September 2021

The new Rock Island overpass will be officially opened on Sept. 24. That’s when a ribbon-cutting ceremony is set. The dedication is planned for 2 p.m.

The structure is open to traffic now, but some finishing touches are expected to take a few more days.

The bridge was opened to traffic in July, about 18 months after construction got under way.

Brad Freeman, ODOT Division 4 resident assistant, is pleased with the project.

“It turned out pretty well,” Freeman said.

A two-and half hour special meeting of the El Reno School Board last week focused on training members in the proper methods to conduct the search for the district’s next superintendent.

The meeting was conducted by the Oklahoma State School Board Association, hired by the district in May to spearhead the search for Craig McVay’s successor.

A semi reportedly struck this pole at a former convenience store on Rock Island, just south of Wade last weekend.

Security video from Rock Island Credit Union shows the truck striking the pole around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Calls to the number posted on the vacant building were not returned.

The pole is hanging over the alley between the vacant store and the credit union, which serves as an entrance to the drive-thru for the credit union.

A fight injured a half dozen inmates early Monday at the Canadian County Jail after a power outage, Sheriff Chris West said.

Shortly after 2 a.m. Monday, Sept. 6, members of the Canadian County Special Operations Team were activated to assist with an altercation in the county jail.

The incident reportedly involved about 15 to 20 inmates.

Etta Dale Junior High teacher Chip Whitworth discusses with his students a video shot in 2001 of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center Towers in New York City.

Whitworth teaches a Current Events class and students were learning about the attacks which killed 2,977 Americans and injured more than 25,000.

Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the deadliest domestic terrorist attacks in U.S. history.

(Courtesy Photo/Brooke Robertson)

Blades of wheat, identified by a local farmer as tall stocks of Johnson grass, seem to hug the setting sun next to empty farmland just southwest of Calumet High School’s baseball field.

Temperatures are expected to reach into the 90s for the first part of the week before dipping into the high 80s later in the week.

It’s happening at big box chain stores and locally-owned markets. After the rush of panic buying a year ago, a few empty shelves still haunt grocery stores, and food costs continue to climb.   

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Nicole Miller, R-Edmond, hosted an interim study to examine Oklahoma’s existing expungement system and potential avenues to further reform in Oklahoma.

Interim Study 21-054, held before the House Judiciary – Criminal Committee, focused on the economic impact of additional reforms, including access to education and workforce development.

“I don’t know all the answers, but I will tell you this: I believe that this is an issue that is worth working on,” Miller told the committee in an opening statement.

Oklahoma Gross Receipts to the Treasury in August grew by almost 20 percent over the year with a rebounding fossil fuel industry leading the way, State Treasurer Randy McDaniel said last week.

Total monthly gross receipts of $1.17 billion are higher than August of last year by $191.2 million, or 19.5 percent.

Collections from the gross production tax on oil and natural gas are up by more than 150 percent. Individual income tax, sales and use tax and motor vehicle receipts also grew by double digits during the month.

The Canadian County Association for Oklahoma Home and Community Education (OHCE) raffled off two quilts at the Canadian County Fair.

The winners were Patsy Shropshire of El Reno and Cora Hart of Yukon.

The quilts were made using the blocks from the 2019 Quilt Block Challenge Contest.

They were sewn by Carol Garrett of Mustang and quilted by Judy Dry of Yukon.

Approximately $600 was raised and all proceeds benefit the Canadian County OHCE High School Scholarship Fund.