Daily Bible verse
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
Ephesians 1:7
Heavener School Board agenda
Heavener School Board will meet in a regular business meeting 6 p.m. Monday in the Glenn Scott Educational Center at 500 West Second Street Room 103 in Heavener.
New district suggestions for Class 2A-1
By CRAIG HALL
Heavener News
Okay, people, nobody asked, told, or requested I redo Class 2A-1 for Oklahoma schools.
The current alignment simply does not work. If I had my choice, I would be back to a unified Class 2A and Class B.
But since the OSSAA will probably not drop the I and II divisions, I have a suggestion that will work, in my opinion.
The main thing is districts would drop from eight teams to four teams. Yeah, I know we have had eighth team districts since the 1980s, mainly because of scheduling reasons. I don’t recall having scheduling problems back then, and I am sure the schedules would be filled.
I also don’t think the OSSAA took into consideration the traveling difficulties. There is no reason a district should have two teams practically in Texas, two more hugging the Arkansas state lines, one team in the Tulsa suburbs and three teams in the Shawnee area. This produces.
According to Google, it is 169 miles from Kiefer to Kingston, a drive in a car for two hours and 47 minutes. For Heavener to drive to Kingston, Heavener’s trip to Kingston Thursday, which incidentally is on a night when many people try to work the following day is 163 miles or two hours and 49 minutes.
A trip from Heavener to Bethel, which closes out the regular season, is 182 miles, or approximately a drive time of two hours and 49 minutes.
Trips like this should not occur in district play. Playoffs, okay, but not district play. Heavener has three road district games remaining. The two that were previously mentioned to Kingston and Bethel, plus a trip to Okmulgee after an earlier trip to Prague.
For Roland, it is a 197 mile trip to Kingston, or a drive time of three hours and seven minutes.
I know the OSSAA tries to do its best, but sometime I believe so they are more worried about having the strongest teams in a district, to heck with the travel times.
Instead, I have this proposal.
There would be two four-team districts in each section, aside from one three-team district that would hold the Oklahoma City private schools, so the top team in one district would play the second-place team in the other district out of the same section.
Then, the two winners from the first round would play for the section championship at the team with the better record, or preferably a neutral location. A district champion should not be on the road aside from neutral locations.
After that, the winner from Section Four would play the winner of Section Three with that winner playing the survivor out of Sections One and Two for the state championship. My plan does not take into consideration power teams, just geography.
Those teams would be in the same districts in baseball, softball and whatever sports each school offers. That means we would need to have the same sports. We don’t need slow pitch softball. Move fast pitch to spring, where schools could easier play schools from surrounding states, and use fall for cross country or volleyball.
So that removes the funky districts such as the one a few years ago that had Heavener and Tishomingo in the same district, or in baseball where Heavener has been in districts with schools from Tulsa, Henryetta and even worse. Now, the only required road trip would be the home-and-home for the other sports aside from Heavener.
But how could it be set up? I did not do a deep dive on locations out of our area, but I am sure there could easily be a easy solution for people more knowledgeable.
Again, this includes only the current 2A-I schools which I hope gets disbanded and there is once again just a Class 2A and Class A, that would make the travel even easier. But that is another thought for another column.
So here is the projected Class 2A-I sections and districts.
Section one
District one: Heavener, Roland, Westville and Sequoyah-Tahlequah.
District two: Kingston, Hugo, Marietta and Dickson,
Section two
District 3: Kiefer, Prague, Okmulgee and Bethel
District 4: Metro Christian, Tulsa Central, Webster and Sperry
Section three
District 5: Chandler, Dewey, Blackwell and Perry.
District 6: Lexington, Washington, Lindsey, Chisholm.
Section four
District 7: Jones, Little Axe, Perry and Millwood.
District 8: Mt. St. Mary, Oklahoma Christian School and Crossings Christian.
Again, this is not perfect. I was looking back at this and figured out Dewey probably is in the wrong place, but I could not decide where to move them and make everything work. Sperry also doesn’t need to be in a district with all Tulsa schools, but the only solution would be to swap out Sperry and Kiefer, and that would make the travel bad for Sperry.
I do not think it would be hard to complete your schedule. You are looking at seven non-district schools. For Heavener, they have all the Arkansas schools, hopefully not Charleston, plus Panama, Pocola, Spiro, Wilburton, Vian, Hartshorne, Eufaula, Stigler, Antlers, Talihina, and many others.
So we will follow this suggestion. Again, it would be just like Texas, where the teams in your football district are also in the same district with other sports. If, for instance, Byng was in this district and the Pirates don’t play baseball, they would be included in District 8 just so we could have the same number of schools in each district. Although you could move Millwood to District 8 and stick Byng in District 7.
One final suggestion. If these teams are in Class 2A-I, that is the same class they should compete in throughout all sports. So many of these schools are bumped up to Class 3A in basketball, but let 3A play 3A and 2A play 2A.
If you have a suggestion, place It in the comments below.
Warm temperatures continue Monday
Weather forecast for Monday is for partly cloudy skies with continuing warm temperatures for Heavener, LeFlore County and the area.
The high is forecast to be 87 degrees with a low of 63.
Sunrise was 7:22 a.m. Sunset is 6:45 p.m.
See the whole story HERE.
Calendar of events
Calendar of events for today for Heavener, LeFlore County, southeastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. The calendar is a free service for our readers. If you are with a non-profit and want an event publicized, CONTACT us.
Monday
LeFlore County commissioners meet 9 a.m.
Cross country: Heavener at Wright City meet
Local school boards meet
Today in history
1792
White House cornerstone laid
The cornerstone is laid for a presidential residence in the newly designated capital city of Washington, D.C. In 1800, President John Adams became the first president to reside in the executive mansion, which soon became known as the “White House” because its white-gray Virginia freestone... read more
19th Century
1812
21st Century
2021
American Revolution
1775
Arts & Entertainment
1975
Crime
1999
European History
1977
Latin American & Caribbean History
1972
2010
Sports
1967
World War II
1943
Obituary for Treasa Fitzgerald
Treasa Lynn (Salsman) Fitzgerald of Heavener was born Jan. 2, 1958 in Morris to Clyde Raymond and Ruby Marie (Little) Salsman and passed away surrounded by her family Oct. 9, 2025 in Heavener at the age of 67.
The funeral service to celebrate Treasa’s life is 2 p.m. Monday at the Freedom House Fellowship Church in Heavener with Brother Sam Dyer and Dalton Luman officiating. Burial will follow in Heavener Memorial Park under the direction of Dowden-Roberts Funeral Home of Heavener.
Treasa Fitzgerald, a cherished member of the Heavener community, passed away after a life filled with love and resilience. Treasa graduated as the salutatorian from Howe High School in 1976. Her high school years were highlighted by her roles as a cheerleader, class president, and vice president. She was actively involved in journalism and the Future Homemakers of America.
In the early years, Treasa pursued a career as a Barber and Respiratory Therapist in the 1990’s. Although she faced health challenges that led to her retirement in the early 2000s, Treasa’s spirit remained unbreakable, and she approached life with a positive outlook. Above all, she fiercely loved and protected her family and friends, finding immense joy in the time spent with them.
Treasa was a loyal and caring friend, always ready to support those around her. Her mornings were often spent enjoying coffee while watching her favorite show “The Hagees.” She also loved the “Golden Girls”. Treasa will be remembered for her unwavering kindness, her dedication to her loved ones, and the warmth she brought to all who knew her.
Survivors are one son Dylan Roberts and wife Kaci of Heavener; four grandchildren Kynlee Paige and Kason Roberts of Heavener, Brody and Adrian Cheshier of Heavener; father of Dylan and friend Max Roberts of Heavener and his companion Nancy Cox of Poteau; one niece, Brittany Salsman of Shawnee; six nephews David Salsman, Jr. of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Michael Salsman and wife Bethany of Hichita, Scott Salsman and wife Lexi of Canton, Ohio, Jason Salsman and wife Ashtyn of Morris, Sean Salsman and wife Shannon of Wichita, Kansas, and Caleb Salsman and his wife Tiffany of Tahlequah; cousins Gwen Kirkpatrick and husband Ron of Glenpool, Alice Gregg of Oklahoma City, Rhonda Harder of Glenpool, Brad Bridges of Mound, Morgan Byars and husband Jeptha of Beggs, and Aaron and Ethan Thompson of Beggs; lifelong friends Susan Dodson and husband Darrel of Howe, Wanda Lawrence and husband Rob of Cameron, and Cheryl Felthousen of Edmond; caretaker and friend Rhonda Armstrong and husband David of Panama; several great-nieces and great-nephews; numerous other loved ones and friends.
She is preceded in death by her beloved parents; her husband, Danny Fitzgerald; her two brothers David Salsman, Sr. and Michael Salsman, her best friend Jeanne (Jones) Jackson, and her dearly loved dog, Marj. She also leaves behind four uncles, one aunt, numerous cousins and other loved ones.
Pallbearers are David Salsman, Jr., Sean Salsman, Mark Place, Geoff Slusser, Sean Covey, and Brad Morris. Honorary pallbearers are staff of Dowden-Roberts Funeral Home and Cremation Center, members of the Heavener Fire and Rescue, Scott Salsman, Ron Kirkpatrick, Darrell Dodson, Aaron Jackson and David Armstrong.
In lieu of flowers the family request donations be made in Treasa’s honor to either Gideon Bibles or Second Chances Retail Store at 1100 South Broadway, Poteau, Oklahoma 74953.
To sign Treasa’s online guestbook please visit www.dowdenrobertsfuneralhome.com.