This past weekend was a whirlwind of activities with several festivals in the area. It unofficially marked the end of this summer. Last week was also a whirlwind with the runoff elections, several races where very surprising to say the least. Now we head into the fall general election hoping it won’t be full of surprises as well.
Roads are once again in the spotlight with the Department of Transportation winding down the Highway 63 bridge project near Pittsburg. This, I still believe, is the worst State Highway in the entire state. With so many needs, where do you begin? Eliminating a couple of one-lane bridges is a start, and hopefully they will continue this work on the worst highway in Oklahoma. The Highway 69 project in McAlester is continuing and hopefully will be completed in the near future. I’ve reached out to the Department of Transportation for an update on this project, and should have more information to share in the future.
All of southeast Oklahoma will feel the loss of one of our great philanthropist with the passing of Ruyana Fugitt last week. The Gary and Ruyana Fugitt Foundation contributed to numerous entities over the past several years. One of their passions was for our libraries with a donation of $2.5 million to the renovation of McAlester’s Public Library. Hopefully their work will continue for many years to come.
As always, thank You for allowing me to serve you. I can be reached at (405) 557-7381 or by email at jim.grego@okhouse.gov.
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Jim Grego serves District 17 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Latimer County and part and Pittsburg County.