CDN | Michael Maresh

The H.O.S.T. Ministries Church at 605 Avant will be holding a Christmas Community Meal from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 14. Organizers say everyone is welcome and residents can either eat at the church or take the food with them. All will receive a fruit snack. Preparing from left are Pastor Leonard Jackson, Jeff Waffle, Pastor Wilma Jackson, Robin Crosby and Lynn Randle.

CDN | Michael Maresh

Fifth-grade student Leah Fanshier plays the piano, while Southwest Elementary music teachers Hope Miller, left, and Krisha Ticer help. Fanshier made Children’s All-State Choir and will compete in Tulsa. Fanshier said she tried real hard this past year, and the honor was more special because she was competing against older students through the eighth grade.

Kaleb Ryne Reeves and Kimberly Renee Smith John Andrew Nichols and Julie Ann Stinson Baran Chase Ausmus and Macy Rachelle Barnette Boone Riley Hardaway and Amelia Christine Fernau

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Iran said Friday it conducted a successful space launch with its heaviest payload ever, the latest for its program the West alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile program.

Fifty-one percent of the state of Oklahoma is classified as a maternity care desert, or an area without a single birthing facility or obstetric clinician. This statistic makes Oklahoma’s rate of maternity care deserts the third-highest in the nation, according to a report released in September by the March of Dimes.

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