March 2023

Latin Everheart continued El Reno High School’s string of individual titles in the Large School Division at the 2023 Oklahoma Powerlifting Coaches Association’s State Championships held at Jenks Simmons Field House.

Everheart was one of two medalists for the Indians this season, winning the 123-pound weight class, while Malachi Nicholson took fifth place at 181 pounds.

El Reno, which sent four lifters to state, was third as a team in the Class 5A bracket with 79 points. The Indians finished behind Grove (79) and McAlester (59) and edged out Del City by a point.

NORMAN – Two words were stressed in huddle before the start of the fourth period of El Reno’s quarterfinal game at the 2023 Class 5A Girls Oklahoma State High School Basketball Championships.

“Energy and effort. We just needed to bring more energy,” said El Reno junior post player Pauline Black-Harmon.

El Reno did just that and more, using a 16-5 run to open the period en route to a 61-51 come-from-behind win over Tahlequah. The Indians avenged their 2017 quarterfinal loss to the Tigers and advanced to the semifinals for the third straight year to play Sapulpa.

Ray Hosler and his wife, Karlita fought for years to try and protect two young relatives from abuse inflicted by their biological parents. They would eventually succeed, but only after the pair were sentenced to decades in prison for child abuse and neglect.

But the battle, especially for Ray, isn’t over. He won’t be satisfied until those who he said had the power to end the abuse many months before are held accountable.

He said many adults charged with protecting vulnerable children ignored a situation he called “obvious.”

More people are interested in El Reno’s parks. And that’s a good thing.

City Planner Dustin Downey said a recent survey concerning what people want at the local parks drew 599 responses. That's up from 470 responses the city received in a park survey conducted in 2020.

According to the responses, people want more sidewalks and trails. Close to 88 percent of those responding said they strongly support expanding the sidewalk and trails system.

The city last week broke ground on the expansion of the trail at Lake El Reno.

Voters decided that Oklahoma is not ready for adult use cannabis, also referred to as recreational marijuana. State Question 820 was defeated by a vote of 349,121 no votes to 216,883 yes votes – 61.68 percent to 38.32 percent.

All 77 counties rejected the state question. Total voter turnout was 25.35 percent of those eligible to vote in this election.

Canadian County joined in the rejection, with more than 63 percent of county voters casting no votes, compared to 36 percent in favor, figures from the Canadian County Election Board show.

The Centre Theatre for the Arts is partnering with the Elks Lodge to host a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Fundraiser on April 1.

The name of the show is “Revenge at the Reunion” and is directed by Doug Richardson. The cast includes Roger Johnson, Jack Patchell, Kristin Richardson, Katie Vandiver and Jennifer White. 

The event will be held at the El Reno Elks Lodge and is an adult-only event.

Steve Winkler, age 73, died March 6, 2023, after a short illness.

Steve managed, owned and operated S&J Tire in El Reno for over 40 years. People who came in to S&J looking for someone they could trust quickly became lifelong friends and clients, exchanging stories and trivia with Steve while their cars were made safe.

Steve, lovingly known as “B.S.” (Big Steve), was preceded in death by the love of his life, Karon; his mother, Kit, and his father, Bill.

The annual Taste of Sacred Heart raised $127,000 for the El Reno Catholic school.

The event featured live music, an assortment of foods and beverages and a live and silent auction.

Funeral services for Sonya Lee Lamebull of Oklahoma City were held Wednesday at Huber-Benson Funeral Home, with burial following at the Lumpmouth Family Cemetery in Geary.

Sonya passed away March 3, 2023. She was born Oct. 13, 1961, in Oklahoma City. She was a graduate of Del City High School and attended Haskell Indian Junior College, now known as Haskell Indian Nations University. Sonya held numerous jobs throughout her life.

She attended the Maranatha Baptist Church in Bethany.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, no stranger to finding himself under political fire, has been hunkering down beneath a new barrage after turning over 40,000 hours of U.S. Capitol security camera footage (from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot) to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.

“The speaker is needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) whined.

“The footage Speaker McCarthy is making available to Fox News is a treasure trove of closely held information about how the Capitol complex is protected.”