January 2022

For several months now, state revenues have been rolling in above the estimates, pointing to a bright economic future for Oklahoma.

Last week the state Board of Equalization (BOE) verified the positive fiscal outlook by certifying their preliminary revenue estimate for fiscal year 2023.

We will hit another historic high as they estimate the Legislature could have just over $10.3 billion to appropriate this coming session.

While this is wonderful news, it’s important that we proceed with caution and not spend all of these funds.

Editor’s Note: This is the last of a series of stories looking back at the year that was 2021.

As fall arrived so did news that the population in Canadian County had grown dramatically.

People and organizations were about the business of helping others, while political races brought familiar as well as a new face to positions of leadership.

Change also came to the education scene as El Reno selected a new but familiar face to lead the local public school district.

October

A Yukon lawmaker has filed legislation that would make county sheriffs the constitutionally-recognized chief law enforcement officer of their respective counties.

Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, chair of the Oklahoma House States Rights Committee, filed the legislation for the upcoming session.

Currently, there is no statute in place that designates a chief law enforcement officer of a county, and Steagall said this legislation is important to make sure that lack of recognition does not cause issues in the future.

El Reno got its first taste of winter over the weekend with light snow and ice.

A Yukon-area man charged with shooting to death a woman who was working at a convenience store has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

District court arraignment for George Lorenz Way, 22, is set for Feb. 17, 2022, before Canadian County District Judge Jack McCurdy.

Way faces the death penalty or life in prison after being formally charged in September 2020 with first-degree murder and robbery with a weapon in Canadian County District Court.

The defendant waived his right to the court hearing before Special Judge Khristan Strubhar.

The fact that a person is born either male or female is nothing but a false “binary box” established by Western and American societies, and it’s responsible for marginalizing people who consider themselves to be “gender fluid.”

To counter this requires university personnel to modify their language and change their interactions with students and others.

Opening the season with more questions than answers as to what type of ball team Rodney Haydon would field for the 2021-22 season, the veteran skipper could not be more pleased with his Indians start.

El Reno kicks off the second part of the regular season Thursday in the Anadarko Classic with a 4-2 record, a three-game win streak and a No.12 ranking in the Class 5A poll before the holiday break.

Zelma Martha Hubbard was born March 10, 1924, to Ross and Bessie Hubbard. She passed on Dec. 27, 2021, with her children by her side.   

Zelma grew up in the El Reno area and worked for her father at the stockyards. She married Wayne Reuter in the middle of a snowstorm on Jan. 27, 1948, at First Presbyterian Church in El Reno. For their nearly 74 years of marriage, Zelma and Wayne spent their days side by side.

Margaret “Sue” Terneus, 91, was born Oct. 31, 1930, in Richland, and passed away Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, in Yukon at the age of 91.

Sue was predeceased by parents, Sanford and Janie Miller, and brothers, Gerald Miller, Sandy Miller, Harold Miller, James Miller and Gordon Miller.

Funeral services for Kaitlyn Rose Willey will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Concho Emergency Response Center with Emmett McKenzie officiating. Burial will follow in the Concho Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Kaitlyn died Dec. 26, 2021, at St. Anthony Hospital in Midwest City. She was born July 27, 2007, in Lander, Wyo. She lived most of her life in Geary and was a member of the Watonga Indian Baptist Church.

Kaitlyn was a ninth-grade student at Star Spencer High School where she participated in J.R.O.T.C. and the Star Spencer Dance Team.