DELAWARE COUNTY — A Delaware County judge is siding with concerned residents over the rapidly increasing poultry farms in the area.

The concern is over the distance between the farms and residents as well as the output of waste from the chickens.

“They bring in all the chickens, they take out the chickens, they bring in the feed. They don’t take the manure. We get that,” said Pam Kingfisher a Delaware County resident.

She is part of a group called Green Country Guardians. The Facebook group’s thumbnail says, “Farms, not factories.”

She supports the Spring Creek Coalition, a citizen-led group that is suing the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.

Kingfisher said the poultry farms that are already built are already causing problems.

“My creek is now dead. Double Spring Creek is dead. The water is, the rocks are brown and slimy, and it stinks year-round, not just in August,” said Kingfisher.

She said the creek used to be full of fresh water and is disappointed by its current state.
Kingfisher said the farms are not strongly regulated.  

“We followed trucks full of dead chickens, feathers flying; you know it’s just out here. It is still the Wild West. They got away with a whole lot of crazy stuff,” Kingfisher said.

In a decision on June 28, Delaware County Judge Dave Crutchfield said nearby residents were not informed of the farms before construction began.

It also said that poultry waste is a concern for nearby waterways.

“It’s a very big win because when you see words like ‘the problems should be inherently visible. It should be inherently apparent to anybody.’ Judge Crutchfield understood exactly the problem,” said Grant Hall another Delaware Country resident.

He is also involved in the movement against the state and poultry farms. He said that he is not anti-poultry, but he wants the regulations.
“To get reasonable regulations is what we have been asking for. Reasonable regulations that are enforced,” Hall said.

To understand more about the state’s side, 2 News reached out to the ODAFF, they said they don’t speak on active cases.

2 News was told the legal battle will continue, however the residents are confident with their efforts so far.

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As renewals of the Delaware Handicap (G2) go, 2023 will long be remembered. Juddmonte’s Idiomatic  won the historic race in a stretch duel, overcoming stumbling at the start to catch front-running Classy Edition .

That victory was followed by three consecutive grade 1 victories to close out the season by the Brad Cox trainee, the last of which came in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park. Months later, she earned an Eclipse Award as the champion older dirt female of 2023.

The 2024 renewal of the $500,000 Delaware Handicap, contested at 1 3/16 miles July 7, does not appear to have a starter of Idiomatic’s quality, but Cox is again participating by starting Godolphin’s Wet Paint .

Under Sunday’s handicap conditions, she carries the top weight at 123 pounds, spotting the opposition from 2-9 pounds. Graded winners Honor D Lady  and Morning Matcha  are second and third high weights at 121 and 118 pounds, respectively.

Wet Paint, a 4-year-old daughter of Blame  , is winless in four starts since winning the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) last summer at Saratoga Race Course. She travels to Delaware Park from her spring base at Churchill Downs, where she finished third in the Shawnee Stakes (G3) in her second start of the year June 1.

Last year as a 3-year-old, she won three other races in addition to the Coaching Club American Oaks—rattling them off to begin the year at Oaklawn Park in the Martha Washington Stakes, Honeybee Stakes (G3), and Fantasy Stakes (G3). She streaked into the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs and started as the betting favorite.

However, she would run fourth in the Oaks, and the late-running filly would fail to catch Hoosier Philly  and Randomized  in slow-paced stakes later in the year. Wet Paint has yet to win outside of her age group.

Regular jockey Flavien Prat returns in the irons.

Jose Ortiz in For The Mount on Honor D Lady

Another 4-year-old, Honor D Lady, won the Remington Park Oaks (G3) last fall in her top achievement from her 3-year-old year. Later in the final start of her 3-year-old season, she would finish third in the Comely Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

She is proven outside the 3-year-old ranks, taking the Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park in February. Since then, she ran ninth in the April 13 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in a race in which come-backing Wet Paint was sixth. Honor D Lady was most recently second to the grade 1-winning 3-year-old filly Candied  in the June 8 Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Jose Ortiz rides Honor D Lady for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and owners Final Furlong Farm and Madaket Stables.

LC Racing, Cash is King, and Gary Barber’s Morning Matcha ran third in the Delaware Handicap last year. She heads into Sunday’s race off a troubled seventh-place finish in the June 15 Bed o’ Roses Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct.

“I really did not think she had a fair shot in her last race,” said trainer Robert “Butch” Reid. “She was blocked almost the whole trip, but she came out of the race great and she had a beautiful breeze Saturday morning, so we are ready to go.”

Recent research conducted by BadCredit.org showed that an estimated 4,444 couples in Delaware will not be tying the knot this summer due to poor credit. They surveyed more than 3,000 couples and discovered that many say they have been forced to postpone or cancel their wedding plans entirely due to financial constraints, particularly those stemming from inadequate credit scores.

Personal loans have traditionally been a popular method to finance weddings. However, couples with subprime credit often find themselves ineligible for such borrowing opportunities according to the study.

Even those who aren’t reliant on loans grapple with other financial hardships that make the costs associated with weddings difficult to manage. With inflation and mounting costs adding to the pressures, many couples are reconsidering their options.