News

Funeral services were held Tuesday for retired Canadian County Sheriff Lewis Hawkins of Mustang, who died Friday.

Burial was in the Schwartz Cemetery. Services were under the direction of McNeil’s Funeral Home.

Sheriff Chris West said Hawkins served as sheriff of Canadian County from 1988 to 2008, serving five four-year terms.

Hawkins was in office longer than any other sheriff in the county’s history, West said. Hawkins retired in 2009.

El Reno FFA students were scheduled to compete in the state FFA competition after capturing first place at the recent regional contest held in Chickasha.

Students also took several honors at the Tulsa State Fair.

The state competition was set for Tuesday at Oklahoma State University.

Tarren Sherman, El Reno Agricultural Education instructor, said the team has been traveling to numerous contests and putting in hours of practice outside of school preparing.

“This hard work has paid off,” Sherman said.

El Reno High School students and athletes have been wearing pink in the month of October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. EHS students Conley Knapp, left, and Alexis Lively cheer on the Indians football team during last week's 32-27 win over Duncan in District 5A-1 play.

The deadline to request absentee ballots by mail is approaching for the Nov. 9 City of El Reno Ward 2 and Yukon School Bond election. Applications must be received by the Canadian County Election Board no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Canadian County Election Board Secretary Wanda Armold said absentee voting is available to all voters and can be submitted several ways.

“In Oklahoma, no excuse is needed to vote by absentee ballot, and it’s easy to apply,” Armold said.

Oklahoma faces a shortage of nurses and engineers, but a state higher education leader says Oklahoma colleges are not necessarily enthusiastic about making changes that would reduce those reported shortages.

Why? Because Oklahoma colleges don’t view those programs as money-makers.

“There are programs that generate revenue for an institution, and there are programs that cost money to an institution,” said Jeff Hickman, chairman of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

MARRIAGE LICENSES

Dillion Wayne Roberts, 23; Jessica Michelle Ryder, 22.

Jesse William Braswell, 31; Gwyndolyn Paige Carson, 24.

Coy Lee Scott Hines, 38; Magdalena Maria Hodorowicz, 33.

Cale Daniel Black, 28; Bailey Reann Huckeby, 28.

Ethan Derrell Dewayne Routh, 19; Morgan Diane Casaus, 19.

Terry Lee Huston, 63; Cecelia Marie Hendrix, 56.

David Lee Porter, 50; Robi Rayne Rhodes, 41.

Conor Wrigley Maguire, 23; Allison Patricia Cook, 22.

Brandon Charles Parker, 27; Baleigh Breanne Folger, 26.

Four graduates of El Reno High School will be honored at the annual Distinguished Alumni Banquet.

The event is set for 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at Roblyer Learning Center. The dinner will be catered by Marilyn Arnold and tickets are on sale for $20.

Tickets can be purchased at the BancFirst locations, 2000 S. Country Club and downtown at 220 S. Bickford.

Tickets can also be purchased online at erpsf.org.

The advice Amanda Meyer would give to someone wanting to open their own small business would be summed up in one word: consistency.

The owner of Bronze Seal, Meyer and her husband, Richard, took the leap of faith into the “mom and pop” world of small business five years ago when they opened the store.

No action was taken by the El Reno School Board in its October meeting on an agenda item calling for the purchase of new land.

Under the items to be discussed in executive session was entry 10. F, which stated “Possible consideration and vote regarding the purchase of real property.”

“I can’t really discuss that because it was in executive session and there was no action taken,” said El Reno Superintendent Craig McVay.

“They were discussing land acquisition but again no action was taken.”

Redlands Community College has been awarded a five-year grant totaling $2.06 million by the U.S. Department of Education that will allow it to improve its capacity to increase the participation, academic success and graduation of Native American and low-income students, as well as increase the college’s capacity to offer digital learning and enhance mental health resources for students.