July 2020

While the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic to public school coffers is unknown, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt last week awarded $16 million to some districts to help with student learning.

Only two Canadian County districts, Mustang and Yukon, were among the 150 in the state to receive the funds. The money is to help “mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on student learning and ensure students are able to access learning opportunities in the new school year,” said Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister in a prepared statement.

If these strange times have taught us anything, it’s to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

That's the attitude of the Canadian County Fair Board, whose members are planning for the festivities to be held Aug. 26-29.

Brad Tipton, fair board secretary, said the organizers will follow whatever guidance Gov. Kevin Stitt recommends in the way of social distancing and other preventative measures.

What exactly those measures will be is uncertain at the moment. Tipton says it's too early to make definitive statements.

The county’s new fairgrounds could soon have access to water after the Canadian County Water Authority voted to approve the county’s membership to the Banner Rural Water District. The vote to accept the Canadian County Public Facilities Authority into the membership came last week.

Lance Brown, chairman of the Banner board, said there was never any doubt the county’s fairgrounds would be serviced by the Banner Water District.

Mike Strain, managing editor of the Tulsa World, is the new president of the Oklahoma Press Association.

Strain was elected June 18 at the annual business meeting held at the OPA office in Oklahoma City. He will serve a one-year term beginning July 1.

Other officers elected were John Denny Montgomery, co-publisher of The Purcell Register, as vice president, and Jeff Mayo, publisher of the Sequoyah County Times, as treasurer.

On June 1, 1941, Dez Allen gave birth to Margaret June White in El Reno. June, as she was affectionately called, made El Reno her home for the majority of her life.

During her early years, she accepted Christ as her Savior, working faithfully throughout her life, serving as a Sunday school teacher and as a member of the Women’s Mission Auxiliary Committee. She also gave thanks and praises to the Lord by singing in the church choir, in addition to other devoted acts of service for her church community. Prior to her passing, June became a member of New Providence Baptist Church.

Graveside services with military honors for Eddie D. Morrison were held Monday in the Union City Cemetery with Mike Oldham officiating. Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Funeral services for David Ellis Sagebark of El Reno were held Monday in the Concho Cemetery with Rev. Ruby Horse officiating. Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

David died June 30, 2020, at St. Anthony Hospital in El Reno. He was born Feb. 8, 1959, in California. He lived most of his life in Blaine and Canadian counties and was a traditional person of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

Funeral services for Don Schmidt are pending with Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Don died July 5, 2020, at his home in El Reno. 

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Department of Commerce said Phase 2 of the Oklahoma Business Relief Program (OBRP) will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 14. Just days until the second round opens, many participating financial institutions are continuing to work with businesses interested in applying to gather the required information in advance.

The upcoming end of the 2020 fiscal year brought with it a stack of bills to pay and contracts to renew for Canadian County officials. The county’s three commissioners spent most of their 75-minute meeting last week signing new contracts and paying the last of the fiscal year bills. The fiscal year ended Wednesday.

In all, the commissioners agenda included 57 items for consideration, and was by far, the largest agenda this year.