News

Employees of Canadian County could soon have an extra benefit, identity-theft protection.

Representatives of Legal Shield attended last week’s county commissioners meeting to make a presentation to the board. The Ada-based company offers a variety of services including legal coverage and identity-theft protection.

The company’s representatives said Oklahoma County recently agreed to purchase identity-theft protection for its employees.

The proposed new secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office ran an energy company which filed for bankruptcy last year and had been underpaying the commission royalties for oil and gas production.

In a special meeting this week, the commissioners will consider the appointment of Elliot Chambers to be the new secretary at the Land Office, which runs a $2.3 billion trust fund of oil and gas leases and property to benefit public education.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho Business Development Corporation (CABDC) is moving forward into a new agricultural era of growing industrial hemp.

The moves are being made in accordance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2018 Farm Bill.

With the 8th Legislature of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes finalizing confirmations for the Cannabis Commission Board members, and approval of the tribal plan through the USDA, the groundwork has been laid.

LAWSUITS

Ford Motor Credit Company LLC vs. Tammy Crawford for $11,589.37 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Deville Asset Management Ltd. vs. Kelly Brooks for $12,766.45 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Deville Asset Management Ltd. vs. Scherissa Guidos for $11,187.75 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Progress continues on what would be Oklahoma’s first roundabout created on a highway system and that distinction is scheduled to land in El Reno.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is planning to build the roundabout at SH 66 and U.S. 81. The project is part of the eight-year construction work plan adopted by ODOT. Work is tentatively scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2022.

About 2 pounds of meth was seized on Friday, July 3 after Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents searched a vehicle pulled over in El Reno.

Mark Woodward, spokesman for OBN, said agents “working the interstate” stopped the pickup as it pulled into the Domino on U.S. 81, just north of I-40.

Woodward said the agents were part of the “interdiction” team. He said it was not known if the search came after a positive hit by a drug dog or through other information.

The truck apparently left Las Vegas, Nev., with the methamphetamine and was headed to Oklahoma City.

El Reno police are investigating three separate fires that appear to have been intentionally set.

On Monday just before 6 a.m., a fire was reported at 307 S. Foster. Police and firemen found an old barn fully engulfed when they arrived.

At about the same time, a call came in that a dumpster was on fire at Frank Knight Park, about two blocks north of the barn fire. Both fires were extinguished quickly, reports said.

For the first time in at least a decade, Canadian County is not housing any inmates in jails outside of the county.

As of Tuesday, there were 138 inmates in the county jail in El Reno.

The last inmate being held outside of the county was a female, who was being held in Dewey County at that county’s request, said Sheriff Chris West. She was returned to Canadian County on June 25.

By October, crews from Sherwood Construction in Tulsa should begin pushing dirt to make way for an interchange that will allow travelers access to Frisco Road from Interstate 40.

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission awarded the contract to the company on Monday.

The company’s bid of just over $14 million was almost $3 million below estimates and was the lowest of five bids.

The project, which has been something the city of Yukon has sought for a number of years, will add an on- and off-ramp at Frisco Road.

The construction company that is overseeing the work at the new Canadian County Fairgrounds will be able to continue working as the county negotiates with Oklahoma Natural Gas about a right-of-way on the site.

Members of the county’s Public Facilities Authority signed a letter of intent that notifies ONG of their plan to continue to negotiate the use of a right-of-way on the property at the intersection of Jensen and Alfadale roads.