Area News

By Josh Allen ONL Staff Reporter After the “spontaneous” firing of City Manager Bert Robison at a council meeting last month, the almost two-year employee gathered his things from City Hall and made his way out the door. A formal or official reason for the seemingly random firing of the top administrative position in the…

By Josh Allen ONL Staff Reporter A woman called into the Weleetka Police Department dispatch late last month to report that she had been kidnapped and assaulted by a man before she was able to get away in the man’s Jeep and call police. A subsequent investigation into the matter led to the arrest of…

By Josh Allen and Kay Thompson ONL Staff At a special meeting of the Okemah City Council Thursday, councilors had a decision to make. In the wake of firing then-City Manager Bert Robison early last week, there was a major void in the city’s staff. The council sat down to appoint an interim replacement until…

As the deadline approaches to register for the November 6 General Election, a national effort is underway to encourage voters to get signed up. National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, September 25 is the perfect time for Oklahomans to make sure they are registered and their information is up to date, Oklahoma State Election Board…

A Cromwell oilman that’s been embroiled in criminal scandal over the last few years has now been convicted by a jury on ten counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The convictions mean 52-year-old Kevin Wieck could face up to…

By Kay Thompson ONL Publisher The Okemah City Council voted to terminate City Manager Bert Robison in a special meeting on Monday, September 17, 2018. Robison’s contract had just been extended for two years at the June 11 meeting with the praise of the council. Robison was hired on January 9, 2017. In June 2017,…

By Josh Allen ONL Staff Reporter The Okemah Police Department and assisting agencies arrested 18-year-old Emmanuel Hummingbird after a nearly month-long ordeal that involved drive-by shootings and evasion before the suspect was located, according to an affidavit filed with the county. Hummingbird is being held in the Okfuskee County Jail on two felony complaints —…

By Josh Allen ONL Staff Reporter Emotions ran thick Friday evening as author Faith Phillips read from the stage much of the first chapter of her newest release: As I Lay Me Down — a true-crime novel that digs deep into the brutal murders of two young Weleetka girls on a gravel road and another…