October 2022

OKLAHOMA CITY - Rep. Ty Burns, R-Pawnee, looked into the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) during an interim study before the House Common Education Committee

Burns, a former public schoolteacher and coach, requested the study to examine discrepancies in policies related to the eligibility of student athletes who transfer from one school to another, specifically Rule 8 in the OSSAA manual as it pertains to Title 70.

He also questioned the organization’s finances and its overall purpose.

An all-night wake for Calvin Coolidge Sankey Jr. will be held beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, with funeral services at 2 p.m. Monday. Both services will be at the Concho Emergency Response Center with Rev. Waylan Upchego officiating. Burial will be in the Concho Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Calvin died Oct. 17, 2022, at Norman Regional Hospital. He was born April 22, 1968, in Clinton. He graduated from Geary High School in 1987. He worked in casino security and later was a certified nursing assistant at Grace Living Center.

Banner School students learned fire safety tips from the El Reno Fire Department last week. October is Fire Safety Month.

The ERFD has a specially designed Fire Safety House that allows firefighters to show students tips to prevent household fires as well as how to safely escape a fire.

Tulsa Public Schools will be closed on Election Day in November, potentially creating financial strain for many low-income families in the district and delaying classroom instruction at a time when Tulsa students remain far behind their peers in academic outcomes.

Tulsa is among the more high-profile districts to close its doors on Election Day, along with the Oklahoma City school district.

Graveside services for Velma Jean (Womack) Bensmiller of Chickasha will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Friendship Cemetery southwest of Minco. Services are under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Jean died Oct. 12, 2022, in Chickasha. She was born April 28, 1935, in Woodbury, Tenn., and graduated from Woodbury High School. Jean was a homemaker and was active in the Woodbury Church of Christ.

LAWSUITS

Tinker Federal Credit Union vs. Raychel L. Warren and Sean M. Warren for $5,061.44 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

MidFirst Bank vs. Diana Jenkins for $3,162.78 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Discover Bank vs. Julia A. Armstrong for $5,269.91 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Cavalry SPV I LLC vs. Rick Palacios for $5,559.62 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

If there is a silver lining to last week’s 3-0 loss to Northern Oklahoma College of Tonkawa, it’s the fact that Redlands Community College’s soccer team is becoming competitive with the region’s upper echelon teams.

The Mavericks, ranked No.14 in the nation, defeated Redlands 6-0 less than a month earlier.

The second meeting was a two-goal affair until the final 15 minutes of the second half when a defensive slip by the Cougars allowed NOC to score off a corner kick.

El Reno High School’s season stats took a jump last week in the Indians 20-15 win over Ardmore.

Both Redlands Community College teams were the lone two-year squads entered in the 2022 Oklahoma Baptist University’s Cross Country Invitational and ran away with a pair of fifth-place finishes.

The Redlands women ran the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course at Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee with an overall time of two hours and 3.17 minutes.

The average time per runner was 24:39 as the Cougars closed with 144 points.

The city of El Reno is seeking a $1.5 million loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to enhance the well fields that provide water for the city. And once the work is completed, as much as 25 percent of the debt could be written off.

City council approved the action last week. The loan is expected to help the city increase its water capacity by as much as 65 percent, Mayor Matt White said.

White said that was just a guess, but the city has been working to increase water production and has seen good results.