Downtown El Reno drew some strong focus at last week’s meeting of the El Reno City Council and the result looks to be two days of live music as well as some colorful mural creations.

Council signed off on plans for a Battle of the Bands to be hosted by the El Reno Community Theatre. The local thespian group has taken over the management and operation of the Centre Theatre.

The El Reno Catholic parochial school opened in-person classes last week with more than 100 students. All were required to wear face shields or masks.

El Reno’s Elks Lodge recently helped land a $2,000 Elks National Foundation Gratitude Grant for Blessing Baskets.

Brien Detamore of the Elks presented the grant funds to Rodney Knowles and Donna Dyer of Blessing Baskets. The funds will help support the Summer Food Program that Blessing Baskets operates. The program has helped more than 250 families, providing groceries twice a month.

Oklahoma highway bridge conditions are making the grade by moving from among the worst in the nation to the head of the class, achieving Top 10 status for the first time by ranking ninth, according to the latest data from the Federal Highway Administration.

The state was as low as 49th place in 2004 in national bridge condition rankings due to the number of structurally deficient bridges on the state highway system.