January 2026

Mother Nature has been the biggest opponent for area high school basketball teams as the recent bout of winter weather has forced postponements or cancellations.

Area schools lost eight games due to weather, while Union City had its two-team run in the Paden Pirates Classic postponed until this weekend.

The Union City boys defeated Carney (53-38) in the first round to move to 11-9 on the season. Jake Hamilton hit a 3-pointer and shared the team lead in scoring with Gavin Righter - each with 12 points.

Points left on the court and off the scoreboard came back to haunt Redlands Community College men’s basketball team in an 84-77 loss to Northern Oklahoma College of Tonkawa.

The seven-point setback dropped the Cougars to 8-12 on the season and 2-4 in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

Redlands sits in the eighth spot but is only two games out of first place.

The Cougars left 48 points unaccounted from the 3-point line after going 4-of-20 (20 percent) from the arc.

Alaura Pruitt knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and led five players into double-digit scoring as Redlands Community College women’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak.

Redlands 86-60 road victory over Northern Oklahoma College of Tonkawa moves the Cougars to 16-4 on the season.

More importantly, it keeps RCC in the fourth spot in the NJCAA Region 2 standings with a 3-3 record, three games back of the front-runners.

LAWSUITS

TD Bank USA N.A. vs. Glenda Brown for $9,124.75 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. Darlene Kellum for $1,371.55 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

U.S. Bank N.A. vs. Jarrad Stubbs for $5,796.21 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Citibank N.A. vs. Isidro Fuentes for $3,167.85 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Covington Credit Inc. vs. Holli Jennings for $2,012.52 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

El Reno’s first major dose of winter for 2026 dumped double-digit snow totals across Canadian County.

On Dec. 8, Oklahoma Insurance Department Commissioner Glen Mulready made a remarkable disclosure.

The El Reno Tribune put out a call for our readers to send in their snow pictures from the weekend storms.

Like the heavy snowfall, the paper received over four dozen pictures and the staff will be picking a favorite to be awarded an El Reno Tribune sweatshirt.

An inmate died at the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution.

The FCI said on Thursday, Jan. 22, at approximately 12:20 p.m., Dujuan Cole was found unresponsive inside the prison. 

Responding employees initiated lifesaving measures. Emergency medical services (EMS) were requested while lifesaving efforts continued.

Cole was taken by EMS to a local hospital and subsequently pronounced deceased by hospital personnel. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified.

El Reno photographer Ed Zweiacher has created a 2026 Route 66 Calendar comprised of photos from around town.

The calendars are available at The Filling Station at 120 S. Choctaw in downtown El Reno.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Several hundred Oklahoma schools have signed on to participate in a new state program that aims to put fresh meat, fruits and vegetables on students lunch trays.

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry’s Local Food for Schools Program, which launched last year, connects local agricultural producers and farms with school cafeterias.