News

The annual Taste of Sacred Heart raised $127,000 for the El Reno Catholic school.

The event featured live music, an assortment of foods and beverages and a live and silent auction.

An Oklahoma City attorney was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from a person he believed to be a 5-year-old girl.

Investigators with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office arrested Michael Lunday, 55, of Oklahoma City last week after he allegedly drove to a Mustang residence in order to have sex with a fictitious 5-year-old girl. 

Investigators were contacted Thursday morning by a confidential informant (CI) who advised she had been in communication with, and was requested by Lunday to arrange a meeting for sex with an underaged child. 

LAWSUITS

OneMain Financial Group LLC vs. Sharon Shaw for $6,852.40 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Tinker Federal Credit Union vs. Joshua J. Thompson for $6,976.47 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Citibank N.A. vs. Brigitte Taylor for $2,796 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Citibank N.A. vs. Dortha Taylor for $7,017.36 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Work has begun on the installation of a new fiber optic streaming network that will be owned and operated by the city of El Reno. Crews are starting work on El Reno FAST Connect, City Manager Matt Sandidge said.

The FAST acronym refers to fiber and streaming technology, with “more reliable, consistent coverage for streaming throughout the city.” Rates for the unmetered, weather-effective network start at $65 per month.

Cyndi Ice recently led her El Reno High School Earth and Space class on a tour of the new city water plant.

“What an amazing field trip,” Ice said of the tour.

“We were able to tour inside and outside learning about the basic plant flow processes and lab testing.”

The students were the first group to tour the new plant, a state-of-the-art project that has been in the works for several years.

Foreign exchange student Flaminia Starna returned home a little over two months ago.

Flaminia is from Rome, Italy, but misses Oklahoma and her time spent attending El Reno High School.

Starna got here at the beginning of the school year and left in December. She said her stay went by too quickly.

“I feel like my time in El Reno flew by and I can’t believe that I’ll never be able to attend EHS again,” she said.

Starna said she will also miss Friday night basketball and football games.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The full Senate last week approved Senate Bill 7. The measure, by Sen. Blake Cowboy Stephens, R-Tahlequah, would stop Oklahoma from changing the clock twice a year and lock in Daylight Saving Time (DST) year-round.

LAWSUITS

Cornerstone Home Lending vs. Christian M. Green for $126,557.40 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees and foreclosure of mortgage on Lot 4, Block 4, Woodrun Addition, Oklahoma City.

MidFirst Bank vs. Blake A. Basse for $116,693.56 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees and foreclosure of mortgage on Lot 5, Block 8, Somers Pointe Phase III Addition, Oklahoma City.

James Newman vs. Joaquin Chavira for an amount in excess of $75,000 for alleged injuries and damages.

A retired and much revered El Reno High School chemistry teacher has established a scholarship she hopes will help local students be the first in their family to attend college.

Growing up, Karen Jennings never had to worry about finding a way to go to college, it was expected in her family. But through the more than 30 years she taught in El Reno Public Schools, Jennings saw many teens who had the ability but not the resources to tackle higher ed.

In her 18 years of life, Brianna Stevenson has seen too many loved ones struggle against the evil of cancer.

So she decided to do what she could to battle against the disease and for that she is being recognized.

Stevenson was nominated and selected to work with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as a Student Visionary of the Future to conduct fundraising on her own, with a small team of friends, family, educators and students, to help fund the fight to cure cancer. 

It’s a responsibility she has taken seriously as well as personally.