News

El Reno’s Animal Shelter is hoping prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Major Kirk Dickerson, assistant police chief, said due to a recent outbreak of a highly contagious and deadly upper respiratory infection which affects animals and has spread in the surrounding area, the El Reno Animal Shelter will not be accepting strays brought in from the public or owner-surrendered pets.

Dickerson said the policy is in effect “until further notice.”

Eric Palmer, 33, defeated Ronnie Funck, 74, in the El Reno School Board Office No.3 race, winning every precinct.

Palmer and Funck faced off in the Tuesday runoff. The two were the top vote-getters in the earlier February election that also featured Roberta Hamilton.

Palmer is employed with Gemini Coatings in El Reno. He is involved in customer service and financial matters at the employee-owned business.

Both Palmer and Funck are graduates of El Reno High School.

As print journalism continues to decline due to the rise of the Internet, many small-town communities are struggling to find the means to continue their local paper. Students in Gaylord College at the University of Oklahoma are surveying El Reno residents about their local newspaper.

A process has been proposed designed to streamline the way Canadian County government officials make certain purchases.

Commissioners are moving ahead with plans to implement a County Purchase Card Program.

County officers and department directors discussed the proposal at the commissioners March 27 meeting. Commissioners approved a letter of participation to implement the program at their April 3 meeting.

District 1 Commissioner Tomas Manske likes the idea of having a p-card for certain county purchases from companies that don’t accept purchase orders.

Eastbound and westbound Interstate 40 will have short-term ramp closures and will be intermittently narrowed at interchanges between the Texas state line and Yukon for the installation of wrong-way warning systems, pavement markers, signage and upgraded striping at interchanges along the western half of I-40.

OKLAHOMA CITY  - Oklahoma law does not give the State Board of Education (SBE) the ability to make administrative rules without proper direction from the state Legislature, Attorney General Gentner Drummond recently ruled in a formal opinion. 

LAWSUITS

Thasha Bravo vs. Blake Raney for an amount in excess of $75,000 for injuries and damages alleged to have occurred during an automobile accident.

Discover Bank vs. Melissa Jayne Shelton for $12,680.46 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Ford Motor Credit Company LLC vs. John Wood and Debra Wood for $25,517.98 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

The president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association has a message for El Reno and the rest of the state as the 100th anniversary of the Mother Road approaches.

The centennial celebration will be in 2026, 100 years since the famous highway opened, allowing motorists to make their way from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif.

El Reno firefighter Thomas Vogt shoots a blast of water on a shed in the southwest part of the city on Friday as crews worked to keep the fire from spreading to surrounding houses due to high winds.

Wind speeds were gusting to over 50 miles per hour throughout the afternoon hours, knocking down various items around the city including soccer goals in Adams Park and shingles off roofs in neighborhoods.

The El Reno Fire Department answered so many calls that units from the Yukon Fire Department were called in on the mutual aid agreement between departments.

It was a night of celebration and remembrance for Cardinal Point, Canadian County’s Family Justice Center, as a sold-out crowd traveled to the Expo and Event Center March 24 for the organization’s Community Night Gala.

Cardinal Point CEO Kristie Chandler joined county officials and benefactors to reveal the organization raised $58,500 to benefit operations and the clients the Family Justice Center serves.