February 2022

To the Editor:

Did you know that recent estimates of the number of homeless children in America reflect that 2.5 million children experience homelessness each year? Or that families now make up 40 percent of the homeless population?

These days, more and more families in Canadian County who never thought they would become homeless are finding themselves without a place to live. More than 200 children are experiencing homelessness between El Reno and Yukon.

LAWSUITS

LVNV Funding LLC vs. Derry Russell for $751.92 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Jefferson Capital Systems LLC vs. Amanda Guerrero for $833.98 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Jefferson Capital Systems LLC vs. Kelly Stroup for $4,650.25 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Jefferson Capital Systems LLC vs. Kalie McBride for $1,266.20 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

The dam at Lake El Reno made for a popular sledding spot after last week's snowfall.

The El Reno area was walloped by some 7 inches of snow last week and that meant a round-the-clock marathon for city workers charged with clearing the streets.

Amy Smith, streets department director, said her four-person staff was joined by other city departments in working to keep the “snow routes” open throughout El Reno.

She said that meant pulling help from the parks department, the cemetery department and Public Works, as well as getting assistance from Canadian County.

An engineering firm will be paid $90,836 in preparation for parking lot upgrades at two Canadian County buildings.

A contractor will be hired to rebuild parking lots outside the Canadian County Children’s Justice Center, 7905 E. State Highway 66, and Canadian County Assessor’s Office, 200 N. Choctaw.

County commissioners approved a service agreement with GUY Engineering Services for “design and geo-tech work” on the new parking lots.

Rylan Fleenor of El Reno is a new junior member of the American Angus Association, reports Mark McCully, Association CEO, with headquarters in St. Joseph, Mo.

Junior members of the Association are eligible to register cattle in the American Angus Association, participate in programs conducted by the National Junior Angus Association and take part in Association-sponsored shows and other national and regional events.

The American Angus Association is the largest beef breed association in the world, with more than 25,000 active adult and junior members.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, said the initial allocation of Redbud School Funding Grants by the Oklahoma State Department of Education should help state schools, including El Reno Public Schools.

The department last week allotted half of $38.5 million to 330 brick-and-mortar public schools statewide.

The remainder will be distributed to qualifying schools this summer.

Since 2020, Congress has approved three rounds of federal COVID-bailout funding, providing more than $2 billion combined to Oklahoma school districts to mitigate viral spread, address challenges created by the pandemic, and reverse learning loss tied to COVID shutdowns.

But more than 70 percent of that money remains unspent today, according to figures presented to state lawmakers during a budget hearing for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

EHS’ game at Noble last week was rescheduled for Feb. 17 due to winter weather.

EHS was to host Lawton MacArthur (Monday) and Guthrie (Tuesday) before traveling to Carl Albert on Friday. 

Trading second-half scoring blitzes, Calumet High School’s boys basketball team outscored Union City 20-19 in the fourth period to hang on to defeat its cross-county rival 68-63.

The late-season meeting was for third place in the 2022 Washita Valley Conference Shootout. Calumet, ranked sixth in Class A, swept the season series with the Tigers after a 40-point win back in November.

The Chieftains head into the playoffs with a 19-6 record.