September 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY — State health officials have announced plans to relocate the state’s largest inpatient mental health treatment facility to Oklahoma City from Norman, where it has stood for more than a century. 

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services said a $147 million replacement facility for Griffin Memorial Hospital will be built on the Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma City campus near Interstate 44 and West Reno Avenue.

Hundreds of teachers from across nearly 200 school districts have joined a signing bonus program designed to attract new teachers into Oklahoma classrooms, state education officials said.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education expects to make bonus payments ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 to 553 teachers by Oct. 12, agency spokesperson Dan Isett said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), along with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and other Republican senators sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after new evidence surfaced in August contradicting FBI Director Wray’s March 8, 2023, testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat’s comments during a press conference regarding a potential gross production tax (GPT) increase on oil and natural gas listed an increase in the GPT as one potential offset to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s call to eliminate the state’s income tax

MARRIAGE LICENSES

William Melvin Thomas, 52; Amy Louise Paskoff, 49.

Caleb Michael Case, 29; Tori Breann Dodson, 27.

Morgan Mark McClelland, 59; Kelley Renee Collingwood, 52.

Kade Michael Woods, 22; Keleigh Jayne Koehn, 20.

Mario Palacios Barragan, 31; Carla Faride Gallegos Villalba, 49.

Justin Dewayne Stamper, 42; Carrie Lynn Pittman, 46.

Alfred Jamie Decoteau, 60; Andrea Denise Selph, 58.

Jariel Alberto Padilla-Agosto, 28; Karina Tanon De Jesus, 28.

While it may seem odd calling three regular-season games your preseason, that’s just the philosophy being taken by El Reno High School’s football team coming out of its bye week.

“We’re excited to get into district play. District games are what gets you into the postseason and the first three games were our preseason. Now it’s time to take them one game at a time and go from there,” said El Reno head coach Russell Cook.

El Reno had last week off due to its zero week defeat of Chickasha in the U.S. 81 Battle.

Facing the second of three matches against the upper echelon of the NJCAA Region 2 standings, Redlands Community College women’s soccer team was handed another shutout loss by Seminole State. The Trojans dropped Redlands to 1-6 on the season and 1-5 in the standings with a 7-0 win, which was the program’s 100th.

Redlands was limited to two shots, one each from El Reno natives Carlie Golden and Payton Brickey.

Kaitlynn Runnels was in net for the Cougars, allowing all seven goals against 17 saves.

RCC will host NEO Sunday at 2 p.m.

El Reno High School’s fast-pitch softball team will look to get back into the win column after dropping its seventh straight game with a shutout loss at Piedmont.

The 6-0 defeat gave the Wildcats the regular-season sweep of El Reno, which slipped to 10-11 on the season. The Indians are nine games into a 13-game road swing, sporting a 2-7 record.

The loss dropped El Reno to 4-4 in the District 5A-2 standings for fifth place. The Indians remain a half game back of both Noble (4-3) and Guymon (5-4) for third place.

Playing its sixth straight road match, El Reno High School’s volleyball team suffered a 3-0 defeat to state-ranked Lawton MacArthur in non-conference action.

The 25-15/25-12/25-13 setback to the Highlanders, ranked seventh in Class 5A, was the second of the season. It was the seventh straight loss for El Reno, which slipped to 3-11 overall.

Kallie Maifield and Trinity Black led the team in kills with three each, while Qyra Jones posted two kills. Mary Gonzalez, Anessa Woods, Jewell Graham and Lily Elliott added one kill each.

Redlands Community College women’s golf team placed sixth in the recent Oklahoma Intercollegiate Invitational hosted by Cameron University.

The Cougars posted a 36-hole total of 632 after rounds of 315 and 317. Oklahoma Christian (590) won the event, followed by Texas A&M Kingsville (600), Lubbock Christian (603), Angelo State (606) and Cameron (616). The Cougars defeated North Central Texas College (687) by 55 strokes.

Daniela Espinoza led the Cougars with a 151 (74/77) tally to finish tied for 11th.