July 2023

In his opinion, Rep. Dick Lowe said the most important piece of legislation passed at the Oklahoma State Capitol this past session dealt with school safety.

“It’s not if it’s going to happen, it’s when it’s going to happen,” Lowe told the audience at last week’s El Reno Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast.

The school safety measure carves out $150 million over a three-year period as part of the more than $5 billion education package approved by lawmakers.

A juvenile was found breathing but unresponsive Saturday night at Lake El Reno. Assistant Police Chief Kirk Dickerson said officers were called to the scene.

Dickerson said officers performed a “sternum rub” in an effort to get the teen to respond.

He said police did not make any arrests because they were unable to determine where the teen got the alcohol.

Dickerson said the condition of the teen was unknown.

This duck shows no interest in the floating bubble near its head while swimming across Lake El Reno during the 2023 Smoke on the Water Drag Boat Races.

The bubble came from a bubble machine being used by children during a break in the action.

Canadian County CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates Inc. - welcomed its newest volunteers, Joe Anderson and Heather McCarty, who made the commitment to give their time to help abused and neglected children in our community. Judge Bob Hughey swore in the new volunteers.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Trait Thompson, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, was appointed to the Route 66 Centennial Commission by President Joe Biden.

Congress established the Commission to study and make recommendations on how to celebrate the centennial anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

“I would like to thank Sen. Mitch McConnell for nominating me to the federal Route 66 Centennial Commission and President Joe Biden for appointing me. It is an honor to represent Oklahoma on this distinguished panel,” said Thompson.

Chiggers are a nuisance during the summer months. The little red mites feed on leaves and humans, irritating the skin with itchy, inflamed bites.

Justin Talley, head of the Oklahoma State University Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, said any area of high vegetation can support chigger populations because of the humidity that is maintained within vegetative cover.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, said he was excited about the thousands of new jobs and multibillion-dollar investment that will come with Mansion Entertainment Group's announcement of a new theme park, the American Heartland Theme Park and Resort, that will be built on Route 66 in Vinita, just west of Grand Lake.

The surge of inflation under President Joe Biden has given many people flashbacks to the 1970s. Sadly, the latest data released by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) evokes a similar sense of déjà vu.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) administered the NAEP long-term trend reading and math assessments to 13-year-old students from October to December of the 2022–23 school year.

The results provide much reason for alarm.

Lamplighters OHCE of Canadian County met recently at Mt. Zion Methodist Church. Carol Stine called the meeting to order, while Donna Wehmuller led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll call was answered with members offering their favorite pineapple recipe.

Maxine Little read minutes of the previous meeting.

Patricia Morrison gave the treasury report.

Ann Niemann and Jan Maddox were birthday honorees.

Janice Taylor presented the leader lesson titled “All About Pineapple.”

She made a pineapple angel food cake to share with the group.

Pictured is a farmer harvesting a field of wheat last month south of Calumet.

This season’s winter wheat harvest was delayed due to heavy rains in the month of June throughout Canadian County.