November 2023

A Canadian County man faces a felony murder charge for allegedly causing his daughter’s fentanyl-related death.

George Harold Graves, 54, was formally charged in Canadian County District Court with first-degree murder stemming from a Feb. 11 drug overdose at a Calumet home.

Assistant District Attorney Austin T. Murrey alleges Graves “regardless of malice … took the life” of Stormie Jasmine Graves, “whose death resulted from George Graves’ commission of the felony offense of distribution of fentanyl.”

The plans to build a 12,000-seat music amphitheater near Mustang are said to be not too far from work getting started.

Notes Live, the group with plans to put the Sunset Amphitheater just east of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike near 15th Street and Sara Road, hosted community members who surround the area and gave a presentation, allowing them to give feedback to the group regarding the project in advance of filing the project with OKC’s Planning Commission.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Center is set to conduct well water analysis for citizens in Canadian County.

Samples will be accepted at the Canadian County Educational Building from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13. The results of the tests will be provided directly to citizens.

Well owners who would like to have their well water analyzed for free are encouraged to contact the Canadian County Extension Office for information on how to collect a sample.

MUNICIPAL COURT

Joseph Michael Lang, El Reno, failure to appear warrant, $245.

Blake Aaron Autrey, Connelly Springs, N.C., disorderly conduct, $595.

Gary Lee Morton Jr., El Reno, allowing unlicensed driver to drive, $295.

Tyler Jordan Berry, Edmond, expired tag and failure to stop at stop sign, $330.

Wyatt Henry Fechter, Howard, Kan., failure to maintain a single lane, $175.

Veronica Colyer, Salix, Iowa, speeding, $165.

Roberta Ann Hamilton, El Reno, speeding, $165.

Fred Dean Wolf of El Reno died unexpectedly but peacefully on Nov. 9, 2023, at the age of 88. Fred was born May 3, 1935, in Arkansas City, Kan., to Fred St. Clair and Mary Jane Wolf. He attended Arkansas City High School where he met the love of his life, Marjorie May Ramsey, while practicing for a musical stage production in their junior year. They graduated from ACHS in 1953 and were married June 22, 1954.

Thomas Joseph Rother passed away with all his family at his bedside on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, at St. Katharine Drexel in El Reno. Tom was born to Franz and Gertrude (Smith) Rother on June 2, 1940, in Okarche.

Tom graduated from Holy Trinity Catholic High School in 1958. He was a lifelong resident of the community in which he farmed and was a rural mail carrier for 30 years. He also served in the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, the El Reno Tribune asked area students how to cook a turkey.

Emily O’Hara’s kindergarten class at Sacred Heart:

UNION CITY – One way to beat a zone defense is to prevent your opponent from having extra time to get its players down the court and set up in the paint.

Union City High School’s girls team worked this to perfection late in the third period of last week’s home game with Vici.

After watching a lead in the mid-20s be whittled down to the high teens after a series of missed shots, the Tigers stepped up the tempo of their transition game.

The result was four straight baskets in the zone as the lead was rebuilt back into the 20s and more.

UNION CITY – In its closest game to date, Union City High School’s boys basketball team’s shot at its first win streak of the season came down to the final shot.

Laven Zeier's 3-pointer in the final seconds missed short as the Tigers dropped a 51-50 game to Vici in the first regular-season meeting between the Class A schools in recent years.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-3 on the season.

Avenging a 30-point road loss less than a week earlier, Redlands Community College women’s basketball team outscored Barton Community College 6-5 in overtime to pull out a 68-67 win over the Kansas-based program.

Barton, ranked 19th in the nation in the latest NJCAA Division I poll, defeated RCC 74-41 in their first meeting.

The win handed Barton, also nicknamed the Cougars, its first loss of the year and lifted Redlands to 6-2 overall.

Hannah Harris scored four points in the extra period, while Isabella Stafford added two points.