The Bristow News staff attended the Oklahoma Press Association's (OPA) annual convention held Friday, June 9 and Saturday,June 10th at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee. This event is held annually in June and is attended by OPA members, publishers, editors and staff.The event is a great way to meet diferent newspaper staff and share ideas and stories on how to promote and improve your community newspaper. On Friday evening dinner was served and a “Murder Mystery was Solved”. Each table got to test their sluething skills by being given clues to solve the mystery. Saturday began with an excellent breakfast and the first session which covered the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, a year later. Moving on, US Atorney General Genter Drummond spoke to the audience about the illegal marijuana grow operations and how they are cracking down on them. Drummond said, “Oklahoma has experienced a huge increase of marijuana farms since 2018. While many grow businesses abide by the law, out of 6,299 grow operations in Oklahoma, nearly half of them are illegal. These illegal grows are often operated by Mexican drug cartels and Chinese nationals whose illicit activities also include human trafficking, sex trafficking and the distribution of deadly drugs such as fentanyl.
Moving on in the day, a congressional question and answer session was led by Brett Wesner, Wesner Publications, with Congressman Frank Lucas, where journalists were able to ask questions and get answers to those questions. Speed topics and concurrent sessions were held throughout the day with the Better Newspaper Contest Awards Banquet held Saturday evening. A formal event, newspapers received first place plaques and second and third place certificates for their achievements throughout the previous year. Proudly, the Bristow News placed in four different categories.