something he’d done manytimes in the past but usu-ally was home within 24hours,” said CherokeeCounty Undersheriff Ja-

son Chennault.He said family members

said Rolands may havebeen drinking. Officialssaid earlier Tuesday if thatwere the case, he couldhave gotten disoriented

while inside the caves,even though he was famil-iar with them.

More than 80 peoplewere on site Tuesday, in-

cluding investigators,deputies, paramedics, firerescue teams and hazmatteams from Muskogee,Fort Gibson and Tahle-

quah. Norwood Fire De-partment was on site.Their command centerwas set up near FlowerCreek.

Moore said rescue work-ers said it was so black inthe caves you could hardlysee your hand in front ofyour face.

Canine units from Tulsaarrived in the afternoon.

The caves go all the wayback to Canyon Road,three or four miles fromwhere the search started,Moore said.

Reach Donna Hales at684-2923 or dhales@muskogeephoenix.com.

Muskogee Phoenix Wednesday, June 2, 2010 Section A, Page 2Page Two

214 Wall Street, Muskogee, OK 74401 Office Hours:

8 a.m. to 5pm., Mon.-Fri.

The Muskogee Phoenix (USPS 3690- 0000) is published daily at 214-216 Wall St., Muskogee, Okla. 74401. All correspondence to the Phoenix MUST be addressed: P.O. Box 1968, Muskogee 74402-1968. All mail subscriptions payable in advance. The publisher reserves the right to change subscription rates during the term of a subscription upon 28 days’ notice. This notice may be by mail to the subscriber, by notice contained in the newspaper itself, or otherwise. Subscription rate changes may be implemented by changing the duration of the subscription. Periodicals postage paid at Muskogee, Okla.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

Muskogee Phoenix, P.O. Box 1968 Muskogee, OK 74402-1968

SUBSCRIPTION RATES HOME DELIVERY

By carrier Daily and Sunday $13.50/month Daily only $11.25 per month Monday-Friday (schools, businesses only) $9.75/mo Sunday/holiday $8.25 per month

MUSKOGEE COUNTY MAIL 3 Months 6 Months 1 Year

Daily, Sunday $39.00 $78.00 $156.00 Daily only 30.00 60.00 120.00 Sunday only 21.00 42.00 84.00

IN-STATE MAIL 3 Months 6 Months 1 Year

Daily, Sunday $45.75 $91.50 $183.00 Daily only 33.30 66.60 133.20 Sunday/holiday 23.70 47.40 94.80

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To schedule an appointment: 682-3940 thevet@farmcallvet.com 48999

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DigestOKC man serious aftermotorcycle crash

An Oklahoma City manwas injured in a crash onLakewood Road, about a mileeast of Indian Road, approxi-mately 10 miles south ofTahlequah in Cherokee Coun-ty, an Oklahoma Highway Pa-trol report states.

Glen Howard Sears II, 42,was listed in serious conditionTuesday afternoon, a hospitalspokeswoman said.

According to the OHP re-port, the crash took place at11:35 a.m. Monday. Searswas driving a 2009 Victorymotorcycle westbound when,for an unknown reason, heran off the right side of theroad and crashed into a ditch.He was not wearing a helmet.

Eufaula teen remains hospitalized

A Eufaula teen was injuredwhen the ATV he was drivingoverturned, pinning him, ac-cording to an Oklahoma High-way Patrol report.

Alex Stubblefield, 14, waslisted in fair condition Tues-day afternoon, a hospitalspokeswoman said.

Stubblefield was driving a2007 Yamaha Rhino north-bound on a Pittsburg Countyroad at approximately 10:20p.m. Friday, the OHP said.Stubblefield swerved the vehi-cle to the right, and it over-turned. He was pinned for 20minutes.

Alcohol and drugabuse course offered

A 10-hour Alcohol and DrugSubstance Abuse Course willbe offered from 6 to 9:30 p.m.Thursday through Saturdayby Muskogee County Councilof Youth Services, 4009 Eu-faula Ave. The cost is $150.

Information: 682-2841 from8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday.

Real Estate Pros namescholarship winners

The Real Estate Profes-sionals recently named therecipients of the Julia TidmoreScholarships sponsored bythe organization.

Recipients are:• From Muskogee High

School: William T. Greuel,Juan Garcia and Emily Finney.

• From Fort Gibson: JulieTidmore and Delaney Tusia.

• From Hilldale: ThomasGriffith and Layne Rodden.

• From Oktaha: MelindieRose.

The scholarship is namedafter Julia Tidmore, a well-known lender back in the1980s who died last year.

“She was a great lenderand worked very hard for thisclub,” member Laura Griffithsadi. “She is dearly missed byeveryone that knew her.”

omnibus abortion bills ap-proved by the Legislaturein 2008 and 2009; thosewere struck down in sepa-rate court cases for violat-ing a state requirementthat laws deal only withone subject.

This year, a New York-based abortion rightsgroup, the Center for Re-productive Rights, alreadyhas challenged one of thenewly enacted laws, whichrequires women to havean ultrasound before an

abortion and listen to adoctor describe the imageto her. National abortionrights groups say the lawis the strictest ultrasoundrequirement in the coun-try.

A judge granted a tem-porary restraining orderthat prevents enforcementof the law, and a hearingon a temporary injunctionis scheduled for nextmonth.

“The Legislature has en-acted a host of highly re-strictive measures limitingwomen’s access to repro-

ductive health care in thestate,” said Stephanie Toti,an attorney for the NewYork group. She said thegroup is going to examinethe measures that passedand consider more litiga-tion.

Toti said it’s likely thatlegal challenges areahead for other new laws,one of which requireswomen and abortion doc-tors to complete a lengthyquestionnaire. Anothernew law provides immu-nity to doctors in “wrong-ful life” cases in which a

woman sues if her physi-cian withholds informa-tion about her pregnancythat could lead to a deci-sion to abort.

The Legislature’s actionthis year also has ener-gized a group of abortionrights supporters in Okla-homa who rallied at theCapitol during the ses-sion’s final weeks and saidthey plan to target anti-abortion lawmakers in No-vember.

Martha Skeeters, awomen’s and gender stud-ies professor at the Uni-

versity of Oklahoma,helped organize the group,the Oklahoma Coalitionfor Reproductive Justice.

“Many women in thisstate concluded by the endof the legislative sessionthat the Legislature wasnot so much pro-life as itwas anti-woman,” Skeeterssaid. “It makes us look bad,and I think once Okla-homans realize what’s atstake here and how badthis legislation really is,they’re going to rise upagainst the folks who aredoing this.”

Continued from Page 1A

Continued from Page 1A

More than 80 people scour site for missing Fort Gibson man

Legal challenges ahead for new laws, expert says

TULSA (AP) — A recentnational study reportsthat 72 percent of fourth-graders in Oklahoma arereading below their grade-level proficiency.

More than four out offive children from low-in-come families fail to reachthe proficiency level inreading, according to the

National Assessment ofEducation Progress.

In response, the AnnieE. Casey Foundation re-leased “Early Warning:Why Reading by the Endof the Third Grade Mat-ters,” an effort to makereading a national priori-ty.

“Until third grade, chil-

dren are learning to read.After third grade, they arereading to learn. Whenkids are not ready byfourth grade, they have asteeper hill to climb therest of their lives,” saidLinda Terrell, executivedirector of the OklahomaInstitute for Child Advoca-cy. “We must decide to pri-

oritize the crucial sup-ports necessary for chil-dren to reach their full po-tential. Their early read-ing success is one of thosecritical areas.

“If we fail to prioritizethis for all our children,the U.S. will lose a grow-ing and essential propor-tion of its human capital

to poverty. The price willbe paid not only by indi-vidual children and fami-lies but by the entire coun-try.”

The report identifiedfour steps to closing thegap, one of which Okla-homa ranks first national-ly in early childhood edu-cation.

Majority of state fourth-graders read below peers