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Bible verse of the day
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom: you are exalted as head over all.
--1 Chronicles 29:11
Want our Bible verse sent to you by text every day? Text BIBLE to (855) 761-3006.
Solar eclipse live updates
Cowboys claim Bedlam series
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State secured a Bedlam Series victory with a 9-5 win over Oklahoma in Sunday’s baseball finale at O’Brate Stadium.
With the win, OSU improved to 21-11 and 7-5 in Big 12 play, while Oklahoma fell to 17-14 and 8-4 in the league.
The Cowboys are now 36-13 all time against OU under head coach Josh Holliday, and OSU has won nine of the 11 conference series against the Sooners under his direction.
A six-run seventh inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Donovan LaSalle, propelled the Pokes to the win.
LaSalle was 2-for-3 in the contest, which included his first-career round tripper, while Carson Benge also homered, drove in two runs and closed the game on the mound.
Robert Cranz picked up his first win as a Cowboy, working two shutout innings and allowing just one hit while striking out a pair, as he improved to 1-1 on the year.
The Cowboys opened the scoring when LaSalle crossed home plate on a wild pitch in the second, but the Sooners responded with a solo homer to tie the score in the third.
Benge took back the lead in the home side of the third with his sixth home run of the season to give OSU a 2-1 advantage.
The Sooners responded in the fifth with three runs, getting their second homer of the day, a two-run job from Jason Walk, and an RBI double off the bat of Jackson Nicklaus.
OSU got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Schubart recorded an RBI single to make it a one-run game once again.
The visitors would go up 5-3 in the seventh before OSU’s big rally to take control of the scoreboard.
Avery Ortiz got the scoring started with a bases loaded RBI single before LaSalle stepped to the plate and crushed the first pitch he saw from James Hitt for a three-run homer to center field. Kollin Ritchie continued the offense with a single before the next four batters reached via walk, which brought in two more runs and created a 9-5 lead.
The Cowboys outhit OU, 11-6, in the game and also took advantage of 11 walks by six different Sooner pitchers.
Up next, OSU hits the road Tuesday to take on Wichita State at Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, Kan. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Eclipse day is here
By CRAIG HALL
The long-anticipated 2024 total eclipse is expected to be seen in its totality in the greater Heavener metropolitan area between 1:47 p.m. and 1:50 Monday.
Hall about it
This will be the last total eclipse for some 20 years, so it is a highly anticipated event.
If you want to see when the eclipse is be viewable in your area, click HERE and enter your zip code.
The latest weather forecast shows clear skies this morning with some clouds during the afternoon for the above-mentioned Heavener area.
While there will be areas where the eclipse will be viewable for a longer time, most of those locales are available by traveling through our area.
The exact number of visitors traveling through LeFlore County is not known. Emergency forecasters have worried about this day for years and about the availability of emergency vehicles to navigate roads that might be loaded.
I have heard estimates of 200,000 to 300,000 additional people visiting the area.
The experts (like they have been through this before) have warned to stock up on food, gas and medicine. There is the fear the internet will be overwhelmed, which is one of the main reasons along with the traffic that many schools are going virtual for Monday and maybe longer.
Meetings, such as the county commissioners and school board have been postponed, and even sporting events have been pushed back. The nerve.
As of Sunday, the travel nightmare had not evolved. It was like another day. Traffic was running normal and there had not been a run on any stores.
I expect and hope people were overly cautious about the eclipse. I know, there will be more people than normal, but I seriously doubt the residents at 704 West Fifth Street in Heavener will be greatly affected and other than one or two scouting missions, I won’t know any different unless somebody tells me.
Hopefully, you won’t either. Now, I will probably walk outside to see the eclipse (with my eclipse glasses! If I can find the free pair I was given the other day) and if possible take a picture. But to tell the truth, while I am sure it is a great experience, I would not drive across town to see it, definitely go halfway across the world.
I just looked out the window. No traffic jams on West Fifth Street, and for that, we are thankful. If I actually had the energy, I could walk to the end of the block and see the highway, but that would require putting on shoes (hey, my feet are tender) and actually walking some 20 yards and I figure it would be a waste of my valuable time and effort that could be better spent writing this informative and educational column.
I hope everybody has the experience they hope for and I, for one, don’t want to be a negative nanny (that’s Trish) or crabby Craig, but I am just ready for the day to be over with and for things to return to normal.
As usual, an event of this magnitude has brought out some people on the fringe, predicting earthquakes, etc., which hopefully does not happen. And, to tell the truth, I don’t see how the two events are tied together, but that is me. I have even seen maps on how the New Madrid fault line will go nutso and the country will split apart, giving Oklahoma some ocean front property.
Mt. View Cemetery sets meetings
The MT. View Cemetery Association meeting will be held 8:30 a.m. on May 11.
The annual clean-up day is also May 11 at 8:30 a.m.
Decoration day is May 18 with the annual association meeting held at 10 a.m.
If you would like to donate to the cemetery association for maintenance of the property, donations can be mailed to the following address:
Mt. View Cemetery Assoc.
c/o Sherri Smith
P.O. Box 1142
Poteau, OK 74953
Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated.
Chance of storms for Monday night
Clear skies early with clouds moving in this afternoon and thunderstorms with the possibility of heavy rainfall for Monday night.
The high is forecast to be 84 degrees with a low of 61.
Get our daily text update. Text JOIN to (855) 761-3006.
Sunrise is 6:55 a.m. Sunset is 7:45 p.m.
Average temperatures for April 8 are a high of 72 and low of 45. Records for the date were a high of 93 in 1984. The record low was 30 in 1985.
Last year, on this date, the high was 73 with a low of 45.
Sunday’s high was 79 with a low of 47.
The calendar
Calendar of events for Heavener, LeFlore County and southeastern Oklahoma.. If you are a non-profit, school or church, submit an event. This is a free service for non-profits and churches, so if you want your event published, send an email to craig@heavenerledger.com
Monday
High school baseball: Battiest at Panama; Pocola at Wilburton; Spiro at Preston
Tuesday
LeFlore County commissioners meet 9 a.m.
Heavener at Warner meet
High school baseball: Heavener at Roland; Arkoma at Quinton; Cameron at McCurtain; Muldrow at Panama; Pocola at Vian; Poteau at Hilldale; Talihina at Spiro; Wister at Wright City
High school softball: LCT
High school soccer: Sallisaw at Heavener; Webster at Poteau
Poteau Evening Lions Club meet 6 p.m. CASC
Wednesday
Poteau Rotary Club meets noon EOMC
Thursday
Poteau Kiwanis Club meets noon
Heavener VFW bingo 6:30 p.m. Highway 59 North
High school baseball: Heavener at Kiowa Tournament; Whitesboro at Howe; Panama at Pocola; Hilldale at Poteau; Talihina at Buffalo Valley
High school softball: LCT
Heavener soccer at Dove Science
Heavener school board meeting 6 p.m.
Friday
Heavener at Atoka meet
High school baseball: Heavener at Kiowa Tournament; Bokoshe at Braggs; Talihina at Panama; Poteau vs. Preston in McAlester Festival
High school softball: Panama at Smithville; Talihina at Canadian
High school soccer: Poteau at Sallisaw
Saturday
High school baseball: Heavener at Kiowa Tournament; Panama at Spiro; Broken Bow JV vs. Talihina
Today in history
1974
Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record
On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the Los... read more
1990s
1990
18-year-old Ryan White, national symbol of the AIDS crisis, dies
African History
1953
Jomo Kenyatta jailed for Mau Mau uprising in Kenya
2009
Somali pirates hijack Maersk Alabama ship
Art, Literature and Film History
1990
1994
Grunge icon Kurt Cobain is found dead three days after his suicide
Crime
2005
Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty
Great Depression
1935
Works Progress Administration established by Congress as part of FDR’s “New Deal”
Space Exploration
1993
Astronaut Ellen Ochoa becomes the first Hispanic woman in space
Sports
1975
Frank Robinson makes debut as first Black manager in MLB
1989
Pitcher Jim Abbott, born without right hand, makes MLB debut
Women’s History
2013
Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, dies
World War I
1904
Britain and France sign Entente Cordiale
World War II
1944