Editor, Thehenryettan.com:
I can not begin find the words to express our overwhelming gratitude for each of you. Your prayers, food and so many other loving gestures have helped us get through the loss of our grandson, Tyler Keith Bolding.
The outpouring of love and support has been so humbling to our family!
Thank you Nita Robertson and Corbet Witham for your help!
A special, Thank You, to Robert Frost, Glenpool Pd, MCN Light Horsemen, Okmulgee Park Rangers, Henryetta Pd and Ambulance Service for the escort service and respect shown for our family. We will forever be grateful!
Sincerely, Mike and Kathy Bolding and the entire family of Tyler Keith Bolding 

By Casey Denny
Oklahoma State University: Community Wellness Programs
Okmulgee County Consortium
As a parent, grandparent, or caregiver it can be heartbreaking to see a young person in the family turn to substances like alcohol. In Okmulgee County, alcohol consumption is shown to be the most prevalent form of substance use among teens. In 2019-20 the OPNA (Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment) report for Okmulgee County showed that 46% of youth grades 6th through 12th reported consuming alcohol. This is a little less than half of every student in the county enrolled in middle to high school. The percentage of alcohol use is even more concerning when compared to the rates of other substances used like marijuana (26.3%) and cigarettes (24.5%).
As a parent or caregiver, we often ask ourselves what motivated them to walk down this risky path? In a prevention campaign created by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) called Talk. They Hear You, they provide a list of possible reasons:

  • Stress- Young people today are experiencing greater amounts of stress than before. In 2019-20 the OPNA showed that 31.7% of Okmulgee County middle and high school students reported feeling high levels of psychological distress which has increased from the previous year by 7%. It is also shown to be 2% higher than the state average for the same year. As a parent or caregiver, it is important that you validate and support your child during times of emotional distress.
  • Peer Pressure- Adolescence is a critical period in life where one finds their place in the broader social landscape. It is a period of rapid individual identity development which makes them highly influenced by their peers, the media, and family members. It is recommended by SAMHSA that you help increase your child’s confidence by teaching them different ways to say “no”. It is also important to remind them that real friends would not pressure them to drink.
  • Transitions- Divorce, graduating from high school, breaking up from a relationship, and moving to a new place can all be examples of transitions in life that are difficult to deal with. It is for this reason that some adolescents turn to substances to cope. It is important as a parent or caregiver to remember how hard it can be for children to endure major life changes during their fundamental development. Staying aware and present for your children will help tremendously in their ability to process these changes.
  • Environment- Children who grow up in households where there is heavy drinking and positive perceptions of substance use are more likely to drink themselves. In 2019-20 the OPNA showed that 32.9% of Okmulgee County middle and high school students reported their parents had favorable attitudes to drug use. As a caregiver, if you do drink, make sure to drink responsibly and in moderation. Be sure your child knows that drinking under the age of 21 is not acceptable.
  • Genetics- Children with a history of alcoholism in their family are more likely to become alcoholics than children who have no family history of alcoholism. If your family has this history, be sure to explain to your child the risk factors they may face and the seriousness of the disease.

Sources: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2019-20 Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment
If you would like more tips and information, you can follow the Okmulgee County Consortium on Facebook: Okmulgee County Consortium and Instagram: occ_community

By Sen. Roger Thompson
Senate Appropriations Chair

Thompson Roger 1Here in Oklahoma, one of the main topics of conversation is the weather, but I’d say transportation is right after that. People want to know when a road they rely on is going to be repaired, or how long before all the darn road construction is finally done.
In this week’s Budget Break Down, we’re looking at transportation funding in Oklahoma. First of all, I want to say that Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz and the folks at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) do a great job.
We also need to acknowledge that like many other businesses, they’re working under unusual circumstances due to ongoing supply chain issues. Currently, they’re running behind on some 20 percent of their projects because of those supply chain problems. There’s a project in my own Senate District 8 that’s been impacted by an asphalt plant that was shut down. It’s just a reality that is impacting both public and private sectors right now, so it’s important we take those factors into account.
When we look at funding for our roads in Oklahoma, including federal resources, we’re talking about a little over $1.7 billion. That’s a lot of money, and I believe we’re getting the most value we can for our dollars. Looking at the state budget and what we put into it, this year there was about a 2.8 percent increase in the budget.
For years, we’ve funded ODOT’s Eight-Year Construction Plan off-the-top. In other words, those dollars were earmarked so that it wasn’t reflected in the budget as other appropriations were. The last couple of years, we began to show that through the budget process to increase transparency.
This year, we’ve taken that number from $575 million to $590 million. There are additional state appropriations beyond the off-the-top dollars set aside for the Eight-Year program, bringing our total state dollars for Fiscal Year 2023 to more than $783.8 million for ODOT, which is a great investment in Oklahoma.
Our county roads and bridges are of tremendous importance to rural Oklahoma.
We’ve been putting $120 million a year of state money into county roads and bridges, but this year we passed legislation to add $5 million a year for the next six years, ultimately increasing those funds to $150 million annually. It’s a great program involving our county commissioners and ODOT to improve our transportation system in rural Oklahoma, something that’s important to our entire state as that is where much of the food all of us consume is grown.
There are other transportation issues of special concern to rural Oklahoma as well. In our metro areas, like Oklahoma City and Tulsa, personal transportation options include buses and street cars. In rural Oklahoma, we work through some of the community action agencies to provide transportation services. This year, we added $5 million for such programs, for a total of $10.75 million. Those community action agencies are able to leverage that with federal funds to purchase busses and other vehicles to get people where they need to go, such as doctors’ appointments, work, and the grocery store for a small fare.
Transportation is an important core function of government, but as population and transportation needs increase and technology changes, we face additional challenges. Today, we’re largely funding transportation through fuel taxes – fossil fuels, to be exact.
As more electric vehicles hit the road, the question is going to be how we can continue to fund our transportation infrastructure in the future. Many of the vehicles that will soon be on our roadways include autonomous vehicles, like self-driving trucks that will add to the wear and tear of our roads. We will meet those challenges and keep transportation in Oklahoma moving forward.
For more information, contact: Sen. Roger Thompson at 405-521-5588 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Sen. Roger Thompson
Senate Appropriations Chair
While education makes up the lion’s share of Oklahoma’s budget, health and human services represents the second largest category. This week, I want to break down some of the important appropriations we’ve made in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, along with funds we’ve utilized through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to improve health in Oklahoma.
Thompson Roger 1One of the most impactful budget decisions made in the 2022 legislative session was our vote to completely eliminate the state’s 13-year waiting list for developmental disability services. For years we’d given modest increases as we were able, of $2 million or so, but frankly it simply was not enough. Last year, for the first time ever, Oklahoma began conducting a complete assessment of how many people were still waiting for services and what it would take to completely eliminate the waitlist. As a result, we appropriated $32.5 million, which will enable us to serve all 5,000 on the waiting list within the next 18 to 24 months. We’ve also increased provider rates to ensure we’ll have the services necessary to meet this critical need. This is going to be life changing for thousands of Oklahomans and their families for years to come.
The need to improve access to mental health services was something that became even more pronounced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve included $700,000 for operations costs for the Cohen Military Family Clinic in Lawton. This funding will in turn enable the Cohen Veterans Network to expand their services in Oklahoma and serve even more veterans.
We’ve also increased funding for children’s mental health services, something that’s been so difficult to find that some families have been forced to go out of state for help. We took an important step last year with a $9.9 million appropriation. We added an additional $9.9 million this year and included $7.5 million in ARPA funds toward building additional space for children’s behavioral medicine at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and we will continue to put money into that. We added $2 million for children in custody of the Department of Human Services to help ensure availability of services for some of the state’s most acutely ill youths.
The budget also includes $3.5 million for the first year’s cost of a three-year plan to add 80 beds at the Vinita Forensic Center, another crucial step toward improving availability of mental health care.
Of course, our nurses have been on the front lines of Oklahoma’s health care for years. We were already facing shortages in this profession before the pandemic. Many have since left nursing altogether. The budget includes $3.5 million for retention and pay raises for nurses at state agencies, including those at the State Department of Health and our veterans centers. We also invested $1.8 million at the University of Oklahoma to admit more students to their nursing program. We’ve added over $60 million in ARPA funds in higher education and CareerTech to further increase the number of nurses in the pipeline.
Last year, following a vote of the people to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma, we began funding that expansion, with a price tag of about $164.8 million. Knowing available federal monies can fluctuate, we also created a Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) savings account. That decision really paid off this year after we saw a $30 million reduction in federal funds, which are based on each individual state’s economy. When a state’s economy expands, the federal funds are reduced. That’s what happened to Oklahoma this year, but because we’d begun this special savings account a couple of years ago, we were able to fill in that gap without diverting money from other programs or reducing payments to providers. These efforts and other reforms enacted this session are all aimed at improving health outcomes for Oklahomans.
This year, we partnered with the Cherokee Nation and private entities to expand the optometry program at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. This school trains most of the optometrists we have in Oklahoma, as well as those now practicing in surrounding states. Our state was able to utilize $15 million in ARPA funding as part of this important cooperative effort to improve eye care.
Another area of concern dealing with health care in Oklahoma was pointed out to me by a citizen from Durant who contacted our office, and that’s our emergency medical services (EMS). Rural ambulances are so important. I realize in our metropolitan areas, they may have agreements with cities or counties, but for rural Oklahoma, finding a way to fund EMS can be a struggle. While EMS services are not a part of our state budget, I believe they need to be a part of our conversation. I’ve visited with people in my own district about this issue and I’ve talked to our federal delegation about possible resources for EMS – it’s something I’m going to look at during the interim.
When you look at health care, it’s important to remember that the better the health of our citizens, the better their lives are, and that impacts all of us. Better health outcomes result in a better quality of life and greater productivity. It absolutely impacts our state’s economy and revenues. I’m proud of the work we’ve done this year to better address a spectrum of health care needs in Oklahoma. It may not be all that we need to do, but I can tell you it’s a great start.
For more information, contact: Sen. Roger Thompson at 405-521-5588 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
By Tricia Bear
Henryetta VFW Post 539,
Veteran Service Officer
There are three topics that I would like to inform soldiers about: Vet Tix, Agent Orange benefits, and Mission 22.
tricia bearVet Tix mission is to give tickets to those who serve to protect our country. It provides tickets to events which reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life. Vet Tix supports our troops by honoring their service and providing positive family and life experiences, during and after their years of service to our country.
Vet Tix provides tickets to all branches of currently-serving Military and Veterans, including immediate family of troops killed in action. Vet Tix secures tickets to sporting events, concerts, performing arts, educational and family activities across the nation. Vet Tixers sign up online. Vet Tix verifies their service. Vet Tixers request tickets to events that interest them, then pay a small delivery fee to receive their free tickets.
Why does Vet Tix give away tickets to events to soldiers, veterans, and their dependents? Our military shoulders unique burdens of stress and sacrifice. 16.6 million Veterans have served during wartime. 3.6 Million Veterans have service-related disabilities. 2.5 million Service Members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Almost 1 million have served multiple deployments. Since 2002, over 52,000 Americans have been wounded, over 1,500 are now amputees and over 6,800 have been killed in action.
Vet Tix wants to honor and support those that served and sacrificed so much. Wounds of war, both mental and physical, can stay with our veterans the rest of their lives. Giving to our veterans and supporting the transitions back into their families and communities, is a gift of gratitude in which we all can take part. The website to sign up for the veteran tickets is www.vettix.org.