Two advocates for child abuse prevention discussed their work with Kingfisher County commissioners Monday and received their blessing for their efforts in calling attention to the problem locally during April – Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.

(See story by Feature Writer Twila Adams elsewhere about activities this month.)

Attending the meeting were Brittany Gassner, victim witness coordinator with the Kingfisher County Assistant District Attorney’s office, and Alyson Burrow of the state Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) office.

Addressing the program services in Kingfisher County, Gassner reported that 30% of the county’s population is under 18 years old and based on state statistics 4.2% of them have been involved in some sort of District Attorney investigation.

She said 63 pinwheels have been placed on the courthouse lawn representing the number of children involved in Kingfisher County in 2021.

“We don’t like to think we have such problems here, but we do,” Gassner said.

Burrow said she was recently appointed to her position. She is headquartered in the Garfield County Child Advocacy Council and is available for assistance in Kingfisher County as needed.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is a national association in the United States that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. CASA are volunteers from the community who complete training that has been provided by the state or local CASA offices.

Commissioners approved changes in the Okarche Fire

Department receiving officer lineup as requested by the department, adding George Highfill and Will Krause as receiving agents, succeeding Scott McCarthy.

Right-of-way approvals for county road pipeline crossings were granted in District 1 for three companies as follows:

• K&J Construction – 12-inch water line located nine miles east of the U.S. 81/Dover-Crescent Road intersection and one mile south.

• Estack – 10-inch lay flat line located seven miles east and two miles south of Kingfisher.

• Superior Pipeline – Permit for a gas line located 11 miles east and one mile north of Okarche and for a second gas line crossing 12 miles east and one mile north of Okarche.

Unanimous approval was voted by Heath Dobrovolny, chairman, District 3; District 2 Commissioner Ray Alan Shimanek and District 1 Commissioner Jeff Moss.

Also attending the meeting were County Clerk Jeannie Boevers, minute clerk; County Engineer Nik Smith, and Monty Taylor of Dover, guest.

Commissioners also approved a Burgess Engineering and Testing report for subsurface core samples taken at the new addition to the Hennessey Fire Department.