October 2024

A candidate forum for the Ward 1 city council seat drew a sparse turnout Tuesday night, but two of the three individuals in the race covered a lot of territory, answering written questions from the audience during the 30-minute session. 

Julie Flegal-Smallwood served as moderator, while timekeepers were Eli Zucksworth and Jason Looper. The race will be decided Nov. 5. 

Hosted by the El Reno Chamber of Commerce and held at Redlands Community College, the evening featured candidates Amy Neathery and Aaron Hines. Neathery currently holds the Ward 1 seat.

El Reno High School student Landry Lewis smiles as her aide Theresa Barton reads her a book outside of the high school.

Daily high temperatures have been near record numbers for October and are forecast to be in the 80s for most of the coming week.

With an extended period of no rain and dry vegetation, Canadian County officials have been asked to enact an outdoor burn ban.

District 3 Commissioner Tracey Rider said El Reno Fire Chief Jason Duff wanted commissioners to “discuss the possibility of a burn ban” due to elevated fire dangers.

Declaring a burn ban requires “concurrence from the majority of the fire chiefs in the county,” said District 2 Commissioner Dave Anderson.

State law allows counties to authorize a countywide outdoor burning prohibition if:

Workers from G&S Signs inspect the neon fixtures on the sign at the Centre Theatre in downtown El Reno.

City officials said broken neon pieces were removed and will be replaced in the near future.

Added work headed to the theatre facade include new signboards with new tracking and letters. Those are being replaced since the current signage cannot be serviced.

In an effort to protect the public from scams, the Canadian County Clerk’s Office is offering a free service designed to stop criminals before they can claim ownership of someone else's property.

County Clerk Sherry Murray said her office is offering the free fraud alert notification to the public through her county website.

Murray said this is something that she has been working on for the past few months.

The Busy Bee Quilters from First United Methodist Church in Yukon handmade 25 quilts for the El Reno Public Schools students who attend Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program.

Members of the church group watched the students ride last week before presenting them with the quilts.

The 2024 Class of Leadership El Reno is finishing up its year-long immersion into everything El Reno.

The program is a project of the El Reno Chamber of Commerce.

The Canadian County Sheriff’s Office is warning people to be aware of what it described as “multiple scam attempts on our citizens.”

A statement from the sheriff’s office said the scammers tactics are to impersonate law enforcement to gain money from victims by scaring them with threats of arrest warrants or missed court dates.

These scams will ask for money in the form of cash payments using Internet apps or purchasing gift cards.

Redlands Community College will host a free Family Fall Festival on Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Redlands Austin Family Conference Center.

This exciting event promises an evening of entertainment and engagement for the whole family and features games and prizes, food and refreshments and live entertainment.

While the festival is designed to provide fun for everyone, it also serves as a unique opportunity for adults with some college credit to reconnect with their educational goals.