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Happening Now.
Most Recent Blog Posts.
Jonny’s Gifts
When I met Jonny Skye , the Peoria tribal citizen, she allowed LEAD to choose one of her paintings to visually represent this year’s Tar Creek Conference, only to discover the title “It is in the Water” would also serve as our theme. The other paintings needed to be seen and I was pleased when she agreed to allowing us to host an art show for the public. Downtown Miami came to life one night this week at the time most towns close up. LEAD Agency held space open to the public
leadagency
Oct 293 min read
Reflecting on the 27th Tar Creek Conference
Earlier this month, LEAD Agency held our 27th National Environmental Tar Creek Conference on Oct. 7, 8 and 9 at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami.
To kick off this year’s conference, on October 4 we co-hosted an inaugural disc golf tournament, the Tar Creek Open, at the Veterans Memorial Disc Golf Course, located near Tar Creek in what used to be a residential neighborhood before residents were forced to move due to repeated flooding. It’s been our dream for many
Kim Barker
Oct 223 min read
The Project: What’s in the Air in Your House
The investigation of what’s in the air inside homes in Miami, OK in the far NE corner of Oklahoma is based on a discovery made 28 years ago.
A family moved into a home in a nice neighborhood, moving from a state that required childhood blood lead testing, both testing negative. After living in their home only 6 months 2 of the children tested positive. Upon investigating the playroom, the air vent cover was lifted and the HVAC duct had deteriorated and what seemed like gr
Rebecca Jim
Oct 123 min read
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Every Seat Was Filled
Hope and Restoration resounded in Richard Zane Smith's words: "Draw our minds together as one so we can work together and give thanks to...
Rebecca Jim
Oct 15, 20223 min read
Designing a Rain Garden
A Rain Garden does NOT require the use of umbrellas! "A rain garden is a landscaped, shallow depression planted with native plants that...
Rebecca Jim
Oct 1, 20224 min read
I Didn't Know To Ask
Monday morning brought me the opportunity to spend time with a group of women who spoke a language I had never heard spoken before that...
Rebecca Jim
Sep 24, 20223 min read
End of an Era
The sky was clear, the wind calm, the sun shine bright. We hadn't a clue the Queen would die just hours later. The morning was still...
Rebecca Jim
Sep 9, 20223 min read
Wait 'Til You See It
A woman named Harriet Festing called out of the blue one day. And called back several more times inquiring about the repetitive flooding...
Rebecca Jim
Sep 3, 20223 min read
Tommy Bear
With summer, my Dad would often quote the poem one of his classmates wrote when they were very young children. The poem was not about the...
Rebecca Jim
Sep 3, 20223 min read
Be Brave
In the privacy of your car there is a thing you can do. Drive down Main Street, like usual, but when you are alone in your car, slow down,...
Rebecca Jim
Aug 20, 20224 min read
The Game
There are lots of comparisons to life itself being a "game." But the greatest example I am aware of is played in our area and was being...
Rebecca Jim
Aug 16, 20223 min read
Dams Can Be Removed
"There are places you will remember"... are words from a song you may remember. But the places you remember, yours and mine, may differ...
Rebecca Jim
Aug 4, 20223 min read
Think WATERSHEDS
We can get our head around the Tar Creek watershed, we know those ephemeral streams who catch up to her and add their flows to her...
Rebecca Jim
Jul 30, 20223 min read
Bales of Hay
Since I became LEAD Agency's Tar Creekkeeper, recognized by the Waterkeeper Alliance for being her best advocate, I have struggled to get...
Rebecca Jim
Jul 23, 20223 min read
Ground Glass
I recycle my glass. It hasn't been easy since the place in Vinita folded and quit taking any. We have all hoped Red Cedar or the City of...
Rebecca Jim
Jul 16, 20223 min read
A Real Summer
It has begun. A real summer. Like the ones we remember, those hot and drier days that barely cool even deep in the night. These are the...
Rebecca Jim
Jul 16, 20223 min read
Exposome
It isn’t a place or a brand new museum. You don’t go there to explore. Perhaps you might think of it as a way to explain us. Who we are,...
Rebecca Jim
Jul 16, 20223 min read
Actively Speaking
As an environmental activist, my life has focus on air, water and soil. Each are gifts from the Creator. All elements we need for...
Rebecca Jim
Jun 25, 20223 min read
Raw Feelings
When we prick our finger, when we scrape our knee, when we experience a bump in the night and see our bruise in the morning. The evidence...
Rebecca Jim
Jun 17, 20224 min read
Page and Rage Rhyme
There are take aways. There are impressions. There are moments. There was silence. The anticipated rage wasn't there. The implication is...
Rebecca Jim
Jun 17, 20223 min read
True Loves
The book I hadn't written had a chapter that ended only yesterday. Themed as a love story, compiled by the chapters of couples who lived...
Rebecca Jim
Jun 5, 20224 min read
Town Hall
The ground is saturated and the gardens lay waiting to dry out and be what they were planned to be. Maybe we all hope to be what we were...
Rebecca Jim
Jun 5, 20224 min read
Baby Emmett Salkil
Several years ago when my son first went into law, he practiced with Henry Ware in a firm they called Indian Country Lawyers, taking...
Rebecca Jim
May 14, 20224 min read
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