News

Middle and high school teachers are invited to a National History Day Boot Camp at the Oklahoma History Center (OHC) on Thursday, July 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This workshop will show teachers how to bring project-based learning and critical thinking skills into their classrooms through the adaptable curriculum of the National History Day program for grades 6-12.

The cross-curricular program meets Oklahoma standards for social studies and other subjects.

WASHINGTON – Two Oklahoma representatives don’t want to continue handing a blank check to Ukraine.

And the brief mutiny of the Wagner Private Military Company to Russian President Vladimir Putin has become yet another wrinkle in what has become a very costly conflict in Eastern Europe.

Tulsa Rep. Kevin Hern, who does not oppose the U.S. supporting the former Russian satellite, wants to see an exit strategy coupled with a plan on how funds being sent are expended.

Hern heads the Republican Study Committee. 

LAWSUITS

UHG I LLC vs. Luis Ramiu Bocachica for $6,859.20 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

American Express National Bank vs. Connie Goepner for $5,993.11 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Capital One N.A. vs. Nathan Simpson for $6,107.91 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Tinker Federal Credit Union vs. Taniya Shaw for $3,823.71 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Members of the El Reno Arts Council learned a number of valuable lessons from the first Art Mix on 66 event held last weekend. Maybe the most important being that the next festival will be held in the fall and not the summer.

Sue Johnson, president of the Arts Council, said the inaugural event was a “great success” but the Oklahoma heat in late June was more than many could handle.

“We know we’re moving next year’s festival to the fall, probably September,” Johnson said.

A record-high annual budget totaling nearly $10.3 million has been approved for Canadian County’s juvenile center.

The Gary E. Miller Canadian County Children’s Justice Center's fiscal year 2024 budget was approved unanimously by Canadian County commissioners.

Projected revenues and expenditures total $10,285,292.56 for the fiscal year starting July 1.

“It’s a projection so there could be some amendments,” CCCJC Facility Director Melanie Johnson told Commissioners Dave Anderson, Tracey Rider and Tom Manske.

A repeat felon could see his prison stay extended after being accused of pepper-spraying three detention officers while he was an inmate at the Canadian County Jail.

Weatherford’s Damon Neal Dunbar Jr., 38, was charged with three counts of discharging a stun gun, tear gas, mace or other deleterious agent against an officer and one count of possession of contraband in jail.

The felony case stems from an Oct. 16, 2022, incident at the Canadian County Jail.

Nothing compares to the aroma of fair food, the lights and sounds from the midway and bringing home that 4-H blue ribbon from the county fair. The Canadian County 4-H Office is deep in the planning and preparation stages for the 2023 Canadian County Free Fair - Under the Big Top. This year’s circus-inspired theme promises an excellent family experience filled with county competitions, livestock barn tours, family socials and more.

Canadian County District 1 personnel are working with municipalities to improve roads this summer.

From May to July, county crews will have repaired and assisted with roads in Piedmont, Okarche and Calumet. 

“A lot of people don’t know that a road can have parts of it that are owned by the city and other parts owned by the county,” said Canadian County District 1 Commissioner Tom Manske. 

A private school voucher program funded with federal pandemic relief dollars selected schools for preferential treatment, awarded funds to families not facing financial hardship and then ran out of funds that could have been used by families that were, according to an audit released last week.

Of the $10 million Gov. Kevin Stitt allocated to the Stay in School program, $6.5 million didn’t align with the program’s purpose, which was to help families impacted financially by the pandemic continue to send their children to private school. 

In a recently unveiled “toolkit,” the National Education Association (NEA) advises teachers on strategies to overturn policies that require educators to use a student’s given name rather than a “transgender” name, and the organization also directs teachers to various LGBTQ+ organizations, including one that has defended prostitution and another accused of helping pedophiles access vulnerable youth.