News

A 30-year-old El Reno man has been arrested in connection with the death of Robert James Meely, 40. Police said Andrew Keifer Beartrack, 30, was taken into custody in connection with the homicide investigation.

Beartrack is being held in the Canadian County jail and faces a charge of First Degree Murder, said Assistant Police Chief Kirk Dickerson.

The arrest came on Wednesday, the day after divers searched the pond at Legion Park. The divers, from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, reportedly found items police described as “interesting.”

Elden Eichholz turned 96 last week. He spent the day waving at passing cars that were honking at the birthday signs in his front yard.

Throughout the day there were family members stopping by with presents and wanting to give him hugs. They shied away from the contact due to his increased vulnerability to the COVID-19 virus.

“I’ve got three great-grandkids that I wanted to get a hold of them and give them a hug because they are just so cute. That was the hard part, not getting a hug from anybody,” said Eichholz.

A dog apparently knocked a space heater into a couch while a woman and her young daughter slept in another room.

If a friend had not shown up at the home at 521 S. Evans, El Reno firefighters said the outcome could have been tragic.

Sleeping inside were Leslie Simmons and Kiley, her 8-year-old daughter. The friend who arrived at the home found it filling with smoke. He was able to wake up the pair and together they pulled the couch onto the front porch.

By the lines that formed last week at the Canadian County Health Department’s pod testing site, residents are still highly concerned about contracting the COVID-19 virus.

During the four hours of testing at Yukon Middle School, health-care workers swabbed 159 people for the virus, an average of just under 40 tests per hour.

“We are still doing testing at both health departments in El Reno and Yukon by appointments but there are just so many of those that can be scheduled each day.

The El Reno Community Chorus has canceled its 2020 spring program.

It was not a decision made lightly, said director Nancy Sharp.

“In the third week of March, with the information about the coronavirus outbreak we had at the time, and in the interest of safety for our members and our audience, it seemed that suspending the rest of our rehearsals and canceling the spring program was the most logical and best decision we could make,” Sharp said by email.

Laboring hours over a sewing machine in a small room tucked away in the belly of the Centre Theatre is nothing new to Kristin Richardson.

It’s what you do when you are a member of the costume department for the El Reno Community Theatre.

However, instead of stitching fabric for ERTC’s upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast, Richardson is sewing and cutting through piles of fabric for the health of the city.

While Gov. Kevin Stitt said the state is starting to flatten the curve in the fight against COVID-19, rural county health departments are gearing up for a possible spike in the number of cases.

Maggie Jackson, District 2 Community Engagement director, said rural counties are farther behind in the testing cycle compared to Oklahoma City and Tulsa. District 2 consists of Canadian, Logan, Kingfisher, Blaine, Major, Garfield, Alfalfa and Grant counties.

Matt Sandidge is expected to become El Reno’s city manager on June 1 and utility rates are expected to go up come July.

This was some of the news generated by a Tuesday night city council meeting that included two members participating by teleconference.

The COVID-19 pandemic had the council working far differently than normal with Mayor Matt White and council members Tracey Rider and Bob Ballhorn taking their usual seats inside the Municipal Building.

Vice Mayor J.T. Chronister and council member Tim Robinson joined the meeting by teleconference.

El Reno residents need to wear a face mask if they are in public and interacting with others, or possibly face a $100 fine. Also, there are three current cases of COVID-19 in El Reno, with one death reported.

That was the COVID-19 news coming out of Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

Mayor Matt White, along with council members Tracey Rider and Bob Ballhorn, convened in the council chambers at the Municipal Building.

El Reno High School’s graduation, originally set for May 21, is officially postponed.

But those seniors who would have walked across the stage that evening are not giving up. Many stress the importance of commemorating their years of hard work.

And the El Reno School Board agrees with them.

Superintendent Craig McVay said postponing the ceremony was inevitable due to the COVID-19 situation.