Claremore Daily Progress

Top Stories

Related Photos

  • PROGRESS PHOTO/Tom Fink

    images_sizedimage_362121803
December 28, 2007

New Year, new job

By TOM FINK

For many Claremore residents, 2008 will be just another year, marked only by a new wall calendar.

For Amanda Fork, it will be a whole new life.

Currently enrolled in the police academy in Ada, the California native will graduate in February and join the ranks of the Claremore Police Department.

“When I graduate from the academy, I’ll come here (at the Claremore Police Department) as a certified officer in the training program,” Fork said. “Once that’s completed, I’ll be a regular uniformed officer, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Fork’s predilection for law enforcement comes naturally, the daughter of law and military officers.

“My mother was a police officer and both my parents were in the Marines,” she said. “I recently got out of the Marine Corps myself, serving from 1997 to 2004 in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

While in the service, Fork was a sergeant in the intelligence field for the Marines.

“I do wish the media covered more of the positive aspects of what we’re doing over there — the good news — instead of so much of the negative news,” she said. “The majority of Iraqis wanted us there and were grateful we were there, working to help them.”

Following her honorable discharge, Fork moved to Oklahoma, near her sister in Skiatook, and began pursuing her interests in law enforcement.

“Law enforcement was something I was always interested in, and it was the most comparable field to what I was doing in the Marines,” she said. “When I first moved to Oklahoma, I was a dispatcher with the Bixby Police Department, but now, I’m looking forward to being a full-time officer here in Claremore.”

In addition to her new career, Fork will have a new address, as she’s making plans to move to Claremore with her 2-year-old son, Riley.

“Everyone here has been very friendly, very helpful — Claremore is a good community — I’m looking forward to being a part of it,” she said.

“We’re all looking forward to Amanda’s successful graduation at the CLEET Academy,” said Capt. Danny Dobbins, Claremore Police Department. “She’ll make a fine addition to our officers and will serve the City and the citizens of Claremore well.”

So, while the new year may only mean more of the same for many, 2008 will mean a new beginning for soon-to-be Claremore Police Officer Amanda Fork.

“In a way, it feels like I’m starting a new life,” she said. “I’ll be in a new town with a new job — it will be like I’m starting over in 2008, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Text Only
Top Stories
  • NTC-Roy-Clark-Cweb.jpg NTC’s opens Roy Clark Music School

    Claremore is no stranger to country music talent.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • RCCJA to hire attorney

    Members of the Rogers County Criminal Justice Authority Thursday approved the hiring of a Tulsa attorney to serve as legal council for the trust, charged with supervising sales tax dollars set aside for the jail.

    February 3, 2012

  • bluestarr-wreck2-3-12web.jpg Blue Starr crash sends one to hospital

    The morning commute proved dangerous for a driver in Claremore this morning, as her Dodge Neon was struck by a semi truck at the intersection of Blue Starr Drive and SH66 just after 7 a.m.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Flood3web.jpg City proposes storm water fee

    City officials presented the city council with a proposed storm water fee this week to fund future projects to deal with flooding issues.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • ShakeOut_CUS_DontFreakweb.jpg Are You Ready to ShakeOut?

    With more the 40 million people living and working in the central U.S., a major earthquake could cause unprecedented devastation. What we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine what our lives will be like afterwards. With earthquakes an inevitable part of this region's future, we must act quickly to ensure that disasters do not become catastrophes.

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Punxsyphil.jpg VIDEO: Punxsutawney Phil makes his prediction

    More than 18,000 people descended on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney for the annual Groundhog Day celebration.

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Fallin: Okla. income tax plan to reduce brackets

     Gov. Mary Fallin says her plan to reduce Oklahoma's income tax will reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three and will include revenue growth criteria that will trigger future tax cuts.

    February 2, 2012

  • Speaker Steele supports Open Records for legislature

    Oklahoma House Speaker Kris Steele says he supports an initiative to require the Oklahoma Legislature to be subject to the requirements of the state's Open Records and Open Meetings Act.

    February 2, 2012

  • Groundhog sees shadow, predicts 6 more weeks of winter

    Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair to “see” his shadow on Thursday, in the process predicting six more weeks of winter.

    February 2, 2012

  • American_Airlines.jpg American Airlines: Tulsa jobs to be slashed by 2,100

    American Airlines is expected to slash about 2,100 jobs at its maintenance facility in Tulsa under a bankruptcy reorganization plan released by its parent company, a spokesman for the airline said Wednesday.

    February 1, 2012 1 Photo