February 2025

Two repeat felons have been sentenced to prison for attacking detention officers last summer at the Canadian County Jail.

Yukon’s Angelo Allen Wythe, age 24, was convicted Feb. 5 in Canadian County District Court after pleading guilty to three felony counts of assault and battery on a police officer.

Wythe was sentenced to serve 12 years in state prison after a plea agreement was accepted by Special Judge David Halley.

The defendant appeared by video from the Canadian County Jail with his attorney, Landen Logan for the sentencing hearing.

The noon sun beats down on Kendall Christensen as she crouches in a field outside Stillwater to look at the grass around her feet. Tufts of big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass and Indiangrass blanket the ground.

“This was previously farmed and then converted back to native range,” she said. “We wanted to see if there were any issues with the fertility on the land from farming and if there was anything we could do to increase fertility and production on the land.”

If you don’t favor the sports pages, you might have missed the girls wrestling team saga at Edmond North High School. And you perhaps have not given deep thought to its significance.

El Reno High School’s basketball teams went into last week’s home finales against Santa Fe South in the top two spots in the District 5A-1 standings.

The boys defeated the St. Bernards 15-0 via a forfeit due to illness and ineligible players at the OKC school. The Indians moved to 13-0 in the district and claimed the title no matter the outcome of the Carl Albert road game.

The girls are second and need to win their last two league games to claim the title.

El Reno High School’s powerlifting teams recently took part in the Bethel Wildcats Invitational, with the boys squad taking fifth place in the Large School Division with 78 points.

The Indians had nine varsity placers as Brad Palmer (123) took fifth place with a total weight of 670 pounds. He logged lifts of 235 pounds (squat), 150 pounds (bench) and 285 pounds (deadlift).

For the first time since Aaron West returned to Okarche High School in 2012, the Warriors completed the rare double-double championship of the Three Rivers Conference.

After winning the in-season Three Rivers Conference Tournament title with a 27-point victory over Cashion, Okarche closed out the regular season and regular league slate with an 84-66 win over the same Wildcats.

The 18-point win over 11th-ranked (2A) Cashion lifted top-ranked Okarche to 25-0 on the season heading into the Class A playoffs.

Second-half turnovers on offense plagued Calumet High School in a regular-season 59-44 loss to Shattuck.

The Chieftains slipped to 6-17 for the season.

Shattuck led 24-19 at the break and Calumet trimmed that deficit to four points in the third period before the miscues began adding up. The Indians used the turnovers to outscore CHS 35-26 over the final two periods.

Lila Winegeart scored a team-leading 21 points for Calumet after hitting four 3-pointers in the second half.

El Reno City Manager Matt Sandidge has been appointed to serve on the Oklahoma Route 66 Commission. 

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, President Pro Tem of the Senate, announced the appointment. Sandidge will serve the unexpired term of Scot Rigby, who resigned recently as city manager of Edmond. The term runs until June 30, 2027. There are nine members of the Route 66 Commission. 

Sandidge said he is “honored” to be named to the commission. He said he looks forward to representing El Reno, Canadian County and western Oklahoma.

The 2025 Night to Shine El Reno was recently held at Lincoln Learning Center.

Hosted by First Baptist Church of El Reno, the event is a prom night experience for people with special needs ages 14 and older.

Those attending were welcomed with a red carpet walk escorted by members of local law enforcement.

There was dancing, karaoke and balloon-making.

A Banner School bond issue passed by a 62.3 percent majority in a Tuesday, Feb. 11 election.

The vote tally was 192 yes and 116 no, according to the Canadian County Election Board. Votes were cast in nine of the 10 precincts open for the election.

A 60 percent super majority of votes cast is required for passage of a public school bond issue in Oklahoma.