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The Grayhorse District can breathe a sigh of relief.

The Second Osage Nation Congress unanimously passed ONCA 12-20 Jan. 20, a bill that appropriates $550,000 to the Grayhorse Five Man Board to begin design and construction on a new Roundhouse for the district.

Upon signature of the Principal Chief, the Osage Nation Properties Department in the Nation’s Executive Branch can begin bidding out construction on the project which will level the current arbor and construct a roundhouse in it’s place.

The Osage Nation has entered into its first-ever motor fuel compact with the state of Oklahoma, which is estimated to bring $400,000 in additional revenue to the tribe.

The state and the Nation negotiated the compact as authorized by an ON Congressional resolution approved earlier this year. Gov. Mary Fallin and Executive Branch officials have signed the compact, which expires July 1, 2017.

On the last day of the 2010 Hun-Kah Session Thursday, the Osage Nation Congress rescinded last week’s board confirmation votes conducted by secret ballot then voted again – in the open – on all board appointees which resulted in dismissals of George Pease and Elizabeth Lohah Homer from the Gaming Enterprise Board.

Thursday’s votes come eight days after the Congress declined to confirm board members Frank Oberly, Pease and Chairwoman Homer in a secret ballot vote on April 7.

EDMOND, Okla. – Twenty-five Osages running for office in the June 7 election addressed a standing-room-only crowd here at the VFW Hall during a March 16 political rally hosted by the Revard family.

The candidates for the Nation’s executive and legislative branches and the Minerals Council asked the crowd for their votes during the candidates’ individual speeches which touched on several topics including their political platforms, their family relations, concerns about the current government body, prior work experience, and humor.

A bill sponsored by Congressman Mark Freeman that would trim the Osage budgets down to $23.9 million was discussed by Congress Monday, as well as putting all employee salaries back to 2009 levels allowing a 3 percent step increase and halting all new hires.

Freeman expressed that he did not like the bill but he felt it was necessary to introduce a bill that would be a compromise with those members of Congress that want the budget below $25 million.

The Osage Nation Supreme Court convenes to hear its first-ever case Wednesday, when attorneys for the legislative and executive branches present oral arguments about the constitutionality of a 2008 bill involving the Osage News.

Opening arguments are scheduled for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., according to Carol McIntire, clerk of the Nation’s courts. Chief Justice Charles H. Lohah and Justices Jeanine Logan and Meredith Drent will hear the Supreme Court’s first case in the Nation’s courthouse in Pawhuska.