News

MUNICIPAL COURT

Shanda Lee, Watonga, failure to comply, $145.

Joseph Ellis Morlan, Watonga, failure to comply, $145.

Claudia Gomez, El Reno, failure to appear warrant, $245.

Andrew Smith, El Reno, failure to appear warrant, $245.

Damon Redbird, Oklahoma City, expired tag, speeding and failure to appear warrant, $575.

Dalton Edward McLearen, El Reno, speeding, $165.

Chase Michael Epperson, Edmond, leaving scene of accident involving property damage, $195.

Ray Hosler and his wife, Karlita fought for years to try and protect two young relatives from abuse inflicted by their biological parents. They would eventually succeed, but only after the pair were sentenced to decades in prison for child abuse and neglect.

But the battle, especially for Ray, isn’t over. He won’t be satisfied until those who he said had the power to end the abuse many months before are held accountable.

He said many adults charged with protecting vulnerable children ignored a situation he called “obvious.”

More people are interested in El Reno’s parks. And that’s a good thing.

City Planner Dustin Downey said a recent survey concerning what people want at the local parks drew 599 responses. That's up from 470 responses the city received in a park survey conducted in 2020.

According to the responses, people want more sidewalks and trails. Close to 88 percent of those responding said they strongly support expanding the sidewalk and trails system.

The city last week broke ground on the expansion of the trail at Lake El Reno.

Voters decided that Oklahoma is not ready for adult use cannabis, also referred to as recreational marijuana. State Question 820 was defeated by a vote of 349,121 no votes to 216,883 yes votes – 61.68 percent to 38.32 percent.

All 77 counties rejected the state question. Total voter turnout was 25.35 percent of those eligible to vote in this election.

Canadian County joined in the rejection, with more than 63 percent of county voters casting no votes, compared to 36 percent in favor, figures from the Canadian County Election Board show.

The Centre Theatre for the Arts is partnering with the Elks Lodge to host a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Fundraiser on April 1.

The name of the show is “Revenge at the Reunion” and is directed by Doug Richardson. The cast includes Roger Johnson, Jack Patchell, Kristin Richardson, Katie Vandiver and Jennifer White. 

The event will be held at the El Reno Elks Lodge and is an adult-only event.

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.