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• Roadway resurfacing Read about the highway commission approving roadway resurfacing in Wednesday’s paper. ONLY ONLINE • Seen on scene See photos of a the Little Wolves Football Camp.
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THE SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013 COLUMN
ALAN BRANSCUM MURDER
Suspect sought
Did you see that?
Shawnee police seek third man charged in 2011 homicide By Kim Morava Kimberly.morava@news-star. com
JAMES BRIDGES james.bridges@news-star.com
I
can think back to being in third grade and arriving early to class almost every day. Getting there early was a symptom of my near obsession with who, at that time, was the most perfect girl I had ever known. The excitement and anticipation would gather inside my tiny brain almost to the point that I couldn’t hide it from all my buddies. They would have had more than a field day if they only knew. One can hardly explain in words. She never knew. As we grew older she became even more beautiful and popular. Every girl seemed to want to be her and every boy hated the next that attempted to chase her. Then we became teenagers. There was a huge shift in the world that surrounded this once cute little girl. She instantly became a woman or some version. It wasn’t just her body that grew, but something about her wit and character changed and stood out amongst the rest. Her friendships seemed to fade, even, sometimes, turned to hatred. The boys never stopped liking her they just wouldn’t admit to it anymore. She became what they all wanted. It’s the classic story of the classic girl and her teenage angst which hopefully turns to growth then is looked back on as experience and life. It’s hard. It’s amazing that so many make it through. We all know how hard it is yet we somehow forget when it comes to those in the spotlight. (I.E. Miley Cyrus) All of us judge at some point, especially when it seems like the popular thing to do. I’m not taking the high horse and saying I didn’t. I will say that I thought bad of myself while it happened. The funny part is that most of us that are judging couldn’t be counted by Neilson because we only witnessed it out of context in forms of “like and shares.” We love tiny little bits of information that never tell the whole story. Deep down we all know, have been, or are this person. We all feel the shame she must feel of becoming what we all wanted.
After two years of hoping for justice, David Branscum of Arkansas was relieved to hear that his brother’s homicide in Shawnee has been solved and that charges have been filed in the case. “That just made my whole year,” he said about receiving the call from local
authorities. An anonymous tip and further investigation by Shawnee police detectives led to authorities identifying three suspects in the murder of Alan Wade Branscum, 54. Alan Branscum, an Arkansas native who was living homeless in Shawnee, was found dead under the Beard Street Bridge in the 800 block of South Beard
PROJECT TRACKER
on the morning of Aug. 6, 2011. Since late last week, police have arrested two of the three suspects now charged in the case, but were still looking Monday night for Anthony Neal Wood, 21. Police have been circulating wanted posters in the search for Wood on the first-degree murder arrest warrant. The case filed in Pot-
tawatomie County District Court shows Wood, along with Leland Dale Blanchard Jr., 19, of Shawnee, and Keenan Allen Thorpe, 23, of McLoud, are all three charged in the homicide. Blanchard and Thorpe are being held without bond in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center. SUSPECT, Page 5A Anthony Neal Wood
By Mike McCormick | Executive Editor
Federal Street Bridge repair continues The Details: • Crews continue repair work on the Federal Street Bridge. • The project was awarded to PbX Corp. • The contract amount is $685,565. • According to the latest city activity report, the project is about 45 percent complete. • The project is expected to take the remainder of the summer. • Through traffic from Union to Harrison Street remains shut off. • Access remains to the housing additions east and west of the bridge. CARE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SOMETHING? Drop us a line at: PHONE 405-273-4200 FAX 405-273-4207 E-MAIL michael.mccormick@news-star.com MAIL P.O. Box 1688, Shawnee, OK 74802
Work on the Federal Street Bridge repair project is reportedly about 45 percent complete. ED BLOCHOWIAK STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SHAWNEE
Clean-up at a halt in Larkens Meadows By Jessica Walker jessica.walker@news-star.com
Someone has been cleaning up debris left in creeks in Larkens Meadows, but left the job unfinished, said Joy Beasley, a resident in Larkens Meadows. “They made a really good start,” she said. “They just didn’t finish.” Beasley said she appreciates the work that was done by a group of 10-12 people
accompanied by a City of Shawnee vehicle. She said she doesn’t think it was city workers but rather volunteers that were picking up in that area but isn’t sure what group or organization. “They cleaned where you could see from the streets,” she said. The area Beasley is most concerned about is the cul-de-sac west of Mohican Circle that has debris left in
Tom Duncan Nicole Kidwell Angela Morris Slaten Barnett Katherine Adams Alyssa Coriz Ann Fullbright Kristi Barnett Caileah Blanchard A.L. Thomas Mackenzie Gregg
Caira Kennedy Gary Jones Emily Whiteman Jesse Whitefield Jimmie Bly William Warrick Derrick Dixson Dylan Brady Dewayne Watson Mary Brimm Cecil Johnston Bessie Baker Jimmie Bly Charlie Shepherd Randy Flores Larry Capps
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Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A
BIRTHDAYS
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it. She said she’s concerned because if the whole creek isn’t cleaned out, the water will continue to back up into her and her neighbors’ yards. “Snakes are kind of scary too,” she said, referring to the recent snake sightings in the Shawnee area. Beasley said when the water backs up and the debris piles up, animals make their homes in all of it, which is cause for
James J. Miller A-yo Jones Angela Watson Courtnie Treadaway Betty Sikes James Murdock Chelsea Sneed Latisha Woods Julio Sanchez ——— To submit a local birthday, e-mail the month, day and name to reita.easley@ news-star.com or call 214-3939, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Local News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2A Lifestyles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A
concern. She said she hopes whoever started the project comes back to finish it soon. “What part was done was great, but I don’t understand why they stopped before they were finished,” she said. City Engineer John Krywicki, who could not be reached Monday, recently stated that East Central
OBITUARIES
Workforce would be sending 11 individuals to work up to six months. If those are the people who began cleaning out the creek, it is possible they were called to another project and could come back to finish, but no other information could be found. It is still unknown who began the clean-up project and if they plan on continuing.
WEATHER
• Mary (Schmidlkofer) Everett • Ilda Mae Presley • Christopher Allen Enoch • Doris Townsell Seikel Barrett • Brandan Ray Wood • Phillip Alvarado Gomez 4A
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Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . 2B
Sit back, relax and let the savings come to you. Vol. 119 No. 114
08272013 A01.indd A1
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