911 dispatchers recognized for exceptional job                                             

By Rep. RICK WEST 

Last week, I presented citations to Candice Hamilton and Tori Lopez. Both are LeFlore County 911 Center dispatchers who answered the call April 19 from Wister Police Chief William “Andy” Thompson after he was shot in an ambush.

In a letter of commendation, Thompson said he had to call dispatch because his radio was not reaching the center. He spoke with both women, advising them he’d been shot. They assured him they had ambulances on the way.

Thompson said both women were crying and upset but were able to still perform their duties.

“Tori kept talking with me and handling radio traffic along with Candice,” Thompson wrote. “They both kept telling me they are on their way when they would hear me graining from the burning of being shot,”

Other officers were calling dispatch at the same time, so Candice called Thompson on her personal phone. At one point, Thompson said he laid his head down and closed his eyes, but he could still hear Candice crying, so he started talking to her again.

He wrote that both women “deserve to be recognized for their actions and doing a good job on a day that was crazy and full of sadness. When things were going bad for the officers that were involved, they kept doing their job. They may not have been with us on that day on scene, but they were keeping me from giving up and getting everything we needed on that scene. They deserve to be recognized as much as other officers and I were.”

It was a great honor to present each lady with a citation from my legislative office. Chief Thompson presented them with a challenge coin as well. Great job to both.

In other news, I recently received an update on the resurfacing of a 1.9-mile stretch of Broadway in downtown Poteau. The project started Aug. 23 and should be finished soon. The best part, according to Anthony Echelle, with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, is the partnership between ODOT, the City of Poteau and JOB Construction, a local company that was awarded the contract for the asphalt. ODOT chipped in $250,000 toward the asphalt cost and provided some equipment and personnel.

The City of Poteau is paying the remaining cost of the asphalt and providing a street sweeper with personnel as well assisting with traffic control as needed. JOB is providing the milling machine with personnel, making the asphalt and hauling away the old asphalt. Gotta love it when everyone works together.

Also last week, I received a call from a constituent who told me he lost half his corn crop to feral hogs. I reached out to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.

Oklahoma is set to receive $35 million as part of a $105 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start a pilot program to eradicate these hogs. I’m still waiting to hear specifics of how this program will be structured and the money spent, but I’m hopeful it will help.

Feral hogs are estimated to cause $3.4 billion of damage in the U.S. We can’t shoot them all, so we must come up with a better solution to help our farmers and ranchers.

Remember to listen to my Capitol update on the radio at 7:35 a.m. every Thursday on KPRV.

As always, if I can help you with anything, please call my Capitol office at (405) 557-7413 or email me at rick.west@okhouse.gov.

Rick West serves District 3 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes part of LeFlore County.

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