March 2021

A tax protest brought by the Oneta Power Company in Broken Arrow is once again bringing the Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma to the forefront.

In a dispute over property taxes, Oneta Power is questioning whether Wagoner County should be able to levy taxes since they are on tribal land.

Most of the McGirt discussion to date has focused on criminal cases. This one is different. If the Oneta Power Company were to prevail, it would call into question a large amount of property tax money that primarily benefits school districts.

Under current Oklahoma law, school districts can receive payment for students who have not attended in two years, informally referred to as “ghost students” since they exist only on paper.

Members of a state Senate committee have now voted to reform the funding formula to reduce the number of ghost students claimed by districts.

“It’s really more about efficiency within the formula to me and moving more towards the funding following the student, and schools not being funded for kids that they’re not educating,” said Sen. Zack Taylor, R-Seminole.

Charles and Cherlyn “Cherri” (Maass) Brandley celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on March 24, 2021.

They were married at the Oklahoma County Courthouse by Judge Charles Halley in 1971 and later celebrated with friends and family with a reception at the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Yukon.

Witnesses at the wedding were Rex and Martha Coit, who remain great friends today.

Each of us as individuals would probably find it a fairly easy task to define what patriotism means to us, and in various geographic locations, many of the definitions would look very similar.

However, today we would also find in various geographic locations, the definition would look very different if there was a definition at all.

What do Pepé Le Pew and a high school student in Las Vegas have in common? Both are targets of adherents of Marxist-derived “critical race theory” and its offshoots — and many Oklahomans could soon join them.

Pepé Le Pew drew attention when a New York Times columnist, soon joined by other critics, complained the cartoon skunk “normalizes” rape culture.

That the female cat in the cartoons is always fearfully, frantically trying to escape Pepé’s embrace is proof, they say.

Aided by the first league title under head coach Jennifer Douglas, El Reno High School’s girls basketball team was awarded seven positions on the 2021-All-Suburban Conference Team.

Surprisingly, though, Douglas was not named the league’s Coach of the Year despite taking El Reno to the state semifinals for the second time in three seasons with a 15-6 record and a No.5 ranking in the final Class 5A poll. That honor went to Carl Albert’s Kyle Richey.

El Reno High School’s boys basketball team overcame a lot of unknowns during Rodney Haydon’s first season back on the bench, playing to within a basket of a trip back to the state tourney.

For the efforts, El Reno had five players pick up postseason honors during voting for the 2021 All-Suburban Conference Team including double awards for seniors Ryan Island and Darius Moore.

El Reno had its district 5A-2 series with Guymon canceled twice last week due to rain and wet field conditions. The Indians, 3-4 on the season, were slated to play this weekend in the Washita Valley Classic in Chickasha. Keith Hill’s team will then host Guymon on Monday at the Hub Reed Complex for a varsity only doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

El Reno will then host Southeast in a varsity twinbill on Tuesday starting at 4:30 p.m. The Indians are 2-0 in district play and ranked fourth among the eight teams behind Carl Albert, Piedmont and Guthrie.

El Reno’s Ximena Salazar dribbles down the field during a recent home match. Both El Reno teams were in the Northwest Classen Invitational this weekend at Taft Stadium
in Oklahoma City.

It was a slow offensive start for both Calumet and Union City High School’s slow-pitch softball teams as the pair returned from spring break with shutout losses.

Union City, ranked 20th in Class A, fell to 7-7 on the season with a 15-0 loss to Binger-Oney, the top-ranked team in the same poll. The Tigers were held to one hit - a third-inning single from Kylie McCoy.

She was erased a batter later on a fielder’s choice single from Haylie McCoy.