OKLAHOMA CITY — A stretch of road on U.S. Highway 259 near the state line in McCurtain County has been slated as a future construction project under the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s eight-year plan.

The Hugo Area Chamber of Commerce held its monthly board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 14. Board members and guests outlined their expectations for the Chamber during 2021. These included promoting local businesses and industrial development, improving the quality of life in our area, and growing tourism. The feelings of the group about the work of the Chamber can be best summed up with the phrase, “keep the momentum going.” Under the leadership of Michele Frazier over the past years, the Chamber has accomplished a great deal in improving our community.

• Choctaw Nation, OBI seek convalescent plasma donors; Chief, Assistant Chief lead effort to help Coronavirus patients DURANT — The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) are hosting a convalescent plasma drive in Durant to aid Oklahomans diagnosed with COVID-19. The plasma drive is set for 10 a.m.

• Through the 2020 Specialty Crop Block Grant OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. —Now through March 1, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry’s Farm to School program is accepting applications for school garden kits on behalf of the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant.

Editor’s Note: After a handful of readers reached out to the Hugo News regarding notifications they had received relating to “personal property” assessments, we contacted the County Assessor’s Office and received the following explanation by Assessor Rhonda Cahill.

For Danielle Jamison, winter brings pain. The cooling temperatures wreak havoc on the 36-year-old South Carolina mother who was born with sickle cell disease, a life-threatening genetic disorder.

• Significant increase in cases due in part to lags in holiday testing, reporting OKLAHOMA CITY — State Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye issued the following statement regarding the spike in COVID-19 case numbers: “Today the State Department of Health reported 6,487 new cases of COVID-19 and 23 deaths.