has enough evidence against the arrested men to punish them.

—Miss Olive Lucas will start for Muldrow on September 1st, where she will assume charge of the office of the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in that city. Miss Lucas has several years' experience in the local office of Southwestern Bell, which will make her a very efficient manager. For the past few months she has been employed as bookkeeper for the Sallisaw Ice Company.