Wake service for Ella Mae Reese was held Thursday at the Geary Community Building, with graveside services on Friday at the Pedro Family Cemetery in Calumet. Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Ella died Aug. 27, 2020, at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, N.M. She was born Feb. 18, 1944, in Concho.  She resided in Oklahoma City before moving to Taos in 2019. She was a homemaker and member of the Native American Church.

Survivors include her sister, Linda Gomez of Taos, and brother, David Pedro, also of Taos.

El Reno Public Schools reopened Lincoln Learning Center Thursday, however, three more school sites have been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Etta Dale Junior High, Lucas Hall and the district’s junior high football facility were shuttered Tuesday after a student was reported to have contracted the coronavirus.

“We got the word that one of our students had tested positive from a parent report. It took us a short time to get everything shut down but I feel like it was a swift and necessary action,” said El Reno Superintendent Craig McVay.

Health care is expanding in El Reno.

Ground was broken last week for a new El Reno Indian Health Center.

The 16,000-square-foot health center will provide space to expand services that will include dental, optometry, podiatry, audiology, general radiology and physical therapy.

J.D. Miller packed up his broom-making machine in Greenwater, Wash., and headed for El Reno. According to Google maps, it’s a journey of 1,457 miles.

Miller wasn’t looking for work making brooms. He’d already done that many years ago with his father, Ray. Miller was looking for a home for the device, built in 1878, according to a patent plate affixed to it.