Walters Herald 11/05/2015

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The Walters Herald

The Voice of Cotton County for 114 years

OLUME 114, NO 45

Cotton
County
NEWS
Inside

Homesteaders
Met
October 22, 2015
page 2

Womens
Foundation of
Oklahoma
Accepting Grant
Applications
or Single Mother
tudent Programs
page 2

Supremes Wont
Delay Home
Healthcare Wage
Hike Rule
page 3

klahoma Weekly
Fuel Update
and Outlook
page 3

BBB Offers Tips

To
Protect Against
Subscription
Scams
page 3
Bookworm
page 4
History and
Religion
page 5

Cotton County
School News
page 6

Cotton County

November 5, 2015 WALTERS, OKLAHOMA

1 Section 75

Ban on Texting While Driving

Took Effect Sunday, November 1
OKLAHOMA CITY On
Sunday, Oklahoma officially
become the 46th state to ban
texting while driving, a law
that legislators say is as an
effort to make Oklahoma
roadways safer by reducing
the number of distracted
drivers.
House Bill 1965, authored
by Rep. Terry ODonnell,
makes texting while driving a
primary offense, which means
an officer can pull a person
over without witnessing any
other violations, and imposes
a maximum $100 fine for violation of the law. The law exempts drivers who are using
their phone to communicate
with emergency responders
while driving.
This is a wake-up call
not just for teen drivers but
all of us who have become
accustomed to the constant
contact our cellular devices
provide, said Speaker of the
House Jeffrey W. Hickman,
R-Fairview. Texting while

driving is becoming one of

the leading causes of death,
which is not surprising as
a National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration study
shows typing or reading text
on a cell phone is six times
more dangerous than driving
while intoxicated.
The measure received
overwhelming support in the
Legislature, passing out of the
House by a vote of 85-7 and
out of the Senate by a vote
of 38-6 before being signed
into law by Gov. Mary Fallin
in May.
More than 330,000 injuries each year are caused by
texting and driving across
the nation, said ODonnell,
R-Tulsa. Although we do not
know when, where or who,
what we do know is that this
law will prevent needless
property damage and injuries
and it will save lives on Oklahomas roads and highways.
According to the Department of Public Safety, in 2013

data, distracted drivers using

electronic devices caused
more than 600 auto crashes,
including 14 fatal accidents.
The danger to Oklahomans
has only increased as cell
phone ownership has soared
during the past decade, said
Oklahoma Department of
Public Safety Commissioner
Michael Thompson
This is not only an important public safety issue, but
it is personal for the Department of Public Safety and the
Oklahoma Highway Patrol,
said Thompson. In February,
a state trooper was killed in
the line of duty and another
trooper was seriously injured
with life threatening injuries
that he is still recovering
from today. This traumatic
incident occurred because a
driver was updating his social
media accounts instead of
watching the road.
Thompson believes Oklahomas new law will help
other families and other law

enforcement officers avoid

additional tragedies in the
future.
Trooper Nic Dees never
made it home to his family,
just like dozens of other Oklahomans each year who are
killed by distracted driving,
Thompson said. Not only is
texting while driving senseless, it is selfish. I know that
all of our Troopers and their
families are very happy that
this law was passed because
they deal with the consequences of distracted driving
every day.
Several telecommunications providers also supported
the bill.
AT&T applauds the efforts of the Oklahoma Legislature for taking steps to
ban texting while driving,
said Steve Hahn, President of
AT&T Oklahoma. Through
our It Can Wait campaign,
weve worked hard to raise
awareness about this issue
with Oklahomans and remind

all drivers to keep their eyes

on the road, not on their
phones. It will take all of us
working together to combat
this deadly practice, and this
law is an important step toward making our Oklahoma
roadways safer.
Pioneer Cellular supports
the new distracted driving
law and has been promoting safe driving through our
Commit, Drive Dont Text
campaign throughout Western Oklahoma, said Pioneer
Cellular General Manager
Richard Ruhl.
The law is known as the
Trooper Nicholas Dees and
Trooper Keith Burch Act of
2015, in memory of State
Trooper Nic Dees and in honor
of State Trooper Keith Burch.
A driver who was texting
struck the Troopers on February 9 while they were working
a traffic accident on I-40. Dees
was killed and Burch received
devastating injuries.

Prevent Blindness Oklahoma Screens Local Children

Oklahoma City, OK In
2013, Prevent Blindness
Oklahoma received an email
from a mother expressing
gratitude. Her son was referred during a vision screening in the Deer Creek Public
School system. In her letter
she shared, After being seen
by an ophthalmologist, my
sons vision was 20/100 in
both eyes with astigmatism.
He has never shown signs of
difficulty seeing anything! He
absolutely loves wearing his
glasses every day. I cannot
thank your program enough
for the services you provide,
without them I would not
know my son had a vision
problem. This child, along
with thousands of other chil-

dren who received exams and

glasses as a result of a school
vision screening, is doing
better in school now. For this
reason, Prevent Blindness
Oklahoma continues to work
each year to help improve
vision for the children of
Oklahoma.
25% of school-aged children have an undiagnosed
vision problem, reports
Melanie Gamble, Director of
Programs for Prevent Blindness Oklahoma, and 86% of
children never receive an eye
exam. During the 2013-2014
school year PBO screened
344,540 children throughout
the state of Oklahoma. Of
those children 41, 436 were
referred with possible vision

Walters Chamber
of Commerce
Set Night

problems for a comprehensive

eye exam with their local optometrist or ophthalmologist.
Prevent Blindness Oklahoma
strives to educate the public
on the importance of eye
screenings. Many children
will improve academically
with vision correction, says
Gamble.
If vision is the problem,
early detection and proper
correction can prevent permanent vision loss and negative attitudes toward school.
PBOs theme for the 20142015 school year continues
to be Making Every Childs
Vision Count as they count
down to their 50th anniversary in 2015. We want to
continue to encourage school

ing club, business,Church or

shcool to enter into the fun
and join our parade.
Floats will be judged and
prizes of $150, $100 and $50

staff and parents to make

sure that children who are
referred receive an exam
and glasses if needed, Mrs.
Gamble emphasized.
Prevent Blindness Oklahoma is the only nonprofit
agency in Oklahoma dedicated exclusively to eye health
and safety. Through their
Childrens Vision Screening Program, and a 28-year
partnership with the Oklahoma Masons, free vision
screening will be provided at:
WALTERS ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL NOVEMBER
9-12.
Many children in Oklahoma can receive free exams and glasses through
SoonerCare, Vision Service

Plan benefits provided by

PBO, or through their Vision
Quest assistance program.
Replacement glasses can be
received through the PBO
OneSight program. Infants
0-1 yr. Old may receive a free
exam through the InfantSee
program provided by local
optometrists. For information
go to www.infantsee.com.
For more information on
your childs eyesight contact
Melanie Gamble at Prevent Blindness Oklahoma,
6 NE 63rd Street, Ste. 150,
Oklahoma City, OK 73105,
405-848-7123 x 103, fax 405848-6935.

Veterans Day
Celebration
November 6, 2015 4:55 pm /
Wednesday,