El Reno Public Schools opened up classes for the 2021-22 term on Thursday but the district is already facing quarantines and new cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

The district’s COVID-19 Dashboard Report, dated Aug. 11, showed 11 students have tested positive for the virus. Five of those students are in the high school, three from Etta Dale Junior High and one each from Hillcrest, Lincoln and Roblyer learning centers.

Downtown El Reno appears set to make another run at establishing a Business Improvement District and the area could also see a multi-story building erected on an empty lot in the 200 block of South Rock Island.

In a unanimous 5-0 vote, the city council on Tuesday hired former City Manager Dan Galloway to serve as a consultant in an effort to create the Business Improvement District. Galloway will be paid $3,000 for his efforts.

VFW Post 382 in El Reno celebrated National Purple Heart Day Aug. 7, serving as host for the Oklahoma Military Order of the Purple Heart (OMOPH) and Oklahoma Department of Veteran Affairs (ODVA) annual awards ceremony.

Oklahoma Veteran Commissioner and State Commander of Oklahoma Purple Heart, Larry Van Schuyver, and Deputy Director with ODVA, Sarah Lane, opened the ceremony, while Jerry Ball offered prayer. State Rep. Tammy Pevehouse-Townley sang the National Anthem. General Thompson, State Adjutant General, was also present to help present the award recipients.

It appears Yukon will continue buying Oklahoma City water for the foreseeable future as city administrators recommend terminating a public trust formed about 20 years ago to find a long-term water source for Canadian County municipalities.

Faced with the challenge of spending many millions of dollars to build and operate new water facilities, Yukon and Mustang city leaders will consider dissolving the Central Oklahoma Water Resource Authority (COWRA).