remodel the High School.

ment and acquiring and

The proposition that improving school sites,
and levy and collect an
was approved states:
The Wewoka
Times
08/19/2015
annual
tax, in addition
Shall
Independent
School District Number to all other taxes, upon
35 of Hughes County, all the taxable property
Oklahoma,
incur
an in such District sufficient
indebtedness by issuing to pay the interest on

Leonard of McDonald and

Associates was invited to
Courtesy Photo
offer advice and share his
toWewoka
65% from
originalcould
to fitsoon
lettersee
page
residents
some new medication aides at their
knowledge Copy
of theReduced
subject, and he explained a local long term care facility. Michael Ventris, Elisia Woods, Shanna Ray,
Amanda Rushing, and Walter Roberts, from Oakridge Home trained to be
number of options.
In May voters turned Certified Medication Aides through the Oklahoma Association of Health
(See Holdenville on Page 12)
Care Providers last week.

Caregivers

Commissioner Learns Danger of Distracted Driving

The Association of
County
Commissioners of Oklahoma (ACCO)
hosted
their
annual
Summer & Safety Conference at the Embassy
Suites in Norman, OK on
Thursday, August 6th.
The conference featured
AT&Ts It Can Wait
(ICW) new virtual reality
simulator.
More
than
1,000
attendees from across
the
state
including
county commissioners,
staff and their families
had the opportunity to
try out the experience,
which simulates, in an
immersive but safe 3-D
setting, the potentially
deadly consequences of
glancing at your phone
while driving.
Many of us feel a need
to check our phones
constantly. But when
someone feels this urge
while they are behind
the wheel, it can lead to
tragic
consequences,
said Gary Choate, county

commissioner for Seminole County. This simulator really helps to drive

home how dangerous distracted driving can be.
The simulator is part of
the It Can Wait movement
focused on changing
behaviors and educating the public about the
dangers of smartphone
driving distractions.
When AT&T launched
the It Can Wait campaign
five years ago, the key
message was that no text
is worth a life. Now the
campaign is expanding
that same, simple message to other smartphone
activities and applications that people are
doing while driving.
Our goal is to share
and reinforce this simple
message - keep your eyes
on the road, not on your
phone, said Steve Hahn,
President of AT&T Oklahoma.
While many tragedies
are out of our control,
the ones caused by

smartphone driving distractions are completely

preventable.
We are using our It
Can Wait simulator to
help raise awareness and
educate the public about
the very real dangers of
these actions in an effort
to change behavior and
make
our
Oklahoma
roadways safer.
To date, more than
2,500 organizations and
tens of thousands of
individuals have helped
champion the It Can Wait
cause.
And the It Can Wait
pledge campaign has
inspired more than 7
million personal commitments to never text
and drive many among
friends and family who
pledged to keep each
other accountable.
In addition to the ACCO
conference, AT&T is also
hosting a nationwide virtual reality tour this year
as part of its expanded
(See Texting on Page 12)

No Distractions
Courtesy Photo

Above, Seminole County Commissioner Gary Choate learning the dangers

of distracted driving in a virtual reality simulator.

August 25, 2015 1:40 pm /