April 2023

El Reno High School was the top seed for the 2023 Oklahoma Scholastic Shooting Sports Program State Shoot held last week at the OTSA Park off Jensen Road.

Sixteen high school teams and eight junior high squads as well as individuals qualified for state, bringing more than 300 shooters to town.

There were more than 50 school districts represented.

El Reno would go on to clinch the school's first state title in the event.

See upcoming editions for a recap of the event.

Keep El Reno Beautiful Week was declared last week when Mayor Steve Jensen listed it among proclamations the city council endorsed.

The April 17-22 weeklong effort to spruce up the town comes just before the annual Burger Day Festival set for May 6.

As a partnership between the city, the Chamber of Commerce and Redlands Community College, the cleanup is open to any individual or group that wishes to lend a hand.

Registration is available by calling the city at 405-295-9308 or the El Reno Chamber of Commerce at 405-262-1188.

Canadian County commissioners have agreed on percentage shares in three categories for more than $12 million in federal stimulus funds they plan to distribute.

In 2021, Canadian County was awarded $28,806,702 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This was a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill designed to speed up the United States recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing recession.

The city manager for El Reno will have the authority to offer incentives on a “case-by-case” basis to businesses that may be contemplating setting up operations here.

The city council voted 5-0 last week to give City Manager Matt Sandidge the discretion to offer incentives such as permit waivers and utility extensions and connections to those businesses that provide jobs, but not necessarily sales tax.

A Canadian County commissioner is confident that a long-awaited permanent upgrade to make a high-profile intersection safer will start in 2023.

The State Highway 66 and Banner Road area - just west of Yukon - is in first-year County Commissioner Tom Manske’s district.

Since SH-66 is a state highway, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) will hire a contractor to make improvements to this intersection.

An effort to boost Oklahoma’s academic outcomes by requiring schools to provide more support to high school students who do not meet career and college readiness benchmarks has gained approval from the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

In early April, Twitter added a “State-Affiliated Media” tag to National Public Radio’s account on the social media platform, putting it in the same league as Russia’s RT, China’s Xinhua and other government-funded “news” outlets.

Within a few days, under withering criticism from, among others, NPR CEO Jack Lansing (who came to NPR after running other U.S. state-affiliated media such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe), Twitter backed off a bit and changed NPR's label to “Government Funded.” What’s the difference?

There isn’t one.

Memorial services are pending in Pagosa Springs, Colo., for Anella Darlene Handley, who passed away February 14, 2023.

Anella was born in Sacramento, Calif., on October 1, 1952. She lived most of her life in and around El Reno. In 2016, Anella and her longtime companion, Ray Brown, moved to Pagosa Springs to enjoy the Colorado mountains that they loved. 

When speaking of Anella, the meaning of her name describes her beautifully. In English, Anella means a follower of the light, and in Hawaiian, angel. Angel on Earth indeed.

Congressman Frank Lucas released the following statement after U.S. District Court of North Dakota Judge Daniel Hovland granted a preliminary injunction, prohibiting the enforcement, implementation or application of the Biden administration’s revised “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule.

Oklahoma and 23 other states filed the complaint against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) earlier this year. 

Bobby and Sharon Roberts of El Reno are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

Bobby Roberts and Sharon Miles were married April 13, 1973, in Gainesville, Texas.

They have three children, Doug and Sharon Tabb of Oklahoma City, Greg and Erika Roberts of Sayre and Shannon and Nick Niles of El Reno, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The anniversary was commemorated with a family dinner and a trip to Tennessee.