September 2021

Memorial services for Victoria Gene “Vicki” Southerland of Oklahoma City were held Friday at First Baptist Church in Minco under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Vicki died Sept. 20, 2021, at Norman Regional Hospital. She was born May 22, 1966, in St. Louis, Mo.

Vicki grew up in the Loyal community and attended Lomega schools. The family relocated to Okarche where she attended high school. She moved to Mountain Home, Ark., earlier this year and then back to Oklahoma City. She worked as an office manager.

LAWSUITS

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. Jared Buchanan for $3,736.34 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. William Amos for $6,378.81 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Discover Bank vs. Chris Bruner for $8,689.55 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

TD Bank USA N.A. vs. Patricia Cox Griffitts for $2,303.30 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Rallying from behind in the first two games, El Reno High School’s volleyball team raced out to a 10-1 lead in the third game last week against Class 5A’s 16th-ranked Santa Fe South and then held on for a 3-0 win over the St. Bernards.

The 25-21/25-15/25-20 non-conference victory moved El Reno, ranked 11th in the same poll, to 13-9 on the season.

El Reno served at 90.4 percent with eight aces, six of those from Bailey Denwalt and one each by Avery Peffer and Ariana Ortega.

Putting together both hits and runs, El Reno High School’s softball team has been making some noise with a late-season push in the win column and the District 5A-2 standings.

El Reno defeated Enid last week 9-4 a day after completing a district sweep of Noble by way of a 17-6 road win over the Bears. The Indians are now 5-1 in their last six games, all on the road, to improve to 11-14 on the season.

CALUMET – As expected, the annual fall baseball Bedlam Battle between Canadian County’s two smallest schools came down to the final out in the seventh inning.

Calumet took a two-run lead into the top of the seventh against rival Union City, only to watch the Tigers get a lead-off single from Dalton Stout. That brought UCHS’ leading hitter Braydon Armstrong to the plate.

In what head coach Cody Schmidt called a “heck of a weird fast-pitch game,” Union City High School’s softball team closed out the regular season last week with a 20-17 loss to Fletcher.

The Tigers went 1-3 over their last three games, defeating Bray-Doyle (9-8) but losing to Cashion (11-1) to take a 14-11 overall mark into the postseason.

In the loss to Fletcher, the teams combined for 31 hits but left 15 runners stranded on base – 10 of those by Union City. The teams had a combined five errors.

An Amber Alert issued Wednesday morning worked the way the system was intended after a suspect in a child abduction case was arrested at a Canadian County convenience store.

Major Adam Flowers with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office said a citizen reported seeing a vehicle that matched the description of the one in the Amber Alert. The vehicle was seen outside a store at Czech Hall and 15th Street, Flowers said. The call came in about 8:30 a.m.

In a different genre from previous films shot in El Reno, principal photography began last week on a family action-adventure movie titled “Quest for Tom Sawyer's Gold.”

“It’s a story set in modern times and it’s basically an ex-adventurer who is a mom to a teenage boy. The boy comes across some clues in the family’s attic that relates to their past and the connection to Tom Sawyer,” said Zeus Zamani, the film's producer.

While no specifics were given, El Reno Mayor Matt White said the city and public schools are working on a plan for property along SW 27th Street.

White made the comment at last week’s El Reno Now event, hosted by himself and Superintendent Craig McVay.

The mayor also said a downtown Business Improvement District is desperately needed to help the historic area.

“The downtown is in trouble,” White said. He said the same can be said for downtown areas across the nation.

“Amazon is not helping,” White said.

“Things have changed.”

On Sept. 16, El Reno police officers were asked to assist U.S. Marshals with the arrest of a wanted fugitive identified as Hector Lee Shawnee, 37, of Geary.

Shawnee was seen driving a silver Honda Accord in the area of Reformatory Drive and Kerry Lane.

Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but Shawnee failed to comply with the directions given by the officers and attempted to evade arrest by fleeing in the vehicle.

After a short distance, Shawnee exited the vehicle and ran, leaving the car still running.