November 2022

Steve Jensen easily won election in the race to succeed Matt White as mayor of El Reno, besting political newcomer Phillip Church by more than 1,800 votes.

Jensen will be joined on the city council by another political newcomer, David Black, after Black defeated Kevin Marr in the Ward 3 council race. That contest was won by Black by more than 200 votes.

And Associate District Judge Bob Hughey defeated challenger Rachel Bussett, garnering more than 55 percent of the vote.

Hughey had a county-wide vote total of 25,152 to 19,910, or just over 44 percent for Bussett.

As early voting in the 2022 midterm wrapped up, something was clear – the turnout was one for the record books.

“We were absolutely amazed and happy about the turnout this year in terms of early/in-person voting and the number of absentee by mail responses we’ve had,” Canadian County Election Board Acting Secretary Allen Arnold said.

“It was a huge increase from anything we’ve seen before.”

The El Reno City Council last week adopted a plan designed to transform Sunset Drive from Choctaw to Country Club as the “official vision of the city.” Council also said farewell to two long-serving members.

The Sunset vote was unanimous and could possibly move the city closer to making the changes recommended in the plan that was created by the University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities with direction from Oklahoma City architect Michael Hoffner of Hoffner Design Studios.

Historic Fort Reno will host the annual German-Italian POW Memorial Service on Sunday, Nov. 13 beginning at 2 p.m.

A brief service will be held at the Visitors Center and Museum, followed by the wreath presentation for the German and Italian POWS at the Post Cemetery.

Light snacks and hot drinks will follow served back at the Visitors Center and Museum.

Jana L. Knott will serve a three-year term on the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Board of Governors starting January 2023.

She will be part of the OBA’s 17-member Board of Governors, which meets monthly and governs the association.   

She will represent Supreme Court Judicial District Nine, which consists of Caddo, Canadian, Comanche, Cotton, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa and Tillman counties. 

Knott joined Bass Law in 2018, where her practice focuses primarily on appellate litigation, advocacy, briefing and consultation.

The U.S. Department of Education renewed a grant totaling $1.44 million for Redlands Community College’s Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) program for an additional five years, allowing the program’s team to continue expanding the relationships developed with Oklahoma veterans.

Over the past year, Redlands has been successful in serving Oklahoma veterans. The VUB program participated in more than 400 outreach efforts and attended events including the 2022 Oklahoma State Fair, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tribal events, Mustang Western Days, Yukon Czech Festival and many more.

Despite facing an opponent supported by tens of millions of dollars in dark-money political advertisements, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt decisively won a second term Tuesday night, finishing with more than 55 percent of the vote and momentum heading into another four years of potential conflict with the groups that most opposed his re-election.

Funeral services for Robert Leonard Beck II will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 at First Baptist Church with Rev. Grant Findley officiating. Burial will be in the El Reno Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Robert died Nov. 7, 2022, at his home in El Reno. He was born June 1, 1975, in Middletown, Ohio. He was an automobile restorer and owner of Beck’s Custom Classic Cars and partner of Better Buy Auto in Oklahoma City.

He was a volunteer for the Cavett Kids Foundation and a member of First Baptist Church.

Banner School collected over 420 pairs of socks for the Socktober Sock Collection for the Homeless Alliance.

Maple October Citizenship/Students of the Month, front row from left, Every Stiles, pre-kindergarten; Hollis Wedman, first grade; Braelyn Hutchings, third grade; and Blaiklyn Barton, second grade; back row, Presley Swigart, fifth grade; Garett Moss, sixth grade; Ellie Shamblin, eighth grade; Adison Steffler, seventh grade; and Lainey Rowell, fourth grade. Not pictured: Carson Smith, kindergarten.