El Reno will celebrate the road and the sky next weekend.
The dedication of the new Rock Island overpass will take place at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.
The following day, the second El Reno Community Day and Fly-In will take off at the El Reno Regional Airport. That Saturday event runs from 1 to 7 p.m.
Several months after the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office was vandalized, a contractor has been hired to secure the glass front of the sheriff’s administrative building.
Canadian County will pay Tomas Ortiz $9,500 for the remodeling project at 208 W. Rogers, adjacent to the Canadian County Courthouse. Canadian County commissioners unanimously approved the action last week.
“What we’re doing is taking the glass out and replacing it with cinderblock,” Undersheriff Kevin Ward said.
El Reno Family Dentistry will give back to the community with a day of free dental care on Friday, Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1570 SW 27th Street.
The event will be a day of free dental exams, extractions and fillings for patients who would not otherwise have access to dental care.
In 2017, the first year this service was offered, 75 people were treated and provided $20,000 in free dental services.
Nancy Salsman and Amy Stout presented Calumet Mayor Bruce Wallace and Union City Mayor Bob McGregor with plaques and signs designating their communities as a Purple Heart Town.
The mother-and-daughter team said they were “humbled” to become Purple Heart Ambassadors for the Military Order of the Purple Heart of Oklahoma.
“We received this appointment from Military of the Order Commander Larry Van Schuyver. This allows us to travel Oklahoma and make the Purple Heart City presentations to those wanting to honor their veterans.”
As part of the start-of-school process in Edmond Public Schools, some middle-school students were asked to provide their preferred pronouns with options including “they/them.”
Theresa Epperly, a parent of four children in the Edmond district, said her seventh-grade daughter was among them.
“I see asking about a nickname,” Epperly said, “but this is ridiculous.”
Nearly 50,000 babies are born in Oklahoma each year, and the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan (OCSP) today launched a campaign to help moms, dads and grandparents across the state prepare for their new baby’s arrival with interactive content and a special $50 bonus match for OCSP college savings accounts opened for babies born in 2021.
“Welcoming a new baby is an exciting time in a family’s life,” said Oklahoma State Treasurer Randy McDaniel.
MUNICIPAL COURT
Lindsay Anna Maidt, Oklahoma City, expired tag, $165.
Anthony T. Gamboa, El Reno, dog at large, $145.
Margaret R. Worley, El Reno, dog at large, $145.
Valantay Perkins, El Reno, petit larceny and failure to appear warrant, $834.
Leota Colleen BigMedicine, El Reno, failure to appear warrant, $295.
Joshua Waterbird BigMedicine, El Reno, failure to appear warrant, $295.
Ryan Gilbert, El Reno, dog at large, $145.
While officials are keeping a close eye on any COVID-19 spikes from the Labor Day holiday, El Reno Public Schools will not be changing its current mask policy.
“We will continue to follow our continuous learning plan as passed by the board in July. There is no mask mandate but they are strongly encouraged,” said El Reno Superintendent Craig McVay.
McVay points to the district’s current infection rate, which is 0.069 percent, as reason to hold off on asking the school board to adopt a mask mandate – such as the one used during the 2020-21 school term.
Canadian County commissioners are recommending to state transportation officials that the State Highway 66/Banner Road intersection become a permanent four-way stop.
Last week, commissioners took no action on a proposed maintenance agreement for a federal-aid project between Canadian County and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to install traffic signals at the intersection, site of some serious traffic collisions over the past three decades.
The intersection is part of the state highway system in Canadian County District 1.
Firefighting units from El Reno, Okarche, El Reno Federal Correctional Institution and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes teamed to battle this grass fire located west of Highway 81 near 150th Street last week.
El Reno Fire Department sent a brush pumper, command unit and a tanker to the scene. Okarche had two brush pumpers and a tanker, while FCI El Reno had a pumper and tanker on scene and C&A provided a tanker.
