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According to the national nonprofit No Kid Hungry, there are 30 million children in the United States that receive federally-backed free or reduced lunches during a traditional school year.

Yet during the summer months, 87 percent of those children don’t get fed. That equates to between 21 and 24 million hungry kids or one out of every six eligible students.

Locally, the need is even greater as El Reno Public Schools surpasses the National School Lunch Program’s national average of 72.5 percent of students on free or reduced meals.

No large-scale data center developers have approached El Reno officials yet. But if they do, Assistant City Manager Tim Young says the city is ready.

“We’re a very industrial-friendly community, but we do have rules in place,” he said.

Mayor Steve Jensen, right, closes his eyes as he tells outgoing City Manager Matt Sandidge how much he has meant to El Reno during his six years serving as manager and three years as assistant manager.

Last week's city council meeting was the last for Sandidge, who is leaving to take a position in the private sector.

SSM Health Medical Group said Shiju JoyKutty, FNP, will join the family medicine practice at SSM El Reno.

She will provide care for El Reno and the surrounding communities at the St. Anthony Healthplex at the corner of I-40 and U.S. 81 on Territory Lane. 

JoyKutty completed multiple degrees in nursing in India before completing a Master of Science in Nursing from Graceland University in Independence, Mo.

An annual application Canadian County officials have participated in has been renewed to request funding through the Oklahoma Cooperative Circuit Engineering Districts Board Solid Waste Program.

Commissioners Tracey Rider, Tomas Manske and Lacey Dawson discussed plans for each of the three districts to see the funding make an impact.

According to Rider, District 1 will apply for a mulching head that would cost $37,155.56.

District 2, which is under the representation of Dawson, will apply for a chipper that costs $53,889.32. 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Rather than having desks and chairs, Kasey Bennett’s classroom is “one giant makerspace.”

The 2026 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year has a long work station in her room at Northwest Heights Elementary in Durant where her students learn robotics, electrical circuits, computer coding, agriculture and other hands-on projects where “they never know they’re learning, and they have the best time.”

“I want them to have confidence in themselves that they can do hard things,” Bennett said.

Supporters of a proposal to build a $4 billion aluminum plant at the Port of Inola aren’t packing town hall meetings. They aren’t cheering on the attorney general’s lawsuit to try to block the development. They aren’t booing Gov. Kevin Stitt’s calls to reduce America’s reliance on foreign metal.  

Under State Question 832, the minimum wage in Oklahoma will more than double from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2029 and then continue rising every year based on the cost of living in the nation’s largest urban centers.  

Even supporters of SQ 832 concede it will increase Oklahoma employers’ labor costs by anywhere from $783 million to $1 billion annually. They tout this as a good thing, but ignore a fundamental question: Where do businesses get their money? The answer: from their customers.

MUNICIPAL COURT

Tori Davis, El Reno, expired tag, $165.

Collis Hendley, Villa Rica, Ga., expired tag, $130.

Mario Stumblingbear, El Reno, expired tag, $165.

Samuel Aguina Ibarra, El Reno, driving without license issued, $252.

Reece Dean, Kingfisher, improper turn and speeding, $340.

Jordy Martinez, Oklahoma City, driving without license issued, $252.

Christopher Sells, El Reno, failure to yield from stop sign, $195.

Kaila Delgado, El Reno, driving without license issued, $252.

Brittany Bowen, Enid, speeding, $165.