April 2022

A memorial service for former Minco resident Pat Mataya will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Hazel Dell Cemetery northwest of Minco.

Pat passed away Sept. 15, 2021, in Oklahoma City. She was born Oct. 18, 1942, in Madill. She and her husband, Phil owned and operated Pat and Phil’s Country Store and Cafe in Minco for nearly 20 years.

She is survived by her daughters, Kimbra McKinley and Shelly Butler; her son, Mark Mataya; stepson, Jerry Mataya and stepdaughter, Juliana Mataya; sister, Scheryl Kennard; and several grandchildren and one great-grandson.

El Reno High School’s baseball team headed into its final District 5A-1 doubleheader of the season looking to gain some needed momentum for the upcoming playoffs.

The Indians were slated to play Del City after losing a close 4-2 contest to Guthrie last week in a makeup game.

The teams split the series, leaving El Reno with a 6-6 mark in league play and in fifth place, a game back in the loss column to the Bluejays for fourth.

El Reno was coming off an 11-5 loss a day earlier to Elk City after squandering a 5-1 lead.

Severe storms in the panhandle halted El Reno High School’s match last week with Guymon but not before the Indians secured a spot in the upcoming Class 5A girls playoffs.

El Reno was leading 3-1 when the match was called with 33 minutes left in the second half.

“We stood in the locker room for 25 minutes waiting for the weather to clear and it wasn’t. Then their athletic director and the head referee came over and said they were calling the match.

DIVORCES GRANTED

Calvin Dwayne Holloway vs. Kidist Testfaye Holloway.

Paul Davenport vs. Amanda Davenport.

Sandra Jean De La Rosa vs. Ulysses De La Rosa.

Shane Douglas Denard vs. Casey Davis Denard.

Amber Nicole Bickford Lopez vs. Erik Daniel Lopez Calvillo.

Christopher A. Hoppis vs. Ashley M. Hoppis.

Nicole R. Pearce vs. Shawn A. Pearce.

Amy Suzanne VanGordon vs. Phillip Gerard VanGordon.

Randy R. Matthews vs. Ashton D. Shepherd.

Loyd Leland Morris Jr. vs. Priscilla G. Morris.

El Reno High School Athletic Director Rodney Haydon and head coach Gabriel Gonzalez confirmed the boys soccer team will return to Guymon Tuesday night to complete District 5A-2 play.

The match was postponed last week due to severe weather, which cut the match short in the second half.

“As of right now we are going. We are going to try and play around 4:30 or 5 p.m. depending on if they can get officials that early or not,” said Gonzalez.

A move to cut down the field at the NJCAA Women’s Golf Championship may leave four-time winner Redlands Community College on the outside looking in.

This season the NJCAA did away with the regional championship round of the postseason and the automatic berth to the national tourney for each winner. In its place were six district championships.

Teams in the 17 regions making up Division I golf under the NJCAA banner were then divided up. RCC was placed into the Southwest District along with teams from Regions 1 and 5.

Danny Hart said inspectors from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services are no longer welcome at the Community Kids Learning Center at 1201 SW 27th Street.

That’s the position taken by Hart who serves as pastor for Legacy Community Church Inc., the sponsor of the child-care center housed at the same location.

It’s also the unanimous position taken by the members of the Legacy Community Church board of directors.

Hart said “overreach and insensitivity” on the part of the DHS inspectors led him and his church to cut ties with the state agency.

Two former employees of the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office have filed lawsuits against Sheriff Chris West and the Board of Canadian County Commissioners, alleging they were fired after engaging in protected whistleblower activities.

Those former employees are Marty Burns and Chelsea Adkins.

According to their respective petitions filed with the court, Burns joined the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office in November 2018 as a reserve officer, and joined the department full time in April 2020 as an investigator with the rank of sergeant.

The El Reno Public School Foundation has added some new scholarship programs to its collection. The latest scholarship additions include the Neathery Family Scholarship and the DeLana/Laird Scholarship.

Creation of the Neathery Family Scholarship was a dream and goal of twins and 1999 El Reno High School graduates Chad and Tommy Neathery. Attending college was always a goal for the Neatherys, but family circumstances required that the boys work while attending school.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford talks over an issue with one of several city leaders and residents who attended a lunch with the senator at Johnnie’s Grill in El Reno last week.

Lankford and his wife, Cindy were on the campaign trail as he seeks re-election to Washington, where he has served Oklahoma since first being elected in 2015.